GRAND-AM Road Racing

Taylor Takes Buoniconti for a Ride

Oct. 22, 2009

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Marc Buoniconti, president of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, rode with Wayne Taylor in the Pirelli two-seater Daytona Prototype prior to the recent Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Buoniconti sustained a spinal cord injury in a 1985 football game while playing for the Citadel. While recovering from the injuries that left him paralyzed from the neck down, he committed his energy to raising the funds for the Miami Project.

"It was awesome," Buoniconti said after the ride. "You try to appreciate it when you're watching it on TV - and I've been involved with racing for a long time when my dad was with US Tobacco - but getting in the car and feeling it like that is totally different. I mean, under braking and under power in the corners with the G-forces was way more than I expected. I kept telling Wayne not to worry about me.

"He said he was going about 70-percent, so I can only imagine going 80-90 percent. Maybe I can talk him into that for next year."

Also getting a ride with Taylor was legendary hot rod designer Chip Foose, who awarded a one-of-a-kind Ford Flex that he designed to a lucky fan later that morning.

Buoniconti is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti, who anchored the defense on one of the greatest football teams of all time, the undefeated 1972 Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins.