{"id":31162,"date":"2016-10-10T15:42:46","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T22:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=31162"},"modified":"2016-10-13T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T17:55:20","slug":"legally-blind-junior-drag-racer-completes-first-solo-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/legally-blind-junior-drag-racer-completes-first-solo-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Legally Blind Junior Drag Racer Completes First Solo Run"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"31164\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/legally-blind-junior-drag-racer-completes-first-solo-run\/nathan-pagano\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"710,474\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;HERO200&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1334254970&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Nathan Pagano\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31164\" src=\"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano.jpg\" alt=\"Nathan Pagano\" width=\"710\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano.jpg 710w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When you have a true passion for racing, nothing can keep you out of the driver\u2019s seat. And for 10-year-old Nathan Pagano, not even a serious vision impairment can deter him from pursuing his dream of becoming a drag racer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w_zZZpFWyqY?rel=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this summer, Nathan clocked a 9.71-second pass at 71 mph on the 1\/8th-mile Showtime Dragstrip in Clearwater, Florida \u2014 it was the result of years of hard work, preparation\u00a0and support from his family and friends.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The doctors said Nathan will never drive, but this is proof that you can do anything you put your mind to,&#8221; said Nathan&#8217;s father, Daniel Pagano. &#8220;Nothing\u2019s impossible; it&#8217;s just a different path and timing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A fourth-generation drag racer, Nathan was diagnosed as legally blind from birth, but you\u2019d never know thanks to the energy and fearlessness\u00a0he\u2019s gleaned from his older brother, Logan, who also races in a jr. dragster.<\/p>\n<p>The brothers grew up spending time at the family business \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paganoautodetail\" target=\"_blank\">Pagano Auto Detail Collision<\/a> in Clearwater, FL \u2014 and it&#8217;s here that Nathan would make\u00a0his first steps in getting comfortable with drag racing.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"31170\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/legally-blind-junior-drag-racer-completes-first-solo-run\/nathan\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"640,360\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1476134380&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Nathan Pagano Junior Dragster\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-300x169.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-31170\" src=\"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan.jpg\" alt=\"Nathan Pagano Junior Dragster\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-308x173.jpg 308w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It began with Nathan in the driver&#8217;s seat of his brother&#8217;s old\u00a0jr. dragster\u00a0and his father pushing him around the shop without a motor.<\/p>\n<p>Then Nathan graduated to being pushed down the dragstrip by a scooter (still only a bare chassis) just to make sure he could successfully make the turn-off to the return road. The next step was to install the motor and have dad ride beside him\u00a0with the scooter.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the\u00a0challenges for the Pagano family\u00a0were Nathan&#8217;s initial lack of confidence and focus, amplified by his need to compensate for his vision impairment. But with the thoughtful guidance of his parents and the requirement of good grades in exchange for racing privileges, Nathan has quickly matured and learned to hold his focus and attention on the important tasks at-hand.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see in the video above, Nathan finally makes his first full-power run all by himself, and his parents couldn&#8217;t be more proud. He&#8217;s lucky to have so much support from his family and plenty of good role models to look up to in the racing community.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan&#8217;s adventure continues as he will be entering his very-first competition in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bradentonmotorsports.com\/turkey%20bash\/2016\/web%20page_turkey%20bash%202016%20home.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Thanksgiving Turkey Bash<\/a> at Bradenton Motorsports Park on November 25th. Come cheer on Nathan if you&#8217;re in the area!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31171\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31171\" style=\"width: 558px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"31171\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/legally-blind-junior-drag-racer-completes-first-solo-run\/nathan-and-daniel-pagano\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"558,640\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 6 Plus&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1467749591&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;2.65&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0051813471502591&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Nathan and Daniel Pagano\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Nathan and his father, Daniel Pagano.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano-262x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31171\" src=\"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano.jpg\" alt=\"Nathan and his father, Daniel Pagano.\" width=\"558\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano.jpg 558w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-and-Daniel-Pagano-262x300.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 558px) 100vw, 558px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Nathan and his father, Daniel Pagano.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>10-year-old Nathan Pagano overcomes his vision impairment and completes his first full-speed run in a junior dragster.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470],"tags":[407,4926,4923,4924,4928,4925,4927],"class_list":["post-31162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","tag-bradenton-motorsports-park","tag-jr-drag-racer","tag-junior-dragster","tag-nathan-pagano","tag-pagano-auto-detail-collision","tag-showtime-dragstrip","tag-thanksgiving-turkey-bash"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nathan-Pagano.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-86C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31162"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31340,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31162\/revisions\/31340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}