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Praytor Diagnosed With Rhabdomyolysis

After suffering through several days of flu like symptoms, Thomas Praytor loss the use of his left arm and left leg on lap 5 of the General Tire 200 at Talladega Super Speedway. Driving with his right hand only Praytor continued to compete until a red flag allowed for a driver change with Sean Corr with 10 laps to go.

The medical team at Talladega Superspeedway removed the ailing Praytor from his AIDB Chevy and began treatment in the infield care center. A heavy dose of IV Fluids and oxygen patched up the Moose enough to send him back home.

Back in Mobile the Doctors began a regimen of testing producing a diagnosis of rare Rhabdomyolysis or commonly called “Rhabdo” (Less than 26,000 cases in US). Rhabdo occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. These substances then damage the heart and kidneys reeking havoc with the body’s ability to use it’s muscles and kidneys.

Rhabdo normally happens during extreme exertion with, endurance runners, firefighters working in hot environments and members of the military involved in heavy duty exercises in a hot environment.

In Mid-April CNN Anchor John Berman awoke a day after the Boston Marathon in the hospital. The last thing he remembered he was on mile 24 of the race. After a Rhabdo Diagnosis and three days of IVs and hospital care he was released. In February, SEAL Team trainee Kyle Mullen was diagnosed, post mortem, with Rhabdo as a cause of his early demise. If not caught in time Rhabdo can be real trouble.

“I really appreciate my Doctors in Talladega and Mobile working hard on getting this deal figured out. I’ve raced with concussions, broken bones, flu, kidney stones, you name it but nothing like this. I’m glad we know what it is and what we have to do to get me back 100%,” said Praytor. “Since I stopped competing full time and I’m not the Ironman of the Series anymore, my Dad and I have had a lot of conversations about some things I maybe shouldn’t have done to stay in the race car. I think Dale (Earnhardt) Jr talking about his issues with concussions and other stuff have made that conversation possible. In hind sight I pushed it too far at Talladega but at the end of the day was able to get out of the car knowing I had made the right decision.”

While rare, Rhabdo is treatable and can be kept in check which will allow Praytor to completely recover and compete again.

Praytor-Corr Combine for Wild Top 20

Thomas “Moose Praytor returned to ARCA action at Talladega Superspeedway for the General Tire 200 and ended up needing a little help from his friends. Praytor went into the weekend suffering with flu type symptoms, fever, shakes and body pain. The Moose didn’t become the Ironman of the Series without playing through pain and he pressed forward even after losing feeling in the left side of the body forcing him to steer with his right hand only. A red flag gave the team an opportunity to replace Praytor and the medical staff pulled the ailing driver out of the car taking him to the infield care center. Sean Corr stepped in soldiering home the AIDB Chevy to a 19th place finish. Read for complete recap.

Our Max Force Racing team spent the last year doing a complete makeover of our superspeedway car including a visit with Thomas’s Brother-In-Law, Mike Abram and the gang at Venturini Motorsports. “Mike and the guys did a great job on fixing some of the issues that have plagued us the last couple of races,” said Praytor. “Our guys got it back to Mobile and had a month to work on it and we felt like we were taking our best piece to Talladega.”

The schedule for the weekend allowed for 5 laps of practice, no qualifying, lining up the cars by owner’s points (which the team had none) starting the AIDB Chevy deep in the field in the 30th position. Practice went to plan but still left our team with a lot of unanswered questions without having experienced drafting in a large. Having one of the most experienced ARCA drafters as the driver was a big plus.

On the way to Talladega Praytor starting feeling bad, bad moved to really bad and shivering under stacks of blankets, a Flu Bug had gotten a hold of the Mobile, Alabama driver and it was ugly. The former series Ironman, Praytor had competed under adversity before, feeling like crap at the race track is nothing new, he soldiered through inspection and practice.

On race day the symptoms had not subsided and in some ways were worse than the day before but when you only race a time or two a year you keep digging. With the drop of the green flag the Moose used his years of experience and quickly marched his AIDB Chevy to the front of the field. Long time spotter Tab Boyd was calling the shots in the first 10 laps the Moose had turned the fastest lap of the race.

Even a fast race car couldn’t hold off the sickness and Praytor reported he was losing feeling and strength in his left arm and leg. If you’ve never driven a race car at 180MPH your left arm is important to turn the steering wheel to make left turns. After a couple of cautions the Moose set a faster lap of the race and was rumbling to the front. Under caution Praytor reported he had lost all use of his left arm completely and asked spotter Tab Boyd to put him in the high lane only because he could no longer hold the car on the bottom.

Back under green Praytor was now driving with one hand. The Moose proceeded to put the AIDB Chevy in the top 10 turning a lap over 183 miles per hour setting a new fastest time of the race for the third time and was half a second faster than the leaders drafting his way to the front, right handed.

“Thomas was having a great day and I’m use to him driving with all sorts of problems, kidney stones, viruses, concussion, broken body parts, he just has no quit in him. I was getting worried about losing the use of his left hand and if he was admitting to that he was probably a whole lot worse,” said Dad, Tommy Praytor. “I felt like he would only get out of the car is if we had a replacement he would be happy with. I thought about our friends in the Xfinity garage that would come down and started looking down the list of ARCA drivers who were already out of the race, Sean Corr. Thomas and Sean have drafted together for years and he is one of the only people who has as much experience as Thomas on restrictor plate tracks. I texted Grumpy (Corr’s crew Chief) and ARCA telling them I needed Sean as a standby,” Corr quickly made his way to the pit box.

While the replacement hunt was going on, Praytor was still in the hunt working in and out of the top 10. The race got to the halfway point and a controlled caution allowed the team to get Moose fluids and a little rest. From the grandstands it looked the Moose was having a great day wheeling the AIDB Chevy to the front and turning fast times. Inside the car was a different story, down to one arm it was all Praytor could do to keep his Chevy pointed in the right direction not to mention the AC hose that was providing a little relief came loose and the effects of the flu was wreaking havoc with the rest of his body in the 140 degree cockpit.

A red flag for a big wreck on the front stretch gave the team the perfect opportunity to swap drivers and Praytor was called to the garage for the swap. The medical staff pulled Thomas out of the car taking him to the infield care center while Corr strapped in.

Corr was handicapped by having to take up the tail of the longest line for pitting during the red flag and it didn’t take him long to get up to speed and he was picking up spots on the track. Corr quickly made his way to the lead draft until a cut right front tire sent him hurtling to the wall. “I felt it shutter just a little bit and it gave me a chance to check up and save the car before it hit the wall,” said Corr. The AIDB Chevy came back to pit road and the team changed the tire but the blown tire took out the fender and part of the nose.

Corr went back on track and with a non-drafting car picked off a couple of spots and rolled the AIDB Chevy to the back of the hauler in the 19th position. While Corr finished the race Praytor spent the afternoon in the infield care center getting an IV and oxygen for elevated carbon monoxide levels.

“We are grateful for all the work Mike and the guys at Venturini put in on our car. Can’t thank Sean Corr enough for filling in, not too many other people Thomas would have given his car too. Really appreciate the Doctors and Nurses in infield care taking care of Thomas. He is on the mend but is still stiff, sore and sick but he’ll get better. We had a good effort this weekend and overcame a lot of adversity, we’ll get our driver healed up and get ready to go again,” offered Tommy Praytor.

Picture: The Moose and his expanding herd, Beau’s first trip to Talladega Superspeedway.

Alabama’s Praytor Back in the Saddle

GENERAL TIRE 200 AT TALLADEGA SPEEDWAY: Mobile, Alabama’s Thomas “Moose” Praytor will be back in the saddle this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. “A lot of energy has gone into our car heading for Talladega, fresh Ilmore motor and Mike (Abram) and the guys at Venturini have really worked hard to give us our best car for Dega,” said Praytor. The “Moose” is continuing his long standing relationship with the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind (AIDB) this weekend at Talladega. “We are proud of our partnership with one of Alabama’s great institutions, Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind. The work they do is changing lives and we are happy to help them get their message out.”

NEW ADDITION TO THE HERD: This weekend will be the first track visit for the newest member of the Moose’s herd, Beau Praytor. Beau made last year’s race, kinda, in his Mom’s tummy. This year Beau Beau (not a typo) will be in full attendance.

BROTHER IN LAW LOVE: In the off season, the Moose’s Superspeedway car was delivered to his brother in law Mike Abram and the gang at Venturini Motorsports for a facelift and makeover. Mike, Shannon (Rursch) and Kevin (Reid) have made a lot of changes to what was already a pretty good car, raising the expectation levels even further for Talladega.

SPOTTER: Since 2014 Praytor has used Pensacola native Tab Boyd. When he is not moonlighting for Praytor, Boyd is Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s spotter in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The General Tire 200 is a 2-day event starting with technical inspection and practice Friday. The green flag will fly at NOON CST on Saturday.  Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. You can follow the team on Twitter (@DKLOKRacing), and Facebook (Max Force Racing) for live trackside updates.

PRIMARY SPONSOR: Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) aidb.org.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Golden Flake, the official chip of Talladega Supespeedway, Wade Distributors, APS-Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, Judy’s Place, Ainsworth Racing (In memory of our friend Randy Ainsworth), Greer’s Food Market, Rapid Repair, Haul It Off and American Legion Post 88.

CAR: MF002 The team has been working on this chassis for the last 10 seasons for exclusive use at Daytona and Talladega. It’s paid off with the car and Praytor drafting to their way into the top 10 in the last 6 plate races with a disappointing 17th place finish at Talladega last year after a late race incident.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: THE MOOSE!!!

Talladega Speedway: 2.66 Miles 

ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR DEAF AND BLIND: The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deaf-blind and multidisabled. Founded in 1858 by a young medical doctor who wanted to educate his deaf brother, AIDB now serves more than 22,500 infants, toddlers, children, adults and seniors with hearing and vision loss throughout Alabama each year. WWW.AIDB.ORG

MAX FORCE RACING: Max Force Racing is based out of Mobile, Alabama and is fielding cars in its 24th season of competition.

Moose Expands Praytor Herd

The Moose, Thomas Praytor added to his expanding herd on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021  at 12:09 PM when William Beauregard (Beau) Praytor was born at 7 pounds 14 ounces. Baby and Mom are resting well while Dad is out looking for sponsorships. 

Praytor Rumbles, Wrecks and Rallies at Talladega

After a year off Thomas “Moose” Praytor was itching to get back behind the wheel of his Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind (AIDB) Chevy at Talladega Superspeedway and with the drop of the green flag the Moose was putting on a show in the General Tire 200.

With Tab Boyd calling the shots from the roof, the Moose quickly moved from 20th to 13th before the first competition caution at lap 10.

“With no practice we really had a lot of unanswered questions about what our car was going to be like, not to mention it had been a year since I was in race car. All the work we’d done to the car really paid off and with Tab’s help it didn’t take long for me to be comfortable in the draft making moves,” said Praytor.

Back under green the Moose rumbled his way in to the top 10. “Most of the time the race settles down after the first 20 laps but that didn’t happen at Talladega. The racing was 2 wide, 3 wide and I loved every minute of it. I tried a lot of moves, some worked some didn’t and I was reminded why I needed to listen to Tab a couple of times.”

While racing hard in the draft Praytor was knocked out of the draft and settled back to 15th until getting to the halfway break. At the break the team filled up the AIDB Chevy with Sunoco fuel and an adjustment to help free up his AIDB Chevy.

From the beginning of the second half of the race business was picking up on the track with everyone now racing to the finish. The Moose quickly inserted himself back in the top 10 and was slicing and dicing, angling for a big finish. With all the hard racing a wreck was inevitable and when it finally happened Praytor was ready. “I missed the wreck and the second wreck then I got hammered from behind.”

The Moose was turned head first towards the wall, some quick driving kept him out of the wall but spinning to the infield.

“I got it gathered up and was able to keep from hitting anything or anybody hitting me. I knew I had some flat tires so I had to take it easy getting back to the pits so the tires coming apart didn’t tear the car apart.”

Taking it slow to the pits paid off on keeping the car together but would cost Praytor a lap. The crew gave him some fresh General Tire rubber and sent him back out.

Being a lap down the Moose needed a caution to get back to the lead pack. Back under green he bided his time and was making sure his Chevy would be good to go if given the opportunity. A fiery wreck with 10 to go would get Praytor his lap back but there would only be a single lap under green to the finish.

“Tab and I worked on timing so we could hit the start finish line wide open. We hit it perfect and picked off 4 cars finishing 17th.”

“All in all it was a solid weekend on the track for our first time back in over a year. It was a great weekend for our race team and family. The support we’ve received from everyone in Mobile, the local businesses and people that support our race team is incredible. Wish we were lining up and racing again this weekend.”

The Moose Returns To Talladega

GENERAL TIRE 200 AT TALLADEGA SPEEDWAY: Thomas “Moose” Praytor returns to racing on Saturday after a year long break because of the Covid Virus. The “Moose” and his Mobile, Alabama crew are continuing their long standing relationship with the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind (AIDB) this weekend at Talladega. “Really pumped up about this weekend, we’ve been working on this car for a couple of months in the shop. Brad (Wallace), Craig (Pickering) Dink (Stevens) have been in the shop since February. The last week we’ve had our old late model guys and local racers in the shop helping us finish up, we’ve had a lot of fun. All of which we hope will turn in to having fun on track at Talladega.

Talladega will be the second Talladega visit for Praytor’s newest family member, Hugh Thomas Praytor V, (Five) and the first visit for Praytor’s next son due in the Summer (still waiting on name) and for their older sister Elizabeth, she’s been so many times she’s part of the regular team.

SPOTTER: Since 2014 Praytor has used Pensacola native Tab Boyd. When he is not moonlighting for Praytor, Boyd is William Byron’s spotter in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The General Tire 200 is a 2-day event starting with technical inspection Friday. Saturday begins with an early practice, and the green flag flying at NOON CST.  Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. You can follow the team on Twitter (@DKLOKRacing), and Facebook (Max Force Racing) for live trackside updates.

PRIMARY SPONSOR: Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) aidb.org.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Golden Flake, the official chip of Talladega Supespeedway, Wade Distributors, APS-Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, Judy’s Place, Ainsworth Racing, Greer’s Food Market, and American Legion Post 88.

CAR: MF002 The team has been working on this chassis for the last 9 seasons for exclusive use at Daytona and Talladega. It’s paid off with the car and Praytor drafting to their way into the top 5 in the last 5 plate races with an 11th place finish in it’s last outing Daytona. Expect more bold moves at Talladega.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: THE MOOSE!!!

Talladega Speedway: 2.66 Miles 

ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR DEAF AND BLIND: The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deaf-blind and multidisabled. Founded in 1858 by a young medical doctor who wanted to educate his deaf brother, AIDB now serves more than 22,500 infants, toddlers, children, adults and seniors with hearing and vision loss throughout Alabama each year. WWW.AIDB.ORG

MAX FORCE RACING: Max Force Racing is based out of Mobile, Alabama and is fielding cars in its 23rd season of competition.

Praytor Renews Support of AIDB at Talladega

In what has become an Alabama tradition, Thomas “Moose” Praytor is teaming up with the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind (AIDB) for the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway. Praytor’s support of AIDB dates back to 2013 when he and former teammate AJ McCarron created special race used helmets for AIDB’s charity auction Race Fever. (Praytor/McCarron 2014 picture above)

“We consider Moose and his family part of the AIDB family,” said Dr. John Mascia, President, AIDB. “For many years Moose has visited with our kids and supported AIDB. While he is an awesome driver, his caring heart is what makes him a remarkable man and our champion. We are grateful for all he does for our children who are deaf and blind.”

With the main campus located in Talladega, Alabama, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the nation’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and employment system serving children and adults who are deaf, blind and multidisabled with a myriad of programs designed just for them.

“Being from Alabama we take a lot of pride in our home state success stories and there isn’t a bigger success story than AIDB,” said Praytor. “We say we support them but the reality is the teachers and students have made Talladega a special event for us for years.”

ARCA’s General Tire 200 race at Talladega is part of a triple header weekend with the ARCA and Xfinity race on Saturday and the Cup Geico 500 on Sunday. The General Tire 200 will be broadcast live on FS1 at noon CST on Saturday, April 24th.

“The best part of racing with AIDB is the kids. Covid has changed everything in having kids at the track but we are hoping with changes made in Alabama between now and race time we can make that happen again.”

Hang on, it’s time to turn the Moose Loose!

Praytor Returning to Action at Talladega

Mobile, Alabama’s Thomas “Moose” Praytor will return to ARCA competition in the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway. After missing the 2020 Talladega race because of the Corona Virus, Pappa Moose and his expanding heard are ready to go back racing in Alabama!

“It was really tough last year to not race at Talladega, with everything that was going on we felt like as a family it was better to miss the race than it was to try and force it,” offered Praytor. “Everybody knows how much I enjoy racing at Talladega!”

Praytor is the former ARCA Series Ironman and is also one of the Series most prolific restrictor plate racers. The Moose has competed in 15 restrictor plate races logging over 3,000 miles in plate competition. Only two active drivers have more Restrictor Miles than the Moose.

Talladega will be Praytor’s 112th ARCA Series start ranking him second in career starts amongst drivers and his 9th at Talladega Superspeedway.

The General Tire 200 will take the green flag at Noon CST on April 24th from Talladega SuperSpeedway with TV coverage on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).

Praytor Wrestles AIDB Chevy To A Disappointing 11^th

Thomas “Moose” Praytor’s return to Daytona was text book until something broke under the car on lap 6 of the Lucas Oil 200 and what had been a near perfect weekend got ugly in a hurry. After pitting during every caution Praytor was able to hang on to an 11^th place lead lap finish.

Having missed the Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona in 2019, to make sure he was in Mobile for the birth of his son, Hugh Thomas Praytor the 5^th (Five), Praytor was itching to get back to the World Center of Speed for the 2020 edition.

“Our guys in Mobile have been working on one car since October, we felt like we were taking the best car we’ve ever taken to the race track,” said Praytor.

The team eased through technical inspection with no major issues on Thursday and prepped for practice on Friday. The first practice went as planned with the Moose posting a16th place time in the first session.

“Car was really good in practice we tried a couple of different setup changes and our AIDB Chevy really responded well. We broke a shifter at the end of the first practice, parked it for the day and started getting ready for qualifying.”

The parts of the weekend the team had control over went well, the things they didn’t, not so much. Another competitors tear off blew on to the nose of Praytor’s Chevy and ended up with a disappointing qualifying effort, 23^rd.

“We didn’t get to start where we wanted to, but we knew we had a fast car and some fast friends close by and we were ready to race.”

With the drop of the green flag Praytor hooked up with Sean Corr and in the first half of the first lap the duo drafted from 23^rd to 16^th.

“The car we started the race with was incredible, I just knew we were going to have a good day.”

Back under green Praytor was able to hold the draft but the car started to “tighten” up, by lap 10 it just simply didn’t want to turn at all and the Moose started to lose the lead draft.

“So frustrating, we were awesome and within 10 laps we were junk.”

With every caution Praytor brought his AIDB Chevy to pit road for service. The team changed tires, rounds in rounds out, you name it they tried it but to no avail.

“The car just kept getting tighter and by lap 20 I was having to let off the gas to make it turn. The guys kept working under caution but nothing helped it. Most likely a piece of the suspension is broken or bent not allowing it to travel and let the car turn.”

200 miles later Praytor wrestled home his AIDB Chevy to an 11^th place finish.

“It was a good finish but not how we would have liked to gotten there. The guys really worked their butts off on pit road but it just wasn’t meant to be today. Great to be back at the track, we’ll get her fixed for Talladega”.

Picture: Praytor coming off pit road during Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway.

Praytor(s) Ready for Daytona

Just a year ago, the collective Praytor Clan was waiting on the arrival of Hugh Thomas Praytor the Fifth (Five) and opted to miss the Daytona race in 2019. No waiting around in 2020, Five is here and ready to race in 2020!

Thomas “Moose” Praytor (Papa Moose) has become one of the ARCA Menards Series most prolific restrictor plate racers. Over the last decade, Praytor has logged over a 1,000 laps and 2,700 miles, more than any other active ARCA driver during the same period.

“It hurt just a little not to be in Daytona last year but I wasn’t going to miss Hugh being born for anything. Hugh got here in time for us to go to Talladega and he made his first race at Talladega, I’m looking forward to him making his first trip to Daytona this year.”

Praytor’s Mobile, Alabama based team has been preparing his favorite Super Speedway chassis for the 2020 edition of the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire.

“The guys have been working hard on getting us ready to go. We got sidetracked in December with my sister, Hayley, getting married and of course Christmas was big with the kids but I’m really happy with the car we’re bringing to Daytona.”

The green flag for the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire is slated for February 8^th at 3:45 CST with live TV coverage on FS1.

Lets Talk Racing!
 

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This site and our team are dedicated to winning and having fun.  Each week during the season we will update this site with a report of racing action from the previous week.  We will also be posting pictures of the team and scenes from the track.  Originally this site was designed for Tommy Praytor and his Fat Boy Racing team.  Over the last few years Tommy's son Thomas has been making a mark on the racing scene and  Thomas's or Thomoose's   racing has been added to our site.  On June 4th, 2001 the Praytor family lost their third child, Max.  In 2002 we changed the name of our combined racing efforts to Max Force Racing in his memory. 

This page was last updated on 05/09/22.