Many of those who know Pro Built Motorsports’ Shane Bales say he’s the type to give the shirt off his back for you. Now, the table has turned. Bales, who’s battling liver and kidney issues, could use your help.
“He will call and talk for hours just to check in, making sure everyone is okay,” Dirt Rich TV American All-Star Series presented by PPM Racing Products promoter, Joseph Rush, said. “What he has done for the series is invaluable. [A few years ago, he] was putting in a dyno. [He] explained how asphalt racing techs crate engines and suggested we could change crate racing in the dirt world, too.”
Instead of first tearing the engines down of winners and top-finishing drivers, the American All-Star Series impounds the engines and dynos them at Pro Built Motorsports.
“Racers who used to win a big race and have to have their engine torn down now [get to] keep their engine in one piece, skipping costly rebuilds,” said Rush.
Bales builds engines for several top-running drivers, including Jason Welshan, Shane Greco and Adam Ogle. Pro Built Motorsports also sponsors the American All-Star Series.
In early October, Shane Bales went into the Blount Memorial Hospital ER feeling sick. Doctors determined he’s in liver failure and his kidneys were struggling. They found that Bales had a serious blood infection. Since then, he’s been transferred to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which is well regarded for dealing with liver issues.
The commute for his family from Sevierville to Nashville is roughly a 200-plus-mile trip, a 3-1/2-hour drive one way. The road time, travel expenses, medical expenses and time away from home adds up. Rush, with permission from Bales’ wife, Jennifer, set up a GoFundMe account to help with all that.
“Things are looking better,” Rush said, “but it’s still a long road ahead.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
