Talk-It-Up Tuesday with George Hammel

 

 

In any sport there are always those certain few people who stand out in the crowd as an inspiration, a friend to all, and all around good people. For this week's "Talk-It-Up Tuesday" we have decided to sit down once again with one of our good friends and one of those certain people. We welcome inspirational athlete / R/C racer / businessman, George Hammel!
 

 
 

LiveRC: Welcome George to "Talk-It-Up Tuesday!" Let's start off (for those who don't know your story), at the very beginning. You are a racer at heart, and come from a motocross racing background. Tell us a little about that. 

George: Yep, you hit the nail on the head! Like many R/C drivers I started racing motocross when I was young (12 years old). I looked up to guys like Jeremy McGrath and wanted to be just like them. I was able to do pretty well as an amateur racing against guys like Ricky Carmichael, Nick Wey, and that generation. Living on the west coast we spent a lot of time in California racing, and made it to a few amateur nationals on the East Coast as well. I got close to winning some titles but bad luck struck a couple times. I turned pro in 1998 and raced some Supercross's and did pretty well, but I was always a better outdoor rider. I went to my first professional national at Glen Helen in California and felt really good, in practice I was chasing Jimmy Button to get an idea of the pace those guys went and felt really comfortable so I rode with him for about 15 minutes and was feeling very confident about how I would do that weekend...then I was coming down Mt. Saint Helens and my suspension packed at the bottom in the braking bumps and I got pulled towards the back of the bike and got "whiskey" throttle. Everyone was scrubbing the next jump and hanging a tight left in 2nd gear, I hit that 4th gear wide open (thats what we came down the hill in). I didn't want to run into the back of Jimmy so I moved right a bit and clipped Tommy Clowers and his bike, my rear fender slapped me and gave me an extra boost into the air and I flew for what felt like an eternity (doctors said it was about the equivalent of jumping out of a 5 story building). I hit the ground with my feet first, broke my lower legs, knee, tailbone, arms, a small piece of my skull, and the worst part my back and damaged my spinal cord at T12/L1.
 
The doctors of course did their best and got me fixed as good as possible. I was in a wheelchair for about 5 years, went to college and got a Computer Science degree, while doing rehab and trying to get better. After a ton of hard work I was able to stand, start walking with forearm crutches, and then finally with leg braces which I still use to this day. I don't have any function below the waste other than my quadricep muscles, so thats what gets me up and about. I couldn't be any happier and feel blessed every day!!!

LiveRC: Despite being paralyzed, you continued to race motocross and even competed in the X-Games! What is it like being a part of the X-Games?

George: Man, I loved it! That was by far the coolest event I have ever been a part of!!! It was on live TV, they treat you like a rockstar, and you get to see all the other amazing events. I took a long time to get back on a bike, but when I figured out we could modify it and put a thumb shifter and I could just use the front brake, I was ready to go!
 
LiveRC: Unfortunately you re-broke your back in a later crash. Can you tell us about that? 

George: Ya, that sucked for sure. In 2010 I broke my back for the 3rd time (to date I have broken 58 bones and the 2nd broken back is what paralyzed me). I was practicing for the 2010 X-Games and since its hard to hold on with my legs I made a mistake and fell off and landed on my butt and compressed it right above the metal thats holding it together so the bones above shattered. Here is a GoPro of it: 
 

  

LiveRC: How did you get started in R/C car racing?

George: I have to give all the credit to my good friend Casey Peck (TLR Driver). We grew up together as kids and he asked me if I would like to try out R/C cars since Moto wasn't in the cards anymore. So I went and watched him just dominate a local race and decided I would give it a shot since it was so much safer.
 
LiveRC: What are your favorite classes to race?

George: I really like the short course stuff because the trucks look like the real thing, especially 4x4, thats for sure my favorite class.
 
 
LiveRC: Upon joining the R/C car racing scene you started up the company Short Course Hobbies (SCH). What made you decide to start a business in the R/C industry?

George: I do web design and development and have worked with some pretty amazing clients over the years, Blink 182, Misfits, Ramones, GoPro, Billabong, SPY, and some other amazing companies, and Casey mentioned to me that he thought it would be cool to have something that was a little bit edgier and more Moto centric. We came up with a good plan and it turned out really cool!

LiveRC: What is the current status of SCH?

George: SCH gained momentum super fast with Casey's connections and my skill set it became more of a marketing machine than anything else, it pretty much took off to quick for us and we couldn't keep up because we had our daily workload, families, etc., so right now its on pause. It would be sweet if it could keep going because its a great addition to the RC business and people still always ask us about it.
 
 
LiveRC: You have been busy with some outside the industry stuff lately, can you tell us a little about that? 

George: Once I knew that riding MX was done I wanted to set some long term goals and I have always wanted to do an Ironman, and since my legs work well enough to ride a bicycle (not run, I have to use a racing wheelchair for that), I figured I would try it out. I trained for a year and raced some road bike events like El Tour De Tucson a 111 mile event in Arizona and set some goals for those and was stoked on what I was able to accomplish. A few other people agreed and in March I was invited to compete in the Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside CA. I kept training as much as possible and tried to fit it in with work, it was very hard, but I trained on average 2-4 hours a day, swimming, cycling, and with the wheelchair. Swimming sucked because I had never swam other than hanging out in the pool, so I had to learn very quickly and my lower body is like an anchor so it took some extra patience and time to figure it out. I am happy to say that I was able to complete it in 6:26. I can't even express what it meant to me to finish that event, but it was far and above more fulfilling than any race I ever won.
  
 

 

LiveRC: It's incredible the things you have accomplished! With such a busy schedule, how often are you able to get out to the R/C track to do some racing?

George: Thanks Mike! I enjoy having goals and things to strive for! I never knew that it would affect others and since I have accomplished some of these things I have been able to visit schools and talk with kids about my story, hear there stories, and seeing their reaction and motivate afterwards is more than payback for me. If I can affect them in a positive way then its all more than worth it. I try to race as much as possible, on average I get out to race about twice a month, but I always want to get out there more.

LiveRC: You also work closely with Casey Currie (former "Talk-It-Up Tuesday" guest). What is your relationship with Casey?

George: Casey is a RAD dude! I have worked with Casey for many years now on all his web projects and became friends with him along the way. I have to say I am one lucky guy, he let me test out his Monster Energy Pro-Lite while I was in So-Cal visiting with him. That was one amazing day! Those trucks are crazy, I was hitting some whoops that were about 4 feet tall, and he pulled me in and said I was going way to slow and to just hammer it, so I grabbed another gear and could barely feel them, it was so sweet! Make sure you watch him this year, he has some sweet stuff going on!
 
LiveRC: Currie vs. Hammel in an offroad R/C race. Who's going to be the winner?

George: Its a tossup, we would both hammerdown!!! But since he is partnered with Axial now I would give the nod to my Ten-SCTE, hahaha!

LiveRC: Are there any major upcoming R/C races we can expect to see you at?

George: I am going to try and attend the SIGP later this year and Cactus Classic in 2014, so hopefully I will see you there.

LiveRC: So let's sum this up...you are a successful motocross racer, a successful paraplegic motocross racer, a successful Ironman athlete, a successful cyclist, and a successful R/C enthusiast/business man. What's next for you?

George: Thanks Mike, I appreciate your kind words! My next goal is to get into a Pro-Lite and race LOORRS. 2014 I am starting by racing the regionals and the WORCS off road series in a race UTV, and hope to do that for a couple years and work my way up to the trucks. I am very excited about it!

LiveRC: What is one thing most people don't know about George Hammel?

George: That I can make the heck out of Guacamole!

LiveRC: Obviously you have been an inspiration to many, what is one thing that you would tell people to encourage them through troubled times?

George: My main motto is "Never give up!". Always have goals and something to look forward to otherwise you get stagnant, so if you have something to look forward to or strive for it gives you that extra motivation to always achieve more and "Never give up!".

LiveRC: Do you have a website if anyone wants to get more info on your story or contact you?

George: Ya for sure, they can visit www.georgehammel.com, www.facebook.com/georgehammel, www.youtube.com/georgehammel, and @georgehammel on Instagram.

LiveRC: George, thank you so much for joining us today! Is there anything you would like to add?

George: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my story! I want to of course thank Casey for getting me into R/C racing and meeting all the amazing people in the industry. I have made some really good friends and been to some cool places to race. Can't wait to get to the races!!! 

 

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