Non-profit organization Vetdrenaline was founded in 2015 by military veteran Jess Maney, who established the organization in order to help fellow vets suffering from PTSD by introducing them to motorsports and other physical- and mental-health programs.
Maney hosted his annual drift event at the Tucson Motorsports track Musselman Honda Circuit and put veterans into the passenger seat of a professional drift driver’s car for a few laps.
Maney was a captain in the U.S. Army and a combat engineer for 18 years with four deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. After being injured in 2009 in a multiple IED blast, he suffered traumatic brain and a cervical spine injuries. Physical recovery wasn’t an issue, but he struggled when he faced depression and PTSD. A close friend of Maney’s introduced him to motorsports through off-road racing in 2012 and Maney credits that introduction for the spark of the Vetdrenaline foundation.
Featuring 12 drivers from Arizona and Nevada, each driver volunteered time and travel to offer veterans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a ride in a competition-level drift car. Senator Andrea Dalessandro and dozens of veterans attended the annual drift experience this year for a healthy dose of adrenaline.
A major part of Vetdrenaline is helping veterans see the healthier ways to find that missing adrenaline they were so used to in combat.
Other parts of the Vetdrenaline program include access to physical and mental healthcare, fitness training, meditation exercises, yoga sessions, and even financial management services and counseling.
Vetdrenaline is headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona but has a national outreach.
To learn more about Vetdrenaline, visit its website.
