At the Abilities Expo in Edison this weekend, thousands of people from all over the tri-state area got a firsthand look at the NASCAR stock car that Hanaford and his partners spent more than a year converting.

The expo, an annual event that draws more than 12,000 people each year, is a chance for merchants to show off the latest technology designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities, and also offers a chance for people to connect with services and organizations. Paralyzed Veterans of America, National Spinal Cord Injury Association and a number of other organizations co-sponsored the expo.

This year's event, which was held at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center Friday through Monday, featured a broad range of products, from accessible silverware to shower chairs to a hybrid, all-terrain off-road vehicle that could allow people who use wheelchairs to get outdoors and go hunting, fishing, to the beach or to explore areas previously off-limits to them.

The race car on display at Accessible Racing's booth generated a lot of buzz, with adults and kids coming by to see how the car was built, test out the hand controls and play an auto-racing video game that uses hand controls attached to the steering wheel instead of traditional foot pedals for the gas and brakes.

The car was built by Drive-Master, a Fairfield company that equips vehicles with hand-controls, ramps and other features to make them accessible to people with physical disabilities. Peter Ruprecht, president of Drive-Master, has been modifying vehicles for wheelchairs since he was a kid.

His father, Alan, founded the company in 1952 and operated it out of his Montclair home after he contracted adult polio. In 1972, Alan put a lift and a power door on a Chevy van and became the first wheelchair van driver, Ruprecht said.

So it was an easy sell when Hanaford asked Ruprecht to help build an accessible race car.

"Brian Hanaford called me two years ago and said, 'I have this idea that when the vets get back from Iraq, they should be able to have a race car driving experience,'" Ruprecht said. They were able to complete the demonstration vehicle just in time for the expo, he said.

Accessible Racing plans to offer a one-day school at the New Hampshire International Speedway that will be open to any disabled person with a driver's license. Before getting out on the racetrack, the students will practice different skills, like autocross, where drivers navigate around orange cones, and skidpad driving to work on car-handling.

They'll then take what they learned in class and apply it on the racetrack. The car is designed to accommodate a "safety driver" in the passenger seat, said Lee Perry with Accessible Racing.As the company gets established and attracts more sponsors, Hanaford said he hopes to hold events in other parts of the country, including one at the Meadowlands.

His goal is to break barriers for people who don't usually have access to NASCAR racing or similar activities. "People who are unemployed or underemployed will have a chance to drive," he said. There will also be an effort to target veterans.

"We want to give them a little freedom, a little thank you," Hanaford said.