Woods began racing ATV 4-wheelers when he was just 6 years old before switching to racing motocross bikes for a few years. From the age of 9 until 14, he raced go-karts with much success in winning track titles at Beechnut Raceway, with one World Karting Association national victory and a Tennessee State WKA championship.
Getting behind the wheel of a Legends car in 2010, Woods recorded one victory. During the ’10 season and also in 2011, he competed in both the Summer Shootout Series and Winter Shootout Series events at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
The ’11 racing campaign could be described in one word – “phenomenal” – for Woods, as he captured 26 Legends feature race wins and track championships at both Kingsport Speedway and Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va. He also visited victory lane at Newport (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and captured the Tennessee State Young Lions Division Legends championship, while also finishing ninth nationally in Young Lions points.
Tommy Woods (Hayden’s father) and Hayden’s racing mentor, Phil Tuell, felt with the teenager’s accomplishments last season, the time was right to make the move and race a Late Model Stock.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Providence Academy in Johnson City caught the attention of longtime racing veterans during preseason testing as he quickly adapted to chauffeuring the Late Model Stock. In his first-ever start, Woods brought the car home to a very solid eighth-place finish from the field of 22 starters. Through the first seven events, Woods has recorded five top-10 and two top-five finishes, plus earned one pole award.
Setting goals of finishing top-eight in the track point standings, winning at least one feature race and capturing at least one fast-qualifier pole award, Woods is well on his way to accomplishing those goals. Entering the Friday, May 18 racing program at the .375-mile banked concrete oval in the Model City, Woods sits sixth in the track point standings. Even more impressively, in the current national NASCAR Whelen All-American Series standings he ranks 39th, and leads both the Tennessee state and national Rookie of the Year point standings. NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national top-500 driver point standings can be viewed at http://hometracks.nascar.com/node/228.
Woods is only 13 points out of fourth-place in the track standings, and if he hadn’t suffered two consecutive DNF’s (Did Not Finish) due to wrecks, he’d be trailing only Nate Monteith, Daniel Pope II and Zeke Shell in points.
“Yeah, we definitely had a couple of bad races in a row there to end the month of April,” said Woods while shaking his head with a sly grin across his face. “The first wreck we had, the throttle (accelerator) hung wide-open at end of the front straightaway and we slammed the outside concrete wall very hard, destroying the car and banging me up pretty good in the process. And then the second deal when we got our car torn-up, it wasn’t our fault. We just got run over by a veteran racer who, I guess was just frustrated because he’d gotten spun-out earlier in the race while leading. As he was working his way back up through the field, when he attempted to pass he just ran all over me and in turn took both of us out of the race. His actions tore two good race cars up.
“So it goes without saying, those two DNF’s have hurt us points-wise and it definitely meant a lot of work back at the shop. Our race team, we just chalked those two nights at the track up to ‘bad circumstances’ and focused on the events ahead on our schedule. Things are going to happen when you drive a race car, and a lot of times what happens is out of your control. You’ve just got to suck it up and come back more determined to get the results you know you’re capable of. And our race team, we’re not going to back down from a challenge.”
One big factor for the good runs that Woods has experienced to this point can be attributed to crew chief Kirby Gobble. Gobble’s been around racing for many years, both driving race cars and working on them. He headed the racing efforts in 2011 for Kingsport Speedway and also Tennessee State NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Nate Monteith, before moving over to Hayden Woods Racing during the winter off-season.
“Oh yeah, having Kirby (Gobble) as my crew chief and working on the car back at the shop during the week, it’s greatly helped speed up my learning curve just from the standpoint of getting me comfortable in driving the Late Model Stock,” Woods said from his family-owned race team’s shop. “His knowledge and overall understanding of what will and won’t work on the race car, it’s such a tremendous plus in helping me develop as a race car driver. With me being a rookie, I’ve really relied on what Kirby’s telling me about how I need to drive the car. He’ll tell me what changes to the chassis he’s making and when I go out on the track to practice, I can feel by how the car drives what he’s done.
“There’s a big difference between racing a Legends car and a Late Model Stock. But, I will say, I truly believe that from driving a Legends car it helped lay the groundwork for helping make the transition over to driving the Late Model Stock go smoother. The deal with Kirby, though, he just knows from all his many years around racing what adjustments he needs to make on the car to help make it drive better.”
It’s been said in racing that sometimes you can slow down and in turn go faster. Gobble and crew know in Woods they’ve got a hard-charger behind the wheel and at times they need to pull the reins back on the young speedster.
“I can’t wait from the moment one race night is over until we get back to the track for the next race, or even when we go to practice,” Woods stated. “You just run laps over and over in your head from the most recent race, thinking what you could have done different. With me being young and after winning all the Legends races last year, yeah, I might be getting a little impatient and wanting to hurry and get a win.
“But you’ve just got to look at the top-caliber field of drivers that line up each Friday for the Late Model Stock feature and you know you’re racing against some of the best racers’ in the business. I’ve got great confidence in all the guys on the race team, and I know they also have confidence in my driving ability. I just want to run well for them and also my family and friends who support me every Friday night up in the grandstands at the track.”
Tommy Woods heads up Hayden Woods Racing, with Tuell serving as mentor and spotter on race night, and Gobble calls the shots in the pits. Also on the crew are David Roope, Blake Thompson, Cody Johnson, Joey Walton, Zack Walton and Joshua Gobble.
Hayden is getting the job done behind the wheel of the Roadrunner Markets, Murphy Inc., Turbo Blue Race Fuel, Bobby Myers Performance Automotive, Townsend Race Cars, No. 87 Ford Fusion – and it’s only a matter of time before he parks the ride in victory lane at Kingsport Speedway.
To contact Hayden Woods Racing, you may reach Tommy Woods at (423) 946-3188.
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Press Release Prepared By:
Walden Motorsports Communications
Johnson City, TN
(423) 928-9644
