Back in 1981, there was a young rookie motorsports writer named Randy King assigned to cover the full Cup circuit for his newspaper, The Roanoke (Virginia) Times and World News . Randy had taken over the beat from Steve Waid, who was moving on to a new motorsports publication named Grand National Scene . Owner, Rob Griggs and his friend, Gary McCredie had moved to Charlotte from Alabama to open that fledging publication.
Randy was a heck of a nice guy who good naturedly took much hazing from figures like Waid, Tom Higgins, Joe Whitlock and other veterans of motorsports journalism.
In the early 80s, Landmark Publications, which owned the Roanoke, Greensboro and Norfolk papers, decided to hire one individual, Bob Zeller, to cover motorsports for all three of its papers, displacing both Randy King and award winning Frank Vehorn.
I hadn't heard Randy King's name in years and was very pleasantly surprised today to read a really nice story he wrote for the Roanoke paper about Todd Bodine.
Unbeknownst to Randy, or many others in the racing community, Todd moved with his family to Virginia after his father sold off their Chemung, New York area race track and was hired by Virginia Modified standout, Satch Worley to help him construct Log Cabin Raceway, an awesome Virginia dirt track near Rocky Mount that once hosted $100,000 to win races on Martinsville Cup weekends. Todd's father was hired because Satch and Todd's older brother, Geoff(rey) were friends.
Thus, Todd, whose other brother Brett has also been a NASCAR driver, spent his final two years at Franklin County, Virginia High School where he graduated.
Randy King stumbled upon this fact in Roanoke this past week while interviewing Todd, who is scheduled to make his 775th NASCAR start this weekend at Martinsville.
I hope you enjoy Randy's story. It was enjoyable to see his by-line on a motorsports story again after a 30-some year absence.
Franklin County grad has family's lead foot
Todd Bodine, who spent his junior and senior years at Franklin County High, looks to equal his brothers' success with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.
By Randy King
Roanoke Times & World News
Todd Bodine, nicknamed Onion, will makes his 775th career NASCAR start Saturday. Martinsville is his familys second home track.
Associated Press
For all you gearheads out there, here's today's auto racing trivia question of the day: Name the Timesland high school graduate who has been driving for most of the past 26 years on one of NASCAR's three major touring series?
Say what? Talk about a little-known fact.
All right, here's a helper clue: He will be making his 775th career NASCAR start in Saturday's Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
Tick, tock, tick, tock ... the buzzer sounds.
"Not many people around here probably know it, but I actually spent my junior and senior years at Franklin County High and graduated in 1982,'' 48-year-old Todd Bodine revealed to a stunned writer Wednesday at a media luncheon held at Roanoke's Corned Beef & Co.
"So, yeah, I'm a Franklin County graduate. I haven't been back, no. Being there for two years you don't really make a lot of close friends. But every once in a while at the races, I will see some friends that went there with me and they'll say, 'hey.'
"It was a good place to be. It would have been a nice place to grow up. It was a neat experience. I love Virginia, I love the countryside, the people are always nice. So every time I cross the border into Virginia, I always feel like I'm back at my second home.''
Strong words coming from a Yankee. Sure, there's plenty of retired northern transplants nowadays in the county's Smith Mountain Lake retreat area, but there can't be but a handful of New York natives who moved south and eventually received their high school diploma in Rocky Mount.
Of course, Bodine and the Franklin County folks each have one strong bond in common. They both love their racing.
"That's how I ended up in Franklin County,'' Bodine said. "[Donald] 'Satch'' Worley, the longtime modified driver from down there, was good friends with my brother, Geoff. And when he and his father started building Log Cabin Raceway [in 1981], they knew that my dad [Eli] had sold our family racetrack back home in Chemung [N.Y.]. So they hired my father to help them build it and help them run it. And my dad and I lived right there in that little barn near the track.''
The dirt track never lived up to its long-term promise, however, and eventually was shut down due to financials that were colored the same shade as its red clay base.
"It's a shame because it was a beautiful racetrack,'' Bodine said. "It's all grown up there now. I actually never saw a race on it.''
He's seen a bunch of races since, though, from the driver's seat. After graduating from Franklin County, Bodine moved back to the New England area to start his driving career in the Modified division.
The rest is history. Following his older brothers, Geoff and Brett, Bodine has made a nice living with some $5.5 million in NASCAR earnings. Geoff, 63, won 24 races - 18 Cup series, including the 1986 Daytona 500, and six Nationwide races. Brett, 53, won six races (one Cup, five Nationwide).
Meanwhile, little brother is still going strong. Todd has never won a Cup race in 241 starts, but his 37 NASCAR victories (22 Truck, 15 Nationwide) leads the family of leadfoots.
Now comes Martinsville. Geoff won 13 times - four Cup, seven Modified, two Nationwide - on the .525-mile bull ring. Brett owns four wins - two Nationwide, two Modified - on NASCAR's oldest track. Little brother, nicknamed "Onion" for his bald head, remains 0-for-forever at the Henry County short track.
"I hope this is my year,'' said Bodine, whose two titles in the Truck Series (2006 and '10) are two more NASCAR crowns than his brothers won combined. "I've come close ... I've had a lot of seconds and thirds, and a lot of top-fives."Man, I really want to get one there. I've been going to Martinsville since I was 8 years old, watching Geoff and Brett, and I've changed tires on pit road there. For our family, it's our second home track. Watkins Glen is our home track, that's where we were born and raised. Our parents loved coming to Martinsville. There's a lot of history for us there.''
Bodine, who is the second-oldest driver behind 52-year-old Ron Hornaday in the truck ranks, would like nothing more than to fill out the Bodine family victory tree at Martinsville before he's done behind the wheel. He posted his last win at Dover in June for his Red Horse Racing Toyota team, which is owned by retired Mobil Oil executive Tom DeLoach and by NASCAR television commentator Jeff Hammond.
"As long as you still have the passion and drive, and still have reflexes and everything to go with it, you can still do it for a long time,'' said Bodine, who is the only driver in history to start more than 200 races in all three major touring series.
"I'm 48 and I would like to go for another 10 to 12 years. I can go to 60, yeah! It's all about having fun and enjoying it. When it gets not to be fun, it's a different story.''
Until then, there's one script that Todd Bodine desperately wants to be cast in the lead role.
"Win at Martinsville ... now that would be a great story, for sure,'' a grinning Bodine said. "Yeah, I would love to have you guys writing that one come Saturday.''
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/16/16 07:54:05AM