SpeedCouch.com The view from my couch Jeff Agnew - Virginia is For Racers! by Cheryl Lauer June 7, 2006
The next time we saw Jeff race live was at Jennerstown Speedway in July 2001. We’d already realized what a talented driver he was from watching him race on TV over the previous year. But during this particular race, we watched as he and a 16-year-old Brian Vickers raced side by side for much of the race. In the end, Agnew edged Vickers for the win, with a daring pass in turn three on the last lap. His skill in a race car impressed me a lot, so I began watching him even closer after that.
Jeff sheepishly told me he was a “late bloomer,” not getting into a stock car until the ripe old age of nineteen. Before that, he’d driven motorcycles a bit when he was younger. His father owned a junkyard in his hometown of Floyd, Virginia, and Jeff says he “threw together” an old junked car to enter in the Family Division at Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Virginia. He explained it was pretty easy as all you had to do was put some roll bars in the car and then race. He said they had a lot of fun doing this and, after just two years, he moved up to the Late Model Division at Franklin County, and later began racing at Pulaski County Speedway (the site of today’s Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, VA).
Jeff was very modest when discussing his sixteen or so years running Late Models, saying, “we had some success there.” After checking some old NASCAR Preview and Press Guides, I found some very impressive statistics concerning Jeff’s success in Late Models and the Winston Racing Series. He finished 10th in points in 1989 at Pulaski and 50th in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Winston Racing Series. Every year from that point on, Jeff improved significantly. In 1990, he finished 2nd in the Late Model points at Pulaski, and 19th in the Region, and went on to win the Late Model Track Championship at Pulaski and Lonesome Pine Raceway, in Coeburn, VA, in 1991. These accomplishments placed him 9th in the Winston Racing Mid-Atlantic Region for that year.
During his late model years, Jeff told me he drove his own car some of the time and also drove for car owner, Clarence Pickrell, and others. In 1998, Jeff met Eddie Asbury, his current car owner and the two made plans to enter USAR that year. While Jeff did not win a race in 1998, he ran consistently enough to win the championship, with a season-best finish of 2nd place in a race that year. Surprisingly, Agnew’s first win in USAR did not occur until the Greenville-Pickens Race in 2000.
To put a punctuation mark on his success in USAR, Jeff and his team finally found victory lane in their home state of Virginia, winning at Lonesome Pine Raceway in April of this year. Jeff and Doug feel the team has gotten off to a very strong start this season with that early win and they currently sit second in the Northern Division points behind Benny Gordon, the 2005 USAR Series Champion. After following the 73 team’s success since 2000, I was fortunate enough to meet some of the members of the crew a few years ago. You won’t find friendlier or harder working guys than Team 7 Motorsports; many who have been with Doug and Jeff for a long time. Over the years, I’ve become friends with Jeff “Bodean” Tramel who serves as jackman, and his wife, Paulette, who serves as the team manager and scorer. Also, Ebby Price, the team’s transporter driver and who mans the pit board, as well as Kenton Sandifer, who shares transporter driving duties and is the team gasman. Crew chief, Doug Weddle doubles as rear tire changer on race day along with Tracy “Tater” Thompson who changes front tires. Ricky Vance and Jody Harris are the team tire carriers. Bobby “Bubba” Martin and Jeff’s dad, Jim, serve as spotters for the team. Rita Money is the team secretary and Andy Fry handles Public Relations for Team 7. Long time racing veteran crew chief, Elvin Rector, joined the team as a consultant in 2005 and his experience has only added to the strength of the team.
When I asked Jeff about his aspirations to move up to the NASCAR truck or the Busch Series, he explained that has been “a lifetime dream” of his, but he’s realistic enough to know that it’s harder to move up once you hit 40. I’ve also never met a more laidback or friendly bunch of guys than Jeff’s crew. While they may give the impression they aren’t working as hard as some of the teams around them, the truth is Team 7 Motorsports does a lot of the work on their cars before they get to the track. Unlike a lot of other teams who are thrashing on their cars from the time they unload until race time, the 73 team comes prepared and has their act together before they get to the track. Doug Weddle, back to police work when he’s not racing, comes across very serious in the garage area, but that intensity helps to bring out the best in his crew. When you take the time to get to know Doug, you’ll find him to be a very friendly and helpful guy. But when it comes time to be serious and get ready to race, he and the team are all business and it shows with the results they’ve achieved over the years. If it hadn’t been for fluke mechanical failures or getting collected in other people’s accidents, the 73 team would surely have 3-4 more wins in each of the last few years. With the exception of a rear-end failure at the recent Jennerstown race, Agnew and the 73 team have been extremely consistent in every race this season. Jeff finished 4th at the season-opener at South Boston, won at Lonesome Pine, finished 2nd at the inaugural race at Shenandoah Speedway, and posted a 3rd place finish at Kil-Kare Speedway. With this fast start to the 2006 season, the 73 team looks to be off to their best start in a very long time. Now if they could just decide if they’re running a Pontiac, Chevrolet or Ford! Whenever we go to the tracks near Jeff hometown, Motor Mile and Lonesome Pine, you’ll be sure to see a lot of fans wearing Jeff Agnew #73 shirts! He and the team have earned their respect over the years. When he won at Lonesome Pine back in April, it was so much fun to be sitting among a partisan crowd cheering him on as he raced from the last starting position to take the lead, and then back to the front from 13th position after pitting. As always, I wish Jeff Agnew and his team continued success and good luck at the Mansfield race this week and throughout the 2006 USAR season! I’ve never met a nicer bunch of guys who deserve another championship. They are living proof that Virginia IS for Racers!
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