Jeff Agnew knows the competition at several local tracks. Matter of fact, that’s where he got his start, dominating many late model events over the years.
With Franklin County Speedway’s 50th Anniversary Reunion on the horizon, Jeff Agnew will be among many competitors pausing to reflect on their time at the historic three-eighths mile.
“That is exactly where it all started for me,” said the 52-year-old heavy equipment mechanic and 11-time racing champion. “We drug an old Camaro out of the junkyard, put a roll cage in and ran our first races there.”
During Agnew’s first full season at the high-banked asphalt oval, he won 14 races in the Family Car division at the wheel of a 1978 Chevy Monte Carlo. “It was painted exactly like Darrell Waltrip’s number 11 Budweiser car,” Agnew recalled. “That was a really fun time. Eventually, I did get to race against Darrell.”
Agnew got to mix it up with his boyhood hero when Promoter Whitey Taylor persuaded Waltrip to race a Late Model on the same night of an FCS appearance by his hottest rival at the time, Bobby Allison.
“I don’t think the fans will ever forget that night and neither will I,” Agnew reminisced. “I out-qualified Bobby Allison and got to trade a bunch of paint with both of them that night. I was a young dude and it was pretty darn cool to be running up there with two NASCAR Cup Series champions.”
However, there was no storybook ending for Agnew that night. In fact, he has yet to taste victory in a Late Model car at Franklin County Speedway. “We had a fast enough car and was up front a few times,” he said, “but we would get a flat tire or something. It was just bad luck I guess.”
Agnew did manage to find a lot of Late Model success in the region, capturing four track titles at Motor Mile Speedway and two each at Lonesome Pine Raceway and Kingsport (TN).
“I’ve always been a big believer of moving up or moving out,” said Agnew. “So after winning a lot of races locally, we started looking for something new.”
Agnew and car owner Eddie Asbury found it in the (now defunct) Hooters Pro Cup Series, created in memory of Hooters CEO Bob Brooks and NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki and two others who died in a 1993 plane crash.
“It was the best of both worlds,” said Agnew. “I got to travel around to all of these new tracks and do it with my friends on the crew from back home. It was a neat deal for sure.”
Agnew parlayed 11 top five finishes in 20 starts into both the “Rookie of the Year” title and series championship during the 1998 Hooter Cup season.
“My first Hooters Cup championship was the best one,” Agnew declared. “The level of competition was so good and there were so many good race teams that year. You had to really be on top of your game.”
The series was so popular, it was televised on Speed Channel and split into a Northern and Southern division for 10 years. “We ran the Northern part of the deal for several years and won that 2003 championship too,” said Agnew.
Agnew won the 2011 Pro Cup title and ended his career in the series with 20 victories and 97 top five finishes in 237 starts. The series lost its title sponsor and eventually its television package before morphing into what is now the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Tour for Late Model Stock Cars.
Onward and upward, Agnew ventured into the deeper waters of the NASCAR Truck Series, entering 29 races from 2011 to 2013. His best finish in truck racing was 14th at Martinsville in 2011.
“I was having to re-learn how to drive,” Agnew lamented. “The trucks had a completely different feel from anything I had driven before. The radial tires and the airflow always made it feel like the back end was coming out from under you. We were on a stricter budget than some teams, too.”
He added: “I can understand why the car owners are getting these young kids now and moving them up as fast as possible. Not much of what you learn in Late Models translates into that level.”
Agnew said the slow, steady demise of the coal industry in West Virginia led to his truck series starts coming to a halt in 2013. “My car owner just had to scale things back,” he explained. “He (Asbury) has been really good to me and kept me working, even during the real lean times. We’ve kicked around running a few races again, so we’ll see what happens.”
A return to Late Model racing, Agnew said, is not likely. “I just don’t see myself doing that,” he said. “I would have to re-learn how to drive again. All of it has changed so much since I drove them.”
Agnew does plan to participate in the May 5 reunion of former competitors at Franklin County Speedway. “Back in the day, FCS was a great place to race for me. It has enough banking where you can run the car hard and know it will stick. I hope the fans will come out and support Franklin County’s 50th season. It is going be fun running into people you haven’t seen in a long time.”
A propensity for avoiding the limelight, Agnew explained, may have hurt his popularity as he worked his way up the ladder of the sport.
“I was always shy in front of the cameras and microphones,” he explained. “I hated to be that way, just backwards I guess. When I put that helmet on, I felt like I was by myself out there. When the race was over, I was ready to quietly slip out and just go home.”
He added: “Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate all the fans over the years. I have met a lot of great people. Seeing my friends and the fans in racing is the part I miss most. It’s cool to hang out with people who love the same thing you do.”
— Franklin County Speedway
