DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Racing a 3,300-pound stock car around a tight short track sometimes involves a little pushing and shoving. That is nothing new to Gene Woods (No. 7 Circle K/Monster Energy Drinks Dodge). In the past, he did it on two wheels.
Woods raced speedway motorcycles for 14 years, winning three U.S. Open National Championships along the way. He says there is a definite comparison between that form of competition and racing stock cars on a short track.
"The competition level is every bit as intense on a speedway bike as it is in a stock car," Woods said. "There's a lot of bumping and shoving and pushing, but usually when you bump somebody on a speedway bike you end up on the ground. That's the main difference."
Woods and his competition in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series will be in action on the quarter-mile oval at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway on Saturday, May 29, for the Havoline/NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Stockton 99 Speedway Dodge Country.
The event is the first of six consecutive short track races on this year's schedule. Woods, who notched his first career top-10 finish at Stockton in 2002 and scored his only top-five finishes last year on short tracks, considers that teams on a tight budget such as his have their best opportunity to do well on a short track.
"You don't need as much horsepower on the little short tracks," he said. "You're probably at an advantage if you don't have as much because you don't spin the tires. You work more on getting the car set up and driving it."
Motor sports has been a lifelong passion for Woods, who followed his older brother into racing. "My brother is 10 years older than I am and he started racing mini bikes when I was about 4 or 5 years old," Woods recalled. "By the time I was 8 or 9 years old I was Honda's test rider for a majority of the mini bikes. Jeff Ward and I were actually Honda's first factory riders. They sponsored a mini bike program.
"It kind of evolved from there," he continued. "I rode a little bit of motocross and then raced snowmobiles and just about anything. We even raced ATVs. Anything we could race, we raced. I even got a chance to drive the King Cobra Monster Truck in a series a few years back. I'm not really stuck in one thing."
"I raced speedway motorcycles the most," Woods said. "That was probably the most lucrative form of racing for me. It was definitely the most exciting, because we raced on an international level. It was really a neat part of my growing up. I got to see most of the world racing motorcycles. It was really an experience for me - on top of being able to make a pretty good living at it."
Woods also raced sprint cars. Now at the age of 46, however, he opts to focus on stock car racing. "I really like NASCAR, especially for where I am at in my career," he said. "I think racing stock cars fits real well for someone with the background I have and the age I am. I figure I've got at least another 10 years of racing in me. I'm too old to race motorcycles. The recovery time is a little longer now. That's one reason I chose stock cars."
Now in his second full season in the West Series, Woods admits the transition to the 3,300-pound stock cars took some adjustment. "Most of my race car experience was in sprint cars and on dirt," the Ontario, Calif., driver said. "Other than a stock car having a steering wheel and four tires, there's not a lot that relates to a sprint car - because the sprint car makes so much horsepower and they're so light. The stock car really takes patience. You really have to be patient with the car. You can't hustle them, like you can a sprint car or motorcycle. It's more of a thinking man's game."
