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The 2004 racing season was Hunt Motorsports� 4th year with
Todd Hunt as driver of the number 2 dirt late model. The team had great expectations for this year with a new race car
and a new motor. Many years of hard work was to finally pay off providing Todd with the best equipment. Excellent sponsorship,
including Realty Executives with Chris Breeden, Arrow Graphics, CB Racing Collectibles, Pritchard Woodworking, Weeks Racecars,
and JT�s Bunny Farm would provide the ongoing support throughout the year. After a long winter and long hours in the garage, the car
would make its debut on April 3 at Smoky Mountain Speedway. The original plan was to race at Bulls Gap, but they postponed their
first race so last minute plans took the team to the Mountain. It was a beautiful day with a cloudless sky and warm sunshine, but the
day would turn into a disastrous night at the track. Fate often changes plans and that is exactly what happened on this night and ultimately
this year. A fiery crash destroyed the car and came so close to taking Todd�s life. It would be difficult to walk away from the track that night
and not believe in God and miracles. Fortunately for Todd, Chris Breeden overlooked the danger to himself and pulled Todd from the burning
car. Then they sat and watched the fire burn the car to the ground. More was learned about racing in this one night than in the previous 3 years,
most importantly not to take track safety for granted. |
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The team also would learn in the following 24 hours that there are some really special people in racing.
There were at least 3 people who offered cars for Todd to drive until he could rebuild. The team did decide to accept the offer from Charlie Beasley of CB Racing
Collectibles to drive his car in the Sportsman Class, and are so thankful to him for his generosity. Although Todd�s Mom offered every bribe imaginable not to
race again, Todd climbed back behind the wheel on May 29th after 7 weeks of physical therapy on his legs. He had no hesitation about getting back in the car,
and on that night drove to a second place finish. The rest of the year would be spent driving at Atomic on Saturdays, Wartburg on Fridays, and at Spring City
on the days that Atomic did not run. Even though he was driving an 8 year old car, Todd had 7 pole positions, 4 wins, and 4 second places before blowing an
engine on August 14th to sideline him once again. So as it turned out even though the year began in a very sad, disheartening way, this year has been filled with
a lot of fun. In addition to all the time spent racing and maintaining this race car, the team has also been working on rebuilding a new car for next year. The hard
work of many friends, as well as the thoughts and prayers during the down time mean so much to this team. This has been a year of fun, a year of learning,
and definitely a year we will never forget. |
