R o d W i l l i f o r d R a c i n g
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R o d W i l l i f o r d R a c i n g
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This page is dedicated to the racing efforts of my nephew,
Rod, who drives the #15 car at the Senoia Speedway and Lanier Speedway in Georgia. Click on the thumbnail images at the left to see an enlarged view.
1991 - Continuing the tradition Rod's father, Sonny Williford, was already a successful car owner when Rod started driving his street stock car. As a car owner, Sonny had two championships at Senoia Speedway in Senoia, Ga. and one at the old Coweta County Speedway outside of Newnan, Ga. The Coweta Speedway Championship and one of the Senoia championships was with his #23 Camaro driven by Frankie Farmer in the Hobby Class. The second Senoia Speedway championship was with the #25 Pontiac Late Model Sportsman car driven by Rusty Clanton. Frankie won his Senoia championship while the track was still a dirt. Rusty won his on the new paved surface. Rusty's championship was not easily earned however. It took four days after the final event to be declared the champ after survivng a protest by the runner-up. 1991 - In the beginning... Rod entered the Street Stock division in 1991 driving a bright red Chevy Monte Carlo. Right off the line he showed he was a smart racer. Though the car was capable, he knew he had to learn how to race and drive on the tight, narrow and very fast 3/8 mile oval. Rod took his time, burned up some brakes at first, and had a few skirmishes as he gained confidence and in the end it paid off. He recorded his first win the last race of the 1991 season and won "Rookie of the Year" honors in his division at Senoia Speedway. 1992 - Enough playing now When the 1992 season began Rod felt he was ready to be competitive. He showed up at the track in another new bright red #15 Chevy Monte Carlo. He immediately set out to run for the championship and his performance showed he had been a good student in his rookie year. He recorded several wins and numerous top fives. Although on a smaller scale, he went on to mirror his hero, Dale Earnhardt, as he won the 1992 Senoia Street Stock Championship in only his second full year of competition. 1993 - Raising the bar The 1993 season started out as well as the '92 season ended. It seemed that Rod was going to go after his second straight championship. That was to come to a screeching halt on the backstretch. It was during this time that his most frightening crash to date occurred. In a heated battle for position his car and another competitor's car got together out of turn two. Rod's car slid up the track. Trying to catch the car he turned the wheel and the car over-corrected and aimed for the outside wall. He stuck the blunt end of the wall where the track entrance gate is with the right front of the car and the car went airborn and flipped about four times landing on it's wheels. Rod emerged from the car shaken and sore but otherwise unhurt. The car was demolished. In a true racer's fashion though, Rod borrowed a car from former Senoia street stock champion Benny Anthony and the next week drove Benny's #11A car to victory.
In the second half of the '93 season, Rod decided to look to a different track to further hone his racing skills. He looked to the Lanier Speedway in Gainsville, Ga. Rod had built a new car and hadn't even had it lettered yet but they fashioned a number 7 out of masking tape and put it on the track. Although he knew how to handle the car, Rod knew that this was a different track. It was wider than Senoia and the turns flatter, but that never slowed him down. He went straight out and won his first race at Lanier Speedway.
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