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RACING
NEWS
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| Kevin Powells Goal: Get on the list |  by Skip Wall
A new motorcycle business has taken away a lot of his time away from the track, however Winston Salem’s Kevin Powell has one thing that really eludes him. A victory in the Bowman Gray Stadiums elite weekly Modified Series.
Powell has been running the weekly shows, along with the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Series, the ASA Southern Series, for a couple of years now.
When you talk racing with Powell, one can tell that his goal is to get among the elite drivers who have won at the stadium since the stadium started in 1949. It’s a whos who list among that list of top NASCAR stars from past and present that makes the stadium the most exciting of them all and the best attended short track in America.
Powell drives cars prepared by stadium pro, Johnny Johnson. Johnson knows a thing or two about the stadium. He won 39 career races and a track championship from 1984.
“Johnny has taught me a lot about good wholesome clean racing. He has also taught me a lot off the track too” says Powell of Johnson. “He has really accelerated my learning curve as a driver.”
Since Powell has been running the stadium as a regular, he has competed in 65-70 races now and says its taken that long to get to where he now thinks he has a chance to win.
In fact at the last 100 lap race at the stadium Powell was reeling in the leaders after saving his car for the end. He was running second with less than 12 laps to go when he got caught up in an accident.
“Im where I want to be, whether its now or in three years” says Powell in talking about racing.
Powell owns a family business, Foothills Ford, that backs his racing efforts along with other racing related sponsorships of other series such as the East Coast Flatheads Series. Along with this, Powell has a marketing plan to back up what he does in racing, and to promote his business.
Powell will tell you that his main goal right now is to get on the win list at the stadium.
“That win list is such a whos who list. It’s always been a dream to get added to that list. This stadium is so full of heritage that I have to get my name on there” he says.
Powell is well liked and respected among the stadiums pros. Recent winner Chris Fleming had nothing but praise for Powell. “He and I sell some cars together but when he is on the track he races you clean. I have fun with him on the track. And over at the stadium it’s hard to race clean with some of these guys.”
Its people like Kevin Powell that makes racing what it is sometimes. An expensive sport, Powell puts back into the sport with what he gets out of it.
He knows a win is just right around the corner. He wants to do what Johnny Johnson did when he retired last year. He wants to plant his bumper against the stadium guardrail and melt the rubber down and then do a burn out.
One could imagine that the night Kevin Powell wins a race at the stadium that the price of Fords will be cheap on Monday morning at Foothills Ford.
Another thing that we can say for sure is that Powell has a passion for Bowman Gray Stadium and its rich heritage.
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