ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: community sports
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
They spend long hours in the garage repairing sheet metal and meticulously modifying the most minute engine parts, often forsaking sleep and proper nourishment.
What an outsider may perceive as drudgery, many race car drivers consider labors of love. Not so for another part of the job, though.
A significant number of drivers admit the most distasteful part of the sport for them is public appearances, most particularly those involving product plugs for a sponsor.
For New River Valley Speedway Late Model Stock driver Jerry Godbey, public appearances with his 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix race car are nothing more than child's play.
Godbey will make an appearance at Christiansburg's Methodist Preschool Thursday morning in an event the school is calling "Red Race Car Day." For Godbey, the showing marks the second year in a row he has appeared at the school for 3-5-year-old children and his fourth year of entertaining area children.
"It's such a big thrill to take the car and show it to kids," Godbey said. "I get a real kick out of watching them look at the car and ask me questions about it. They're thrilled to death."
Much to Godbey's surprise, the queries from his young audience were similar to the ones he fields from seasoned racing fans.
"You go to see the kids and you expect to get a bunch of questions kids that age would ask," Godbey said. "The questions I got that really surprised me ... they wanted to know things like: 'How to get on a pit crew?' ; 'What a pit crew does?', 'What size engine was in my car?'."
As the father of an 8-year old son, William "Billy" Paul Godbey, Godbey has seen first hand just how impressionable and inquisitive a young mind can be. Because of that, Godbey says he understands the importance of drivers showing concern for their community, particularly with regard to children.
"My son is more interested in dinosaurs right now than race cars, but I've tried very hard to get him interested in cars," Godbey said. "In fact, my Late Model race car's registration lists him as a co-owner. That car is for him. I race for him.
"It's important that drivers get involved, both for themselves and their sponsors. It shows they care. Karen Shelton, who used to drive at New River [Valley Speedway] and Lonesome Pine [International Speedway], used to do this and she told me how much fun it was. She got me started in showing the car to children, and it's been a blast ever since."
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB