Ricky Weeks: Q & A About His Career and Upcoming Induction into the 2024 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame

Ricky Weeks: Q & A About His Career and Upcoming Induction into the 2024 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame

By Rhonda Beck, WISNC Creations/BeckRacingMedia

8-4-2024

Ricky Weeks says he isn’t sure where he got his nickname “The Rutherfordton Rocket.” But from the early 1980s until his retirement in 2020, the super late model driver from Rutherfordton, N.C. became known for his regional dominance in the Southeast, particularly in the Carolinas. He grew up watching and competing against other NDLMHOF members like Freddy Smith and Mike Duvall. He also enjoyed watching or racing against dirt late model icons like Jeff Purvis, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Scott and Chuck Piazza.

Weeks was born on September 13,1959 to Rupert and Peggy Weeks of Rutherfordton, N.C. He graduated from R-S Central High School and started working part-time at Parton Lumber Company in 1977 when he was 18 years old. The company became one of his well-known sponsors over the years. His motorsports career began after he found a 1962 Nova in the brush with a tree growing out of the shifter hole. He started in the Street Stock division competing at various tracks like Harris Speedway in Rutherfordton, N.C. and Riverside. He went on to become a 7-time Cherokee Speedway late model track champion with over 100 wins and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He also won championships at I85 in Limiteds and at Harris in Street Stocks.

In 2000 a new super late model series called the Carolina Clash was started by Larry Lee and Weeks became a 5-time champion of the regional touring series, winning it in consecutive years from 2004-2008. He also won the Clash South Championship in 2010. This year, the Carolina Clash is celebrating its 25th Year anniversary; Weeks was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2015. He has 37 series wins and is currently second on the all-time list behind Dennis “Rambo” Franklin. He joins fellow Carolina Clash Champion Ed Gibbons, Jr. as a member of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. Gibbons was inducted in 2016.

Weeks recently talked more about his career highlights and all those who helped him along the way.

RB: Ricky, congrats on your upcoming induction into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in August. You’ve had a great career in dirt late model racing, especially in the Southeast, and won five consecutive Carolina Clash Super Late Model championships. ?So you started racing in an old Nova that you found in the brush somewhere?

RW: Actually, it was a ’62 model Nova and yes, when I found it, it was in a junkyard. It had a tree growing up through the shifter hole and we had to cut the tree before we could get the car out. But we called it our bush car.

RB: Was that near where you live?

RW: It was in the Ellenboro area, close to Rutherfordton. N.C. It was kind of on the edge of the Rutherford County limits there.

RB: You were born in Rutherfordton and have had a lifelong career working at the Parton Lumber Company. Did you have any specific jobs you’ve done there over the years?

RW: I started on the clean-up crew. It was part-time in high school. Then I moved to the Debarker when I got out of high school, and now I’m a Superintendent. They’ve been good to me, and they also sponsored my racecar ever since I started. So that was nice also.

RB: You’ve raced at a lot at places in the Carolinas, like Thunder Valley and Harris and Cherokee. Where was your first actual race and what kind of car was it in?

RW: My first race was at Harris, which at that time I think they called Tri Cities Speedway. But it’s still Harris and it was in that ’62 Nova.

RB: Do you know the first race you won in any division?

RW: Ah, yes. The first race I won was the second year that I raced. They outlawed that Nova, and I ended up with a ’66 Chevelle, which was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because it was twice as good a car and I won the second year I raced at Tri Cities.

RB: And then did you just slowly add in different tracks, like Cherokee Speedway? What division did you race in there?

RW: When I first started going to Cherokee, it was called Limited Late Models. They’ve changed all the names with the cars now, but then that was wedge cars when we started running limited late models.

RB: What year did you get your first win?

RW: Like 1983.

RB: You said you just started hearing your nickname “The Rutherfordton Rocket” at races. Was that early on and do you know exactly how you got it?

RW: Yeah, it was pretty early. I mean, I’m not sure that Duck at Duck Graphics didn’t give me that name, but I can’t honestly say. But it stuck, you know. But he might have did it when we was doing some shirts or something.

RB: Sure. What were some of your car numbers over the years? Many fans know you for running the number 1 with the Carolina Clash.

RW: When I first started, I run 62, which was my football number when I played football in high school. I ran 62 ‘til I switched over to running limited late models and then I changed over to number 1.

RB: And you chose that number just because?

RW: Actually, I chose it because my best friend Scott Hughes said, “You need to go to number 1 because that’s what you’re going to be.” I said, “That sounds good to me.” So that’s what we went with.

RB: Your first Carolina Clash win was at Thunder Valley Speedway in Lawndale, N.C. on September 28, 2001. This year the series is celebrating their 25th Anniversary. Anything to say about them and having been a five-time champion with the series?

RW: Of course, I think it’s awesome that it’s still going on for 25 years. To be honest with you, I don’t know how long it had been going on when I started racing it, but I don’t think it had been going on too long. But myself and my crew and family have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Clash. It’s definitely a really good working man series, in my opinion.

RB: As far as other Carolina Clash victories, you won the Shrine 100 and the Skyler Trull Memorial. Were there any favorite Carolina Clash wins or other series wins that you had?

RW: Well, I mean all of them was my favorite. Anytime you was winning, it was fun. But naturally, the Skyler Trull races was probably the biggest wins of my career as far as how much it paid. One year we got a boatload of money. It was also great to win the Stick Elliott Memorial and the Hav-A-Tampa series races at Cherokee Speedway. The Hav-A-Tampa was $10,000 to win, and we were just about broke when we won that thing. So that was a saving grace, of course. But I’d say the Skyler Trull race at Cherokee Speedway was one of the best ones that I think that I ever remember. They had all of this bonus money and pole money and any kind of money you can think of, and I got it all. I also won that race at Carolina Speedway.

RB: You’re second on the all-time Carolina Clash wins list. Obviously, you have five consecutive championships. You had 37 wins and Rambo has the most. Anything to say about your competition over the years?

RW: We used to have a lot of cars. Man, I mean, it’s not how the cars have fell off as far as car count--the cars they have now still are really good cars; can’t take that away from them, by no means—but I feel like we had a lot larger car count back then. The price of racing has kind of pushed a lot of people out. But the cars that are still here are really good cars. You would like to see the pay increase, but they’ve really done good to keep the thing around for 25 years.

RB: And you liked the Clash staff and crew?

RW: Oh, absolutely. I mean Larry Lee was first class--and Larry Long too. But Larry Lee was definitely a first-class dude. Early in this thing he was really pumping a lot of money in it of his own and really making it a big deal for working man to run that series. When I won the championships, we had our banquets at the Speedway Club, and I tell you, that’s a big deal. They made that really special. But of course, I’m sure due to the cost of things, they had to pull away from that. But it was really special. It really was.

RB: Some of the more recent leaders were with the series for a while and you’ve known them well, like now owner Marion Limbaugh, past owner Bruce Arrants, and current series director Joey Chapman. Others like Spud Bennett and Jim Long, Jr. went on to be involved with series like the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models and the Steel Block Bandits Dirt Late Model Challenge. The Clash has had many dedicated officials, announcers like Mark Huey, photographers like Larrie Ervin and Kenny Conyers, and more. I saw a lot of Clash races back when Clint Elkins and Mark Gibbons were promoting tracks like Carolina Speedway. And current promoters and announcers like David Mitchell and Kipp Thompson of Fayetteville really support the series.

RW: Yeah, have worked with them and been around them for years. They all are dedicated to the sport and have done a good job.

RB: Besides the Clash, you said some of your favorite wins in other series were with Hav-A-Tampa, correct? ?Both of those were at Cherokee Speedway in 1990 and 1993.

RW: They were at Cherokee because at that time I didn’t hardly race anywhere else. That was pretty much where I raced the whole time and people got to talking junk about me, how I was a one-track wonder. So I told my dad we was going to have to travel some. The only reason I stayed there all the time was because of my job. But we decided to hit the road and the rest is history.

RB: What were some of your favorite tracks in the Carolinas as well as in other states?

RW: I always loved bigger racetracks. I loved the Gaffney track when it was big. I loved Wytheville. I loved Lancaster. And of course, I have to throw in my local track here—Harris. I’ve always run really good at this place no matter what division, so of course I love that place too. And I’ve got to say a shout-out to 311 Speedway. Back when 311 was really going good, I loved going up there too because I was driving for the Fullers then at Mike Fulp’s track. We’d take a super late model and a limited late model, and we’d win both classes. So got pictures with both cars in victory lane, which was cool.

RB: You’ve had a lot of support and worked with some very influential professionals in the dirt racing arena through the years. One of them was Barry Wright. How did he help you?

RW: Barry Wright was one of the first ones that when I had a really good late model car--a limited; I actually bought it from Johnny Hightower--it was a Barry Wright car. And Barry was extremely helpful. He treated me and my dad like he had known us all our lives and he really taught me a lot about racing. Barry is a smart dude. He really, really helped me at that time of my racing career. I owe a lot to him as far as my success, because he taught me what it took to fix those types of cars and things. And, of course, my dad taught me what it took to win. ?I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Barry.

RB: This year there were a bunch of things discussed about policing the tires and how series work regarding that. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot through the years and said Barry had something to say about that too.

RW: Yeah, I came up through racing where you didn’t have to worry about tires and things like that for a long, long time. And, of course, anytime technology gets involved with racing or anything else as far as that goes, it makes the cost go up. And there’s nothing wrong with technology. I’m not trying to say that, but then you’ve got these companies that are constantly trying to find some way that you can treat your tires. ‘Cause like Barry Wright told me one time, “Tires are the last thing to touch the ground. And if you want to be fast, you’ve got to have those right.” I think he’s right, 100%. But we live in the day now where you’ve got to have great shocks too. But that being said, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve come up on the wrong side of that tire thing. I know for a fact we wasn’t doing anything to ours when I got throwed out. But that was at the very beginning of it, and I just chalked it up because everybody was going through a learning curve, and they just didn’t know no better. That’s what I’ve had to live with in my mind. But I’m not going to sit here and say those guys were wrong and I’m not going to say that anybody that’s ever been caught wasn’t wrong. Because from what I’ve seen with that deal, it can go either way. I don’t know what’s causing the question marks on it so much, but there’s definitely some areas on it that’s not quite right. It’s just hard to say. But I think it’s a good thing. Because you spend a whole lot of money treating tires and things like that and that’s just not a good thing.? I mean, I just can’t imagine those folks at that level that they’re at trying to do that, knowing that they’re going to send them to a lab and stuff, the way they do these days. So I don’t know. I’ve got mixed emotions about it.

RB: Dick Franklin, who passed away last year, was also integral to your success in racing and was your crew chief for a period of time.

RW: Oh yeah, man. First time I started, I met Dick and went driving for JD Brown. Anyway, Dick was the guy that kept the car up and me and him just gelled right out of the box. It was just amazing. I know how important it is to be close to your crew chief and me and Dick just hit it off right out of the box. And I tell you, this kind of sounds weird, but I loved Dick. He was a great guy. I’ve never met anyone ever that loved racing as much as he did, and he’d give racing 110%. Finally, it came a time where he had to go help his son (Dennis “Rambo” Franklin) and I would have been disappointed in him if he didn’t. I sure hated to see him go. But he had to do what he had to do, and I had to do what I had to do. But I’ll always have a special place for him in my heart and I sure hated to see him pass away.

RB: For sure. And were there some others who helped you a lot?

RW: Well, my dad. He always had some old racecars when I was growing up. Then when I got old enough to race, he quit. And finally, I was determined I was going to get a car and brought that thing in one day that I bought out of the junkyard. But he realized that I was serious and then he started helping me. And then it wasn’t but just a little bit that we started having success. He helped me ‘til my mom got sick. When she got sick, he decided that he’d better stay at home and take care of her, and he did. But he had taught me enough that I could take the ball and run with it. Then I had got hooked up with Dick and some other guys through the years. We had some crew members that, believe it or not, they started helping me probably in, I wanna say ’86 or something. Some of them helped me ‘til I quit. And that’s just crazy, but that’s the truth. Without them I’d never have had the success I had. ?I owe a lot to them because those guys stood by me 100% and we always give it 110%, and it spelled success.

RB: Where did your dad take you or compete at in the early days?

RW: Well, dad never did drive himself, but he had some cars that other people drove. It was at the Rutherford Fairgrounds, and I think they ran at Shelby some too. But I know I was a kid when all this was going on. So one time when I was a kid, he let me drive the car around Rutherford Fairgrounds, which is not even there anymore. I never will forget the feeling that I had driving that old ’55 Ford around that racetrack. It was just awesome. It was just cool. And then another thing that happened at that fairground was that Billy Bishop had won a late model race and at that time the cars didn’t have these cockpits in them like they do now. He took me for a ride around the track and let me just go ahead. And I tell you, he didn’t just take me around--he took me for a ride. He let it rip and I guess that hooked me right then because I just loved speed ever since.

RB: It was neat to see your trophies, trophy room and all the memorabilia from your career. And you told me something about the special trophy you liked, that spark plug.

RW: My dad gave me that spark plug when I was a kid. I’m gonna say I was probably ten or twelve at the most. I’ve had that thing forever and I’ve just took it wherever I go. As you can tell, it means a lot to me just knowing my dad give it to me too. And then back in the day Champion was a big deal when it come to NASCAR, so I’m sure that’s how he ended up with that because he’s always been a big NASCAR fan himself.

RB: You said you liked Dale Earnhardt. Did you see him race a lot or have any other favorite NASCAR drivers growing up?

RW: Yeah, I saw him run some at Charlotte. But he was good. And I actually saw Darrell Waltrip race at Hickory in some kind of late model. They were having a special race and he come and drove it. I never will forget that he had on white gloves, and you could see his hands moving. But, of course, he waxed them too. He was good.

RB: How many crew chiefs did you have over the years?

RW: Well, of course my first crew chief was my dad and then I think the second guy I drove for was Danny Horton, which we won a ton of races in his stuff. He had a lot better stuff than I did, and we won Friday and Saturday nights at I85 and Gaffney. It was still limited racing, but we won a ton of races with that thing. It was a number 28 car and then I think from that I went back to running my own car a little while. Then I wound up going to JD Brown and driving for him. And that’s when I met Dick and then we kind of wore our welcome out there—I did anyway—and so I went out on my own. But then those guys came and went with me. Dick was the crew chief when Jack Starrette owned the car. ?Of course, we had a lot of success with that deal and owe that to Jack’s support. He did a whole lot for me. And then I think I went and drove for Jamie Henderson, which he sponsors Madden. Dale Greene was my crew chief there and we had success with that deal. That was a really good outfit and real good stuff, and Dale was a great crew chief. And guys that had always helped me followed me wherever I went. Then when that deal there run its course, we went back to running our own stuff again. We run it until we quit. And when I drove for Mike Fuller, Monk Martin was the crew chief. We won a lot of races together.

RB: Who was your last crew chief?

RW: My last crew chief was Raymond McCraw, which he had been with me ever since I drove for JD Brown. He just stayed with me no matter where I went. And then after Dick went to help his son, Raymond became the crew chief.

RB: In the beginning of this, I mentioned a couple other people who are in the NDLMHOF and who also ran at Cherokee Speedway like Freddy Smith, Billy Scott and Mike Duvall. Was there anything more you wanted to say about them or were there any other legends that you really liked watching over the years?

RW: I mean how could you not sit here and not say that Bloomquist wasn’t an idol. I raced with him a few times in my racing career. And I outrun him some and of course, I followed him a whole lot. But he was definitely somebody that you couldn’t help but admire. He’s just one of many. I go way back to racing with Jeff Purvis and I’ve raced with Jack Boggs. I mean, that’s just hard to believe, but I did. Jack Pennington and I were friends. He was a good racer and a funny guy. But probably one of the nicest guys I ever raced with personally was (Mike) Duvall. Of course, we were tight competitors at Cherokee, but me and him was really good friends on and off the track. He taught me a lot as a young racer. I’ve got a story to tell you about that. He helped me a lot in my younger days as far as information goes. I asked him one night at the racetrack--we was racing together--about something and he said, “Listen, I’m not telling you tonight.” He said, “Call me Monday and I’ll tell you.” But he said, “I’m not telling you tonight. I’m here to outrun you.” And I thought that was pretty honest of him to say, you know. But that was Duvall. And me and Jeff Smith were good friends--still are. We kind of shared a lot of information ourselves. Even though we didn’t run out of the same shop, we kind of worked together to help each other through the years for a while there. And Billy Scott, he’s been around since I was a kid and I saw him race a lot at Harris when he drove the Dixie Twister. Of course that was just a dream of mine, to be able to run fast like what he was doing. So that kind of inspired me to work hard to get to that level. Chuck Piazza is an awesome man. I watched him race when I was a kid, and he was really good at the Rutherfordton County Fairgrounds. I?met him at Phil's and he's a great guy and was a great race car driver.?And of course, you can’t go without saying something about Freddy Smith. I met Freddy and Grassy too as far as that goes. Freddy really was a nice man and a great race car driver. He was one of the nicest people you’d ever meet in your life. I never will forget one time when I was driving for JD, they had Freddy come over there and test the car too. He couldn’t run no faster than I could in it. But then later on, I was bound and determined I would not put power steering on my car because I didn’t want the weight. But he told me, he said, “Well, it may weigh fifty pounds, but you can drive the car 100 times faster.” And he was 100% correct. But he was a good guy, man. Anybody who met him and got to know him was blessed, for sure.

RB: You raced a lot over the years a lot at Cherokee Speedway and you told me about good announcers there like Walter Faulkner and Duane Goins.

RW: I thought they was very knowledgeable about what they did. They wasn’t just announcing--they knew about the drivers, the cars, the speedway and some history. They wasn’t just up there running their mouths. So I always admired that about them. They were both there a lot through my racing career. Duane was at Metrolina too, and I raced there. That was a long time ago.

RB: You also knew the promoters and those who ran Cherokee Speedway, like Ernie Elkins and Rock Gault?

RW: I remember Ernie; he did a good job. And then of course Rock Gault at Cherokee Speedway; he had the racetrack always perfect. I got blessed to get to run on a track that was took care of that well.? And then David Perry promoted Cherokee Speedway back then some, and he did a great job--he and his wife Debra. So everybody that raced there when they promoted it, I thought did a good job. And since then there have been the other owners and promoters like Lennie Buff, Scott Childress and now Tony Adair. Plus all the race directors, officials and staff that worked there over the years--Chester Brooks, Kevin Wray, Chandra McGinnis, Ginger Owens, Bruce Camp, to name a few—they all are good people.

RB: Most people know that you raced regionally. Was that mainly due to your family and work schedule as well as being able to afford and maintain your equipment?

RW: I never tried to put the racing before my family. I wanted to make sure my family had a nice place to live and food to eat before I raced. So that’s why I never did travel no further than I did. That’s why I liked the Clash schedule because it kind of fit into a working man’s schedule. I just never would just throw my job to the side and go traveling and race. I s’pose I could have did it if I had been willing to step out of the box, but I wasn’t willing to and I don’t regret it. I had a great career. God blessed me, and I’m happy with that.

RB: Yeah, definitely. Before you became ill and then retired, you had a nice run competing with the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series. Did you enjoy that?

RW: We think--I don’t want to bet my life on this--that the last race that I won with them was at Harris and believe it or not, that’s the first place I won a race. It might have been 2019 because I quit in 2020. But I liked that deal too. I really liked that series. The reason that I moved over to that is because I was running low on money. I’ve always raced to win, and I didn’t have enough money to race to win with the super at the moment. So we moved to somewhere where we could afford to race. And I really liked running with the wings too because that was early in my career, we had wings on our cars. I always liked that, running with no tops and stuff. It really kind of brought back some youth days when we switched over to that deal. But Jason’s got a good deal there. He pays pretty good money, they don’t travel too far away, and you can build a car for probably half of what you can a super late model and have a winning car. So I really liked that deal.

RB: Definitely. Did you like running crate late models and limiteds?

RW: I never run a 602. I run some 604 races and I’m going to be honest—I didn’t like ‘em at all. I didn’t run many of them because I just didn’t like them. Those things are just momentum racecars. It’s kind of like cars with restrictor plates on them. If you lose any speed at all, it takes a lap or two to get back going good. But I know a lot of people enjoy racing them and I don’t have a problem with ‘em. The more power I had, the better I liked it. With the limited cars, now I liked those. I like the 525 engines. I thought they were really good to race with because they had a lot more torque than a 604. But I guess the truth is that racing’s fun--it don’t matter if you’re racing lawnmowers. I got to race a sprint car one time. That was way back probably in the mid, late ‘80s or early ‘90s. But that was pretty fun. If I’d lived where those things was, I could have really got into that because I liked that thing a lot.

RB:? Harris and some local tracks have now run races for the new Southern Wedge Latemodel Association. Anything to say about running wedge cars early in your career?

RW: Well, back in the day with those wedge cars, they got crazy there for a while. Because if they didn’t handle good, you added an extra piece of Lexan to the left side, and it got to where it would handle. But it got so bad there one time you had to put the thing together when you got to the racetrack because you couldn’t haul it.

RB: Wow.

RW; That was crazy. But them things were good. I never will forget the first race when they took all that stuff off and we went to what they called the ‘stock-appearing-nose’ which is not even what they are close to running now. But anyway, we went off into the corner down there--and the chassis builders I think had went to sleep with all this plastic because all they had to go do was borrow the rest of it--and we were like monkeys on footballs when we went off into the first turn there, the first time when we put those stock appearing bodies on. But it sure put the chassis builders to work, and they went to work too, because they were some fine racecars they’re building now.

RB: And the air, obviously, played a big factor in running those cars.

RW: Oh yeah, it was definitely true. The air was your friend and if you wanted to do more you just put more Lexan on it. We went to a race up at Tri County Speedway one time, which it’s the asphalt track now, but it was dirt then. Anyway, we went up there and at that time my dad was helping me, and I couldn’t even drive it down the straightway. The air would grab the wing and take the car away from you. We got to looking at it and we had it crooked on the car, so we straightened it up. And that thing, you didn’t even have to think about letting off the gas; you could just drive wide open all the way around. I about had it won and at the white flag the rear end come off. But that’s racing. Those things were fun. I really liked them. But the cars nowadays especially with these Clements engines things that these guys are building with the 900 to 1000 hp, I mean those things are some kind of special machines. But it comes with a high dollar price tag.

RB: What were the different chassis types you drove or preferred?

RW: Once I got into factory-built chassis, my first ones and for a long, long time won tons of races, was with Barry Wright cars. Then I switched from Barry to GRT’s and then we won a ton of races with those things. When I first started getting them, I got them from J & J Racecars, which was Jeff Smith and Joey Chapman. Then after those started getting outrun, I think I got a MasterSbilt. But me and the MasterSbilt, we didn’t get along. It wasn’t the car; it just didn’t suit my driving style. Then switched over to Rockets and won a ton of races in Rockets. Mark Richards and Steve Baker, they was really, really helpful. But when I had the GRT’s I want to mention that Skip Arp, I got to be friends with him. He was kind of like a GRT consultant and he was really, really helpful when I had the GRT’s. Because he traveled and I was a regional racer, he kept me up to date on the latest and greatest set-ups. That was a really big help, of course. I also ran some Lazer chassis. Then I switched over to the Longhorns because everybody had to because when Kevin Rumley built that thing, you know, he caught them all asleep. So anyway, you had to get one or follow one. We got a Longhorn and that’s what I had when I quit racing.

RB: That’s a great timeline. For engines, when you were with factory-built chassis and you were in super late models, did you mainly run a Clements?

RW: I just about run Clements my whole racing career. When I drove for the Fullers, like at 311 and Mike Fulp’s track, they had Cornett Engines. And they were really good. I can’t say nothing bad about those. But the 90 percent of the time I raced in anything limited or super, I had Clements Racing Engines and that was with Tony and Glenn Clements. They had the R & D program, which is research and development. I never ever went to the racetrack where I felt that I was out-horse-powered. I ran some Kenny Lamb Racing Engines and Hendren Engines when I raced with the Blue Ridge series. I ran some Randy Clary Engines when I was with Jack Starrette. Randy’s a great guy and had good engines. I also ran some Wynn’s Racing Engines, and I ran a few custom engines, and of course, the Cornett. The Cornetts was probably the closest to Clements that I ever ran as far as having really good engines. But I would choose Clements any day over the rest of them.

RB: And you had help from some other professionals in recent years as technology progressed?

RW: When racing kind of changed, it went from using your skills and things like that, to they come up with these load machines. So that was a learning curve. It was a total different kind of racing than I was accustomed to. And Ross Bailes, he really helped me a lot when it switched over to that, because he knew that stuff and I didn’t. Then he hooked me up with a man named James Stevens. And James, he’s a shock guy. He works for Penske, and man, he really took me to college, you know what I mean. He helped me a ton, him and Ross both did on this learning curve to get caught up to where things are now. Because when they switched over to that--I mean I knew how shocks worked, but we might have five different shocks for the right front and all of a sudden you’ve got one shock that’s got all these adjustments that you can use for the right front. So it was a big change. But those guys really helped me with that learning curve and I greatly appreciate that too. That was for about the last six years of my career.

RB: You’ve had some different sponsors over the years, like Parton Lumber?

RW: One of the main ones was Parton Lumber. Carl Parton owned Parton Lumber and Scott Hughes, who became VP at the company later, talked to Carl. Carl agreed to start helping me and he was a big help in getting me to where I needed to be to get my name out there. I feel like if it hadn’t of been for Scott and Carl, I never would have got that step. Because even though my dad knew a lot as far as know-how, he didn’t have the money. And I didn’t have no money. But Carl had lots of money, so he made a big impact on getting me started.

RB: And the whole Parton family has been involved in racing over the years?

RW: Well, Furman and Patrick and Carl all started racing Legends cars. They all three had cars and then Carl had a really bad wreck in his at Charlotte and got hurt bad. So then Furman, he switched to a dirt car and he done real good too. Furman’s very talented. He done some supers, he won some Clash races, and ran crates too. ?But he’s got so much going on, it ain’t a priority of his. He’s not like I was. I eat, breathed and slept it. And then Patrick was real good in his Legends car, but he just up and quit one day. Now Gray’s racing so he helps him, and they do that together, so that’s a good thing.

RB: Who were other major players that helped get you to the track?

RW: Jack Starrette. He come along in my life and that was one of the best things that ever happened. Then after he died, I thought I was doomed. And then Phyllis and Ikey Smith walked up to me at Friendship one night and they said they was going to start helping me. It was like a blessing from God because they stepped up to the plate and did even more than they said they would do to help me. They carried me the rest of the way. So it was awesome. And then of course JD Brown and Clary Hood gave me my first opportunity in a super late model, and I’m definitely appreciative of that. It’s amazing how different people stepped up in your life and made a huge difference in your career.

RB: You had guys that helped you for a long time on your crew and people like Kirby who ran your souvenir trailer.

RW: Jeff Dobbins, Matt Dobbins, they are father and son. And Jeff’s dad Howard helped ‘til he got sick. So three generations of Dobbins. Also, Chub Pierce and Jamie Campbell helped ‘til about a couple of years before I quit for personal reasons. All was awesome help. Kirby Crotts did a good job with the souvenirs. I worked with Jimmy Schiltz who owns Dirtwrap and also with his sister, Kate Dillon, who owns Crate Insider. ?And I would like to mention something about Roby Combs. He hand-lettered a bunch of my cars. And Phil Combs and of course Dargan Watts. We probably should mention Tony (Hammett) also and you. Tony and Glenn Clements was a large contributor in my wins. Phyllis Warlick Smith was a sponsor and took a lot of pictures. She is good. Tracy Drake also took a ton of pictures. Tim Tyner with Renegade and Spud Bennett with American Racers also helped me.

RB: You mentioned Phil and Roby Combs and Dargan Watts, who also do a lot to preserve racing history. You’ve been at some of their events too in recent years.

RW: Well Phil’s brother Roby, he lettered a lot of my cars when I raced at Cherokee Speedway and drove for JD Brown and Clary Hood and then some other guys cars too. He lettered those cars too. And then I met Phil probably through Roby, and I’m gonna call him a historian. He’s just a great guy too and he’s good for racing. Of course, he come from his dad being a flagman in NASCAR, so racing’s always been in his blood. And then of course, Dargan Watts. He’s done a lot for me through the years. I met him at a Clash banquet way back whenever. It was at the Speedway Club and we just hit it off, me and him and his wife Jane and Myra. We actually stayed with them on the way home from the parade in Daytona; they wanted us to come and visit them. And we don’t really like doing that because we feel like we’re intruding on people. But man, it just tickled them to death that we went over there and stayed. Now every time we call each other we sing “Happy Birthday” to each other no matter whether it’s our birthdays or not. So we’ve got a really good friendship with those folks.

RB: And your wife, Myra, and family were there with you at so many of the races over the years.

RW: Thank the Lord, they supported me, because if they didn’t that would be rough. We’ve got a new great-grand baby, you know. Her name’s Addalyn.

RB: That’s great. And earlier this year you and Myra and your granddaughter Rylie went down to Florida and were in that special Daytona Beach parade. What kind of car was that?

RW: I think it was a ’39 Ford. That was pretty cool and that was actually a real racecar, it wasn’t just a replica. I just went down there to participate in that old car parade that they do. You get to drive supposedly the old speedway which is like a four-mile course, go down the asphalt one side and you come up the beach the other. Rylie rode in the car with me and Myra, she stayed on the beach and took some pictures. And Dargan Watts, he kind of helped set that up for me. Dargan, he’s a great guy. He is a racing man. Anyway, it was a great, great time. I’m so glad he did it because that was an experience of a lifetime. I definitely wasn’t going to pass that up and anybody that’s never went down there and witnessed that, they need to go. Because first of all, Daytona’s an awesome place and that thing’s a really big deal. It’s really neat to meet these older guys, a whole lot older than me and talk to them about racing and watch their eyes brighten up how excited they about get talking about the racing that they did. It’s kind of like the Mt. Airy thing that you’ve been to, kind of multiplied.

RB: There are always new competitors coming in. Some of those guys were teenagers when I was first writing and you were in the prime of your career. Like Ross Bailes, Zack Mitchell, Michael Brown and Chris Ferguson. Anything to say about the current slate of racers?

RW: You could tell real early in their careers that they had what it took to get it done and a lot of doors were opening for them. There’s a lot of good race car drivers; if anybody says there’s not, they don’t know racing. But getting hooked up with the right people and the right equipment is the key. The Lord blessed me to get hooked up with people that had money and skills. And these guys we’re talking about, as things get more technical, money’s going to rule. So you gotta have somebody with a lot of money to get you that equipment. Because you just gotta have it. No matter how good you are, you gotta have it. You’re no better than that stuff you’re sitting in. And that’s sad but true.

RB: Finally, do you have a general quote on what it means to you to get into the NDLMHOF? I know that cthose who have been planning the induction ceremony, like historian Bob Markos and secretary and Ultimate Supers Series Director Kelley Carlton, have known you and appreciate your many accomplishments.

RW: I tell you, I’m so, I don’t know what the word is, overwhelmed or flabbergasted over it. It’s unbelievable, because I never would have thought that a regional racer would have got in it. But I’m just so proud. My dad--I’d love for him to be here to see this because without him, I never would have had a chance to do it anyway because he taught me so much. And I can’t express how proud I am of it. I don’t even think I realize how big a deal it is. Everybody keeps telling me it’s a big deal. But I guess I don’t even realize how big a deal it is until I’m out there and see it for myself.

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Some of Ricky Weeks’ Racing Statistics:

Ricky Weeks’ Carolina Clash wins:

2001: 9/28 Thunder Valley, Lawndale, N.C.

2004: 3/27 Cherokee Speedway, Gaffney, S.C.; 5/8 311 Speedway, Madison, N.C. 7/24 311 Speedway, Madison, N.C.; 7/31 Laurens County Speedway, Laurens, S.C.; 9/4 Riverside Speedway, Travelers Rest, S.C.; 10/1 Thunder Valley Speedway, Lawndale, N.C. (Total of 6 wins. He won the championship with 2659 points.)

2005: 4/29 Modoc Speedway, Modoc, S.C.; 6/4 Wythe Raceway, Rural Retreat, Va.; 6/25 Laurens County Speedway, Laurens, S.C.; 7/1 Thunder Valley Speedway, Lawndale, N.C.; 7/16 311 Speedway, Madison, N.C.; 8/13 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C.; 8/20 311 Speedway, Madison, N.C. (Total of 7 wins. He won the championship with 3460 points.)

2006: 4/28 Modoc Speedway, Modoc, S.C.; 6/4 Wythe Raceway, Rural Retreat, Va. (Total of 2 wins. He won the championship with 3543 points.)

2007: 3/10 Carolina Speedway, Gastonia, N.C.; 3/17 Lancaster Motor Speedway, Lancaster, S.C; 4/28 Harris Motor Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C.; 5/12 Tri-County racetrack, Brasstown, N.C.; 6/9 Wythe Raceway, Rural Retreat, Va.; 9/1 Harris Motor Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C.; 9/8 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C. (Total of 7 wins. He won the championship with 3179 points.)

2008: 7/5-6 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C.; 7/12 /Friendship Speedway, Elkin, N.C.; 8/30 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C.; 9/19 Carolina Speedway, Gastonia, N.C.; 9/20 Lancaster Motor Speedway, Lancaster, S.C. (Total of 5 wins. He won the championship with 1891 points.)

2009: 5/30 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C. (Total of one win. He finished second in points with 3977 behind champion Jeff Smith.)

2010: 5/29 Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C.; 8/14 Fayetteville Motor Speedway, Fayetteville, N.C.; 9/18 Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C. (Total of 3 wins. He finished 3rd in the series with 2254 points behind champion Dennis Franklin and runner-up Dean Bowen.)

2011: 7/9 311 Motor Speedway, Madison, N.C. (Total of one win.)

2012: 4/14 Lancaster Motor Speedway, Lancaster, S.C.; 6/9 Fayetteville Motor Speedway (Total of 2 wins.)

2013. No wins but he was 4th in series points with 1150.

He was named to the Carolina Clash Hall of Fame in 2015 and received a special Carolina Clash Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ricky Weeks’ Clash South wins:

2010: 6/19 Travelers Rest Speedway, Travelers Rest, S.C.; 7/1 Harris Motor Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C. (Total of 2 wins. The series was only run in 2010 and he was the 2010 Clash South champion.)

Ricky Weeks’ Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series wins:

2017: 8/19 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C; 10/21 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C. (Total of 2 wins.)

2018: 3/31 Lancaster Motor Speedway, Lancaster, S.C.; 5/25 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C.; 5/26 East Lincoln Speedway, Stanley, N.C.; 5/27 Harris Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C.; 6/9 311 Motor Speedway, Pine Hall, N.C.; 7/7 Harris Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C.; 7/20 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C.; 8/11 Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C.; 9/1 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C.; 9/2 Harris Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C.; 9/21 Carolina Speedway, Gastonia, N.C.; 9/29 Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C.; 10/6 East Lincoln Speedway, Stanley, N.C.; 10/13 Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C.; 11/10 Sumter Speedway, Sumter, S.C.; 12/7 Antioch Speedway, Antioch, N.C. (Total of 16 wins. He was 2nd with 707 points to champion David Minton.)

2019: 4/13 Sumter Speedway, Sumter, S.C.; 4/26 Carolina Speedway, Gastonia, N.C. (Total of 2 wins.)

Ricky Week’s Hav-A-Tampa Series Dirt Racing Series (Xtreme) wins:

1990: 5/5 Cherokee Speedway, Gaffney, S.C. (Note: it was the 2nd race the series ran. Freddy Smith won the first and third races.)

1993: 3/7 Cherokee Speedway, Gaffney, S.C.

Ricky Weeks’ Other Main Stats: Cherokee Speedway Hall of Fame, 2010; Mount Airy Racers Reunion Wall of Fame, 2022; Cherokee Speedway 7-time Late Model Champion; I85 Limited Late Model Champion; Harris Motor Speedway Street Stocks Champion; Raced at over 40 different tracks during his career.

Ricky Week’s Main Sponsors over the years: Parton Lumber, Starrette Trucking, Charles Watkins Used Cars, Cherokee Landscaping, Clary Hood, Phyllis & Ikey, Henderson Amusements, Spud Bennett with American Race Tires, Clements Racing Engines, Afco, ISP Racing Seats, Wadon Bert, Renegade Fuels, VP Racing Fuels, Mike’s Custom Tanks, Barry Wright Race Cars, GRT, Rocket, Longhorn, Arnold and Mike Fulp, and Tim Tyne

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