A novel could be written about all the things Archie Adams Sr. has accomplished as a racecar driver.
From the moment he started racing in 1951, Adams fell in love with everything about his craft — constructing engines, fine-tuning cars, putting the petal to the metal in front of large crowds, and everything in between.
The 78-year-old Marlboro County native has plenty of stories to tell about his racing career. And as he approaches his 61st year of competitive racing, the doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“I’m going to compete for as long as I am able,” Adams said this week.
The patriarch of a three-generation racing family, Adams has been competing for decades. A lot about the racing industry has changed in that time, but he still remembers how it used to be.
For instance, Adams remembers driving his family car to the racetrack in 1959, with his racecar — a 1937 Chevrolet — in tow. That was just a small part of the process. Upon his arrival at the track, Adams would remove the tires from the family car and install them on his racecar. He’d reverse that process before heading home.
It wasn’t an easy process by today’s standards, but it’s something he’d have to do to travel between tracks around the region. One of the tracks he frequented was Rockingham Speedway, which had a dirt track around the 1960s.
“They always had a crowd of people,” Adams said. “They’d have 80 to 100 cars on a Saturday night.”
The story of how Adams’ career started is simple: He had a friend who was involved with racing, and Adams helped his friend work on his car.
“I decided I wanted to try it myself,” Adams said.
That decision paid off. Several decades later, Adams is still rolling on racetracks. He’s been racing late-model vehicles for the better part of this decade. Prior to that, Adams was racing super trucks.
These days, Adams has family members competing with him. Archie Adams Jr. and Anthony Adams, Archie Sr.’s grandson, both inherited the passion for racing.
That passion hasn’t been dampened despite the changes that the family has seen in the racing industry over the years. One of those changes involved money. Other competitors started picking up funding through sponsorships and other avenues. Now, some drivers have enough money to buy high-end equipment and add-ons for their vehicles. For a low-budget driver like Archie Sr., that hasn’t been easy to deal with.
“They’re spending money I don’t have,” Archie Sr. said. “… I do the best I can with what I’ve got.”
That approach has fueled the seasoned driver for 60 years. He plans to usher in year 61 at the New Year’s Bash in Dillon, South Carolina, in early January.
Archie Sr.’s devotion to racing could keep him on the track for many years to come.
“I’m the only one I know who has continued for this long,” he said.
“I enjoy working on my car and driving it.”
