[I]He is a suit and tie man on Monday mornings and has to appear in front of a judge several days a week.
He is speeding almost every weekend during the summer.
Its not the weekend speeding that John Barrow has to appear before a judge.
John Barrow is a criminal and domestic attorney by trade and a weekend racer as a hobby.
Barrow competes in the East Coast Flathead Association, a series dedicated to nothing but old flathead Fords that used to run at race tracks all over the south in the fifties and sixties.
Barrow won his portion of the race, the Sportsman Series, at ACE Speedway this past Monday. The other winner in that companion event was Johnny Johnson who won the Modified portion.
The East Coast Flathead Association runs as a companion event at many tracks in North Carolina and Virginia. On this day the series ran just before the ASA Southern Modified race, won by Walnut Coves Burt Myers.
Barrow used to run weekly events at Winston Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium in the Street Stock class and then moved up to the featured Modified Series.
Age and time restraints pushed Barrow over to the East Coast Series where he can run more of a leisure schedule. That schedule also allowed him to win 5-6 races since he started racing in the vintage car series.
“I enjoy this very much” says the veteran racer. " I can do my job as an attorney and still have time to work on these old cars" he says.
The series has backing from a modified racer himself, Kevin Powell, who owns and operates Foothill Ford.
Barrow enjoys running in a series that has most drivers that will lend a helping hand when needed.
“We dont fight or argue about rules. We just love to race” says Barrow. “But now we do have a few ole grumpy men” he says grinning.
The series has a 79 year old racer, Ernest “Rosie” George, a retired racing official and school bus driver.
For now Barrow enjoys what he does. He is happy with the schedule that the series has.
Though he has 5 or 6 wins unde his belt, one of Barrows best races was a couple of weeks ago racing at the Stadium as a companion event to the Advance Auto Parts 199, the stadiums biggest event.
Barrow had the fastest car but got caught up in a tangle that sent him into the infield. Starting in the rear, he would rebound to finish third in the race. Another ten laps could have been another win, some say.
Barrow used to get teased by other attorneys for his weekend racing until he started winning, and that shut them up.
Moreover, it may not all be legal talk when he has to face a couple of judges during the week. He has two stickers on his racer from judges.
Now is this for support or are these judges thinking that they are the next Richard Childress in racing? Barrow just grins and shrugs.
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