Nick Stoop brought his 14-year-old factory stock to the Bristol Dirt Nationals to race the stock car class. He came away from the event with sponsorship for a new car.
A Team Effort
“Why go to Bristol?” Nick Stoop, 60, of Booneville, Mississippi, said. “It’s like the old saying, ‘It’s Bristol, baby!’ I went to Bristol to live out a dream. I just wanted to make a lap in my car. If they kicked me out after the practice session, I would have still been tickled to death.”
Instead, Stoop and his 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass finished 15th out of 27 cars in Saturday’s B-feature. Despite his relative competitiveness, he became the subject of memes on social media. Stoop, who works in the maintenance department of a Toyota parts manufacturer, said he doesn’t know nor care much about the internet. However, the jokes weren’t confined to computer devices.
“He didn’t know the announcers were making fun of him,” said friend Chris Bryan. “We don’t participate in Facebook negativity. We told him about it. He wasn’t mad.”
Stoop, Bryan, and three other drivers — Brock Grisham, Austin Holder, and Jonathan Warnicke — call themselves Xtreme Racing of Booneville. They race at Crossroads MotorPark Speedway in Corinth, Mississippi.
“We all worked together to get Nick there,” Bryan said. “He borrowed my truck, trailer, helmet, four-wheeler, and HANS device.”
Stoop and Warnicke hauled their cars on open trailers. A pickup truck towed a support trailer with parts and the four-wheeler.
Warnicke made the A-feature on Friday for the 602 late models. He finished 20th out of 24 cars. However, Stoop, while he didn’t make the big show, may have won the biggest prize of the weekend.
Resonating with Racers
Stoop’s efforts with racing a factory stock in the stock car class weren’t only noticed by social media jokesters.
“I never met the man, but I saw his struggle and dedication,” said Cody Roberts, owner of Bullet Chassis in Homer, Illinois, and a full-time fabricator for Bob Pierce Race Cars. “I saw people saying choice words about Nick on Facebook. I heard what the announcers said. Something had to get done.”
Roberts offered to sponsor Stoop with a new chassis.
“I want to give back to the racing community and show appreciation for guys like him,” Roberts said. “We’ve all been there. Having a chassis builder behind you can really help your program.”
“When Cody called, I couldn’t get any words out. I couldn’t believe racing people were willing to come together to sponsor me.”
Nick Stoop
Others joined in with sponsorships.
“Nick never asked for a thing,” said Roberts. “This is not a charity drive. The racing community is sponsoring him.”
Among those sponsoring him include:
- Cody Roberts, of Bullet Chassis
- Trent Thomasson, of Pro-System Brakes
- Mike Gatton, of Gatton’s Towing Service
- Earl Ramey, of Earl Ramey Racing Engines
- Dynamic Designs
- Trick Race Cars
- Kevin Banzhoff, a helmet designer
- Lizard Lit Pit Lights
- Colby’s Metal Worx
- Circle City Raceway (see “Circle City Raceway: More Details on New Indy Dirt Oval”)
- Race Ranch
Roberts had his first phone conversation with Stoop this week.
“He sounds like a really good guy,” Roberts said. “We’ll meet in a couple of weeks.”
Stoop and four of his teammates will travel eight hours to Roberts’ shop to discuss the new car.
“When Cody called, I couldn’t get any words out,” said Stoop. “I couldn’t believe racing people were willing to come together to sponsor me.”
Nick Stoop and his Olds have become stars, but he will soon experience first-hand the publicity that comes with stardom.
“A T-shirt designer, Race Ranch, called and wants me and my car on display at Bristol on April 16 and 27,” Stoop said. “They are making a T-shirt of us. I’m trying to figure out if I can get there. I have to start racing, and I’ve got a new car being built.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
