Barry Beggarly Still Running Strong At 60

Barry Beggarly hopes to be in the thick of things this weekend.

When Barry Beggarly won his first Late Model Stock Car race at Martinsville Speedway, neither of last year’s top three finishers were even born.

In fact, the combined age of those three youngsters … each was 18 at the time… doesn’t quite match Beggarly’s age.

Beggarly is 60, albeit a young 60. He first won at Martinsville Speedway in 1985, the first year of Late Model Stock racing on the half-mile oval. That first win came in a 100-lapper. He followed with two more wins in 200-lap events in the early 1990s.

And if he has his way, he’ll be back up front challenging again Sunday in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.

“What does a retired race driver do?” Beggarly quipped earlier this week. “He races.”

Beggarly was retired until earlier this year. He had spent the last several years fielding cars for younger drivers, but in the middle of the summer he got a call from someone asking if he was interested in coming out of retirement. It took a while for him to make up his mind, but he finally decided to get rolling again.

“I really don’t know why I got started again for sure,” said Beggarly. “I went down to Ace (Speedway) to help a couple of guys. Then somebody called and asked me if I would run some. I thought about it and the first thing you know, I’m back in a car.”

And it didn’t take long for the rest of the field to know he was back and back in a big way. He struggled the first week then put together a couple of second-place finishes and a third, and then, as he puts it, “we got it together.

“We won one, then led another. Then Rodney (Cook) got disqualified after winning and I got that win. Then we smoked them in the last race of the year down there,” said Beggarly

Beggarly’s success, even at 60, should not be much of a surprise to anyone who followed Late Model Stock racing over the years. He dominated short tracks throughout the region for much of the 1980s and 90s. In 1993 he won what is now the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship. He had 27 NASCAR-sanctioned wins that season and 32 overall.

During his career he won track championships at Orange County Speedway, South Boston Speedway and Ace Speedway and amassed probably more than 200 wins.

In  2006 he was named one of the Top 25 Drivers of All Time in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Beggarly was a part of the Late Model Stock Car explosion during the 1980s and 1990s and was a driving force in shaping the series into what it has become today. Even though the changes have been great, Beggarly says much is the same as it was 25 years ago.

“The cars have changed. The parts have changed,” recalled Beggarly. “I remember that I sold that first car I won at Martinsville with for $6,000 a week after the race. Today it costs at least $50,000 for a car.

“The basics are there. It just costs a lot more to do it these days.”

Beggarly is optimistic about the upcoming Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.

“I reckon we’ll come up there and concentrate on making the race,” he said.

And is he concerned that he hasn’t competed at Martinsville Speedway in a few years?

“I don’t guess it’s changed a whole lot,” he said. “I think I can still find my way around there.”

Fan gates open at 9 a.m. on Saturday with two hours of practice beginning at 9 a.m. Time trials are set for 2 p.m. with the fastest 22 cars earning berths in Sunday’s 200-lap feature. Admission on Saturday is $5 for adults. Children 12 and under are admitted free.     

Fan gates open again at 9 a.m. on Sunday. The first of four 25-lap heat races begins at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The top five from each heat race advance to the feature, filling out the 42-car field.     

The 200-lap feature race will begin at 3 p.m.    

Tickets are $20 for adults with children 12 and under admitted free. Tickets may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com.