Patrick County High School - Archive Yearbook (Stuart, VA)

Page 18 text:

The Wood Brothers captured the 1981 pit crew race with a second pit stop. Car number twenty-one leads the field of cars around the track at Atlanta, Georgia. Keeping in close contact with Neil Bonnett over the radio, Eddie Wood eyes the trail of cars carefully as they come out of turn four, with Bonnett in the lead. 14 R acing

Page 17 text:

Bands and Disc Jockeys Provide Musical Variety At School Dances (Left) Students find it easy to “groove” to the sounds of D.J.s Lee and Grant. While Kent Amos tries to decide whether or not to dance, Tracy DeBruhl has already spotted a new partner. Darren Diggs, Terry Martin, and Randy Wyatt keep a sharp watch for all members of the opposite sex. With only 7 days of school gone, the first dance of the year took place in the courtyard of PCHS. The danceble tunes of the Commodores, AC DC, and Sugerhill filled the autumn air, and caused more movement from students than they had seen all summer. Lee and Grant, two D.J.s from Bassett spun the tracks for the senior sponsored dance. Said senior Beth Bingman, “The different atmosphere in the courtyard provided a change of pace for all students.” Couples, as well as those who came stag, en¬ joyed themselves and danced their beginning-school troubles away. Football season brings Homecoming which, in turn, brings the Homecoming Dance, but what does the Homecoming Dance bring? This year the occasion pro¬ vided the Top 40 sounds of ZAK, a rock and roll band whose mellow rock was just as good as their hard-driving sounds. True to form, a Home¬ coming queen, Lori Banks, was chosen. The football team had a successful night by defeating Floyd 33-0. Thoughts of standing under the mistletoe provoked cou¬ ples to come to the December 19th Christmas Dance. David Lee Michaels of radio station, K-92, played the recordings as students celebrated their annu¬ al Christmas break with rock and roll music. The dance, the second one held in the cafete¬ ria, was a big success and ev¬ eryone was satisfied with it’s turnout. Starry-eyed sweethearts strolled down the corridors of PCHS and into the cafeteria for the annual Sweetheart Dance held February 13. Couples danced to popular music sup¬ plied by Vince the Prince of Roanoke’s own K-92. Music ranged from Van Halen and the J. Geils Band, to Barry Mani- low, with most people prefer¬ ring the slow-down tunes to the faster ones. A capacity crowd caused several to walk around the halls rather than fight the multitude in the cafeteria. Ev¬ eryone seemed to have a good time and requests for songs were almost always respected. Overall, the dances were successful and all Patrick Countians seem to benefit from the break in routine school life by “getting down” to some danceble music. Dances 13

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Patrick County’s Wood Brothers Make It Big in Racing Racing fever has invaded Patrick County, affecting al¬ most everyone—drivers and fans alike. “Victims” can be found in such faraway places as Riverside, California or Day¬ tona Beach, Florida. While nearer to home, Patrick Coun- tians venture to small dirt tracks in Oak Level, Virginia and Madison, North Carolina. Without a doubt, the best known racing people in this area are the Wood Brothers of Stuart. The Woods started in racing in 1957 with Glen Wood at the wheel. Now, sixteen driv¬ ers and twenty-five years later, the Stuart, Virginia racing team has the most wins and the best winning percentage on the NASCAR circuit. The racing team included family members, Glen, Leon¬ ard, Delano, and Glen’s two sons, Eddie and Len. The crew has grown to include seven¬ teen people, nine of which are from Patrick County. The Wood Brothers — owned, Warner Hodgdon— sponsored car number 21 is driven by Neil Bonnett of Huey- town, Alabama. Thus far in 1982 racing season, Bonnett has posted a second place fin¬ ish in the Busch Clash before having bad luck in the Daytona 500 where he wrecked on lap 106. A little closer to the team’s hometown, Bonnett fin¬ ished seventh in the rain-short¬ ened Richmond 400. According to their prosper¬ ous racing tradition and with a combination of factors, such as the crew, fans, and spon¬ sors, the Wood Brothers will certainly see Victory Lane quite a few times this season. Neil Bonnett and the Wood Brothers won their first race of their new sponsor, Warner Hodgdon, at the “grandaddy” of super speedways, the Darlington 500. Neil Bonnett maneuvers the car around the track at lightning fast speeds; as he zooms by, the crowd of spectators is nothing but a blur. Racing 15