Shannon Kelly | Altavista Journal News Correspondent
Daniel Shelton of Hurt, Va., has been running for CnC Racing in the Pure Stock Division on Virginia’s South Boston Speedway for the first time this year, along with teammates Nathan Crews and Harrison Walker for Long Island, Va.-based team owners Bruce Crews and Troy Cook. Even as a rookie, Daniel has shown to be competitive on the track, with two wins this season and hopes of taking home the win in this season’s championship.
The enjoyment of racing has been with Daniel all his life. “My dad was always into racing when I was a kid, and my grandfather,” he explains. “I went to my first race [at South Boston Speedway] when I was 3 years old.” Now 31, Daniel is finally the one on the track as spectators look on. Daniel’s mother, Connie Goad, says that her son has always enjoyed driving, riding a bike by age 2 and participating in go-kart racing growing up.
Daniel’s passion is an investment of both time and money, and he emphasizes that it is a team effort. Balancing fatherhood with long after-hours at work with a tight budget to make necessary car repairs is often challenging, but with a supportive team, the commitment is made possible. Daniel and his team have overcome many obstacles this year, wrecking both their racing cars 10 and 3, and having motors blow up. “We spent 2 weeks in a row in the shop till 1:30, 2 in the morning,” Daniel recalls. These late hours were in addition to his usual 40 a week. “It takes a lot of time and dedication.” Due to lack of sponsors for their team, Daniel and his teammates have to do their own repairs and… We don’t have a lot of money, so we do most everything in-house. We get in a wreck or something, we’ve got to fix it.” And fix it, they do.
The only down side to racing, Daniel says, is the time it takes away from his three young sons. Even so, he turns the sport into a family event when possible. “The oldest two have been to 2 or 3 races this year, and they’ll be at the last one, too,” he states. “They love it. They’re proud of their daddy.”
Daniel will drive in the season’s last race on September 8, 2018. He hopes to win the championship after he qualified for it in his last race on August 25, where he came in second place.
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