“Once you become famous, there’s nothing left to become but infamous.”
Don Johnson
Tradition and a sense of “need to be there” sent us to Franklin County Speedway in the beautiful Virginia mountain landscape for the SMART Modified Tour 2026 Kenny Minter Classic 110, and it was evident early we were in the right place because thousands of short track racing fans from all over the region joined us in attendance at the event. The infield was also packed as the Carolina Crate Modified Series, local Stock 4s, and the new Crown Vic Outlaw Super Series were on tap as well, with healthy counts all around.
The SMART Modified Tour is in the midst of a tight championship points battle and they always bring the excitement to Franklin County. And added to the field for the first time ever in an open wheel Modified, racing against his son Carter who’s making great strides in development on the tour, was former NASCAR Cup Series winner and current TV analyst Jamie McMurray, set to compete under the lights and the full moon (in more ways than one) at Franklin County Speedway in a yearly event that always sparks a hint of how it all began.
There was everything you need for a great, purist, epic short track racing event. And we should state right here up front that the speedway did a phenomenal job as the crowd literally came from everywhere to the slightly isolated track, looking to see the Modifieds who have a connection that goes back over a hundred years. To the moonshine capital where an old Modified coupe was more priceless than gold in the days of depression, and ingrained in the minds of men ever since. That’s the awesome front story. But like every book, this event has a much deeper story. And truly, it couldn’t have had a more scripted or irony filled ending. To understand though, we have to first take a closer look at the SMART Modified race itself, and how it all played out.
Luke Baldwin scorches the Franklin County surface with a lap of 12.932 to take the pole award for the feature. However, after the redraw, young Carter McMurray will start on the pole alongside Brandon Ward. Off the drop of the green, Ward shows his muscle up front. Behind, the crowd is brought to their feet as Austin McDaniel and Jamie McMurray get together on the frontstretch, ending with McDaniel’s #14 machine on top of McMurray’s. Thankfully both are okay as Ward continues to lead laps up front. As the rest of the field jockey around, Ward is set on cruise control. But behind, Jake Crum is putting together consistent and methodical laps. And when the opportunity arises, Crum pounces. Ward gives up the bottom and that’s all it takes for Crum to slide around for the top spot. Some close calls with lap traffic allows Ward to keep Crum honest, but it’s not enough as Crum takes his inaugural SMART Modified Tour victory. Ward comes home second, Carter McMurray grabs a strong third, Ryan Newman picks up fourth, and Danny Bohn rounds out the top 5.
MY TAKE
Franklin County, Virginia earned the title “Moonshine Capital Of The World” for it’s daring bootleg operations in the 1930’s. Born out of necessity and the will to not only just survive but thrive, eventually these operations rested on the backs of daring drivers in Modified coupes such as Willie Carter Sharpe, the “Rumrunning Queen Of Virginia”. Heroes to some, infamous to others, their legacy rests in the Modified racecars of today and the pilots that strive to get every ounce of speed they can muster. It’s fitting then that in Franklin County, Virginia sits a track that seems made for them. For every time I see them run at Franklin County Speedway, I can feel a kind of magic there. The track itself is a throwback to it’s years of it’s origination with a feeling of a campground in the throes of a festival where a sense of freedom comes over you. Free from everything else in the world to enjoy the spectacle of speed and determination that unfolds in front of your eyes. And when the ground starts to shake, it awakens a tribal need that lies in the heart of every pure stock car racing fan. But that’s just on the surface.
Born in 1969 by Wilton Agee, his father in law Edward Holt, and a bevy of local friends, speed was the mantra they built it with. Agee had come to love racing by his 20’s to the extent that he wanted the fastest track around. He enlisted an engineer to ensure it, and what they built was special. Paved by neccessity due to the lay of the land and the struggle to keep the dirt packed in one and two. But when they did, how special the design was began to become apparent. Longer straightaways and steeper turns than most other tracks of it’s day, it was designed to test reflexes and raw skill unline no other track around. Ask any driver that’s driven it to the best of their ability and they’ll tell you how good Agee’s design really was. After his Carolina Crate Modified win, I overheard Ryan Flores tell a member of his crew that, “Wow man, this track is hot.” He’s not nearly the only one I’ve overheard similar comments from.
Bought in 1978 by Whitey Taylor, the promotor that’s had it ever since, the track over the years however developed a sort of reputation for being the quinessential representation of an “outlaw” track. An infamous reputation of it’s own, largely over exasperated and exaggerated. Truthfully, but not entirely. And now, right or wrong, it sits on the verge of a crossroad. A crossroad that’s been approaching for years. The track has been around over 50 years now, but how they handle this crossing will determine how much longer the roar of those Modifieds will ring through the Franklin County countryside. I’d like to say I know the answer here. But the real truth is that Franklin County Speedway’s situation is…complicated. What I do know however is this – I not only hope they get it all figured out, I pray they do. Racing to me is more than just a physical act. Personally for many reasons it reaches an almost spiritual level. Many won’t get it, I know. But every driver that’s spent a long time in this sport knows what I mean. It is something that reaches out beyond life itself. And in that vein I’ve come to know and appreciate many tracks. But there are a few, and I mean a very few that you can feel. You close your eyes and you can feel the vibes, the history, the energy from those who went to the very edge of life itself just to experience the thrill of it. Not just victory against those you compete against, but victory over the very experience itself. It’ll take you to a place few have been too. The track holds it all. Franklin County has a story to tell and it isn’t the ones you’ve been hearing. It all boils down to the track itself. It truly is one of a kind. A track that I can only hope for more reasons than I can express can make another 50 years against any odds against it. But it only has a chance if someone calling the shots feels the same way I do about it.
Fitting then that if the last big touring Modified race at the track turns out to be this one won by Jake Crum. He won it by doing everything I was told he couldn’t. It wasn’t lost on me that as he stood there in victory lane with a hat on that read “Locally Hated’” that Jake Crum has a bit of a reputation himself stemming mostly from 2 career incidents Crum could have done without. In the end however, in the age of the rise of social media, it’s become all too easy to criticize without getting the full story. You know what they say. There’s your side, their side, and the truth that lies somewhere in between. What I can say is this – you can criticize Jake Crum and his temperament all you want. What you can’t question is his talent, his drive, and his love for racing. After all, he’s a former UARA-STARS champion and Martinsville 300 winner. It would have been easy for Jake Crum to have quit the sport long ago and no one would have questioned it. But instead, he came to Franklin County as a contender on the SMART Tour, with his wife Annabeth suited up to run with the Carolina Crate Modified Series. Family and racing intertwined. And like he’s done in every other series or genre he’s been able to spend some time in, he took home the spoils of victory. Let’s not pretend that it’s come easy and without tremendous cost.
