For Todds, racing is family affair

Last year was Mark Todd's rookie season as a dirt-track racer, but Todd is no stranger to the track.

"I've been around it my whole life." said Todd, 38, a Jackson resident.

Mark's father, Charlie Todd, also was a race-car driver and competed at tracks across the region for the better part of four decades, finally hanging it up after the 1993 season.

"I remember being around the tracks and the cars as a kid and just being in awe of everything," Mark Todd said. He said his family vacations as a child included "taking the race car, staying in motels, and hitting the tracks four nights in a row."

The experience paid off last year for Mark, as he took home both the Rookie of the Year and Track Champion titles in the Pure Street class at the St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, Mo., in his first full season of racing. He also was named rookie of the year by Driver's Seat, a local publication that covers racing at several area tracks.

"I'd been helping a friend with his car for a while and just caught the racing bug again," Todd explained. "I just happened to have a little bit of luck, too."

Todd seems to have picked up this season where he left off. Todd, who has been competing this year primarily at the Poplar Bluff Speedway but says he plans to race at Farmington as well, currently is fourth in the points standings in the Pure Street class at Poplar Bluff.

"The competition was tough at Farmington, but if you want to get better you've got to run with the tougher cars like they have at Poplar Bluff," Todd said.

While Todd takes his racing seriously, he is quick to point out that racing is a family sport for the Todds. Mark Todd's father helps him prepare the car, which bears the No. 31 that is part of the family tradition. His mother, Nancy, is even a part of the race team, serving as the team's photographer and videographer.

"A lot of the guys that Mark races against now have dads who raced against Charlie," Nancy Todd said. "It's really a family oriented sport."

"It's something me and my dad do together," added Mark Todd. "Some guys play golf. We go racing. ... I'm just carrying on the family tradition."