This year B.J. , now all of fifteen, is spending his time where race car drivers with big time goals have to. On the road. Traveling the Southern All Star Asphalt Series circuit this summer to speedways in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia with a quick jaunt back to his Wauchula, Florida home for a few days and then back on the road again for a month. The weekly grind of balancing school work, working on his #78 Pontiac Late Model, and preparing for the next race was interrupted two weeks ago when McLeod was whisked away in a private Lear Jet and flown to Concord, NC to talk about his future racing career. The owner of the plane was one of several major Winston Cup teams that have expressed a strong interest in the talented youngster recently. The discussions have centered around a possible 5 race Busch Grand National schedule for the year 2000. B.J. will be 16 in November which makes him eligible for the Busch Series next year. B.J. made a big breakthrough in June by winning the 125 lap event at 411 Motor Speedway in Knoxville, Tennessee. McLeod drove like a veteran for the last 20 laps to hold off Wayne Willard and Gary Helton and grab his career first All Star win. With 20 laps to go and the McLeod Motorsports Pontiac in third place, B.J. went three wide through turns 3 and 4 with the fans on their feet screaming and gunned down the front stretch into the lead. He then fought off tough veteran racer Wayne Willard to grab the checkered flag. The owner of 441 Speedway joked afterwards that for years the drivers have complained about the speedway being a one groove track. “I guess B.J. proved it’s a three groove track” was the way he is said to have described it. By early the next week word of the kid’s accomplishments had reached the Nashville media, and B.J. did the entire hour on Channel 5’s sports show, as the only guest on the most popular such show in the Nashville area. B.J. left Nashville only two points behind the leader and leading the rookie points, a few weeks later took the overall Southern All Star Asphalt Series points lead for the first time. Currently McLeod leads the rookie points and is second overall with a chance to catch the leader with consistent top finishes in the remaining races. The series has races scheduled at Senoia Raceway and Lanier Speedway, both in Georgia as well as Birmingham Speedway and ends the year at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC. Florida race fans will get an opportunity to see B.J. McLeod closer to home when he comes back to DeSoto Speedway near Bradenton, Florida on September 18th. The Pro Late Model race will be the main event that Saturday when he gets to test his skills against some of Florida’s finest Late Model drivers. McLeod will be sponsored by Kentucky Fried Chicken and CFI, a Bradenton based manufacturing firm. Anytime a discussion comes up among NASCAR watchers these days about who the ‘next Jeff Gordon” is, B.J. McLeod’s name comes to the conversation. Though Jeff Gordon is B.J.’s favorite driver, along with Tony Stewart, the experienced observers are reminded of a different racer. As one old timer tells it “he reminds me of this young kid used to race down at Speedweeks in Florida and all round winning races at 15, this kid reminds more of that kid than anybody I ever seen”. When asked what the kids name was he smiled and said Mark Martin. Martin was winning championships at 16 and was the youngest to race in the ASA until McLeod came along. But whatever comparisons are made one thing is for certain, with top tier Winston Cup teams checking B.J. out at 15 years of age, the Busch Grand National and a shot at big time racing is definitely in the kid’s future.
As Pete Orr, one of the most knowledgeable Florida racers and instructor at RaceCar Engineeering’s Race Car College said "You know what he's got.... A future”. The question is: Who is going to get B.J. McLeod? -Jack Smith
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