Barry Dodson (June 4, 1953 – December 20, 2017) was an American stock car crew chief. He was the crew chief for

Rusty Wallace Russell "Rusty" William Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series NASCAR Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup ...

1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the championship ...

championship for

Blue Max Racing Raymond Beadle (December 16, 1943October 20, 2014) was an American drag racer and auto racing team owner. Beadle was perhaps best known as the driver and owner of the ''Blue Max'' Top Fuel funny car. Beadle won three consecutive NHRA Funny Ca ...

. He pitted for several drivers who won a combined 19 Cup races.

Racing career

Dodson began racing in $99 claim races at

Bowman Gray Stadium Bowman Gray Stadium is a multi-use sports facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The complex consists of a paved oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track and a gridiron football field. The complex has held various major events since ...

. He then worked six years for

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina, Level Cross, North Carolina, United States, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Ma ...

in the Grand National Series (now

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

). Dodson was hired by W. C. Anderson in 1979 to work on

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, an ...

' team before switching to Anderson's other driver

Cale Yarborough William Caleb Yarborough (March 27, 1939 – December 31, 2023) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, farmer, and rancher. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winn ...

. He left with Yarborough in 1983 and they joined Harry Ranier's team. Dodson was a NASCAR crew chief for the first time in 1985. Driver

Tim Richmond Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in American Championship Car Racing, IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one o ...

finished eleventh in points with 13 top ten and 3 top five finishes in 28 races. Dodson moved to

in 1986; Rusty Wallace won two races that season and finished sixth in points. In 1987, Wallace won twice and finished fifth in points. In 1988, Wallace won six times and finished second in points. Wallace won the 1989 championship after winning six races and four pole positions. Dodson ran Wallace's pits for the final time in 1990. The team had two wins and finished sixth in points before disbanding. Dodson was hired by Sam McMahon on

Team III Racing A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

in 1991; the team has a variety of drivers. Dodson was then hired by Bob Whitcomb in 1992 with driver

Derrike Cope Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is best known for his surprise win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet ...

. Owner/Driver

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports Color analyst, analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NAS ...

hired Dodson in 1993 as his crew chief for his team. Dodson was the crew chief until after the fifteenth race of the 1994 season.

Felix Sabates Feliciano Sergio "Félix" Sabates Jr. (born September 9, 1945) is a Cuban-born former entrepreneur, and philanthropist living in the United States of America. He is a partner in Chip Ganassi Racing teams, which formerly fielded teams in the NASCA ...

hired Dodson for the 1995 season and driver

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash duri ...

recorded Dodson's final win as a Cup crew chief; the union lasted for the first 25 races. Dodson was the crew chief in the

NASCAR SuperTruck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is o ...

from 1995 until 1998 for

Ultra Motorsports Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 2005, earning 31 series wins and a cha ...

with owner Jim Smith. Ultra's driver

Mike Bliss Michael Duane Bliss (born April 5, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A journeyman NASCAR competitor and the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, he has run in all three national series. Racing career Bliss ...

won six races in the period. Bliss finished in the top 10 season points for all four seasons. Wallace later hired Dodson as the general manager for his Xfinity Series

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

. Dodson's final truck crew chief race happened in 2007.

Personal life

Dodson grew up in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

with

Chocolate Myers Danny "Chocolate" Myers (born October 17, 1948) is an American stock car racing personality. A long-time staffer for Richard Childress Racing, he was the fueler on six of the team's NASCAR championships (Dale Earnhardt Sr., 1986–87, 1990–91, 1 ...

and the two sat together at the grandstands of

in their youth. Dodson's 17-year-old son David Trey Dodson and 16-year-old daughter Tia Jan Dodson were killed in an automobile accident in 1994. Their mother, Jan Kirkman Dodson, had been Barry Dodson's estranged wife. Dodson's step-son

Trent Owens William Trent Owens (born January 4, 1975) is an American former stock car racing driver and crew chief who works for Kaulig Racing as the crew chief for their No. 16 Chevrolet ZL1 driven by A. J. Allmendinger in the NASCAR Cup Series. He was ...

has also been a NASCAR crew chief.

Death

Dodson died in

at age 64 after a brief illness on December 20, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Barry 1971 births 2017 deaths NASCAR crew chiefs Sportspeople from Winston-Salem, North Carolina