Published: March 07, 2006 10:10 pm      

Realizing a dream

Woodrow graduate on Nextel Cup pit crew

Dreams can come true.

Just ask Robert Adkins II, a 2003 Woodrow Wilson High School graduate.

“Being on a Nextel Cup pit crew is a dream come true for me,” said the 21-year-old Adkins. “It’s a great feeling to follow a dream and reach your goal of accomplishing it.”

On race day, Adkins helps to change rear tires on the car driven by Hermie Sadler, Elliott Sadler’s brother.

“Working for a NASCAR team has been my dream for as long as I can remember,” Adkins said.

Hermie Sadler qualified for the Daytona 500, which is considered the Super Bowl of NASCAR racing. Adkins was where most NASCAR fans would love to be, in the pits at the Nextel Cup Series Daytona 500.

“I’m just a regular guy from Beckley,” Adkins said. “I didn’t know anybody in racing. I liked watching it, like most people, but to now be involved is the best.”

For Adkins, his training in the automotive repair industry began at an early age.

“I have wanted to be an auto mechanic since I was very young,” Adkins explained.

He began working with his father, Robert, and mother, Debbie, at the family automotive repair business, Adkins Automotive, in Beckley.

“The plan was that I would take over the business one day,” Adkins said.

Adkins began his plan to become a great mechanic at the Academy of Careers and Technology in Beckley. While attending high school, he was enrolled in the Automotive Service Technology program at the vocational school.

His instructor, James Blair, says he knew Adkins could go far shortly after meeting him.

“He knew where he wanted to be when he started the automotive class,” Blair said. “He had the right attitude when it came to learning. He seemed to want to learn everything he could at every opportunity he had to do it.”

Blair says being a modern automotive technician is far more difficult than most people understand and is definitely not for everyone.

“Robert was probably as close to the ideal automotive student as you’ll see,” Blair said. “He had enough background with the family business to know this was his chosen career and had a pretty good idea of what the class would be like.

“Occasionally you have a student come along that just can’t learn fast enough; as an instructor you just have a tough time keeping them busy. Robert was one of those, give him a half hour job and in 5 minutes he’s like, ‘What now?’ Like most automotive technicians, he preferred to work alone, but could work as part of a team when the situation requires it.

“This is obviously a huge plus in the business he’s in now.”

Blair said today’s automotive technicians can make as much as $20 an hour or more on the high end of the pay scale working for a dealership.

“It is a complicated skill today,” Blair said. “High technology is important in today auto mechanic industry. You have to have a good understanding of computers, physics, math and reading comprehension. It’s not like the old days anymore; it’s all highly technical.”

Adkins said Blair was very instrumental in his success.

“Mr. Blair has always been a big help to me,” Adkins said. “I still talk to him often. He has always been there for me.”

While attending the ACT in Beckley, Adkins and his classmate partner Andrew Meadows participated in the Ford/AAA Automotive Skills Competition in 2003.

“They finished third in the state,” Blair recalled. “They had their choice of several scholarships, including one to Universal Technical Institute’s NASCAR program in Mooresville, N.C., which Robert took advantage of.”

“I took a six-week class at the ‘5 on 5 off’ pit crew school while at UTI,” Adkins said.

Adkins said once he finished the NASCAR program at the school he was selected by Jimmy Spencer Jr.’s pro-cup team.

“I was a rear tire changer and mechanic and then got the opportunity to move up to the Busch Series in April 2005 as part of the Kevin Hamlin number 4 team,” Adkins said.

In 2006, he became the tire changer and mechanic on the Aaron’s sponsored 00 (double zero) car owned by MBA Racing and driven by Hermie Sadler.

“I have to give my family much of the credit,” Adkins said. “They have supported what I’m doing and I know they want me to follow my dreams.”

Adkins said his long-term goals include becoming a pit crew chief one day and maybe even owning his own race car.

“I know that no dream or goal is too big,” he said. “I’m sure many people thought a local boy from Beckley, only 21 years old, couldn’t be able to be part of a NASCAR team at the Daytona 500. But that is a dream that came true, so I encourage other young people to dream, set goals and go after them.”

For more information about the Academy of Careers and Technology in Beckley and its Automotive Service Technology program, contact Blair at 256-4615.

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com