Mike Doss of Upper Lake, Calif., is interviewed after the race on Sunday, October 3, 2010. Photo courtesy of Bob Cook.

ANDERSON, Calif. – It all began Friday evening in Anderson after Mike Doss finished watching his son Jeremy Doss race his Legend car.

“I should have brought the late model; I really need to win a race here before I hand it all over to Jeremy,” Mike Doss said.

Denise Doss, wife and mother to Mike and Jeremy, said, “Then you better go get it.”

Mike and Dale Dodd, Jeremy’s crew chief, hopped into the truck and headed back to Upper Lake to pick up the late model, about a six-hour round trip, arriving back at Anderson in the early morning.

Before I go on, let me tell you about Junior Roddy. He lives in Gualala, off of Highway 1, 60 miles north of Fort Bragg.

Because of his remote home base, he has his own plane and a pilot’s license; he flies to his races and claims it’s actually less expensive.

Junior Roddy’s No. 41 crew usually rolls up later with the hauler, but not this time They called in broke down somewhere between Highway 20 and 53.

Looking for advice on how to get the rig and late model to the track on time, they called Junior with the news, and Mike Doss overhears. Of course Doss offers up, “My shop is only a few miles away; could they get over there and pick up my hauler?” His toter was sitting ready for them to hook up their trailer. They made it to the track by afternoon Friday.

Saturday morning, Dodd and Dodd unload the late model, already a day behind everyone because of not testing on Friday. They went to fire it up and it would not start.

Upper Lake, Calif., resident Mike Doss' car during repairs. Junior Roddy flew back to Upper Lake to get him a needed part. Photo courtesy of Bob Cook.

They changed out the ignition systems and checked a few things, only to discover the distributer gear was broken. Doss runs a Ford and no one had a gear he could use, there was nothing at the local parts stores.

While Mike was asking around for a gear, Junior Roddy overheard him say, “I have one at my race shop but it would take me way to long to drive back and get one.”

Roddy offered, “Let me fly back to Upper Lake.”

Doss thought Roddy would miss practice, but Roddy did not hesitate and looked at Dodd. “Let's go.”

They told Mike to have someone meet them at the Lakeport airport with the part, and then off they went to rescue a $50 part.

Later that afternoon when practices were almost over, here comes Roddy and Dodd with the part to fix Mike Doss’ late model. The part came in a ring-size box. The smallest things make the biggest difference.

It did not take long for Doss and Dodd to get the late model running. The Shasta Raceway Park officials made some adjustments to the schedule so Doss and Roddy would get a few laps in, and they would at least be able to scuff their tires for qualifying.

Sunday Morning, during late model practice, Doss said the car was a little off, and after he and Dodd convened, it sounded like more than just a little off. It looked like Dodd changed every thing but the driver.

Doss started sixth for the feature and he fell back a few spots, while Eric Gannon was pulling away from the field.

At halfway point, he started moving his way to the front, slowly passing one car at a time. Doss took the lead somewhere around lap 100 with 25 to go.

It was just a lot of good side-by-side racing, with everyone standing and cheering. The laps went by so fast; I could not keep up with the count.

Mike Doss took the checked flag, and you could see Dodd jump up in excitement and Jeremy Doss was the most popular spotter in the stand. Everyone stopped and shook his hand, and you could hear, “For only being 14, you are one hell of a spotter.”

This was a very emotional win for Mike Doss; this is the race he has wanted for some time now.

During the post race interview, Mike Doss said he is going to retire from full-time racing and start

focusing on his son's racing career.

“I could not have won this with out the help of Dale, he worked his butt off all weekend, and Jeremy, what an awesome spotter, and a big thanks to Junior for flying back and getting the part we needed,” Mike Doss said. “We could be here all night thanking everyone; there are just so many people that make this a team.”

Gualala, Calif., resident Junior Roddy's No. 41 car is rolled out at the Shasta Raceway Park on Sunday, October 3, 2010. Photo courtesy of Bob Cook.

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Written by: Bob Cook

Published: 07 October 2010