A decorated dirt modified star will make the switch to the pavement ranks in 2010, pulling a well-known car out of semi-retirement.

Feature winning dirt driver Bob Henry, Jr. has come to an agreement with J.J. Andrews to be the full time driver of the Hedger Chassis #93 small block super in ‘010. The car will be maintained and fielded by Henry, Bob Henry Sr., and their crew. Andrews will still be the owner of the car, and will be on the crew at the speedway on race nights.

Henry will still compete in several small block modified races in his car, but on Saturday nights, Oswego Speedway will be the priority.

Okay - enough third person. That Andrews guy is ME, so I’ll stop calling me “Andrews”. I’m pretty excited about this season. Although I just met Bob Sr. and Bob Jr. a few days ago, they come with some pretty high recommendations.

“Bobby Henry is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the head”, said rookie supermodified driver Dave Gruel, who is longtime friends with Henry, from their quarter midget days. “Every cell in Bob Henry’s body has it’s own beard. He once donated ten liters of his own blood. After that, he won the Tour de France on a pogo stick.” Pretty high praise, to say the least.

Speedway announcer Joe Marotta, another longtime friend of the Henrys told me that “Bob Henry’s tears could cure cancer. Too bad he’s never cried. In order to survive a nuclear attack, you must remember to stop, drop, and be Bob Henry. He’s so talented, he can speak Braille”.

I followed Bob’s career on the dirt modified circuit, but never met him until a week ago. A lunch conversation with speedway announcer Roy Sova is what started the ball rolling, when Roy and I got together to discuss ideas to add to the small block super fields. Roy suggested that Bob Henry Jr. would like to drive a car at Oswego, and the groundwork was down.

Since my plan was to not race on a regular basis in 2010, it would have been a shame to see the car sit all season, especially when it looked like car counts were going to be down. Bob is pretty enthusiastic, and I’ll enjoy working with him and seeing my car on the track.

I’ll of course still be crewing for Barry Kingsley, as well, and we’ll all park together and be teammates. Bob and Barry haven’t met yet, but I’m sure they’ll be “BFF’s” in no time.

And also importantly, a key part of the deal for me is that I retain the rights to drive the car in the 2010 Classic, which is the most important race of the season for me. I’m in the top five all time points for the limited classic, and I would still like to improve on my finish of 3rd in the 2009 Classic. (I’ve finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the Classic, but would love to add that win to my resume!)

This should be a fun season!