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franklin county times

Burroughs finishes fast, looks for strong 2002

By By Austin Bishop/The Meridian Star
Dec. 31, 2001
LAUREL The only person Robert Burroughs ever tries to please when he climbs into a race car is himself. That alone could be enough to push him to the top of the scene on the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) circuit.
Just one look around his amazing garage, which doubles as a hangar for his two twin-engine airplanes, is proof of that.
Burroughs who turned 48 on July 7, the same day he ran the famous Watkins Glen road course for the first time and came away with a fifth-place finish began driving at the age of 14 at a local asphalt track in his hometown of Laurel.
He gave up racing in the late 70s to start his own business, Burroughs Diesel. After turning his business, which is a combination 18-wheeler dealership and repair shop, into a multi-million dollar enterprise, he returned to his roots.
He began dirt track racing around the Southeast 12 years ago. During that time he made it to Daytona, Fla. for Speedweek. That's when the bug really hit, changing his racing life forever.
His first step was to order a short track car. He began racing at asphalt tracks every time he got a chance and eventually joined the All-Pro circuit.
But after a while, that just didn't satisfy him.
He raced All-Pro for more than four years, but then turned his focus to ARCA, which along with NASCAR, is one of the world's two major league stock car racing associations.
His first ARCA event was at Talladega in October of 1999. It is something Burroughs says he will never forget.
Burroughs took his own engine package to Talladega for that race, qualified the car 28th and finished 10th. He was officially hooked.
Nothing that happened in that race did anything to deter Burroughs.
Despite his disappointment in the finish, Burroughs said that race helped him make up his mind to get into ARCA racing full throttle.

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