Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9007020158
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JEFF MOTLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Long
The Akers, as in late-model stocker Stanley and street stocker Mark, are in their second and first years respectively at PCS and have reached a popularity level at the track big enough to form their own fan club.
When Stanley Akers, who lives in Wolf started racing last season in the street-stock division, his wife, Beverly Akers, printed up about 200 T-shirts with his number "06" in huge blue letters on the back and emblems of Chrysler [Akers drives a Mopar] and Dairy Queen [his sponsor] on the sleeves. Little did she know what a can of worms she had opened.
"I printed those 200 shirts and the next thing I knew they were sold before I had them," Beverly Akers said.
A year later, she probably feels as if she is running a small business. She has sold more than 1,000 T-shirts and equally as many caps and sweat shirts.
"This has really gotten out of hand," Beverly Akers said. "We started out just trying to show support for Stanley, and I guess people either like the Chrysler product or they pull for the underdog. I've had people I don't even know come up and ask me for a shirt."
A 7-year-old girl comes up and asks Beverly Akers for a shirt. Unfortunately, she is out of shirts in the girl's size and tells her she will bring her one next week. The girl leaves and returns five minutes later with a $20 bill in hand saying she wants two of them and she doesn't care how large.
"See what I mean?" Beverly says. "I can't keep enough of them. I bring a few shirts or hats to the track and almost never leave with any of them."
And they come in all sizes for all ages. One Saturday night the wearers ranged from 18-month-old Rusty Lang to the Akers' 73-year-old father, Ott.
When this yellow army first started assembling a year ago, there was just one type of shirt. Some people even showed up in plain yellow shirts and had written the "06" on the back with a Magic Marker or ink pen. Now the shirts have several designs. They're even changing color and it is creating quite a clash.
Stanley Akers' brother, Mark, drives a neon-green street stock. So the fans show their allegiance to him with green hats and handkerchiefs.
But Akers rooters may have crossed the line of zaniness last Saturday night. A couple showed up in a T-shirt that was half yellow and half neon green to show support for both drivers.
"This is starting to get crazy, but we love it," said Akers' friend, neighbor and fan Tom Dennis. "If Mark was to move up to the late models, we would be switching shirts in the middle of the races. We'd be peeling them off and putting them on. Now wouldn't that be fun?"
All this attention for the Akers boys has several sources.
"They're just a bunch of good old boys who work really hard on that car, and they are underdogs," said Richard Williams, whose son, Randy, is on Stanley Akers' pit crew.
There can be no question of the dedication of the driver and crew, not only to racing but to the community as well.
"We try to do things with the public like showing the car and things like that," Stanley Akers said. "We took the car down to Roanoke for the Children's Miracle Network show and raised about $2,000."
But Stanley Akers left out a little part of that story. His brother, Larry, filled in.
"The night before he went down for that show, he tore the car up," Larry Akers said. "The crew and Stanley stayed up late at night trying to patch the car together enough to get it down there and make it presentable for television. Then they got up early in the morning and hauled it down there."
Stanley Akers, who was voted the most popular driver on the street-stock tour last year, hopes his performance and demeanor sell themselves.
"We certainly haven't done any politicking and we don't call up and ask people to buy shirts and come to the races," he said. "Word of mouth spreads fast and I try to do my best to keep my nose clean. I guess I keep pretty good P.R., I have an outgoing personality and get along pretty well with everybody."
After every race, Akers can be found somewhere in the pits signing autographs. He never turns anyone away. It is this treatment of the fans that is making his racing career a success.
"The fans make the sponsors, and without them there wouldn't be any racing," Akers said. "My sponsor is tickled to death and said was the best dollar he has ever spent on advertising."
Stanley's sponsors, Rick and Ron Witt, who own the Dairy Queen in Rich Creek, have been a major force.
"When we started, we had three Dairy Queens; then my sponsors went to their meetings over the winter, and now I have 12 of them ranging from Lynchburg to Tazewell," Akers said. "They've even been selling my shirts at the stores, and from what I understand, they keep selling out."
So far, Akers hasn't tasted victory lane on the late-model circuit, but that doesn't mean he can't drive.
In one race, his car got sideways as he left turn two. It stayed sideways all the way down the backstretch.
"Look at that - Stanley Akers driving sideways down the backstretch," said track radio broadcaster Pete Neimeier. "Anybody that can drive a car sideways has got to be a good race-car driver."
Whether driving sideways is an indication of driving ability is debatable, but if Akers' driving gets him a checkered flag, the tiny community of Wolf Creek had better watch out.
"When he wins that first one, I think we'll take over a part of Giles County," Dennis said.
One thing for sure, they'll all be wearing yellow T-shirts.
by CNB