Don Woodard’s many connections to Colorado Motorsports are rooted in his love of racing. He drove Late Model Stock Cars at Colorado National Speedway in the early 1970’s, and his story of his first race win is interesting. He had rolled his car three times in a race, and with the car mostly destroyed, asked his boss if he could take the week off for repairs. His boss said no….so Don quit his job, rebuilt the car, and won his first race the next week. He improved his racing style and equipment in the coming years, with notable results. In the 1972 and 1974 seasons, Don won the most Late Model trophy dashes at Colorado National Speedway, and finished in the top ten in season point standings throughout the mid-1970’s.
As he continued his racing career, Don watched a sign painter letter his car and thought “I can do that!” He bought supplies to practice on some old cars at Foothills Auto Wrecking, and soon opened a sign shop that specialized in race car lettering and commercial signage. Recognizing the level of pride drivers had for their cars led Don to create aesthetic products geared for competitors, and Woodard Racing Graphics was born. His hand-painted designs predate sophisticated vinyl racing packages so prevalent at the track today, and he became the first in the area to eventually include vinyl production techniques to create exciting and memorable race car design schemes.
Don was part of the first oval-track trade show that was held at Daytona Speedway in the early 1970’s. He traveled to Florida, picked up supplies at a local lumber yard, and built his booth. After working at trade shows for several years, Don noticed that the best after-market racing product manufactures had professionally produced exhibits. Don says he “snuck behind the curtains” to see how these exhibits were produced and shifted his business toward production of trade show exhibits for non-racing companies.
Through all his business-of-racing endeavors, Don Woodard’s impact on the sport at the regional and national levels has been deep and long-lasting. His sense of how to promote racing, even though somewhat risqué methods, have led to memorable results. Hall of Fame photographer Joe Starr credits Don for helping him get started in his successful racing photography career, and countless others have benefitted from the inspiration, advice and experience Don has shared with them over the years. He has said that everything he has done in his many business models has been inspired by building and driving race cars. In recognition of his achievements and contributions to the racing community, Don Woodard was inducted into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame with the class of 2024.
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