Robert Cody Stiltner

Barbara Presnel
English 1103
28 Oct. 2014
Who Is Banjo Matthews?
Not many people know who Banjo Matthews was, and those who do dont know what his real
name was. Banjo was involved in the difficult sport of NASCAR and was very influential during his time
involved in the sport. I wanted to dig deeper into the life of Banjo and find out why he was so good at
what he did and why he wasnt recognized for his accomplishments like he should have been.
Introduction into the Sport of NASCAR
Most people know that NASCAR was connected to the bootleggers back during the prohibition,
but thats the only thing they know about the sport. Not many actually follow the sport anymore, so it is
not being understood the way it should be. NASCAR is a motorsport where cars race around different
size oval tracks ranging from a half of a mile to a little over two and a half miles. These cars are built to
handle the maximum stress after racing hundreds of miles every weekend. Every car is different
whether it be the make, such as ford, Chevrolet, or Toyota, however they have restrictions in the sport
to how fast and how much power they can make. This allows the sport to be competitive and safe.
In the older days of the sport the cars were not limited to how fast they could go and were not
limited on how much horsepower they could make. Each team had the opportunity to make their car go
as fast as it could to give themselves the best shot at winning the race. This is where the statement
money buys speed comes into play. The more money you had the better the parts you could have and
the faster you could go. This of course made it hard on the low budget teams. Even to this day the low

budget teams are not as competitive as the major teams. Banjo Matthews was a part of those big
money teams after he finished his racing career.
The Different NASCAR Series
There is not just one racing series like there was back in the beginning of the sport. Used to
everyone would race in one race and that would be fine because there was not an excess of cars
wanting to race. Now thousands of racers are out there, so to compensate for that series were created.
These series are usually based on age until the racer becomes an adult at age 18.

One of those series is the modified series. This is where Banjo dominated his competition. This is where I
will talk about the different series and which ones banjo raced in. I want to give background to clear up
any confusion that there are not just one and only racing series.
Banjos Start in Racing
This is where I will touch on the known childhood of banjo and how he got his start in racing.
Most of the information is from the age of 15 and up, because he started racing at the age of 15. Most
of the information on banjo at a young age is just by word of mouth, because not much was
documented on him during that time period.
Asheville, North Carolina

Under this heading I will talk about Banjos move to Asheville. Banjo moved to Asheville to help
his racing career take off. I will also touch on the fact that I was born and raised just down the road from
where Banjo raced and lived.
The racing series in Asheville was huge during banjos racing career. Asheville was one of the
favorite tracks on the schedule. Some of the biggest names in the series at that time raced on the
Asheville track. Another track close to the Asheville track was Hickory Motor Speedway. Sadly the
Asheville track is no longer in use, but the Hickory track is still used to this day for young racers.
Banjos Career as a Racer
Here I will explain banjos career as a racer. I will explain what kind of cars he drove and how
many races he won with those cars. His career earnings and the tracks he raced at. Banjo didnt race
personally very long. His career as a driver lasted him about 20 years and then he began to just build
cars instead of race them.
Banjos Career as a Builder
Banjos career as a racer did him a lot better than his career as a driver. Banjo was a genius when
it came to building fast race cars. His statistics were unimaginable at that time. He was dominating the
track with his cars. He wasnt driving of course, but his drivers were dominating the track. His cars won
hundreds of races within a ten year span. Noting that there wasnt that many races per year, so this stat
is record breaking.
Banjos Race Cars
I am going to describe his cars compared to the other cars his were racing against. I want to
show what was different about his compared to others. What made them so good?
This paragraph can be added on to the end of the builder paragraph.
Team Owner
Banjo was the owner of his cars, therefore he owned everyone who drove them. He was a crew
chief of some of the drivers at one point. A crew chief is exactly what it sounds like. The crew chief
controls the crew and makes all the difficult decisions on what to do during the race.
I also want to branch out and describe some of the drivers that drove banjos cars. Some of
Banjos drivers were some of the most famous drivers in history. I am going to describe a handful of
them and banjos personal connection to them.
Impact on the NASCAR Industry
Banjo may not be as well-known as I think he should be, but he did make a huge impact on the
industry. He was well known in his day, but as time went on his legacy was left behind and I am trying to

bring back some of his memories. One man even called him the Henry Ford of racing. Thats a huge
comparison if you ask me!
Banjo Matthews Motorsports Scholarship
My personal connection to Banjo is not just my hometown, it is his scholarship I received. His
scholarship was founded in his name and is the only living legacy of banjo right now. In Asheville there
are no monuments, statues, or anything in Banjos name. The word of mouth is the only thing that is left
when it comes to the stories about him. I want to get him some of the recognition he deserves back in
my hometown.