Team News

The 2008 Season is here and we would like to welcome the following new Sponsor to B & L Racing. We are proud to welcome The RFX Companies to the team. Following is a history of their company and the services available. We look forward to seeing everyone at the track. Browse our site for our Schedules and Events at the Dillon Motor Speedway. Visit all of our sponsor websites to see all their available products and services.

Strong Family Values

"The RFX Companies" began with the founding of Refrigerated Food Express, Inc. on August 11, 1952 by Thomas E. Welby, Sr. With roots in transportation dating back to the late 1930s, Mr. Welby ran the business until 1960.
After his death, his wife, Marion M. Welby successfully ran the company for 18 years. She was one of only a handful of women running a trucking company during the height of trucking regulation. She earned the respect of industry leaders all around the country at a time when it was not common for a woman to be a president or a CEO.
She subsequently passed the reins to their son, Tom Jr., who took over as president and CEO. Tom's keen business sense, passion, and energy guided the company through the post-regulation years until his death in December of 2000.
Strong family values shaped RFX over those years into one of the nation's most trusted and capable providers of reliable freight management.

A History of Success

Since 2000, Jim Morse, President & CEO, and Ernest Bortolotto, Vice President and CFO, have continued to guide both companies through a period of unprecedented growth. Jim, who has worked in the transportation business since 1969, joined RFX in 1988. He formerly served as President of a respected refrigerated carrier in Massachusetts. Prior to that, he held various management positions for a 65 year old regional carrier in Boston, MA. Ernest joined our trucking family in 1997; his financial experience dates back to 1968. He previously served as U.S. controller for a major manufacturer of medical instrumentation and supplies in Massachusetts and a Division Controller for a manufacturer of bottling and packaging equipment.
The company currently has a succession plan in effect that will ensure strong leadership for generations to come. At the top of that list is Vice President Kimberly Welby (Tom’s oldest daughter), and Director of Operations Joe Wiley.

A Committment to Our Customers

Today, "The RFX Companies" consist of RFX, Inc., a licensed transportation intermediary, Refrigerated Food Express, Inc., a common and contract carrier, and RFX Flatbed Division. The company is run by a strong management team committed to the values of the past. The RFX team - whether it be our personnel at the corporate headquarters, our staff in the regional dispatch offices around the country, or our operators on the road - are dedicated, experienced professionals, committed to honesty, fairness, and quality transportation service. For all information visit www.rfxinc.com

Now that the season is over we will be back in the shop making changes to the car in preparation for the 2008 Season. We would like to take this time to thank all of our Sponsors for their support. Without sponsors our racing would not be possible. Check back frequently for updates. Browse our site and try all of the services listed.

We would like to thank the following Sponsors for their support of our race team.

Steve Johnson Race Cars (Timmonsville)
Nationwide Insurance (Iris Hodge Agent)
Firestone of Florence (Five Points)
Monro Muffler (Florence)
Shooky’s Deli (Florence)
Century 21 Realty (Randy Deaton)
Gavel Auction (Mooresville NC)
Duluth Trading (duluthtrading.com)
Bell Racing (RANTOUL IL)
Alnco Transport (Jerome ID)
Corporate Traffic (Jacksonville FL)
FM2WAY.COM (Eureka MT) Provider of all our teams radio’s
Freedom Fuel International (Pensacola FL)

Without our sponsors this build and our racing would not be possible.

Keep an eye out for the Hatchell’s Racing #21 Street Stock Team as they work hard each week to move to the front for the win! Davie and his team work hard with positive results and gain forward strides to the front each week. Keep up the good work Davie!

Please Check back often for updates

6/28/07

Already a month into the 2007 racing season and the car is looking great! The motor went in this past weekend and now the fine tuning and small stuff will soon be complete. We can’t wait to get it on the track and shake it down. It has taken a while, but this car was totally redone. We took it all the way to the frame and back up again. Boy does that take time. Then with work schedules changing, there were times we didn’t think it would ever get finished. But thanks to Steve Johnson, it’s coming along great. Looks like there will be more Prilosec in our house to help with my anxiety of spotting Bill around a track that has walls all around. But I think it has helped going out and watching others race. We are so excited (probably more Bill than me, due to nerves) about racing at the new track. We plan to make our sponsors proud of the #17 Monte Carlo.

Speaking of sponsors, we have a new one on board. Randy Deaton with Century 21 Real Estate has joined our team. We’ll put him to work later this year scouting out a piece of property for us to put a shop on. He also assisted Bill in locating a great place for his new office. Randy can help you out too! If it is a new house you’re looking for, property for that race car shop or a business location, let Randy find the perfect location for you. He has grown up in Florence so he is well educated in the area. Give him a call and tell him we sent you!

Well, that’s about it for now. We will post pictures once the car is complete. Keep checking back as once we are up and running, I’ll be driving Chris nuts with updates…Thanks to all!

5/17/07

Dillon Motor Speedway

It's standing-room-only for the estimated 3,500 fans who turned out to see the debut of the new Dillion Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Ron Barfield called it a "perfect" night. The co-owner of Dillon Motor Speedway was ecstatic with the attendance and the racing at the track's opening night, the first time races have been run in Dillon since 1979. "We had 3,500 fans ... the stands were completely packed," Barfield said. "We had a super night. There was not an empty seat in the house. We had people sitting on the grass hills around the track." Barfield, co-owner Stuart Jackson and a strong supporting cast have been working feverishly for the past 17 months to rebuild Dillon Motor Speedway. When they started the project, trees were growing through the old dirt track, which is now paved. And despite the threat of bad weather, the show went on as planned. "It wasn't supposed to be the best of weather," said Barfield, a former NASCAR driver who won a pair of Late Model championships at Myrtle Beach Speedway in the early 1990s. "All week they were calling for strong storms on Saturday night. That might have kept some teams away. Plus, a lot of people are still getting their cars ready." The icing on the cake Saturday was that Brandon McReynolds, son of Fox announcer Larry McReynolds, won his first race in the 27-car Allison Legacy Series. Larry McReynolds mentioned the win and Dillon's track during Sunday's broadcast of the Nextel Cup Samsung 500. Barfield said 13 super trucks, 19 4-cylinder cars, nine Street Stocks and eight Chargers raced at Dillon on Saturday night. The Late Models are scheduled to debut this weekend. Considering that Myrtle Beach Speedway and Florence Speedway also raced Saturday, Barfield was "tickled" with the size of his field. "It's definitely taking its toll on race car counts at tracks," Barfield said of three tracks holding races on the same night. "It's gonna make it tough. The biggest thing for me is if I can get enough cars to have a race, put on a good show and keep the fans coming back. "We had a lot of good racing. But the biggest thing is that so many people showed up. People around here have been waiting for this for a long time." Jason Calhoun, who won last week at Myrtle Beach Speedway, won the Super Trucks race. Chris Kenny won the 4-cylinder race, Barry Flowers the Street Stocks event and Todd Amerson the Charger race

4/17/07

With the 2007 Season just around the corner, Team 17 is working hard to complete many projects in the works for the opening night at Dillon Motor Speedway. We are currently working on the punch list to finish the #17 car. We are actively seeking a new trailer to haul the car as well as finishing up the Hauler donated by Ron Sessions of Chicago, Illinois.

Along with our regular sponsors , Nationwide – Iris Hodge, Shooky’s Deli, Firestone, FM2way.com, Decalkits.com, and Gavel Auction, we would like to welcome the following new sponsors for 2007

Alnco Transport, Jerome Idaho

Corporate Traffic, Jacksonville Florida

Duluth Trading Company (Great clothes and other interesting stuff!)

Looking at getting them a new car for that special day, or maybe a high school grad needs new wheels? Let Iris at Nationwide provide you with the best insurance coverage at the best price!! Tell them B & L Racing sent you!! Then get all your vehicles serviced by Walt, John and the guys at Firestone…they’ll keep you on track.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the New Dillon Motor Speedway opening in March!! Saturday night racing at its best!! What kind of “Grand Opening” do Ron & Stuart have planned for the new DMS? Mark your calendar so you can say “WOW – WHAT A SHOW!!” and tell all your friends!!

Jan. 10, 2007

With the 2006 Season behind us and a new car to be completed soon. We at B & L Racing would like to thank all of our Sponsors for their support. Please check back weekly as new Photo's and news will be posted as the build of thenew car is completed.

Nov. 22, 2006

B & L Racing is proud to accept our newest addition. We would like to thank Ron Sessions of RS Leasing - Chicago Illinois for the donation of a Race Car Hauler to our team. Bill flew to Chicago where he met with Ron and accepted the donation of the truck. Ron is the former Director of Operations for Rescue Medical Transport and the owner of RS Leasing. Ron kindly donated a 1995 Medtec (Former Ambulance) to use to pull our race car trailer and store all of our tools and parts. This unit has all the amenities to service our needs at the track to include the following. 1500 Watt Inverter, Nitrogen hook ups, full lighting and plenty of storage for all the teams items. One again thanks Ron for your donation to our team.

Sept. 25, 2006

We would like to take the time to thank Chris Neal for the development and maintenance of our website. We would also like to thank all of our Sponsors for their support during this build of our new car. With many months of racing left of the season we will continue to move forward to complete our build. We also are asking all visitors to go to www.dillonmotorspeedway.com and keep up to date on the progress of the new track being built by its owners Ron Barfield and Stewart Jackson. We look forward to racing at DMS
this up coming 2007 Season.. We ask that you visit all of our Sponsors links and see all their products and services available to

Aug. 1, 2006

With the most time-consuming part of building a race car upon us coupled with extended work hours, our completion date has been moved out. Patience is must during this stage

June 15, 2006

Now that the bodywork has been completed, the #17 will move forward to the next stage. Although several setbacks have moved our completion date out, we continue to work to complete the build

The car is now painted and lettered...

April 1, 2006

The team worked hard today in the shop to disassemble and remove the
body and all the suspension components from the car, so that we could
repaint the chassis and interior of the body panels. Once repainted, the
body was then hung in its permanent position on the chassis. We are on
schedule for Lexan, crush panels, dash panel, gauges battery and wiring. We will then paint and letter the exterior of the race car which will only leave the Drive train, motor and setup. Once this is complete we will then be ready for testing and our first race of the season.

Thursday March 2, 2006