Pulpit calling before stockcars

WARWICK SMITH

BIBLE BALANCE: Palmerston North minister Todd O'Donnell sits on his stockcar with his racing helmet and his Bible.

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Stockcars will always come second to the Bible for Manawatu man Todd O'Donnell.

The minister will line up with 120 other stockcar drivers for tomorrow's qualifying for the New Zealand Grand Prix at Arena Manawatu.

O'Donnell races his stockcar on Saturday nights before standing in front of a congregation as minister and preaching the Bible at Palmerston North's Church of Christ on Sundays.

There is no doubt where O'Donnell's priorities lie.

"I've been to speedway for most of my life and it's something we enjoy as a family," he said. "But being with my family and teaching the Bible on Sundays is the most important thing to me."

O'Donnell's grandfather raced on the cinder track at Taita with Len Southward, while the family watched their uncle race at Te Marua each week.

O'Donnell said he would love to do teams racing, but he couldn't guarantee to be available all the time. "I think teams racing is the ultimate, but to do that you have to have total commitment and be part of the team every race.

"I have nothing against playing sport on Sundays, but I'm more committed to my faith and need to be with my family at church on Sundays."

O'Donnell is in his fifth season of racing his stockcar at the Robertson Holden Speedway and enjoys the camaraderie between nearly all the drivers in the class, even though he sometimes doesn't enjoy the rougher side of the sport.

"I can't say we enjoy things like the swearing, but that's part of the sport for some."

At the end of the night, O'Donnell and brother Kent, also a minister, head for home.

"As soon as racing is over, I'm off to pick up the kids and get ready for church."

O'Donnell loves the atmosphere of speedway and the friendship it brings among the competitors, but he always has time for the fans who often fill the pits.

"I like to take time to speak to the kids who come into the pits, and if they want to sit in the car, I'm keen to let them."

Another generation of O'Donnells will front soon, with son Joshua set to join the Ministock class. O'Donnell, 39, who met his American wife in the United States, has two other children.

After he finished school at Horowhenua College, O'Donnell became a jumps jockey, before getting serious about his religion, going to preaching school in Tennessee, in the US, in 1992.

To fund his stockcar racing, O'Donnell became a beekeeper, and along with his family, now has 300 hives, collecting four to five tonnes of honey a year, which is a lot, considering that one bee makes a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

- © Fairfax NZ News