MONROE — Randy Wolff spent more than 20 years drag racing at Byron Dragway. When the Gratiot native died in June 2017, he had a wish for his younger brother Tim: Race my car.
“He was in hospice and he said that he would like to see me drive the car,” Tim Wolff said So, I kind of felt obligated to give that a shot.”
Randy died after complications from a rare neuroendocrine tumor, the same cancer that took the brother’s niece, Aly Wolff in April of 2013. Tim said he and brother Rod took the vehicle and worked on it in their garage in South Wayne.
“We went through a lot of different trouble,” Tim said. “It started on fire once. We had a lot of problems with it not running right. It was a big challenge, but we ended up able to race at the last race at the end of the season.”
Through the winter, the brothers took the car apart, playfully dubbed it “Junkyard Dog,” and then rebuilt it entirely.
“I think it’s a learning process. We work on it every week, me and my brother Rod. It’s a work in process and a good experience for us,” Tim said. “I’m fortunate to have a car that he (Randy) built. Obviously, I’ve had to make some adjustments and investments into it, but overall he had it all built.”
Randy built the car from the ground up, and his financial investment in the vehicle was far below other competitors at the dragway. Tim said that many of the other drivers spent between two-to-four times more on their vehicles than Randy, Rod or Tim have put into this one.
“When you look at the car, you see it’s something they built from the ground up with a pretty low budget. It was just interesting and fun to watch him compete against cars that are two- and three- and four-times more money,” Tim said. “Randy’s passion was racing. I don’t know that I have that same passion for it, but it was just fun to be around both Randy and Rod. They built the car from scratch.”
Tim has found success so far this season, especially early in the year. He’s currently ranked 37th in points out of 204 racers in the Super Pro class. The next set of races is Labor Day weekend and the points championship is the second weekend in October.
“Early in the year we had some really good success. We won a bunch of individual races, but haven’t won the whole race yet. That’s a goal we have,” Tim said.
Tim is also a pilot, and said his children like to go to the races and are used to big equipment.
“They like seeing me in it. Obviously it’s really loud, so it did take a bit to get used to. But it’s fun,” said Wolff, who added that his family sometimes makes a full weekend out of the races. “A lot of times we camp out down there or stay in a hotel.”
What struck Tim so much about racing, though, was not just the intensive labor needed to race a couple of times a month. It was the actual act of racing. “Junkyard Dog” can hit speeds of 145-150 miles per hour and can travel 1/4 of a mile in just over nine seconds.
“As (Randy) was getting sick, he raced right up to about the couple of weeks before he died. It was pretty amazing knowing the physical demands it requires,” Tim said.
Tim said that Randy was a big part of the foundation started for their niece, Aly, from McFarland, who helped grow her cause for finding a cure with the viral #BiebsMeetAly campaign. Aly was a fan of Justin Bieber, and the social media hashtag campaign helped bring in nearly a million dollars for research. Bieber ended up meeting Aly at a concert in Chicago before she passed away.
“Originally there was not supposed to be anything genetic of that rare sub-type. But with the research now that is definitely something the UW is looking into. It’s a little odd that two people in a family like that would be hit with the same rare cancer,” Tim said.
Tim said he doesn’t know how long he will continue drag racing, but for now he’s enjoying it.
“It’s one of those things that kind of started with me getting challenged to get in it. I like driving anything with a motor. It’s definitely different. It’s something not everybody has done,” Tim said.
