Tim Connolly never wanted to own race cars. He just wanted to drive them.
However, you don’t always get what you want. And in racing, sometimes if you want to compete, you need to own the race car.
“My happy place is with the wheel in my hand as all drivers are,” said Connolly, who was recently named as one of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 40 Greatest Drivers. “I never wanted to be a car owner. It was a necessity to drive a race car. That’s why most of the guys do it.”
Connolly’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career, which started in 1988, saw him win nine times and secure a runner-up championship result in 1997 while driving Bob Garbarino’s legendary Mystic Missile Modified.
He stepped away from the series in 2002 but returned in 2023, now as the owner and driver of the Mystic Missile after receiving Garbarino’s blessing.
Since then, he’s competed in 23 Modified Tour events as the driver of the No. 4 Mystic Missile. However, Connolly has been absent from the series so far in 2025 while he recovers from his third spinal surgery.
“The reality is you start to realize you don’t bounce (back) like you used to and you break a little easier and your recovery time takes a little bit longer,” Connolly said. “My back is doing great, and I feel great. Just trying to be a little bit smart and a little bit patient.”
That’s where 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman comes in.
Newman, himself a four-time Tour winner, is always looking for opportunities to race Modifieds. Last year he reached out to Connolly to enquire about driving the Mystic Missile, but the two couldn’t come to terms, and Newman instead drove for John-Michael Shenette in a few events.
“With all due respect, he’s no spring chicken anymore. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just at some point he’s going to have to step out of the seat,” Newman said. “Not knowing where his mind was at on all that stuff, I wanted to be respectful of it but also put my name in the hat if we could ever put something together.”
With Connolly sidelined due to his surgery and Newman looking for a car to drive in Sunday’s FaithFest Evangelistic Ministries 150 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (2 p.m. ET on FloRacing and The NASCAR Channel), everything came together.
“Basically, we worked on the Wilkesboro race, and we had enough time,” said Newman, who secured several sponsors, including IGA, First Sanitation, The Ragg Co., Fairvalue, Findley Properties and Mathis Equipment to make the opportunity possible. “He brought the race car down to the FURY shop and gave us an opportunity to work on it and get it all ready to go with Ryan Stone. I look forward to the opportunity.”
As the pair discussed the idea of Newman driving for Connolly at North Wilkesboro, it became obvious to Connolly that Newman understood his position as a driver who never really wanted to be a car owner.
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That made it a bit easier for Connolly to step aside and trust Newman to take the wheel of the Mystic Missile this Sunday afternoon.
“When Ryan and I finally got down to the meat and potatoes here a few weeks ago, I believe it was a Monday morning, and we’re on the phone,” Connolly explained. “I said, ‘You know Ryan to me it’s kind of funny. I was a college quarterback, the baseball pitcher, the business owner and race car driver.’ I said, ‘I never,’ and when I got to I never he interrupted me. He said, ‘I know, you never wanted to be a car owner. I get it.’
“I said, ‘You know Ryan, if I was ever to put a guy in the car, you would be it. Well, except maybe Kyle Larson if he wanted to.’ And he chuckled.”
To Newman’s credit, he understood Connolly was going to have a hard time watching someone else drive his race car. That’s why he broached the subject carefully, a strategy that ultimately led to the opportunity Sunday at North Wilkesboro.
“It’s kind of a delicate subject to talk to a guy about wanting his seat because he’s a driver-owner, but I’ve been in that situation before,” Newman said. “My first pavement sprint car ride was with a guy named Ron Koehler at Winchester in 1999, and he was at a point where Winchester was a little too fast for him.
“I’ve been in that position to try and delicately and politely ask, ‘Hey, if you’re thinking about it, I might be your guy.'”
This will be Connolly’s first time operating as strictly a car owner during a Modified Tour event. Luckily, he knows someone he can lean on for advice and guidance in such a situation.
Garbarino, a three-time Modified Tour champion car owner and one of Connolly’s closest friends, will be making the trip from his home in the Northeast to join Connolly and Newman at North Wilkesboro.
For Connolly, the opportunity to share the weekend with Garbarino is one on which he would never pass.
“I called Mr. Garbarino before I got too committed with Ryan, just out of respect,” Connolly said. “I called him back last week and I said, ‘You know, this is really your legacy.’ I joked at first. I said, ‘This is my first venture being a car owner outside of the seat, and I really need some mentoring in car ownership. Could you please come down?’
“He chuckled a little bit. I said, ‘This is really your legacy. You need to be there more than I do.'”
For Newman, the goal is to go to North Wilkesboro, race up front and prove himself worthy to carry on the legacy of all the drivers who have come before him in the Mystic Missile.
After all, Mr. Garbarino will be watching.
“When I first started racing Modifieds, I raced against the Mystic Missile,” Newman said. “I knew the quality of the equipment that they had, and I was happy when I beat it, and I’ve been beaten by it, as well.
“When Tim Connolly carried on that legacy and tradition, I took note of it, but at that point I was still racing against it. I think it’s awesome for me, being where I am at my career, and you can tag that however you want to.
“A place like North Wilkesboro, Tim Connolly, the Mystic Missile and the history of Modified racing, it’s at least two or three chapters of a book somewhere.”