Although it started off slow, 2001 proved to be a very exciting and successful year for Todd and the 7M team. Early in the season, times were tough as the team struggled to crack the top ten but before mid-season, the top five's were rolling in. And at the end of September, even after suffering two destroyed cars along the way, everyone involved with the team was smiling from ear to ear. 2001 was the best year yet for both Todd and the Middleswarth 7M team.

March and April were highlighted by just one top-ten run for Todd, that being a second after leading the first eight laps on a cold Sunday afternoon at Williams Grove. But after the first two months were put in the books, things turned around in a hurry for the team as they quickly did their homework, both on setups and on tires.

The beginning of May marked the beginning of what was impressive and newfound success for Todd and the team. Between April 28 and September 29, Todd rode home to 21 top-five's and 35 top-tens in the 44 features he competed in across Central Pa, including a pair of victories.

Of those 21 top-five runs, included with the wins were five runner-ups, five thirds, nine fourths and a single fifth place finish. During this time, he also led 94 feature laps and this coupled with his very strong performances at the checkered flags put him where every driver wants to be and that's in a position to win races! And proving the theory correct, he notched back to back wins at Port Royal in August.

Riding his strength and consistency, Todd drove to Port Royal's victory lane on August 4. The convincing win was his first career triumph at the Juniata County oval and it netted him $2,400.

"We've been really good this year," said a very happy Todd upon exiting his car. "We just keep changing things to go faster but I thought I'd never win here!"

After winning his heat earlier in the night, he started seventh in the 25-lap sprint car feature and had motored up to third by the completion of the races first circuit behind leader Jay Reichard of Hagerstown, Md. Todd made quick work of the rest of the field and it took him only four circuits to reel in the pacesetter before diving deep into the first corner to steal the lead and begin checking out on the field with seven laps completed. Todd's winning pace was stopped with six-laps remaining when Reichard flipped his machine in turn four, regrouping the field.

On the restart, it was 31-year-old Todd who proved to be the class of the field, pulling away over the closing laps to record his third overall career feature win by nearly a straightaway over Cole, Mark Smith, Brook Weibley and Len Thompson.

The victory was Todd's sixth top-five finish in his previous seven Port Royal outings. "We've been trying a lot of things and keep going back to what works," said Todd of his strong performances. "If you run top-five, eventually you will win."

Backing that statement up, just as he did a week earlier, Todd roared back to Port victory lane on August 11. This win was worth $2,300 and it marked the first time in the history of the two-car, Hestor/Keith Kauffman Middleswarth team that Todd drove to victory directly ahead of his teammate.

Todd began his quest for the sweep from the eighth spot in the feature. Having won his heat earlier in the night, he was up to fourth after the first circuit behind early leaders Mike Walter and Brook Weibley. Weibley took control on the fifth circuit and was attempting to drive away from the field with nine down when caution appeared for a spin in the fourth corner. Todd had taken second on the sixth lap and found himself challenging on the restart.

With Weibley on top, Todd worked both sides of the speedway to stay with the leader and move underneath him while in traffic at the flagstand to lead the event with ten laps remaining. Despite a final caution with six to go, he was never challenged enroute to his second win in a row at the track.

Kauffman moved into second on the final lap with Mark Smith finishing third followed by Todd Shaffer and Weibley.

"Man, its great to win here," exclaimed Todd upon exiting his sprinter. "Lapped traffic is tough here and Brook and I got hung up there a little bit. It is just so tough here and we are just so glad to be here."

Todd enjoyed some other great runs during the season despite not coming out on top. In the Selinsgrove Speedweek show he paced the field and then was running second with a lap to go before he blew a tire and in the Selinsgrove Open, he rode home to a second consecutive top-five after leading early in the race. Todd moved from 11th to a challenging third at the checkered flag in Port's Labor Day Classic and in the Tuscarora 50 preliminary, he had a win in the bag over Lance Dewease before the motor dropped a valve forcing him to settle for second with a few laps to go.

But by far, the best showing of the season for Todd, including the wins in August, was his head turning performances against the best in the business, the World of Outlaws in the Williams Grove National Open in late September. Todd timed 16th and 13th quick of 44 cars respectively on Friday and Saturday night before going on to win both of his heats over guys like Mark Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Donny Schatz, Brad Furr, Dale Blaney and Craig Dollansky.

Todd led the first half of the dash on Friday night before coming home second. He earned the outside of the front row for the feature and after running top-five for the first half of the Friday preliminary, Todd eventually gave way to Craig Dollansky, Mark Kinser and Steve Kinser to finish seventh. However, he also was passed by Andy Hillenburg and Dale Blaney with ten to go but rallied to drive back around the pair during the last five laps after changing his line.

Starting 17th in Saturday's Open, Todd looked fantastic. After taking the green flag, Todd moved by Brad Furr, Dale Blaney, Craig Keel, Skip Jackson, P.J. Chesson and a dropped out Stevie Smith to take the checkered flag with a wonderful 11th ahead of Blaney, Furr, Joey Saldana, Danny Wood, Swindell, Steve Kinser, Keith Kauffman, Jeff Shepard and Fred Rahmer among others.

Of course, the season wasn't flawless. Speedweek found Todd and the team traveling to Silver Spring where they proceeded to return home with pieces of a car after a B-Main flip. Unfortunately, Todd was also caught up in a crash at the start of the WoO II feature at Williams Grove in August, destroying his racer while also putting him out of business the following night due to neck and back pains.

But, every cloud has a silver lining and these clouds had a pair of them. From the August ashes came the return for the first time since Todd first drove it in 1998 of the much sought after Bar-B-Q car. It was that version of the 7M that Todd then finished the season with very strongly.

And, its worth noticing that even after starting from scratch with two new cars at two different points in the middle of the season, Todd continually picked up where he left off, turning in top-five efforts while shaking down new 7M's. After overcoming adversity, Todd and the team learned they are becoming very experienced and adept at making the car perform each week, no matter how broken in or fresh it is.

At the close of the season, which came at Grandview Speedway in late October, Todd had competed in a total of 64 events at eight different tracks while earning 22 top-fives, including two wins and 39 top-tens. He capped off the year having vastly improved his point finish at Port Royal having garnered a third while also improving over last year at the Grove with a fine eighth place finish.