With the talents of noted mechanic and car owner Gene Jenkins on board for the 2004 season, Todd and the 7M hit the track with a new attitude in March. New for Todd was a heightened confidence in the team and his ability as well as preparedness at the race shop.

By late March momentum was building and it seemed the outlook for a bright season was being realized when Todd came from the third row to pretty much wipe up the field on a very cold and blustery Sunday afternoon at Williams Grove Speedway on March 21.

April 10 found Todd running strong at the front in second spot at Port Royal Speedway when leader Todd Shaffer fell out of the race, yielding the lead and win to the 7M with three laps to go.

Confidence and momentum continued to increase as mid May arrived and the team prepared for the first appearance of the season by the World of Outlaws at Williams Grove. Todd debuted a new J & J chassis early in the month and in his words, "that thing was sweet." It seems every once in a while a driver finds a car that performs better than any other and such was the case at hand.

May 21 was the outlaw tune up show at Williams Grove and after setting fast time over the field, Todd started fourth in the feature and upon the start he knew he had a potentially winning car. But disaster struck shortly after when he was racing with Mark Smith for third and the pair locked wheels, sending Todd into a series of back flips on the backstretch.

The result saw Todd transported to a local hospital where subsequent visits revealed a vertebrate compression fracture, a back injury that sidelined him for eight weeks. Thus ended the high tide of 2004.

Gene Jenkins works on the right front shock

Todd gets pushed from the pits at the Grove

After the worst injury of his career by far, the teams return in time for the second outlaw invasion in late July was disappointing and the momentum just didn't return as the season wound down. In the end Todd entered competition 42 times in 2004, competing in 44 feature events. The 7M recorded nine top five efforts and 29 top tens by season's end.

Despite the injury, encouraging throughout the year and impressive was Todd's time trial efforts. In total Todd took time on 13 occasions, setting fast time over the fields in six attempts and a trio of those fast times was over the World of Outlaws at Williams Grove in July and October. Todd timed outside the top five only three times in 2004.

As the season ended an injury of a different kind swept over Todd and the team as he and close team members dealt with the loss of Todd's cousin, Yvonne "Totter" Underhill, who was like a sister to Todd.

Since day one in go karts, Totter was there with Todd, cheering him on in one way or another, at the track or at home when he needed it. If she wasn't selling shirts for him she was in the pits with the car where her son Jer worked on the car.

But Totter was always at the races and even after being diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer late in 2000, her dedication to Todd and his racing never wavered throughout treatment. In fact, as her health declined, she sat with him in the hospital on the night of his back injury until 5 A. M. when he was released.

And in the last days, when Todd traveled to his last two races of the season which she insisted he attend at Lincoln and Clinton County, a call home found her asking in the background how he did and who won. As she struggled to speak, she mustered "good luck" for Todd before he left for the track.

ToddHestor.com is therefore forever dedicated to Totter - we hear her cheers and feel her love and support always!