FRANKLIN BUTLERRace-car driver Asuit-wearing and briefcase-toting insurance salesman by day, Franklin Butler III transforms into a daredevil once darkness falls.

The 37-year-old Chesterfield County man is either the vice president of Butler Insurance Agency or the fastest man on wheels at Old Dominion Motor Speedway, depending on when you catch him -- if you can catch him.

Franklin Butler (you might remember him as "Frankie") is one of the few race-car champs who earned a reputation for fleet feet before slipping into a cockpit.

Butler has raced -- mostly at Southside Speedway -- on and off since he was 16 years old. He had been in something of semi-retirement the past 10 years while his insurance business prospered and his family grew.

Two men helped change his mind. Car owner Leonard Miller of Pennsylvania (author of car-racing book "Violent Thunder") and chief mechanic Herman Gantt of Ashland convinced Butler to give it a whirl.

On opening night, Butler -- described as a "helmet carrier" for racing for a long-distance owner -- blew a tire and finished 11th. Still, the old addiction slipped back into his blood flow.

From that point, if Butler wasn't the fastest driver in Manassas, he was the most consistent. He had only two victories, but his 19 Top-5 finishes were enough for his first track title.

Running without a sponsor, he finished with 982 points, covering 22 races over six months. Richard Boswell of Friendship, Md., was second with 964.

Driving in Miller's Ashland-housed Chevy Monte Carlo, Butler also took ninth in the LMS division of NASCAR's Division III -- one of four regions in the Weekly Racing Series.

Butler didn't ask for or accept a penny from Miller (who attended most races), for his high-speed drama. All earnings went back into the racing operation.

Would you sell an insurance policy to someone who admitted to driving at alarming speeds, bumper to bumper, while trading paint and weaving through traffic like a man on mission?

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