Shop profile: Woods Automotive, Johnson City, Tennessee

Sept. 2, 2021
Like the pioneers who dreamed of creating a new state in the wilderness, Randy Woods thought big in working toward his goal

On the south side of Johnson City, Tennessee, is Tipton-Haynes, a state historical site. It was there in 1788 that two opposing militias fought to determine the fate of the fledgling State of Franklin. In what turned out to be a beta test for the new U.S. Constitution,* this so-called “Battle of Franklin” happened less than 50 yards from what is now the front door of Woods Automotive. As we’ve said, history is where you find it. Sometimes it’s right across the road. 

“When I first moved here in 2002, there was a lady who used to manage Tipton-Haynes,” owner Randy Woods says. “I worked on her vehicles and learned a lot about colonial history. And I keep finding out more and more stuff about it to this day.”  

Woods’ own history is an example of vigorous learning on the go. As a youth, he enthusiastically engaged in motorsports, tuning his mother’s ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix in shop class. “It was a huge car,” he recalls. “People would laugh, ‘hey, you got you momma’s car running right?’ We’d race and they’d get surprised when this big car passed them. I’ve still got the engine that came out of it.”  

He began earning a paycheck in 1978, working a variety of jobs in the industry. Then in 1994, Woods made his passion a profession when he got a business license and began building high performance engines and drivetrains on the side. This led him to him becoming friends with NHRA Pro Stock racer Allen Johnson, for whom he crewed during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.   

“We were in NHRA’s Top 10 both years, one of the fastest Chrysler Pro Stocks at the time,” Woods says. This proved to be another learning experience—just not the one he expected, as he observed the financial realities of professional drag racing.   

“I had been really hungry to go racing, and I guess the Lord saw fit to show me that it could not happen, at least not at that level,” muses Woods.   

After he finished his stint with the NHRA, Woods finally got a stand-alone shop, but he still hung onto performance work on drag cars and motorcycles as a primary means of support. “(However) the next thing I know, I started getting more repair stuff to do.”   

With this new impetus, Woods quickly outgrew the original location and bought the 5,000 sq. ft. facility he now occupies. But much like the constitutional crisis which brought about the Battle of Franklin, he realized he needed to jettison the old plan and come up with a new one.  

“My whole goal before was to go fast, and I got to thinking that if I had my own business I could sponsor myself,” Woods says. “But it kind of went in a different direction. When I opened this place here, I knew I’d have to double, maybe even triple my sales to pay the bills for this bigger building. We did it, but I never really got to invest in my racing career like I wanted to. I just had to do what I had to do.”  

Like everyone else in the repair industry, he had his share of misfires—at one point getting rid of almost the entire staff and starting over. But over the years, he has found some outstanding people, and he currently has five employees, a receptionist up front, and four technicians in back, including himself.   

“I’m pretty pleased with all of them,” he notes. “We can do most anything: timing belts, brakes, clutches, suspension, struts, tie rod ends, ball joints, AC systems, wheels and tires. And this year has worked really well as far as doing engine and transmission replacements. If someone has a problem with an engine that has 150,000 miles but the car’s in pretty good shape, I don’t see any reason not to put a new engine in it.”  

Services offered

While Woods used to enjoy building engines, he now primarily sells Jasper remanufactured engines and transmissions. “I can’t compete with the 3 year/100,000 warranty on them,” he explains. “And I can assure my customers of their quality, because I’ve been to the factory twice in Jasper, Indiana, and they build these engines better than when they were new.”   

And all it takes is a phone call when it comes to honoring a Jasper warranty. “I had an RV in here a couple of years ago that was going cross country,” Woods recalls. “Jasper gave him a new engine, we put it in and sent him on his merry way. He didn’t pay a dime, and Jasper paid me for everything. I advertise Jasper on everything we have here; I’ve got Jasper on our shirts.”   

Woods also has a smoke machine for EVAP systems, two different size racks for suspension and alignments, and Snap-on diagnostic equipment. “Like my scanners and my pass-through that I can program the car’s modular computer,” he adds. “Thing about that is you have to enroll with a manufacturer like General Motors to download programs for a Chevy. Because it’s pretty expensive, you’d have to do a lot of that type of vehicle to make it worthwhile.”   

Woods Automotive also sells tires, does A/C work, and works on the occasional diesel. “Diesels are kind of an animal of their own,” Woods says. “It’s a major overhaul to do much of anything to them these days, like injectors and stuff. Most of time I just pull the body off to pull the heads, but not too often.”   

And what is the most profitable? “It depends,” he muses. “On average, my labor rate is probably $20+ lower than the other side of town, but I’m not the cheapest, either. Like with brake work and tires, you don’t really make a lot on that kind of stuff, because there’s so much competition.”   

One thing he doesn’t see much competition on is hybrids. “I used to hardly see any, now I’m seeing more and more,” observed Woods.  “Of course I tell my guys that they have to be aware of the high amperage orange cables, to stay away from them. We usually have a class by one of the parts stores that I can send the techs to once a year. They also have A/C classes, and I may send some of the guys to that if they want to go.   

“But most of the time I do all the in-house training myself, as we go. If we pull something new in, we’ll discuss what and how I want to do this certain job. Of course I tell them that my way is how we’re going to do it now, but it may not be the right way; if they have a better way, we’ll discuss it and if I agree, we’ll do it their way. There’s nothing set in stone here.”    

Future tech, like self-driving cars, doesn’t worry him much. “As far as repairing the computers we’ll probably not going to be able to touch any of that stuff. We’ll just have to determine if the problem actually is the control module -- which we’ll replace -- or a problem with the steering mechanism, because a lot of what we’re seeing now are problems with electric steering. In later years it’s going to be that type of repair.”  

Woods himself still does some race stuff when he gets the time. “I still build a lot of differentials,” he says. “There are a lot of hot rod guys and show car guys who have a 9” Ford or a 12-bolt Chevy that they need rebuilt. Drag cars usually have 9” Ford housings that need to be reinforced. I also used to do a lot of dirt track cars at my old location.”   

“I don’t think retirement’s going to be in the picture. I can see myself here for another 10 years or so—or until I move up in the mountains somewhere, start a tree farm and raise Labradors on the side,” Woods says with a laugh. “I think everybody here would say the same thing, because they’re on the same path I’m on. It’s a never-ending battle trying to keep up the building and everything’s that here, and maybe if I can get my race car back together, go racing.” 

Like the pioneers who dreamed of creating a new state in the wilderness, Randy Woods thought big, working toward one goal. He carefully directed his resources of time, talent and tenacity—only to discover a completely different goal in the process. For while the State of Franklin failed that day in 1788, eight years later the State of Tennessee succeeded. 

About the Author

Robert Bravender

Robert Bravender graduated from the University of Memphis (TN) with a bachelor's degree in film and video production. Now working at Masters TV, he produces Motorhead Garage with longtime how-to guys Sam Memmolo and Dave Bowman. Bravender has edited a magazine for the National Muscle Car Association, a member-based race organization, which in turn lead to producing TV shows for ESPN, the Outdoor Life Network and Speedvision. He has produced shows ranging from the Mothers Polish Car Show Series to sport compact racing to Street Rodder TV.

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