Looking back on his time behind the wheel, Rodriguez remembers how hot his competitive fire burned.
“One time at East Bay, (racer) Taylor Andrews looked at me and said, ‘Damn Rodriguez, you take this sh*t too serious.‘ I looked at him and said, ‘When I walk in that gate, I change my face. When I leave, I change my face. I come here for one purpose and that‘s to win the race. I didn‘t come here to run second. If I run second, I might as well have run last.‘ Unfortunately, that‘s just me.”
Longtime East Bay Raceway track photographer Max Dolder also remembers Rodriguez as a fierce competitor.
“One night at East Bay I was talking to Sam. He had won several races in a row there and had a streak going. I don‘t remember how many races it was, but he had strung several together. I looked at him and kidded, ‘Why don‘t you let someone else win tonight?‘ He looked at me with a straight face and said, ‘I take my racing seriously!‘
When asked what stands out most as he looks back at his career, Sam paused before answering.
“The three things that stand out the most is the Knoxville Nationals, Little 500, and Ohio Speedweeks. But, primarily, the Knoxville Nationals. I enjoyed racing here (Florida); there‘s a bunch of good guys and racers here. Obviously, it‘s a lower budget thing here than a national series.
“What I enjoyed a lot, and I did it every year, was run the East Bay Winternationals. I was a proponent that if you run against stiffer competition it‘s gonna make you better. It‘s gonna force you to be better. It‘s gonna force you to think different about the setup in the car. Being in that environment and having friends like Deuce Terrell, Kenny Jacobs, Doug Wolfgang, and Steve Kinser made it fun.
“One time I was running the indoor World of Outlaws show at St. Petersburg in 1992 (in the Florida Suncoast Dome, now Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball). I was getting around that place pretty good. Hell, Steve Kinser come over to me and said, ‘Sam, what kinda setup you running here?‘ And I thought to myself, ‘Really? You‘re asking me this?‘
“I really didn‘t have any big-time sponsors; I did it all on my own. When the 8D World of Outlaw team shut down after 1990, Deuce, who had been working for the team with Wolfgang as the driver, asked me to think about doing a World of Outlaws deal. Deuce says, ‘Man you should think about doing a World of Outlaws stint; we can make some money and get some sponsors.‘ Again, it‘s all about money and sponsors. I couldn‘t leave my wife, three kids, and business for a whole year. At the time, I had 15 employees relying on me. You can‘t walk away from that.
“I had a good career and raced against some good drivers and made a lot of friends along the way. There were a lot of good racers here in Florida I raced against. If you wanted to race here, you had to race hard. Who knows where my career may have ended if I had started a lot earlier?!
“But I‘m satisfied with my career as it stands.”