During his career Robert Pressley conquered tracks like Darlington, Daytona, Dover, and Michigan. In 2011, Pressley will attempt to conquer a new track. However, this time, it will not be from behind the wheel.
Pressley has leased Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee. The 3/8 mile concrete oval has not hosted weekly racing since the 2002 season. This means that Robert Pressley will start from scratch to build car counts and gain fans at Kingsport Speedway as he reintroduces racing on a weekly basis to the Kingsport area.
Pressley, who has spent the last few years helping his son Coleman at the local level, feels that he has several ideas to help take local racing back to where it was when he was competing on short tracks in the 70’s and 80’s. Pressley hopes to put these ideas to use to please fans and drivers with exciting NASCAR Whelen All American Series action.
“Racing is all I have ever known,” says Pressley, who comes from a racing family. “I started my career at the local level and worked my way up to the top three divisions of NASCAR. After several opportunities passed me by to purchase a race track, I thought Kingsport Speedway was a golden opportunity since it had been closed for eight years.”
One thing Pressley understands is what it is like to have a void in the community from a closed race track. His hometown speedway in Asheville closed in 1999 while he was competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The rigors of his schedule at that time kept him occupied, preventing him from realizing the impact the speedway made on the citizens of Asheville. He hopes that by re-opening Kingsport, the void left in that town will be filled with the sound of roaring engines.
Kingsport Speedway has a storied history with drivers such as Jimmy Hensley, Jack Ingram, L.D. Ottinger, and Scott Bloomquist winning track championships on the dirt surface during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Jeff Agnew, Keith Stiltner, and Wade Day among others went on to win titles on the concrete surface during the 1990’s.
With Kingsport Speedway having such a rich past, Pressley has plans to preserve the history and recognize the former champions of the speedway. “We are going to recognize all of the past champions by having them come to races throughout the year,” states Pressley. “We are also going to put up a wall of fame so the champions of Kingsport Speedway will not be forgotten.”
As far as the racing at Kingsport this season, look for the weekly classes to be the primary focus with only one touring event currently on the schedule. The UARA Stars will visit Kingsport Speedway on Saturday April 9th. UARA hosted two events at Kingsport in 2010 and one in 2009. These were the only three races held at Kingsport in the last eight years.
Pressley feels that limiting the number of touring series races will be vital to earning the respect of local drivers and fans. “We are concentrating solely on the Tri-cities and surrounding areas so we can show the folks what local short track racing is all about,” explains Pressley. “With Bristol being only 15 miles away fans will still have the opportunity to see the three main NASCAR Touring Series.”
The primary classes at Kingsport Speedway for 2011 will be late models, street stocks, and pure four. Legends, open wheel modifieds, renegades, chargers, and others will also compete on a rotating basis throughout the season. Races will primarily be held on Friday nights with the exception of opening night on Saturday March 12th and the UARA event on Saturday April 9th.
“I want each division to have its own identity,” says Pressley in regards to selecting his classes of competition for 2011. “Many of the tracks I have visited in the last five years have so many classes it is hard to identify what class is running until the race begins.”
Although this will be Pressley’s first attempt at running a race track, it will not be his first venture as a business owner. Pressley opened Celebrity’s Hot Dogs in 2005 and has since added two more locations. The fourth location will be opening later this year.
When asked if anything can be carried over from a successful hot dog stand to successfully running a race track, Pressley says, “You have to surround yourself with good people, put on a good show, and make everything affordable so you have repeat fans.”
Hopefully, race fans and drivers in the Tri-cities area of East Tennessee will enjoy the show that Robert Pressley and his staff put on, and will fill the stands and pits to keep Kingsport Speedway alive and well, so that racing does not leave the area again.
Devon Holder is a feature writer for SpeedWeekly magazine and SpeedWeekly.net
Photo Credit: Randall Perry
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