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Local fans can determine track’s fate

By Jeff Birchfield
Press Sports Writer
jbirchfield@johnsoncitypress.com

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It’s time for local stock car racing fans to step up.

For the past few years, many of these fans have talked about how much they miss racing at Kingsport Speedway. It is a track steeped in NASCAR history, even hosting the Cup Series three times from 1969-71.

This Saturday, racing returns to the 3/8-mile concrete oval with the cureCHM.org presents the Courtesy Chevrolet, Anytime Fitness 150 for the UARA Late Model Series.

Track owner Joe Loven has said the response to Saturday’s race will greatly influence the immediate future of the speedway. If the fans come out in large numbers, Loven is considering a plan to run a schedule of special events in 2010. If they stay home, the speedway will likely be shut down next season.

“If the community wants us and the racers want to support me, we’ll race some more,” Loven said last Wednesday at the UARA test session. “But I’m not out here fighting it. I’m not a race promoter by trade anyway. I just like to watch racing.”

It’s easy to understand Loven’s position. As a businessman, especially with today’s economic climate, he doesn’t want to sink money into a losing proposition.

The conditions are perfect Saturday to draw a good crowd. First, the weather forecast calls for mild temperatures. Second, the ticket prices are reasonable — $15 for adults, $10 for students ages 13-18, free admission for kids 12 & under and a family-of-four pack for $25. Third and perhaps most important, UARA and speedway officials used common sense in scheduling the race. The starting time is set for noon, well before the kickoff of the Tennessee-Memphis football game.

An autograph session, featuring the current drivers and the legendary drivers of Kingsport Speedway, is scheduled between qualifying and the race itself at 2 p.m. Among those participating is Johnson City’s Paul Lewis, who shared his memories of racing at Kingsport.

“It’s a fast race track, tight in the corners, but you can still pass there,” Lewis said. “I won my first race there when it was paved, and I won with Walt Carpenter’s car when it became dirt.”

He echoed the wishes of many fans wanting the track to run a regular schedule again.

“I would love to see the track open again,” he said. “I believe this area has enough interest in short track racing to have a regular schedule there. It’s such a nice speedway. If they do a few improvements, they can get it back where it once was.”

In its heyday, Kingsport hosted weekly racing as well as special Late Model Sportsman events. Drivers came from all directions to race on the challenging short track.

From the Hickory and Charlotte area, came drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd and Tommy Houston. From Asheville and down into South Carolina, came drivers like Jack Ingram, Bob Pressley, Bosco Lowe and Butch Lindley.

The Greensboro and Winston-Salem areas were represented by Sam Ard and Kevin Harvick’s father-in-law John Linville. From the state of Virginia, came Tommy Ellis and Jimmy Hensley. Those making their way from the Newport area included L.D. Ottinger and Jack Hill.

Among the locals, Kingsport drivers — Gene Glover, Butch Applegate and Roger Clendenin — all tested their talents on the hometown track.

Johnson City racers included Lewis in his No. 12 Chevelle, the Potter brothers, Mike and Gary, and Brad Teague in a bright red No. 3 Chevelle which was owned by Austin Springs machine shop owner John Hodges. Down the road in Jonesborough, Tommy Hilbert raced cars decades before his son, Seth, ran cross-country races for University High.

The cars were as much a part of the show as the drivers themselves. Ard drove the white No. 00 Oldsmobile, highlighted by red numbers and Thomas Brothers Country Ham as the sponsor.

Ingram was in a brown Chevy with the white No. 11, the same colors he used in March at the Bristol legends race. Gant drove an orange No. 77 with yellow numbers, while Johnson City’s Jim Hayes turned it around in a yellow No. 77 Dodge with orange numbers.

Other memorable rides included Bluff City’s John A. Utsman driving one of the rare Ford products. His No. 26 Ford was decked out in red, white and blue patriotic colors and carried sponsorship from the old Hillbilly World amusement park in Hampton. Johnson City driver Don Rader had possibly the most unique paint job, a yellow No. 13 Chevy which used white as a secondary color and a collage of accompanying colors.

The racing was spectacular at times. Teague remembered a 1980 National Championship event he won while driving a No. 15 Pontiac for car owner Charlie Henderson.

“I had two flat tires and got three laps down,” Teague said. “I had a fast enough car where I came back and won the race. That was my favorite memory of racing over there.”

While a new generation of drivers will take part in Saturday’s race, they will be joined by Mike Potter, who hopes the future of Kingsport Speedway looks a lot like its past.

“I hope they will get it like it was before,” Potter said during a recent test session. “I want to see the crowds, a lot of cars out here, where we can have some good times again.”

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Jimmie Johnson’s sixth-place finish on Sunday at Talladega, combined with the late-race troubles by Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, took out what little excitement was left in the race for the NASCAR championship.

Johnson now has a 184-point lead over Martin and a 192-point lead over Gordon. Juan Pablo Montoya is the only other driver within 250 points of the lead. The lead has grown so much that Johnson could skip this weekend’s race at Texas and Martin would be the only driver even with a chance of overtaking him.

It marked Johnson’s 46th career win, tying him with Buck Baker for 13th place on the Sprint Cup Series’ all-time win list. He now trails Herb Thomas by just two wins for 12th all-time and is four behind Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson, tied for 10th all-time.

Jeff Birchfield is a sports writer for the Johnson City Press. You may contact him at jbirchfield@johnsoncitypress.com