Kingsport Speedway Mall Show kicks off local racing season
Published 2:07 pm Monday, February 26, 2024
Photo by Randall Perry
Photo by Randall Perry
Photo by Randall Perry
Photo by Randall Perry
Photo by Randall Perry
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Story by Kingsport Speedway Public Relations
JOHNSON CITY — The local racing season kicked off Saturday with the Kingsport Speedway Mall Show at The Mall at Johnson City. The event served as a preview before the track’s season-opening races scheduled for Saturday, March 30.
Thousands of mall patrons were able to meet different drivers who compete at the 3/8-mile concrete oval. Fans mingled with the drivers and got an up-close and personal look at the racing machines that compete at the only NASCAR Advance Auto Weekly Series track in Tennessee. Several kids even got the chance to get in the driver’s seat of an actual race car.
Racers William Hale, Randy Birt and Alicia Frazier were winners of $100 through a special drawing thanks to Ken Daffron from Dalton Direct Carpets. Casey Street won a special drawing for a season pass to speedway races.
Many of the drivers talked about their goals for the upcoming season.
Bruce Crumbley, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet in the Late Model division, finished fifth in last season’s point standings. The Kingsport racer moved up to the Late Models last season after being a two-time Pure 4 track champion.
“I have the two championships in Pure 4 and then last year being able to win a Late Model race was a big deal for me,” Crumbley said. “It was a big deal jumping from Pure 4 to Late Model. There’s a learning curve in knowing what to do to get it faster and compete with the great competition at Kingsport Speedway.”
Crumbley’s goals for the upcoming season is to win races, while Brad Teague would love to win his first-ever championship at Kingsport. The 76-year-old has multiple championships at other tracks and has raced at the highest levels with nearly 300 NASCAR national series starts. He’s raced against seven-time NASCAR champions Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson over his legendary career.
Teague, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, was eighth in the points last season which included a runner-up finish to Alex Miller in a July race.
“I want to win the points at Kingsport,” Teague said. “I’ve come in second multiple times, but I’ve never won the championship there. I think we’re prepared to attempt that.”
Cars from the different classes were on display including the No. 17 Ford of Mod 4 champion Chris Amburgey and the No. 11 of Street Stock champion Jamie Meadows. Other track champions in 2023 included: Jacob York in Late Model, Josh Collins in Beginner FWD and John Ketron in Pure 4, who beat out over 900 other racers for the NASCAR Division 3 national championship.
With the successful Mall Show behind them, the focus now turns to testing in preparation for the season opening races on March 30.
