Motor Sports Weekly News

Story and photos by Drew Hierwarter

It’s been seven years since Kingsport Speedway last heard the sound of racing engines run in anger and felt the heat of racing tires on its concrete surface. That all changed this past Saturday as the stars of the UARA late model series made an unusual one-time appearance at the storied East Tennessee oval.

The race was a make-up date for a rained out event at Jacksonville, North Carolina’s Coastal Plains Speedway back in June of this year. The decision to run the race at Kingsport, which has been closed since the end of the 2002 season was the result of a conversation between UARA head Kerry Bodenhamer and track owner Joe Loven. The two men have been friends for many years and even though Bodenhamer had several other tracks to choose from, the idea of running at Kingsport again was just too good to ignore.

Kingsport Speedway has a rich history and it played a significant part in the early days of a couple of NASCAR’s top series. Today’s Sprint Cup Series, then called the Grand National Series, ran three races at Kingsport from 1969 to 1971. None other than Richard Petty won the first two and the late Bobby Issac was victorious in the 1971 race.

But perhaps the biggest claim to fame for the track was during the days of the old NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division. Many of NASCAR biggest stars like Jack Ingram, Harry Gant, L.D.Ottinger, Tommy Ellis, Butch Lindley, and Red Farmer have all raced and won at Kingsport.

But perhaps the most significant part of this special event on Saturday was the return of the fans. Many of them literally grew up going to the races at Kingsport every week and missed it tremendously. Everyone was talking about how great it was to have racing back and they all hoped that this UARA event would spark a renewed interest in running more races.

As for the race itself, Brandon McReynolds, the son of former NASCAR crew chief and current television commentator Larry McReynolds, basically put on a clinic. He had what can only be described as a perfect day. He was fastest in pre-race practice, qualified on the pole, led the most laps, and won the race. But don’t assume that the race was boring. It was anything but.

 

 In part due to several caution periods, McReynolds was dogged the whole way by Jamey Caudill (50) and Matt McCall (23). McReynolds was able to hold a lower line in the first and second turns than almost anybody else making the track just a little bit shorter.

 But in the final laps, Caudill was pressing harder and harder and as the two came down the back stretch Caudill tried to get  inside McReynolds. Brandon blocked him and as the two came out of the fourth turn Caudill got inside again and brought the crowd to its feet. McReynolds managed to just hold him off to win the race by a fender.

 

 

The finish of this race really tightened up the championship picture as coming to Kingsport leader Matt McCall, Caudill, and McReynolds were locked in a tight three-way battle. It’s going to come right down to the final race of the season next week in Concord, North Carolina.

Most of the UARA regular drivers left Kingsport after the race hoping for a chance to race there again next year.

It’s a challenging track and if there was one thing that was obvious after Saturday’s event it was that the local fans will support it.