Governor Haslam Honors Monteith for 2011 Tennessee State NASCAR Championship
Nate Monteith Celebrates a Successful Season in Nashville
Nate Monteith Racing PR
Nate Monteith of Blountville thought all the accolades extended him following his 2011 Kingsport Speedway Late Model Stock championship and also NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Tennessee state title, were finished following the track’s awards banquet two weekends ago. Also along the way Monteith attended the NASCAR Home Tracks national banquet in early December held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., where he was recognized with all other state champions.
However, the icing on the cake was an appearance in Nashville at the Tennessee State Capital yesterday when Monteith and his father, Don, were honored by Gov. Bill Haslam in his office for their 2011 Tennessee state NASCAR championship.
Monteith had a phenomenal campaign last year to say the least en route to winning both the Kingsport Speedway and Tennessee NASCAR Whelen All-American Series titles, as he captured a division-leading 10 feature wins and recorded 21 top-five finishes in 21 starts. He ranked tenth in the national NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Top 500 in 2011.
“It was such a great honor, an awesome experience getting to visit the state capital and talk with Gov. Haslam and get our photo taken with him in his office,” said Monteith reflecting on meeting the governor at the Tennessee State Capital. “With Kingsport Speedway opening back up last year for racing under the guidance of former NASCAR driver Robert Pressley after being closed for right at a decade, I never envisioned before the season started, nor do I think any other driver at the track thought about, the possibility of winning the track and state championships and getting the opportunity to go meet the governor in Nashville.”
Monteith is a veteran racer, with starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Automobile Racing Club of America, plus Championship Auto Racing Series Pro Cup and United Auto Racing Association-Southern Touring Auto Racing Series to his credit. He also captured Late Model Stock championships in 2008 and ’09 at Lonesome Pine Raceway located in Coeburn, Va. But none of his past racing exploits earned him a visit with the governor.
“There’s no doubt about it, the word ‘NASCAR’ carries a lot of leverage and can open doors,” Monteith said. “Competing at Kingsport Speedway under NASCAR sanctioning and winning both the track and state titles opened the door for both my father and I to visit with Tennessee’s highest elected official in Gov. Bill Haslam.
“Our governor’s a great guy, and he’s a race fan. He was interested in how the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series works. We had our state NASCAR champion trophy with us and the governor really liked seeing our championship hardware. We invited Gov. Haslam to visit Kingsport Speedway during the upcoming racing season.”
And the start to the 2012 racing season at Kingsport Speedway is quickly approaching, with the opener scheduled the second weekend in March. After having dominated the Late Model Stock division last year, Monteith knows he’ll be the target of his fellow competitors’ this season.
“With the season we had last year at Kingsport Speedway, most definitely all the guys will be gunning to try and dethrone us this year,” Monteith said. “But we haven’t just been sitting around all winter at Monteith Racing, we’ve been hard at work back in the shop making preparations to try and defend our title. We’re going to give it our best shot and see how things turn out.
“Besides racing every Friday at Kingsport Speedway, I’m also excited about the opportunity to chauffeur six-time Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway champion Marty Ward’s car in the Palmetto State on Saturdays. Between Kingsport and Greenville we should get in somewhere around 40-45 races, and if we take care of business behind the wheel at both tracks we’ll see how we can do in the national points chase.”
Gov. Bill Haslam (center) congratulates driver Nate Monteith (right) and car-owner father Don Monteith (left) for winning both the 2011 Kingsport Speedway and Tennessee state NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championships in Nashville at the state capital. (Nate Monteith Racing Photo)
