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| Robert Pressley | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Pressley in 1999 | |||||||
| Born | Robert William Pressley (1959-04-08)April 8, 1959 (age 66) Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 2002Florida Dodge Dealers 250 Winner LedBusch Series in wins in1992 1988Greenville-Pickens Speedway Late Model Champion | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 205 races run over 9 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 25th (2000,2001) | ||||||
| First race | 1994Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 2002Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
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| NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career | |||||||
| 244 races run over 12 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 3rd (1991) | ||||||
| First race | 1983Miller Time 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 2005O'Reilly Challenge (Texas) | ||||||
| First win | 1989Texas Pete 200 (Rougemont) | ||||||
| Last win | 1993NE Chevy 250 (Loudon) | ||||||
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| NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| 69 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 7th (2002) | ||||||
| First race | 2002Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 2005Ford 200 (Homestead) | ||||||
| First win | 2002Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last win | 2002Michigan 200 (Michigan) | ||||||
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| Statistics up to date as of April 17, 2013. | |||||||
Robert William Pressley (born April 8, 1959) is an American formerNASCAR driver who previously served as the promoter at Kingsport Speedway inKingsport, Tennessee. Pressley currently owns the restaurant Celebrity's Hotdogs inAsheville, North Carolina. Pressley was also a County Commissioner inBuncombe County, North Carolina.
As his father, also named Robert, was a short track racer in Asheville, the younger Pressley followed a sports career. His brother, Charley, has been a long-time crew chief in the NASCAR level. Pressley began running atNew Asheville Speedway andGreenville-Pickens Speedway and won championships at both tracks. He also put together 150 wins in various Late Model Series in the Southeast. In 1984, Pressley made his NASCAR debut in theBusch Series atCharlotte Motor Speedway, finishing 26th. Five years later, Pressley ran a limited schedule in the Busch Series, and won in just his twelfth series start atOrange County Speedway. He ran full seasons from 1991–1994, his best year coming in 1992 when he won races and finished fifth in points. In1994, he ran three races in theWinston Cup Series in a car sponsored byManheim Auctions, his best finish being a 31st at Charlotte. In 1990, Pressley was involved inMichael Waltrip's horrific Bristol crash in which Waltrip tapped Pressley in the right rear corner sending Waltrip into a gate disintegrating the car on impact.[1][2]

In1995, Pressley took over for the retiredHarry Gant in the No. 33 car owned byLeo Jackson Motorsports in Cup. He posted one top-ten finish and was runner-up toRicky Craven forRookie of the Year. The following year, he put together two top-five finishes. Unfortunately, Jackson was retiring and sold his operation to crew chiefAndy Petree. After Pressley ran just one race for his new owner, he was released, but able to hook onto a ride withDiamond Ridge Motorsports. Pressley ran just ten races for Diamond Ridge in1997, including theDaytona 500, in which his car flipped on its nose acrobatically in the first few laps.[3]
Pressley posted a season-best finish of fourteenth, when he was suddenly fired from the ride. While he waited for a Cup ride to appear, Pressley returned to the Busch ranks, running the No. 47 Chevrolet forST Motorsports, and finished out the year with three top tens. Over in Cup, he joined the No. 77Jasper Motorsports team, which became one of the more popular tandems in the Cup circuit among fans.
Following his abbreviated Cup run in 1997, Pressley returned full-time in1998 with the Jasper team, where he posted a then career-best third-place finish atTexas Motor Speedway. Despite being replaced temporarily byHut Stricklin due to injuries, Pressley finished 32nd in points that year.1999 was a struggle however, as Pressley and company failed to qualify six times that season, and often had trouble finishing races. Following the addition ofRyan Pemberton in2000, Pressley was able to increase his position in points to 25th. In2001, he had five top-tens, nearly won the inauguralTropicana 400 before finishing in second, and finished 25th in points handing the driving duties to the car for the road course events toBoris Said. Robert Pressley, although competitive in some races, struggled with consistency, and would part ways with Jasper at the conclusion of the 2001 season.[4]
In 2002 he had a one race deal withMelling Racing for the Daytona 500 and locked himself in by qualifying speed on Pole Day, Qualifying fifth overall with the same car they had qualified third or better on the 2001 restrictor plate tracks. After receiving sponsorship fromBrand Source he had an engine problem at the end of the race. When he blew up, his car was nearly destroyed on pit road as an accident happened on the tri-oval andMichael Waltrip's car came across onto pit road, also nearly hitting the pace car as well.
At the end of 2001, Pressley was released from Jasper, and he tackled a new venture, the Craftsman Truck Series. He signed withBobby Hamilton Racing and won his Truck Series debut atDaytona International Speedway. He also ran the season openingDaytona 500 in Cup for what was the last race forMelling Racing, finishing 22nd. In 2003, Pressley moved to HT Motorsports in the Trucks, finishing twelfth in points. He returned to the Busch Series to drive the 47 again for ST Motorsports, finishing in the top-ten twice, before moving back to the trucks with HT in2005, finishing twentieth in the standings.
His sonColeman Pressley won the 2010UARA-Stars championship and raced sporadically in NASCAR.[5] He currently serves asJoey Logano's spotter.[6] His nephewCaleb Pressley is a blogger and podcaster forBarstool Sports.[7]
Pressley served as promoter at the Kingsport Speedway inKingsport, Tennessee from 2011-2014, moving the track toNASCAR Whelen All-American Series-sanctioned status beginning with his first season.[8] Pressley also owns a restaurant in theAsheville,North Carolina area called Celebrity's Hot Dogs.[9]
In 2016, Pressley was elected as a county commissioner inBuncombe County, North Carolina, which he held until 2022.[10]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 19 | 40 |
| 1995 | 31 | 26 | ||
| 1996 | 25 | 30 | ||
| 1997 | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 19 | 39 |
| 1998 | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 30 | 32 |
| 1999 | 15 | 19 | ||
| 2000 | 32 | 20 | ||
| 2001 | 39 | 14 | ||
| 2002 | Melling Racing | Dodge | 31 | 22 |
| NASCARCraftsman Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCTS | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | Bobby Hamilton Racing | 18 | Dodge | DAY 1* | DAR 2 | MAR 14 | GTW 31 | PPR 30 | DOV 2 | TEX 6 | MEM 12 | MLW 7 | KAN 7 | KEN 3 | NHA 9 | MCH 1* | IRP 5 | NSH 9 | RCH 15 | TEX 7 | SBO 24 | LVS 7 | CAL 7 | PHO 14 | HOM 4 | 7th | 3097 | [35] | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | HT Motorsports | 59 | Dodge | DAY 3 | DAR 10 | MMR 11 | MAR 17 | CLT 31 | DOV 10 | TEX 26 | MEM | MLW | KAN 5 | KEN 8 | GTW | MCH 14 | IRP 18 | NSH 15 | BRI 2 | RCH 2 | NHA 14 | CAL 11 | LVS 11 | SBO 10 | TEX 13 | MAR 27 | PHO 8 | HOM 26 | 12th | 2773 | [36] | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | HT Motorsports | 59 | Dodge | DAY 15 | CAL 24 | ATL 20 | MAR 25 | GTW 8 | MFD 25 | CLT 22 | DOV 26 | TEX 31 | MCH 17 | MLW 14 | KAN 33 | KEN 17 | MEM 32 | IRP 7 | NSH 25 | BRI 17 | RCH 8 | NHA 14 | LVS 24 | MAR 31 | ATL 27 | TEX 26 | PHO 22 | HOM 24 | 20th | 2493 | [37] | |||||||||||||
| Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | NCDDS | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||
| 1988 | Page Racing | 54 | Pontiac | DAY | ROU | HCY | MYB | CLT | ASH 14 | NSV | SUM | STH | LAN | AND | MYB | LAN | HCY | CLT | N/A | 0 | [38] | ||||||||||
| 1989 | DAY | FLO | NRV | HCY | CON | LAN | SBO 1 | NSV | SUM | LAN | 37th | 180 | [39] | ||||||||||||||||||
| 75 | AND 1 | BGS | MYB | HCY | LAN 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | APSC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Collins Racing | 24 | Pontiac | DAY | ATL | KIL | TAL | FRS | POC | KIL | HAG | POC | TAL | DEL | FRS | ISF | TOL | DSF | SLM | ATL 40 | 120th | - | [40] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Alliance Training Centers | DAY DNQ | ATL | KIL | TAL | FRS | POC | KIL | TOL | HAG | POC | TAL | MCH | ISF | TOL | DSF | WIN | DEL | ATL | NA | - | [41] | ||||||||||||||||||||||