NASCAR Home Tracks

FOLLOW ON: Twitter Facebook rss
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Tennessee champion Nate Monteith (right) visited with Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam Wednesday. Courtesy of Tennessee Governor's Office

Haslam Honors Tenn. Champion Monteith

Meeting Governor "Awesome Experience" For First-Time Champ
By Paul Schaefer, NASCAR
February 2, 2012 - 1:02pm

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam congratulated 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state champion Nate Monteith of Blountville in his Tennessee State Capital office Wednesday afternoon.

Haslam invited Monteith to Nashville to congratulate him on his NASCAR state championship and 2011 NASCAR Late Model track championship at Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway. Monteith was accompanied by his dad Don.

“We chatted with Gov. Haslam and he was interested in how the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series works. He really liked the state champion trophy we brought for our picture with him. We invited him to see a race a Kingsport Speedway this year,” Monteith said. “He’s a race fan.”

Helping arrange Monteith’s visit was Gov. Haslam’s deputy scheduler Anna Catherine Davenport. Monteith and Davenport were friends when they graduated from Tennessee High School in Bristol in 2000. Davenport was a tour guide at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in her career.

“We both knew we’d be seeing each other Wednesday and that made it more comfortable for me,” Monteith said.

“Our governor is a great guy and it was nice to meet him,” Monteith said. “It was an awesome experience. If you told me I’d win a track championship and I’d get treated like this, I’d have told you ‘no way.’

“Being congratulated by Gov. Haslam made winning a NASCAR championship feel like we really did something special. This was our first year as a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track, and I don’t think any of us who race there realized something like this could happen.”

Monteith knows he races with some great drivers at Kingsport and winning will be even harder this year.

“I’ll have a bull’s eye on me but we’re going to try to defend our title,” Monteith said. “We’ll race at Kingsport every Friday and we’re driving Marty Ward’s Late Model at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway every Saturday. We’re shooting for 40-45 races and see how we can do in the national points. Both cars will look alike with No. 44 and our True Line Construction and Pizza Plus sponsorships.”

Monteith’s 2011 racing record at Kingsport included 10 wins and 21 top-fives in 21 starts. He made three additional starts at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. He ranked 10th in the national NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Top 500 in 2011.