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American racing driver

Robert Pressley

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The basics

Quick facts

Intro

American racing driver

Gender:

Male

Places:

United States of America

Is:

Driver

Birth:

8 April 1959

The details

Biography

Introduction

Robert Pressley (born April 8, 1959) is a former NASCAR driver who now serves as the promoter at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Beginnings

Because his father, Bob, was a short track racer in Asheville, the younger Pressley naturally followed his father into the sport. In fact, his brother Charley, has been a long-time crew chief in the NASCAR level. Pressley began running at New Asheville Speedway and Greenville-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 the Busch Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing 26th. Five years later, Pressley ran a limited schedule in the Busch Series, and won in just his twelfth series start at Orange County Speedway. He ran full seasons from 1991–1994, his best year coming in 1992 when he won races and finished fifth in points. In 1994, he ran three races in the Winston Cup Series in a car sponsored by Manheim Auctions, his best finish being a 31st at Charlotte.

1990 he became known amongst the garages for being involved in Michael Waltrip's horrific Bristol crash in which he tapped Waltrip from behind, sending Waltrip's #30 Kool-Aid car into a fence, disintigrating the car on impact.

Winston Cup

Pressley in 1994.

In 1995, Pressley took over for the retired Harry Gant in the #33 car owned by Leo Jackson Motorsports in Cup. He posted one top-ten finish and was runner-up to Ricky Craven for Rookie of the Year. The following year, he put together two top-five finishes. Unfortunately, Jackson was retiring and sold his operation to crew chief Andy Petree. After Pressley ran just one race for his new owner, he was released, but able to hook onto a ride with Diamond Ridge Motorsports. Pressley just ran ten races for Diamond Ridge in 1997, posting a best finish of 14th, 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 for ST Motorsports, and finished out the year with three top tens. Over in Cup, he joined the No. 77 Jasper 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 in 1998 with the Jasper team, where he posted a then career-best third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite being replaced temporarily by Hut 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 of Ryan Pemberton in 2000, Pressley was able to increase his position in points to 25th. In 2001, he had five top-tens, nearly won the inaugural Tropicana 400 before finishing in second, and finished 25th in points handing the driving duties to the car for the road course events to Boris Said.

In 2002 he had a one race deal with Melling Racing for the Daytona 500 and locked himself in by qualifying speed on Pole Day, Qualifying 5th overall with the same car they had qualified 3rd or better on the 2001 restrictor plate tracks. After receiving sponsorship from Brand Source he had an engine problem at the end of the race.

Recent years

At the end of 2001, Pressley was released from Jasper, and he tackled on a new venture, the Craftsman Truck Series. He signed with Bobby Hamilton Racing and won his Truck Series debut at Daytona International Speedway. He also ran the season opening Daytona 500 in Cup for what was the last race for Melling Racing, finishing 22nd. In 2003, Pressley moved to HT Motorsports in the Trucks, finishing 12th 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 in 2005, finishing 20th in the standings.

Robert has been helping his son Coleman Pressley as his career in NASCAR is starting.

Pressley is currently the promoter at the Kingsport (TN) Speedway, moving the track to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series-sanctioned status beginning with his first season starting in 2011.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup 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	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1994	Leo Jackson Motorsports	54	Chevy	DAY 40	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA DNQ	POC	TAL	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 31	CAR	PHO	ATL 35						57th	171
1995		33		DAY 26	CAR 42	RCH 35	ATL 31	DAR 30	BRI 10	NWS 18	MAR 17	TAL 18	SON 30	CLT 24	DOV 19	POC 37	MCH 17	DAY 11	NHA 13	POC 34	TAL 27	IND 28	GLN 34	MCH 18	BRI 24	DAR 17	RCH 30	DOV 14	MAR 34	NWS 33	CLT 42	CAR 29	PHO 19	ATL 41						29th	2663
1996				DAY 30	CAR 26	RCH 16	ATL 27	DAR 36	BRI 17	NWS 4	MAR 34	TAL 7	SON 34	CLT 33	DOV	POC 33	MCH 23	DAY 17	NHA 5	POC 25	TAL 31	IND 30	GLN 30	MCH 41	BRI 33	DAR 27	RCH 26	DOV 32	MAR 32	NWS 33										32nd	2485
	Andy Petree Racing																														CLT 32
	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	29	Chevy																													CAR 37	PHO 36	ATL 33
1997	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	29	Chevy	DAY 39	CAR 37	RCH 21	ATL DNQ	DAR 39	TEX DNQ	BRI 14	MAR 23	SON DNQ	TAL 29	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	CAL	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH													43rd	984
1997	Jasper Motorsports	77	Ford																									NHA 43	DOV 39	MAR 38	CLT 36	TAL 27	CAR 13	PHO 38	ATL DNQ					43rd	984
1998				DAY 32	CAR 40	LVS 23	ATL 27	DAR 20	BRI 28	TEX 3	MAR 23	TAL 31	CAL 17	CLT 16	DOV 39	RCH 41	MCH 32	POC 16	SON 30	NHA 34	POC 32	IND 29	GLN 29	MCH 24	BRI 40	NHA 12	DAR 30	RCH 43	DOV	MAR	CLT 41	TAL 26	DAY DNQ	PHO 17	CAR 38	ATL 28				32nd	2388
1999				DAY 19	CAR 14	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR 15	TEX 20	BRI 40	MAR 23	TAL 22	CAL 39	RCH 27	CLT 35	DOV 40	MCH 42	POC 35	SON 40	DAY DNQ	NHA DNQ	POC 23	IND 17	GLN DNQ	MCH 42	BRI 43	DAR 25	RCH 39	NHA 30	DOV 23	MAR 35	CLT 24	TAL DNQ	CAR 29	PHO 38	HOM 37	ATL 27			39th	2050
2000				DAY 20	CAR 43	LVS 21	ATL 33	DAR 18	BRI 17	TEX 26	MAR 15	TAL 23	CAL 21	RCH 35	CLT 26	DOV 26	MCH 5	POC 11	SON 37	DAY 17	NHA 38	POC 14	IND 27	GLN 26	MCH 32	BRI 37	DAR 36	RCH 37	NHA 18	DOV 14	MAR 33	CLT 35	TAL 25	CAR 12	PHO 31	HOM 16	ATL 13			25th	3055
2001				DAY 14	CAR 12	LVS 16	ATL 36	DAR 15	BRI 28	TEX 43	MAR 40	TAL 24	CAL 10	RCH 32	CLT 38	DOV 22	MCH 21	POC 14	SON	DAY 23	CHI 2	NHA 19	POC 9	IND 35	GLN	MCH 14	BRI 28	DAR 38	RCH 15	DOV 37	KAN 7	CLT 25	MAR 43	TAL 27	PHO 42	CAR 13	HOM 40	ATL 21	NHA 7	25th	3156
2002	Melling Racing	92	Dodge	DAY 22	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL DNQ	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	67th	97
2003	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	MAR	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	NA	-

Daytona 500

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

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch 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	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1984		52	Olds	DAY	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	DAR	ROU	NSV	LGY	MLW	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	HCY	IRP	LGY	SBO	BRI	DAR	RCH	NWS	CLT 26	HCY	CAR	MAR							108th	0
1989	Pressley Racing	59	Olds	DAY	CAR	MAR	HCY 15	DAR	BRI 19	NZH	SBO 18	LAN 12	NSV 12	CLT	DOV	ROU 9	LVL 15	VOL 13	MYB 21	SBO 26	HCY 14	DUB 10	IRP 30	ROU 1*	BRI 20	DAR	RCH 14	DOV	MAR 12	CLT 15	CAR	MAR 13							19th	2129
1990	Alliance Motorsports			DAY 15	RCH 29	CAR 34	MAR 26	HCY 4	DAR 21	BRI 15	LAN 10	SBO 9	NZH 11	HCY 4	CLT 23	DOV 11	ROU 19	VOL 13	MYB 16	OXF 33	NHA 29	SBO 16	DUB 8	IRP 5	ROU 3	BRI 18	DAR 18	RCH 7	DOV 23	MAR 2*	CLT 24	NHA 30	CAR 31	MAR 29					12th	3504
1991				DAY 20	RCH 28	CAR 9	MAR 25	VOL 14	HCY 6	DAR 25	BRI 30	LAN 4	SBO 20	NZH 10	CLT 12	DOV 15	ROU 1*	HCY 6*	MYB 2	GLN 13	OXF 40	NHA 7	SBO 22	DUB 3	IRP 13	ROU 2	BRI 7	DAR 19	RCH 2	DOV 2	CLT 18	NHA 5	CAR 7	MAR 29					3rd	3929
1992				DAY 5	CAR 18	RCH 36	ATL 22	MAR 4	DAR 1	BRI 8	HCY 13	LAN 4	DUB 23	NZH 8	CLT 9	DOV 1*	ROU 1*	MYB 25	GLN 17	VOL 3	NHA 2	TAL 36	IRP 2*	ROU 6	MCH 30	NHA 13	BRI 9	DAR 22	RCH 1	DOV 1*	CLT 23	MAR 29	CAR 27	HCY 15					5th	3988
1993				DAY 31	CAR 2	RCH 5	DAR 1*	BRI 10	HCY 25	ROU 29	MAR 22	NZH 1	CLT 5	DOV 7	MYB 4	GLN 26	MLW 22	TAL 7	IRP 18	MCH 2	NHA 1	BRI 21	DAR 28	RCH 26	DOV 12	ROU 20	CLT 43												8th	3389
	Precision Products Racing	0	Olds																									MAR 23		HCY 26
	Precision Products Racing	0	Chevy																										CAR 9		ATL 7
1994	J&J Racing	99	Chevy	DAY 9	CAR 5	RCH 13	ATL 31	MAR 14	DAR 15	HCY 10	BRI 19	ROU 13	NHA 24	NZH 35	CLT 6	DOV 7	MYB 4	GLN 6	MLW 34	SBO 6	TAL 29	HCY 20	IRP 15	MCH 28															12th	3043
	Laughlin Racing Products	35	Chevy																						BRI 26	DAR 36	RCH 15	DOV 40	CLT 14
	Ferree Racing	46	Chevy																											MAR 36
	Petty Enterprises	43	Pontiac																												CAR 10
1996		7		DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL DNQ	NSV	DAR	BRI	HCY	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NHA	TAL	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	HOM										NA	-
1997	Team Amick	35	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	LVS	DAR	HCY	TEX	BRI	NSV	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT DNQ	DOV																					32nd	1465
1997	ST Motorsports	47	Chevy																SBO 31	GLN 38	MLW 21	MYB 32	GTY 37	IRP 18	MCH 35	BRI 3	DAR 14	RCH 15	DOV 27	CLT 16	CAL 5	CAR 10	HOM 31						32nd	1465
1998	ST Motorsports	59	Chevy	DAY 34	CAR 17	LVS 38	NSV 31*	DAR 9	BRI DNQ	TEX DNQ	HCY 6	TAL DNQ	NHA 9	NZH	CLT 26	DOV 6	RCH 10	PPR	GLN	MLW	MYB	CAL 14	SBO	IRP	MCH 19	BRI 19	DAR 9	RCH 37	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR 15	ATL 31	HOM 37					31st	1870
1999	Xpress Motorsports	61	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	NSV	BRI	TAL	CAL	NHA	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR 18	RCH 28	DOV 17	CLT DNQ	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM				77th	300
2004	ST Motorsports	47	Ford	DAY 17	CAR 23	LVS 24	DAR 22	BRI 22	TEX 24	NSH 11	TAL 14	CAL 27	GTY 36	RCH 20	NZH 19	CLT 20	DOV 15	NSH 15	KEN 16	MLW 14	DAY 4	CHI 35	NHA 13	PPR 19	IRP 22	MCH 28	BRI 9	CAL 25	RCH 17	DOV 22	KAN 20	CLT 16	MEM 17	ATL 13	PHO 17	DAR 13	HOM 24		15th	3604
2005	ST Motorsports	46	Ford	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR 25	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP 16	GLN	MCH	BRI 16	CAL	RCH 33	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX 30	PHO	HOM	71st	455
2008	JTG Daugherty Racing	59	Ford	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW QL†	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM QL†	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-
† - Qualified for Marcos Ambrose

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman 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
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
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

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series