It was an emotional night for the Monteith family that played out just like a Hollywood script Saturday, Sept. 9 at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va., as Nate Monteith of Bristol, Tenn., captured his 72nd career stock car win.
But it wasn’t just any ordinary victory, it came while the 35-year-old Monteith was driving a ’55 Chevy, specifically a No. 72 tribute race car in memory of his grandfather, Wayne “Snowball” Snow who passed away in June 2016.
Snow raced on both dirt and asphalt in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia back during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. His son-in-law, Don Monteith, also raced for quite a few years and it was only natural that Nate would someday want to strap in behind the wheel of a race car.
Monteith is a veteran short-track racer, with starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) to his credit. He’s raced at speeds approaching 200 mph at “The World Center of Speed” – Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, along with competing on the high banks of the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Monteith is a two-time Kingsport Speedway (2011 and 2012) and Tennessee State NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model champion, and also has two track championships (2008 and 2009) at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va.
Prior to racing at Wythe Raceway, Monteith had never wheeled a race car on dirt in a career that had produced 71 victories between Kingsport Speedway, Lonesome Pine Raceway and Newport Speedway.
The No. 72 Vintage class race car is owned by Duke Bare, a longtime racer from Meadowview, Va., who has helped Monteith with his racing efforts over the years and thought the world of Nate’s “papaw” Snow.
Snow’s wife and Nate’s “Nana” Gladys, his parents Don and Brenda Monteith, along with Nate’s wife Jessica and their children Brayden and Letty, were all at Wythe Raceway.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win a lot of races over the years, but without a doubt getting this win while driving a tribute car for my papaw was the most special of my career,” Monteith said on Sunday afternoon while reflecting on the visit to victory lane the previous night at Wythe Raceway. “Papaw and nana never missed coming to watch me race. The two of them along with my parents, I wouldn’t have been able to race through the years without their support. As a young boy growing up, Papaw would tell me stories and we’d look at pictures of his days racing. He passed away last summer and our whole family really misses him. I definitely wish that I would have been able to drive a replica race car like his while he was still alive so he could have seen it on the track.
“I had never driven a race car on dirt on before and initially I was a little out of my comfort zone when our Vintage class got practice laps. But Duke (Bare) assured me the car was good, it was set up right and he gave me pointers on how to get around Wythe Raceway. We had to start at back of the field, but we quickly worked our way up to the front. I know, because I could just feel his presence, that papaw was riding along ‘shotgun’ with me in his No. 72 race and he had a big smile on his face.”
Only Monteith and Bare knew about the ’55 Chevy tribute car until two weeks ago, when Monteith took his family to the race shop and with Bare present, the two opened the doors to the shop and showed them the No. 72 race car.
“With as many people as both Duke and I know, you’d think one of us might have let the word slip out about papaw’s tribute car,” Monteith said while laughing. “But absolutely nobody knew about it until I took nana, my parents, my wife and children to the race shop. The looks on each of their faces was priceless, and it was also a very emotional moment we shared together as a family. None of us will ever forget it.”
For more information regarding Nate Monteith, contact him at (423) 340-2004. Monteith owns Lightning Auto Sales in Johnson City, located on Hwy. 11E across from Winged Deer Park.
Walden Motorsports Communications PR
