Deb Williams, Senior Writer
An award winning motorsports journalist, Deb Williams has covered auto racing for more than 30 years. She began her career covering weekly short-track races in Asheville, N.C., while a student at East Tennessee State University and continued after becoming the sports editor at the newspaper in Waynesville, N.C. Upon joining United Press International in Raleigh, N.C., as a general assignment reporter, she began covering NASCAR's top two series and continued to do so after being named UPI's Charlotte, N.C., bureau manager. After leaving UPI, she spent 18 years with the publication NASCAR Winston Cup Scene, serving as its editor for 10 years. Her numerous honors include the Henry T. McLemore Award, the Russ Catlin Award and the George Cunningham National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year award. She has received NMPA awards for columns, news, features and magazine stories. She has written three books. Her most recent, “The Evolution of NASCAR, A Historical Collection, was released in November 2010. Williams has taught the Evolution of Southern Motorsports at Appalachian State University, and has been interviewed for historical motorsports shows that have aired on ESPN and SPEED. She resides in Concord, N.C.
Articles by Deb Williams
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Everyone knows the adage a photo is worth a 1,000 words, but for Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Sprint Cup team one photograph was worth $80,675.
Thursday night in the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge at Time Warner Arena, Johnson’s crew gained some sweet revenge, defeating Denny Hamlin’s team [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR championship team owner Richard Childress and the sport’s “Iron Man” Ricky Rudd never envisioned induction into halls of fame when they began their respective NASCAR careers, but it seemed only fitting they enter the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame the way they [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Nine-year-old Abby Gail Baver suddenly appeared beside Greg Biffle, wanting to show him a photo of her Quarter Midget that was on the mobile phone she held in her hand.
Biffle briefly stopped talking with reporters and turned his attention to the Lake Norman Elementary School student. Once [...]
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Normally when covering a race I arrive at the track at least four hours before it starts in order to get pre-race work completed and avoid the traffic. However, I faced a different scenario the morning of Martinsville’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and that left me sitting in traffic for about 45 [...]
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Crew chief Tony Gibson rarely shows his emotions at the race track, but when he and driver Ryan Newman earned their first victory this season in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway the Florida native admitted it was special due to the date – April 1.
It was the date that [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – With five laps remaining in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500, it appeared Rick Hendrick would finally claim his 200th NASCAR Cup victory as two of his drivers were battling for the lead and he had another sitting third.
No one, however, envisioned David Reutimann as the spoiler.
With only [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – If you don’t want an honest answer, don’t ask Brad Keselowski, but if you want an insightful one, then go to the Michigan native.
On the eve of Sunday’s Food City 500, Keselowski tweeted that his car for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race was the best one he’d [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, TENN. – Michael Waltrip Racing raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced its driver lineup for 2012.
Many wondered if Clint Bowyer had made a mistake leaving Richard Childress Racing. Few considered the team an option for Mark Martin, whose contract with Hendrick Motorsports ended last year. [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ever since May 2010 when Brian Vickers was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs, the Thomasville, N.C., native’s NASCAR career hasn’t gone quite as he envisioned.
That’s why Vickers’ six-race stint with Michael Waltrip Racing that begins Sunday in Bristol Motor Speedway’s Food City 500 is a [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Elliott Sadler isn’t shy about letting people know Bristol Motor Speedway is his favorite track; that he loves it and its race dates are always circled on his calendar.
Saturday the high-banked, half-mile speedway became a little more special to the Virginia native as he collected his [...]