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
RICHMOND, Va. – A fan who caused the fourth caution period in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 after he climbed atop Richmond International Raceway’s fourth-turn catch fence was arrested by Henrico Police and charged with disorderly conduct and drunk in public, said RIR Communications Director Aimee Turner.
Turner didn’t have the person’s identity.
She said the […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
RICHMOND, Va. – With only two Chase positions available heading into Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, many drivers believe it will be a tough, pressure-packed event with some dicey moves possibly on the agenda.
Matt Kenseth, who’s winless this year in a series where victories now guarantee […]
RICHMOND, Va. – When it comes to Nationwide Insurance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t kidding when he talks about his family’s longevity with the company and that includes a time frame when he totaled one of his trucks.
The accident occurred a few years after Earnhardt Jr. graduated from high school and involved a red extended cab […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
RICHMOND, Va. – NASCAR’s new qualifying procedure for Talladega drew mixed reviews from drivers during preparations for Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson were among those who liked the shorter format, while Ryan Newman felt it was too much like racing.
Under the new […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR’s utilization of technology to attract younger fans received a major boost Wednesday when the sanctioning body announced that Comcast’s XFINITY brand would succeed Nationwide as that series sponsor beginning in 2015.
The 10-year agreement also makes XFINITY an official NASCAR partner in the multichannel video programming distributor […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Team Penske drivers swept Bristol Motor Speedway’s three-race weekend, providing Ford with its first such accomplishment since 2006 and apparently setting the stage for a Hendrick-Penske showdown in the Sprint Cup championship battle.
Joey Logano won the IRWIN Tools Night race Saturday for his third victory this season, […]
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Only three races and four available Chase positions remain before the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship run begins and heading into Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway most competitors believed the 500-lap event on the tough, half-mile track would be a frustrating, challenging race.
“You’ve got to really be on offense […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ed Whitaker, one of the most successful Busch Series [now Nationwide] team owners for two decades, died Friday morning. He was 76.
“Ed Whitaker proved you can have big success with a small operation,” said Bristol Motor Speedway General Manager Jerry Caldwell. “The term ‘throwback’ gets used a […]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ryan Blaney capitalized on the final restart in Friday’s rain delayed Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but the maneuver that gave him his first Nationwide Series victory this season wasn’t without controversy.
Kyle Busch, who was leading at the time, criticized the way Blaney handled the […]
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bristol Motor Speedway’s spring races have been moved next year to April 18-19, hopefully, signaling an end to the snow and extremely cold weather that has plagued the track’s March date, it was announced Friday.
That, however, won’t be the only change on the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. Two others are expected […]