For Immediate Release
Photo by: Langley Austin/RACE22.com
Release Prepared by: RACE22.com

Kingsport, TN(March 30, 2010) -- Not many touring series racers get the chance to compete on a track in their hometown, but that was just the case for young John King II this past weekend as he competed in a UARA-STARS Series race at Kingsport Speedway.

King whose father owns several Kingsport, TN car dealerships including Courtesy Chevrolet the sponsor of the weekends race, was geared up and ready to go on his hometown track despite having never made a start on the 3/8 mile track. The Kingsport Speedway had been shut down until last
 

November since the fall of 2002, so that made it difficult for the young driver to compete on a track literally in his backyard.

King, who spent the early portion of his career racing on the local dirt tracks such as Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, TN and Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, VA, where he picked up his first career Crate Late Model victory in May of 2007. However, the young driver has begun the transition to asphalt racing and the ultra-competitive world of Late Model Stock Car racing beginning with the UARA-STARS Series. King competed in a handful of races last year and this year has his sights set on competing for the UARA-STARS points championship.

King and the entire UARA-STARS Series kicked off their season two weeks ago on the historic Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC and while King and his John King Racing team didn't get off to the start they would have liked finishing 19th. However, King and his team put all their efforts into preparing for the next race at Kingsport Speedway, just miles from the teams shop and all their efforts would pay off.

King qualified his Fairway Ford Fusion in the 15th position and while he had his work cut out for him the young driver was ready to prove he was up for the challenge. From the drop of the green flag, King began putting himself in position to start his move toward the front, but that was another challenge as the tight confines of the 3/8 mile concrete track didn't make it easy to pass anyone.

Early on in the race, King was busy dodging crashes that were happening in front of him all the while picking up some track position and moving into the top ten by the halfway point. Several longer green flag runs began taking place around the halfway point in the race and King was still working his way forward as he set his sights on his first top five finish in the highly competitive UARA-STARS Series.

King and a group of cars battled in a tight group for the final handful of laps and as the green flag dropped on a green, white, checkered finish King made every move he could and when the checkered flag fell the hometown hero, who had signed more autographs than any of the other 23 drivers in the race had finished sixth. However, when the top five cars made their way through technical inspection, the fifth place finisher was disqualified and King was credited with the fifth position.

"That's not how we wanted to get our first top five, but we'll take it any way we can get it," said King after hearing the news that he had been moved up to fifth in the final rundown. "We worked really hard all weekend and thought we had a better car than we were able to show in qualifying and when the green flag dropped we proved it."

King will be back in action again this weekend at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC for the third of the sixteen UARA-STARS Series races. King is currently seventh in points just 57 points out of the lead and he's hoping this trip to Dillon turns out better than his first last spring.

"Last year we went down there and we were having a solid run even though it was just my fifth race in the UARA, but unfortunately we got twisted up with another competitor and nearly destroyed our car," commented King. "This year, we just want to try and keep the momentum from Kingsport going and get ourselves in position for another solid finish."

John King Racing is supported by Fairway Ford of Kingsport, TN, Circle Racing Wheels, Marlowe Racing Chassis, Hedgecock Racing, Kowalsky Racing Engines and Clark's Automotive. For more on John King II please visit his website at www.johnkingracing.com, which is still under construction or contact RACE22.com Driver Management at (276) 613-4208.