NASCAR: Bristol president Jeff Byrd dead at 60

Jeff Byrd, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway, died on Oct. 17 following a long illness. Byrd, 60, had been the president of the Tennessee facilities since January 1996, when Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the half-mile speedway and the quarter-mile drag strip.

Byrd, a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., a graduate of Wake Forest University and a former sportswriter for the Winston-Salem Journal, spent 23 years in sports marketing at R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. He worked on the company's NASCAR, NHRA, Camel GT, Camel Pro Series and APBA accounts.

He is survived by his wife, Claudia; their daughter, Belton Caldwell, and her husband, Jerry; their son, Christian, and his wife, Amy; and seven grandchildren.

Bruton Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., called Byrd “one of the greatest promoters of stock-car and drag-racing. Simply put, Jeff got it. He understood that more than what happened on the track, it was the experience fans took home that stayed in their memories. To say his passing leaves a void would be an understatement.”

By Al Pearce