Robert William Pressley (born April 8, 1959) is an American former NASCAR driver who previously served as the promoter at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee. Pressley owns the restaurant Celebrity's Hotdogs in Asheville, North Carolina, and served as a county commissioner in Buncombe County, North Carolina, from 2016 to 2022.
Early life and career
Pressley attended Enka High School in Candler, North Carolina in the late 1970s. He spent 14 years working for Coca-Cola, starting as a delivery truck driver, which supported his racing. As his father, also named Robert, was a short track racer in Asheville, the younger Pressley followed a sports career. His brother, Charley, has been a long-time crew chief in the NASCAR level. Pressley began racing at New Asheville Speedway, where he won five track championships, including a record four in a row. He also won a championship at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and won more than 150 late model feature races in the Southeast during the 1980s. In 1984, Pressley made his NASCAR debut in the Busch Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing 26th. Five years later, Pressley ran a limited schedule in the Busch Series in a self-fielded car run in partnership with NBA player Brad Daugherty, and won in just his twelfth series start at Orange County Speedway. He ran full seasons from 1991–1994, his best year coming in 1991 when he finished third in points. In 1990, Pressley was involved in Michael Waltrip's Bristol crash in which Waltrip tapped Pressley in the right rear corner sending Waltrip into a gate disintegrating the car on impact.
Winston Cup Series
Pressley in 1994.
In 1994, he ran three races in the Winston Cup Series in a car sponsored by Manheim Auctions, his best finish being a 31st at Charlotte.
In 1995, Pressley took over for the retired Harry Gant in the No. 33 car owned by Leo Jackson Motorsports in Cup. He posted one top-ten finish and was runner-up to Ricky Craven for Rookie of the Year. The following year, he put together two top-five finishes. Jackson was retiring and sold his operation to crew chief Andy Petree. After Pressley ran just one race for his new owner, he was released, but able to hook onto a ride with Diamond Ridge Motorsports. Pressley ran just ten races for Diamond Ridge in 1997, including the Daytona 500, in which his car flipped on its nose acrobatically in the first few laps.
Pressley posted a season-best finish of fourteenth, when he was suddenly fired from the ride. While he waited for a Cup ride to appear, Pressley returned to the Busch ranks, running the No. 47 Chevrolet for ST Motorsports, and finished out the year with three top tens. Over in Cup, he joined the No. 77 Jasper Motorsports team.
Following his abbreviated Cup run in 1997, Pressley returned full-time in 1998 with the Jasper team, where he posted a then career-best third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite being replaced temporarily by Hut Stricklin due to injuries, Pressley finished 32nd in points that year. 1999 was a struggle however, as Pressley and company failed to qualify six times that season, and often had trouble finishing races. Following the addition of Ryan Pemberton in 2000, Pressley was able to increase his position in points to 25th. In 2001, he had five top-tens, nearly won the inaugural Tropicana 400 before finishing in second, and finished 25th in points handing the driving duties to the car for the road course events to Boris Said. Robert Pressley, although competitive in some races, struggled with consistency, and would part ways with Jasper at the conclusion of the 2001 season.
In 2002, Pressley had a one race deal with Melling Racing for the Daytona 500 and locked himself in by qualifying speed on Pole Day, Qualifying fifth overall with the same car they had qualified third or better on the 2001 restrictor plate tracks. After receiving sponsorship from Brand Source, he had an engine problem at the end of the race. When he blew up, his car was nearly destroyed on pit road as an accident happened on the tri-oval and Michael Waltrip's car came across onto pit road, also nearly hitting the pace car as well. He finished 22nd in what was the last race for Melling Racing. His final Cup attempt came in July 2003, when he was named to drive the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Pontiac in the Brickyard 400, but failed to qualify.
In 2003, Pressley moved to HT Motorsports to drive the No. 59 Dodge. A late entry for the season opener at Daytona, he qualified second and finished third in one of the closest finishes in series history. He finished twelfth in points.
For 2004 he returned to the Busch Series to drive the No. 47 Clorox Ford for ST Motorsports, with Steve Plattenberger as crew chief, and finished fifteenth in points with two top-ten finishes. He rejoined HT Motorsports for the full 2005 Truck Series schedule in the No. 59 Dodge, with Fred Graves as crew chief and Melling as sponsor for the Daytona opener, and finished twentieth in the standings. He retired from full-time racing in 2005.
Later career
In 2004, Pressley opened the restaurant Celebrity's Hotdogs near the Bent Creek area of Asheville, North Carolina. In June 2008, he practiced and qualified the STP/Kingsford Ford at the Milwaukee Mile for Marcos Ambrose, who was in California preparing for his Sprint Cup Series debut and returned to drive the Nationwide Series race, finishing 16th. He also worked as a driving coach. In 2011, he reopened Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee, as its promoter and brought NASCAR Whelen All-American Series sanctioning to the track. He left at the end of 2013.
Political career
In 2016, Pressley, a Republican, was elected to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, winning an unexpired District 3 term with 56.71 percent of the vote. Dirty Mo Media described the result as one of the largest margins in the county's local election history. He served six years and lost his bid for reelection in 2022. As a commissioner he served on the county's Early Childhood Education and Development Fund Committee, the Tourism Development Authority, and the Metropolitan Sewerage District Board, and worked on projects including road infrastructure at Enka Commerce Park.
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