Thirty-six years ago, Kevin Piercy fell in love with Hickory Motor Speedway.
“I was the 9-year-old kid sitting up on turn four, eating a bucket of chicken and having the time of my life,” Piercy said.
“Now I run the joint. Who would have thought?”
Piercy, promoter at the 58-year-old speedway since November, can still recall the sights, smells and booming energy of the first afternoon he spent at the storied short track on U.S. 70.
“Even after the race, walking through the stands you could smell the tire rubber, the oil, the heat coming off the track,” he said.
“It was just a great place to be.”
After graduating from St. Stephens High School in 1982, Piercy took jobs at Hickory Springs and Highland Glass before becoming an upholsterer at Sherrill Furniture. That stint lasted 11 years.
Piercy left Sherrill to become a self-employed contractor building custom and speculative homes.
While building houses, he also raced stock cars in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series and in the American Racing Association Late Model Series.
“It was fun and fulfilling, something I just loved doing,” Piercy said.
In 2000, Piercy became a Goodyear representative and a racing tire dealer.
“Being a tire salesman — and now promoter at Hickory Motor Speedway — has proved to be a better fit for me than being behind the wheel.”
Hickory Motor Speedway, often billed as the “birthplace of the NASCAR stars,” opened in 1951 as a half-mile dirt track. It has been re-configured three times since its opening. It became a .4-mile dirt track in 1955, and was paved for the first time during the 1967 season. In 1970, Hickory was shortened a second time to its present length of .363 mile.
Hickory Motor Speedway is the oldest professional sporting venue in Catawba County, and is the oldest continually operated motor speedway in the country.
Piercy said he feels fortunate to be able to make a living in the racing world.
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