Monteith Teams with Marty Ward for NASCAR National Title Run and GPS Championship

Driver PR Report

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — In the National Basketball Association, the big three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up last season with the Miami Heat to become the nucleus of “The Dream Team.”

Nate Monteith of Blountville had a phenomenal 2011 racing season at Kingsport Speedway, winning 10 Late Model Stock features and recording 21 top-five finishes in 21 starts en route to winning both the track and Tennessee State NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championships. He also finished tenth in the final top-500 rankings of drivers nationally in the Whelen All-American Series. For the 30-year-old Monteith, last season’s 10 victories put him at 57 career wins.

For the 2012 racing season a new dream team is in the works, as the combination of six-time (1990, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010) Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway champion Marty Ward, with over 100 career Late Model Stock feature wins padding his resume, and Monteith look to add another championship to Ward Motorsports. Monteith will launch an all-out assault come March in hopes of adding his name to the “Wall of Fame” around the half-mile Greenville-Pickens track as champion, chauffeuring a Leavitt chassis race car with Keith Fisher horsepower under the hood for Ward Motorsports.

Monteith is a veteran racer, with starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Automobile Racing Club of America, plus Championship Auto Racing Series Pro Cup and United Auto Racing Association-Southern Touring Auto Racing Series to his credit. He also captured Late Model Stock championships in 2008 and ’09 at Lonesome Pine Raceway located in Coeburn , Va.

“I’m very excited about this deal getting to team-up and race with Marty Ward in 2012 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway,” said Monteith from his Tennessee race shop this week after signing the deal with Ward Motorsports. “This all came about through a mutual friend of mine and Marty’s, and once we (Marty and myself) got to talking further about things it (deal) came together relatively quickly. Marty’s accomplishments at Greenville-Pickens speak for themselves, with the championships and all the feature race wins he has. His name is painted on the track’s ‘Wall of Fame’ six times, enough said.

“Immediately after going over to South Carolina to Marty’s race shop and sitting down and talking with him, it was apparent that we each shared similar views when it came to our racing. We’re both competitive racers who have only one thing in mind, and that’s giving it our best effort to win anytime we pull into the pits at a racetrack. Good preparation on the equipment during the week back at the shop will set you up for success at the track on race nights. And even though I won’t be able to come over during the week to work on the car I’ll drive for Ward Motorsports, since I’ll be back home in Northeast Tennessee maintaining my equipment that I’ll race on Friday nights at Kingsport Speedway, I know that Marty and his guys will give me a good car every Saturday to drive at Greenville-Pickens. Our goal for 2012 is to win races and the championship, and I can’t wait to go over and test some before the regular season begins.”

Ward, who lives in Marietta , S.C. , is equally enthusiastic about his alignment for 2012 at Greenville-Pickens with the personable Monteith and he expects Ward Motorsports to be in contention to claim another track championship.

“After meeting Nate and his dad (Don) and sitting down and talking with them, they’re both super-good people and we really hit it off,” said Ward while taking a break from working in his race shop. “I really believe teaming up with Nate will be a good relationship. He wants to win races, and I want to win races. He won the track championship last year at Kingsport Speedway, along with the state NASCAR title, and I really believe with my experience and knowledge of what it takes to run up front and win races at Greenville-Pickens Speedway that Ward Motorsports can put a good car underneath Nate.

“To be perfectly honest, this situation with Nate and myself, it’s a new deal for me as I’ve never fielded a race car for someone else. A mutual friend that Nate and I share first talked to me seeing if I’d be interested in being a car owner, and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. I’m 47 years old now and have been racing a long time, and I know I’m not going to be behind the wheel forever. Being a car owner and fielding cars for drivers just might be what the future of Ward Motorsports is all about. But by no means am I ready to hang my helmet up for good. I’m going to start the season off racing and see how things are going, and we’ll just evaluate the situation after a couple of months into the schedule as to whether or not I run the full schedule at Greenville-Pickens.”

But one thing is clear, both Monteith and Ward are winners, and champions. Look for an outstanding showing for Ward Motorsports in 2012 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.