During a professional career, the lucky ones encounter a number of major career influencers that can be counted on one hand.
These are people who influence the path you take and how you take it. They don't influence what you think; they influence how you think. They don't influence who you hire; they influence what to look for in a person when you hire them. They don't tell you what type of culture to create in the workplace; they give you a sense of how important it is to ultimate team success.
Bristol Motor Speedway track president Jeff Byrd is one for me.
Ty Norris, Vice President and General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing narrates:
"In 1990, I entered the sport a fresh 24-year-old outsider, as green as the Savannah River on St. Patrick's Day. I met JByrd during my interview at RJ Reynolds Sports Marketing Enterprises (SME) where he was the vice president, working under his best friend T. Wayne Robertson.
JByrd knew I was borrowing a suit for the interview and laughed at me for wearing a pink dress shirt (it's all my buddy Jim Hennessy had clean in his closet). He knew I had no experience for the job I was interviewing for as I had spent my previous years as a sports writer.
It took less than five minutes for JByrd to show me the articles he had written as a young sports writer, and suddenly I felt like his nephew. I got the job at SME, he took me under his wing and I have always felt a connection with JByrd like few others in the sport."
Couple of weeks ago it was announced that JByrd would miss Food City 500 Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway due to unexpected medical reasons and that he would be receiving treatment in Texas. Still, even though the possible lack of sold out in tickets for the first time in 13 years and the fact that he won't be in Bristol physically, JByrd's signature will be on everything there.
Thinking back, it is amazing how much influence JByrd has had on this sport.
In the SME days, he was a leader of everything Winston did to promote the sport. In 1972, JByrd and T. Wayne were two of the first hired to direct Winston's involvement in NASCAR and shepherd it into the modern era. He oversaw, influenced or played a major role in: the Winston Million program which only Bill Elliott won; the No Bull 5 which gave drivers a million dollar bonus for winning three of the sport's four crown jewel events; the creation of the Winston All-Star race run each year in Charlotte and ultimately the first event run on a speedway under the lights; the Cup banquet being moved to New York; the creation and execution of the first show car program which became the norm for most sponsors; the upgrading of a number of facilities when they were mostly independent and couldn't have otherwise done it without Winston's financial support.
All the while, JByrd created a family culture at SME, one that I have never experienced again. He made every position in the company feel like white carpet executives. He promoted SME Family Days at Tanglewood and made it mandatory for all family members to show up for a great day at the park.
When Bruton Smith bought Bristol Motor Speedway from Larry Carrier, he saw all the same qualities in JByrd and hired him as the VP and general manager. Together, JByrd and Bruton moved mountains and made a sleepy short track into NASCAR's favorite event of the year. And JByrd is still one of Bruton's most trusted confidantes.
JByrd is the maestro of the great cathedral of racing, overseeing everything from having the driver's and race team members' children sing the national anthem, to the oversized scoreboard for video interaction and replays for the fans (years before the Cowboys Stadium did it), to the unique way drivers introduce themselves to the crowd, to telling every staff member with a golf cart "if you have an empty seat when you're going from point A to point B, pick up a fan or two and give them a ride." It is a BMS employee directive.
Bristol Motor Speedway
It's JByrd who made the fan events in his surrounding communities (Johnson City, Bristol and Kingsport) bigger than life with the Food City race nights and the Hauler Parade that sees thousands of people show up each year.
It was JByrd who asked the drive-in movie theater two miles from the track to broadcast the race live so that the 10,000 fans who came to Bristol to camp out for the weekend without a ticket, would have a good place to watch the race.
He brought a Winston-Salem Christmas tradition to the tri-cities, holding a Festival of Lights that is unmatched by any other in the region. It is a must-see and families from all over the state attend the light show as part of their Christmas tradition.
So, there isn't a person in the state of Tennessee or one in the garage who won't be thinking about JByrd this weekend. And because of the vast reach of influence he has had through the years, his presence will be felt everywhere whether you knew it or not.
Can't wait to see him back.
