HICKORY, N.C. — When Nate Monteith made a series of starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, it was the culmination of a dream, and a proud moment for the Mountain Empire. Furthermore, when Sevierville native Blake Jones raced in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, it was yet another statement about the racing talent grown in northeast Tennessee.
This weekend, the families will converge to further the career of another racing generation. Under the guidance of Blake Jones and Nate Monteith, Brayden Monteith will make his first full-size stock car start at Hickory Motor Speedway, driving a pro late model against some of the discipline’s toughest teams.
“I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous simply because he’s my son and I have all the feelings any dad would in this situation,” said Nate Monteith, who most recently raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series across the years of 2007-2013. “But this is what he wants to do, and he has put in the work and done the things he needs to be successful, and that says a lot to me, especially for him being only 12 years old.”
Monteith will be racing in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series on Saturday night at Hickory, against teams with backing from national driver development programs and NASCAR Cup Series teams.
“I’ve worked with a lot of kids since I got away from racing full-time years ago, but his ability to adapt to a pro late model after never being in a full size stock car was what caught my attention,” said Blake Jones, who has two years of NASCAR Cup Series starts from 2018-19 and is serving as Monteith’s spotter and driver coach. “With how quick he found speed and ran consistent laps, his raw speed was very impressive.
“You wouldn’t think a kid as young as he is would be able to test only three or four times and be ready to race,” he continued. “It’s usually a long transition from Legends or Bandoleros or karts, or whatever you’re racing, to a full-size car. It’s usually a lot because of the physical demands, mental toughness, the speed, and the fact it’s a lot heavier car, but I believe he’s ready for this next step.”
Before jumping into the pro late model, Monteith raced traditional-style karts across the country and outlaw wing karts on dirt.
“We’ve raced for 20 years after starting the moonshine business, keeping Blake too busy to race, so we have missed going to the track,” said Teddy Jones, Blake’s father and car owner for Monteith’s first career stock car start. “When Brayden started racing in the lower classes, we kind of caught the bug again after seeing him race; we have raced long enough to know talent when we see it. Like the great Dale Earnhardt once said, ‘They either have it or they don’t; you can’t put it in them and you can’t take it out,’ and this kid has definitely got it. Who knows where this ends, the last time we made it to the Cup level with Blake. Only time will tell if Brayden is the next superstar.”
The upcoming Carolina Pro Late Model Series race with Brayden can be seen LIVE on SPEED SPORT affiliate PitRow.tv.