Hall of Fame Career
Photo Courtesy of Susan DeVault
When Deb Williams was a baby in Canton, North Carolina, the only place her parents could get her to stop crying and sleep was under the loudspeaker in the infield of the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. The “daddy’s girl” later tagged along with her father to ballfields, garages, and racetracks, and she loved automobiles from the time she was big enough to sit on the hood of a car, wiping off wax and buffing it to a shine.
Williams soon realized she wanted to write about motorsports.
Photo Courtesy of Charlotte Motor Speedway Archives
“I was raised that if you’re not happy with something, don’t sit around and grumble about it. Get up and do something about it,” she said. “I got disgusted with all the errors I kept finding in the news articles in the Asheville Citizen on auto racing. I loved to write, and . . . I thought being a reporter would be an exciting life, and so by the time I was 13, I decided I wanted to be a motorsports writer.”
Williams earned a degree from ETSU in journalism with a minor in criminal justice
in 1976, gaining experience in sports writing with the East Tennessean and the university’s
Sports Information office. While she covered general news and other sports early in
her career, she soon embarked on a four-decade career covering motorsports.
Team Penske Media/Steven Rose Photo
“In January, Williams became the first female reporter and the third woman overall inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame.
Williams was praised not only for her longevity, but also the quantity and quality of her work and her knowledge of the sport. She has written for UPI, The Charlotte Observer, and USA Today, and was editor of NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 10 of the 18 years she was with the publication.
She has written books and worked in public relations in motorsports and has even taught on the subject. She holds numerous awards for her work, including an Award of Honor bestowed by the ETSU National Alumni Association in 2013.
Photo by D&D Images
Williams was honored to be inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame by her friend, Kyle Petty.
“Kyle has been the brother I always wanted, but never had. For him to be able to do it, and for him to be so excited when I asked him to do it, just meant the world to me.”
As Williams reflects on becoming a Hall of Famer, she expresses gratitude and amazement.
“It just is not something that I could have ever imagined. It still doesn’t
seem
real. I look at my jacket and I go, ‘That can’t be mine.’”
By Jennifer Hill | Photos Contributed
Read more incredible stories in the Summer 2024 Edition of ETSU Today. #BucsGoBeyond
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