All in the Family: Carrying on the Pressley family racing tradition

The Next Generation

The third generation of the Pressley family is making strides toward the forefront of the racing community. Like most kids, Coleman started out racing go-karts and then moved up to the Bandolero Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway. After three years in the Bandoleros and a couple in Legends Car competition, he took a year off to prepare for his next move, to Late Models.

In June 2004, Robert bought a Late Model for Coleman to drive in the '05 season at Hickory (North Carolina) Motor Speedway, and the Pressley family race shop was again open for business. The car was ready to test at Hickory the week before Robert had to leave for a January test at Daytona. They pulled into Hickory, unloaded the car, strapped Coleman in, took to the track, and he was slow. Subsequent test sessions had the same result. Coleman was so slow, a track official told the Pressleys that he wasn't sure whether he was going to allow Coleman to race on opening day.

What that official didn't know was that Robert had a plan. He wasn't going to teach Coleman how to race the same way that his father had taught him. Coleman had done all of his practice in a car that had a small motor and the hardest tires Robert could find, so that Coleman could learn the racetrack at a comfortable pace. Opening day found Coleman's car sitting in the infield with a fresh, full-sized engine under the hood and sporting brand-new tires. To the doubting official's surprise, Coleman qualified Sixth and went on to finish Eleventh.

Coleman's racing education continued all season long, and at the end he was Sixth in points with four Second-Place finishes. Sixth Place may not seem like a big deal, but you must remember that at Hickory Motor Speedway, Coleman was competing against drivers who had been racing Late Models for 20 years as well as developmental drivers from Hendrick Motorsports and Evernham Racing. Coleman accomplished this without violating Robert's golden rule for racing: race clean.

"If you hit someone to pass, then you must slow down and let him go back by," Robert told his son. "If you pass him cleanly, then you can stay in front."

Coleman has learned his lessons well and has been looking forward to an even better season in 2006, as he has a new car and is venturing out to other tracks to gain more experience in addition to competing at Hickory.

During the early part of the year, it appeared that the Pressley family's hard work and training had paid off. In the second race of the season at Hickory, Coleman took his first victory in Late Model competition, in only his 20th race in that type of car. He started Fifth in the 100-lap race and passed car after car until he grabbed the lead on the 62nd lap. He then had to survive a three-lap shootout to grab the win.

"I'm amazed," Coleman said immediately after the win. "I never thought that I would win a feature race this early. That last restart was the scariest part of the whole race. I was sure that I would miss a gear or jump the restart and blow it. But Dad talked me through it, kept me calm and focused on what I had to do.

"We spent all year, last year, learning how to pass, and it paid off tonight with all of these strong cars here. It's really special because my dad got his first win here in Hickory, and you know that my grandfather was a track champion here, and I would love to do that, too. If we keep up like we are right now, I think we can do it."

Coleman Pressley became the youngest Late Model winner in the historic track's 55-year history. You can add the Pressley family name to the exclusive list of short-track dynasties in the Carolinas-and the tradition continues.