NEWPORT, Tenn. — Hundreds of drivers and car enthusiasts packed the English Mountain Raceway in Newport for a winner-take-all race and to visit with Kye Kelley from the Discovery Channel program "Street Outlaws."
"You actually get to get 1-on-1 with your fans," Kelly said. "You come out here and you can talk to them, get to know them, and let them know what kind of person you are instead of what they see on TV."
Like many of the attendees Saturday, Kelly grew up with racing in his blood.
"As a kid, it's just something you have in you," Kelly said. "I like to encourage kids to get into drag racing. It keeps them out of drugs and other crazy stuff like that. If you spend all your money on drag racing, you don't have money to do anything else crazy. That's my theory."
Saturday was the raceway's first "King of the Mountain" event since the strip was reopened after a five year closure. Racers pay $100 to enter the "run what you brung" style event and the winner takes all.
"The adrenaline rush. There ain't nothing like it. There ain't nothing like getting in a car, strapped in, seeing it run 110, 120 miles and hour on a no prep track," CJ Leonard of Dandridge said. "It's just fun. Pure fun."