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CUP: Bristol President Takes Leave
Bristol Motor Speedway president Jeff Byrd won't be present when NASCAR visits in a few weeks...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 02, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Bristol Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jeff Byrd, 60, was named Vice President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway in 1996 and became President of the Speedway Motorsports Inc. facility in 2003. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

Bristol Motor Speedway president Jeff Byrd has taken a leave of absence from the Tennessee track because of an undisclosed illness, track officials announced Tuesday.

Byrd, a former journalist who later worked for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in promotions before joining the speedway, won’t be involved in Food City 500 weekend activities this month as he undergoes tests and treatment.

“I fully intend to be back on the job as soon as the doctors say it is OK,” Byrd said in a statement released by the track. “I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and will miss being at the track for the Food City 500 weekend. I have said for years I have the best team in motorsports, and things are in good hands.”

The statement said Byrd’s medical problem “is limited to one area and is treatable.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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