Jeff Byrd Memorial Foundation

Jeff Byrd, the dynamic President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway who passed away last October, was a special man to all who encountered him. His many random acts of kindness inspired good-works in others. To honor him and make possible a continuation of Jeff's philanthropic vision, his wife, Claudia, created the Jeff Byrd Memorial Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation.

Byrd was a founding member of the Kingsport Community Foundation (KCF), an Affiliate Fund of East Tennessee Foundation. He began service on the KCF Board in 2002 as a thoughtful philanthropist with vast experience as a community leader and a vision for the role KCF could play to benefit the community. Jeff always asked the challenging questions pressing other Board Members to develop a united message and to develop a plan for growing charitable assets for the Greater Kingsport community.

In 2009, Jeff retired as Vice Chair of KCF due to illness. His service on the Board and his gift of strategic leadership that challenged KCF to position itself as an organization with a mission to connect caring donors with needs and opportunities in the community will forever be remembered and is visible today through the work of the Kingsport Community Foundation.

In addition to the Kingsport Community Foundation Jeff was involved with a number of other charitable groups. Jeff and Claudia organized and spearheaded the Bristol Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities, a non-profit agency dedicated to aiding children in need in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

Jeff, one of the most respected and admired leaders in racing, had been at the helm of BMS since January of 1996 when Speedway Motorsports, Inc., purchased the Bristol facility. Under his leadership, the track became the most popular venue on the NASCAR tour. Prior to his move to BMS, Byrd served 23 years in the sports marketing department at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., departing as vice president of business development. He began his career as a sportswriter at the Winston-Salem Journal.

As a 35 year veteran in the sports and marketing profession, Jeff was one of the greatest promoters stock car and drag racing has ever known. During the 14 years he managed Bristol Motor Speedway he understood that the "event" was more than what happened on the track, it was the experience that fans took home with them that stayed in their memories. And those fans, and the people he worked with at Bristol Motor Speedway, were truly like family to him.

A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Jeff received his B.A. degree in history and politics from Wake Forest University.