411 Raceway Track Chaplain adds new dimension

Rocky Glenn loves racing and his lifelong passion is working for the ministries. He now has the opportunity to combine the two and personally make a difference in people’s life by doing so. Glenn is the track Chaplain at the 411 Raceway and is one of many that serve as Chaplain at Bristol Motor Speedway. “This is the first year that we have had a Track Chaplain,” said 411 Raceway General Manager Buck Buckholz. “He’s added a dimension of spirituality to the drivers that they’ve always looked for up here and they really appreciate it.” Glenn, who is a member and Evangelist at the South Knoxville Church of God, began an East Tennessee Racing Outreach program this year. “Buck just told me that the track is mine and I have free liberty to do what I want to do,” said Glenn. “He and his wife Pam have been a real inspiration to me.” “I had only been to the track at 411 on one occasion,” Glenn added. “I’d been to Bristol for training and he had never had a Track Chaplain before. He had been looking for one for two or three years and he found me, so here we go.” Glenn has been following the sport of racing, as a fan, since high school and was given a gospel tract while attending a race at Bristol. After that occurrence at Bristol, Glenn began asking questions about how he could become a part of the racing ministries. “I was on my computer and went into the MRO chat room and asked a question about their ministry,” Glenn said. “One of their Chaplains, Ron Pegram, e mailed me back and wanted to interview me at Bristol last year. That’s what started me with the Racing Ministries and my training.” Glenn attends the drivers meeting at 5:00 every Saturday at 411 Raceway and holds the prayer circle immediately after the meeting. “A large majority of the drivers up here participate in the service,” Glenn said. “And I’d say that 95% of the drivers at Bristol came to the service. That was probably the highlight of the entire weekend for me. I mean, I enjoy the racing and the cars but going into the meeting and talking to the drivers and their families and seeing how they respond to it all is fantastic.” Glenn does his duties at the two tracks on a strictly volunteer basis. MRO and NASCAR now have full-time chaplains that are paid but Glenn is happy to be doing what he is doing. “This is probably the most well-run and safest tracks that I have ever been to,” Glenn said about what he enjoys about working at 411 Raceway. “This is a clean family oriented track. We’re looking for an exciting year up here.” Glenn does have some limited experience behind the wheel as well at a racetrack, just not in an actual race, not yet anyway. “I drove at Bristol last year in the Richard Petty Driving School,” Glenn said. “I can’t wait to get in another car. I went from 89 miles per hour to 102 mph. You follow an instructor and you’re not allowed to race anybody but it is a great thrill driving at BMS. I hope to go to Charlotte this year and go to that school and drive on that fast-track at 160 miles per hour.” Glenn says that he is a Ford man, which is usually an unpopular choice at the track since most of the drivers prefer Chevy’s. “Yeah, I’m a Ford man at heart and most of the guys up her are Chevrolet men but they don’t rag me too much,” he said. Glenn is originally from Georgia and South Carolina and came to Tennessee in 1972. He is married with three children and three grandchildren and has worked for the United States Postal Service for 32-years.