Longtime magazine editor and auto racing broadcaster Dick Berggren will receive the Bobby Isaac Memorial Award during pre-race ceremonies for the Dollar General 300 NASCAR Busch Series race Friday night, Oct. 12, at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The Bobby Isaac Memorial Award is presented annually by Lowe's Motor Speedway to an individual or group in recognition of outstanding contribution to short-track racing. Isaac, one of the sport's outstanding racers, was well known for his short-track exploits and commitment, and it is in his honor the award is named.

After earning a doctorate in psychology, Berggren was working as a professor at Emmanuel College in Boston and driving race cars on weekends when he accepted an offer to become editor of Stock Car Racing magazine.

With an emphasis on short-track coverage, the magazine quickly became an industry leader and circulation grew rapidly as the sport rode a wave of increasing popularity throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1999, Berggren decided to launch a new motorsports magazine and started Dick Berggren's Speedway Illustrated. With a reported circulation of 140,000, the monthly magazine now has the largest readership of any publication in its category.

In addition to his magazine work, Berggren has enjoyed a 26-year motorsports television career. He became a pit reporter for ESPN's fledgling NASCAR coverage in 1981, beginning one of the longest-running careers in NASCAR television. In addition to ESPN, he's worked with CBS, TBS and TNN and is currently part of the FOX and SPEED broadcast teams.

"For more than 30 years, Dick Berggren has dedicated his life to telling the amazing stories of the men and women who make short-track racing a truly American sport," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Dick's work has played a major role in increasing the popularity of short-track racing and he is a most deserving recipient of this award."

Previous winners of the Bobby Isaac Memorial Award include journalists Chris Economaki and Tom Higgins; promoters Hugh Deery, Henry Furr and John Moose; drivers Jack Ingram, Harry Gant and Dick Trickle; motorsports equipment manufacturer Brian Butler; and American Sprint Car Series founder Emmett Hahn.

SOURCE: LMS Communications