Veteran NASCAR promoter to retire

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CONCORD, N.C., May 21 (UPI) -- Long-time NASCAR promoter H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler will retire after Sunday's Coca Cola 600 Sprint Cup auto race in Concord, N.C.

The race, the longest on the NASCAR circuit, is being run at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, where Wheeler has been chief operating officer and president since 1980.

He was named its general manager in 1976.

"I am grateful to everyone who has helped me throughout my racing career," Wheeler said on the track's Web site Wednesday. "I have been blessed with a wonderful family and many close and dear friends who I hope to spend more time with. I look forward to addressing the crowd for the last time Sunday during my 32nd Coca-Cola 600, and thanking them for being there because without them we have nothing."

"It may be a few more years before we can really measure the impact that Humpy Wheeler had on the sport of stock car racing," Richard Petty said in a statement.

No successor has been named.