FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) -- Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor and was the center of a controversy this week over a report about messages on a porn website, appeared at an event near Fayetteville Saturday night. Robinson's campaign was rocked earlier this week by a CNN report that he posted racist and explicit messages on a pornography website message board more than a decade ago. Although Robinson did not appear at former President Donald Trump's Saturday rally in Wilmington, he met the public Saturday evening for the first time since the controversy earlier this week. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson dismisses comments on porn forum unearthed in report as ‘salacious tabloid trash’ The Fayetteville Motor Speedway, an auto racing dirt track, said that Robinson would be at a "Meet Mark Robinson" event at the speedway from 6 to 8 p.m. Officials with the business at 3035 Whitman Road just south of Fayetteville said a speedway ticket purchase was required to meet Robinson. Robinson was visible at the speedway around 6:15 p.m. Robinson was introduced at the speedway and then given a microphone and addressed the crowd for about two minutes. "We are running for governor to work for the people of North Carolina -- because we are the people of North Carolina," Robinson said in part of his remarks. "We're going to focus on the issues you are concerned with." Robinson remained defiant Saturday night after there were some calls this week for him to drop out of the governor's race. Republicans in NC remove Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson from their social media following new scandal "While everyone else wants to focus on the garbage and the trash that matters to those people, we're out telling the people about what we want to do and we want to partner with you to make this state better and make your lives better," Robinson said. "This job is about serving the people -- and you are the people." He then led the speedway crowd in a prayer for the evening. After the prayer and singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Robinson met with several people on the dirt speedway track and later mingled with attendees. Trump appeals to women in return to NC without Mark Robinson, a top in-state supporter Trump held a rally in Wilmington Saturday afternoon, two days after a bombshell CNN report about posts Robinson made on an online pornography forum between 2008 and 2012, including that he supported slavery and called himself a “Black Nazi.” The former president has endorsed Robinson, who has vowed to stay in the race despite widespread criticism over his past remarks. The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report