Story by: Corey Latham ~ [email protected]
Altamahaw, NC(October 4, 2010) — With the big money races at the end of every racing season, one track in the region has been missing that last gasp of excitement for many years now. With Martinsville, Hickory, Caraway and Myrtle Beach already in the mix, you can add another to the list…..Ace Speedway.
Track manager Brad Allen has been wanting to put something together for a big event, and with the closing of Southern National that hosted another big event, “The Thanksgiving Classic” the timing was right and quite obvious for Ace to step up the plate on their rise back up from the brink of extinction it was on just a year ago.
“Ace Speedway has had one of the biggest resurrections in racetrack history this year and we want to keep moving forward for the future,” says Allen. “All our drivers over the years in the Late Models have got done with our regular season here and got ready for the big races at other tracks in the Fall, we have to keep up with the times, no reason they shouldn’t get ready for their own big race with outsiders coming to them. We want to make this an annual event and sponsors are going to be announced as the weeks go on, the purse is set but will go up from the bottom as more sponsors are announced.”
“Just the rumors of the race from the past week have had many drivers from other tracks calling wanting to be here, some heavy hitters have already signed on to come, November 6th should be one heck of a day here at Ace Speedway.”
The race will pay $5,000 to the winner and $500 to start for now, but as Allen states that could go up on the bottom end as sponsors come into the fold. There will be a practice day on November 5th with the race at 3:30 on Saturday November 6th, $50 entry fee if you show up on Friday, $75 for Saturday. Pit passes will be $35 for the two day weekend and all the rules will follow the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model Stock Car rules, your standard stuff ran at most other tracks.
All cars will qualify and start on 4 new Hoosier F-45’s and there will also be a $200 pole award. The top 26 cars will be in the main event, unless the entries exceed 30, then the top 16 will be locked in while the rest of the field will transfer through a heat race(s). There will also be two provisionals, one regional and one Ace Speedway points provisional. There will be no invert after qualifying, you’ll start straight up.
The race will consist of 150 laps, with a halfway break at lap 75 where teams can make adjustments but no tires are to be changed, the leader at halfway will also pocket $500. After the initial double file restart to start the race, all restarts after a caution will use Ace’s popular “cone restart” rule as a cone is placed on the track with one to go and if you want to try your luck on the outside you may advance towards the front of the field (for example, if the top 5 don’t pull to the outside of the cone, 6th place can pull out and start beside the leader). This is the formula that Ace has used all season and it has been very effective, giving drivers that make a mistake a chance to get back up front and the fans a chance to see more racing for their dollar.
More details will be made available as the week goes on but this is already shaping up to be another feather in the hat of fans who live for the “BIG” races at the end of the season like we do. The planning of the race is spot on as it is a month after Martinsville, three weeks after South Boston, and two weeks before Myrtle Beach, giving teams flexibility with there schedules and a chance to fix any problems encountered the weeks before or to get ready for the weeks after. It will also give some teams the extra chance at the end of the year to win some money and make a statement going into next year and everybody likes that.
This will be another edition of “Full Blown” LIVE Coverage for RACE22.com also, as we are always happy to add events at the end of the year, especially new ones to the Late Model Stock Car world and we couldn’t be happier to see one of the areas best tracks throw themselves into “Big Race” season.
