Commentary by: Corey Latham ~ [email protected]
Winston Salem, NC(December 7, 2012) – In today’s economy, it has become the norm of lately, local tracks shutting down. The money just isn’t there and some of them are still trying to run them like they did 30 years ago, which quit working about 10 years ago, it just now has completely caught up with them. Then we have Ace Speedway, a track that a few years ago was the laughing stock of the region but has become one of the strongest tracks around boasting around 20 cars in nearly every division weekly. It can only go so far with the deed in the wrong person’s hands though.
It’s been nearly seven years now since Pennsylvania business man Abraham Woidislawsky bought the track and no one still, to this day, can tell why the hell he still has it. He paid way too much for it, and has no business owning a track as he never visits or has any interest in it. He hasn’t learned one thing from the day he got it in 2006 till now. He had went through five, yes FIVE, general managers in just three years before former racer Brad Allen stepped up to the plate. The place was pretty much in so much disarray that everyone else was scared to touch it. Here’s a funny story to get the feel of who we are dealing with here, one of the “potential” GM’s a few years ago had talked with Woidislawsky and asked the question we all do, “Why do you own this place, what do you get out of it?” He replied that he was kind of fooled into buying it; he said the real estate broker led him to believe there would be Cup races there, like Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. I about peed myself. Yeah if I spend 2.1 million dollars I’m fairly certain I’m going to research the hell out of what I buying.
The first few years were hard, the track had so many unpaid bills that, at one poin,t the county was going to take it over. The water bill hadn’t even been paid in almost two years. It seemed to be a growing trend, Mr. Woidislawsky hadn’t grasped the concept that things cost money and you have to pay for things when you use them. The track stayed in disarray to the point that racers weren’t even getting paid, it finally got to the point that it had become the biggest joke in all of racing, a sad state for one of the nicest tracks in the region.
Enter Brad Allen, a former Late Model driver and multiple time modified champ, he loves his track and to be honest, no one else wanted the job. Now what experience did Allen have running a track? Yeah that would be zilch, zero, none. We talked a few months before the season started and he said “Corey, you know anything about running a race track” … of course I don’t but I have some ideas. From that we built a close friendship, and the ball was rolling, to where we had no idea.
I couldn’t even imagine jumping into the situation Brad did. Here you have a track in total disarray, bills are behind badly, fans have quit coming and the racers are pissed. And here you are doing this completely by yourself with not a clue as to what to do. But he did what he “thought” he should do and just acted like himself, no “promoter” mentality, heck he couldn’t fake that. And he got a schedule together and the season started, in great doubt, but with lots of optimism from the drivers and teams.
Things started to go and they picked up steam quick. I could see what was happening and I loved the way it was going down. I talked with Brad every week and I could see the enthusiasm in the way he approached things, this “I have a race track, people will come” mentality that some tracks still have from 1982 doesn’t work anymore; people have a lot more options these days. He had fun ideas for the fans and drivers, and most importantly everything was getting paid as were the drivers in cash each night.
The Late Models have flourished there, and to me they have been the most exciting track to watch them on for the past few seasons. Rivalries, wrecks, fights, the track had it all. In the middle of it was Brad. If something went down he was there, not like other tracks where you never see the guy in charge, he was there rolling on the ground with the best of them. Ace was old-school in a new age, the only track I’ve ever been to that doesn’t have any cops working at it, if you wanted to cause a problem you had better be ready to throw hands because that’s how it was played. Now it wasn’t plum redneck, just enough to add some twang to the great product on the track… point is that people were talking about it.
We even had a “big” race for the first time in many years in 2010 with the “Fallout Invitational 150”. The race was one of the most exciting I’ve ever seen, complete with beating and banging, Johnathan Cash and Matt McCall wadding them up for the lead at the end. Rodney Cook would win the race after going door to door with Nick Smith for the last ten laps and a tradition was born. A tradition that only lasted that one race, it turned into the same ole crap once more.
2011 saw the track run flawless again, UNTIL the “2nd Annual Fallout Invitational”. The race had been scheduled all year, teams were ready and it looked to be better than before as other teams had heard what a success it was. Ultimately the race was pulled just a few days prior, the money was not sent for the event so the purse was not even ready. Track owner Woidislawsky tried to say the weather looked iffy, I think it was going to be “too cold” if I remember right, something stupid like that. We all have common sense, it’s not hard to figure out, everyone is so PC and polite, I’m just going to tell it like it is.
Well, after all the work Brad had done the place, by just that one fiasco it was in the crapper again. Time to rebuild a reputation once again, and once again they did as 2012 went off without a hitch, well almost but who doesn’t like a little controversy? Mistakes were made along the way, ones I pissed and moaned about and thought were ridiculous but you know what? Each and every time I said something about things being wrong, no one ever shied away from me, Brad always was available and told exactly why he made the decisions he did. Does it make them right? Well no, but it makes a wrong decision to some be respected if that makes any sense to you.
In the last two years, I have not seen the track owner even once, I’m there every week and really wouldn’t know the guy if he walked up to me. I’ve tried to call him but have never gotten in touch. Most of the time when owners are not present the track goes to crap, take Tri-County for example. But Ace was the other way around. After tireless talking with him, Brad basically told him that it would be best if he just stayed away from there since he could be of no help anyway. He did, for the most part, but he is still the owner and things have to be paid. What was the problem to begin with seven years ago is once again the problem now.
The track is one of the nicest in the region but everything needs upkeep. Nothing has been done to the track or facilities in over three years and that is quite a length of time for a race track. The track is coming up in one area and needs to be repaved, the owner said he would take care of it, he did not. He said he would fix the deteriorating concession stands, he did not. The lights needs some help, the grandstands need help, just regular upkeep. None of it is getting done. Woidislasky’s excuse is (and I’ve heard this from every GM that has been there) “I can’t do it, do you think I have a money tree?” Well no but if you can’t afford it you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place. I’d like to have a brand new car, I could probably get one but I don’t know how I’d pay for it so I don’t, It’s a fairly easy concept. So many times from so many GM’s there I have heard about things costing money and he always sends half of it, when you go to Wal-Mart can you tell them you’ll pay the other half later?
Many will think I’m just crucifying this guy on here, I’m not, and I’m just being honest. People seem to want to shy away from that personality trait these days. The track was screwed, Brad came in and saved it. Now he has been run off because, at the end of the day, he still does not own the place, he was just the guy in charge. He had grown the track into such a business that he didn’t want to do anything half-ass, and as long as the current owner is there it will continue to be half-ass. I don’t know what to think about it, I see they have an ad for a 50% “investor” for a mere $2.4 million. That’s right, for only $2.4 million you can have 50% ownership of a track. For that much I had better own three tracks with me being the only owner. Things like this just make you mad.
In the end I’ll remember my days at Ace, I’ve had some good ones and the staff has been a joy to be around these last few years. It has been my home, I’m treated like family there and I have free run of the place. The racing has been great and although they bicker and fight sometimes, I’ve never been to another track where everyone helps each other the way they do there, each team helping their competition get faster or loaning tools to sometimes complete cars. And behind it all was Brad.
People have said in the past that I kiss his butt or show the track favoritism. They are wrong, you are not supposed to be biased in this business but I’m a fan first and foremost, speaking the truth is what the world should be based on. Truth is that Brad Allen is one of the best damn promoters I’ve ever seen and the next track that gets him will be getting exactly what racing has needed for years, something real.
