Mike Dailey has shaken hands with many racers over the years as the owner of the New River Valley Race Auction. Now, he will be shaking their hands from a new role.
Several of the racers Dailey has met had a smile on their face, just picking up a bargain at one of his auctions, or just selling a racecar and pocketing some extra dollars for their next racing venture. As the new promoter of Ace Speedway, Dailey is eager to shake more hands and to meet the family of racers, crew members and fans.
Dailey, who has had stops at Motor Mile Speedway, along with other weekly racing tracks in the Midwest, knows the business from all aspects. His racing career has included him piloting racecars in many series, including World Of Outlaw Sprint Cars, along with asphalt and dirt Late Models, Limited Late Models, and even U-CARS and karts. Even though most of his racing is in his rear view mirror, he said he’s honored to be associated with the racers and fans at Ace.
“We really like what we see here,”said Dailey. “We’ve done our homework on Ace Speedway. The things you want to have, for a successful track, they’re present. A short, tricky track, a large, metropolitan area, easy access from all directions, a strong media presence, and a nice crop of good cars and talented drivers that race hard.”
What is known right now is that the track looks to continue racing on Friday nights, with most likely an April through September schedule.
“We’ll probably run every other Friday night, but we’ll also put a race or two on a Saturday when it’s appropriate. We’ll look at the other tracks in the area on those occasions and possibly run a Saturday show when they aren’t. We want to be respectful to the other track owners and also not force the racers to have to make a choice. We want to be a good neighbor.”
Dailey has also brought in one of karting’s most respected promoters, John Philpott, former owner of Providence Raceway, as a right hand man for the kart track.
“We want to be the destination for motorsports, be it asphalt circle track, karting, tractor pulls or mud bogs,”says Dailey. “Ace Speedway has been here for a long time and we want to keep it that way.”
