Commentary by: Rob Staley
Danville, VA(March 12, 2012) — With the first running of the “Farewell to Frost 230” Saturday March 10 at Ace Speedway, a new era was ushered in at the four-tenths mile speedplant near Altamahaw, NC.
This was the initial outing of the new Ace management team consisting of returning, General Manager Brad Allen and Assistant to the General Manager, Tyler Williams. To say their first race together was a success would be a gross understatement. Drivers and teams from Winston-Salem, NC’s, Bowman-Gray Stadium were the featured attraction and gave the duo hope that the day would be good.
They flat knocked the ball out of the park …. A huge crowd and exciting races made it a day to remember.
“The fans responded in a super way,” remarked Williams shortly after the event’s conclusion. “They came out and they kept coming right up until 2 pm. The fans were more than ready to see some racing. We can’t thank the fans and teams that came out to compete enough.”
Williams also addressed one of the few negative issues that came during the weekend, a small car count in the headline Modified class and the two stadium support divisions (sportsman and street stock).
“After numerous conversations with other drivers and teams, we’re confident that the field sizes for the three divisions will continue to grow for future events.”
This race was the first of the track’s “Tour De Madness” series that offers the Stadium regulars a five race schedule and point fund.
Talking about the mods Williams added “Many of them didn’t have their cars ready. Some very big names are saying they want to be at Ace on April 13th (when the series visits again).”
Anyone who attended could attest that the product on the track was top notch as Burt Myers won the two hard fought Modified sprints while David Sumner and Gary Ledbetter prevailed in street stock and sportsman respectively.
So will the “Farewell to Frost” become a fixture on the Ace schedule in the coming years?
“I think it has the potential to be,” concluded Williams. “These early March races can go either way as far as the weather is concerned. We were fortunate this time to have warm temperatures and no rain.”
The youthful Williams faces a challenging future in his new capacity at Ace, but hopefully there will be many more days like his first race on the job.