Commentary by: Rob Staley/Contrinbutor
Danville, VA(December 13, 2010) — When Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton entered the Limited Late Model wars at Ace Speedway in 2010, he had no idea of the storybook season he was about to embark on.
Dalton, at age 15, won the championship in his first year of competition at the four-tenths mile speedplant of Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC. He and his team were able to take advantage of the restructured point standings which saw only ten of the first 13 races counted and then the remaining races settled the championship. Dalton had missed the first two weeks of competition while running at another track, so this played into his chances of winning the championship despite still being one race behind on points.
From his home near Greensboro, NC, Dalton recently shared with me his reflections on 2010 and his career in general.
“I guess the most exciting race in 2010 was my first win at Ace with me swapping the lead with the 23(Ziggy Zimmerman) several times before winning the race. My fans and friends filled the frontstretch to congratulate me and the crew and have their pictures taken with us and the car .”
Ross gives credit to two gentlemen for shaping his racing sucess.
“I would have to say my father, Jay Dalton is my biggest hero in racing. I’ve watched him win so many races. He always has a top notch racer and made sure our entire family was involved in the sport. Dad has pushed me since age 4(go karts) to be patient, smooth, and hit my marks. We have open discussion on the car setup and track conditions. I enjoy the father/son time we spend in the shop. Secondly, I remember Dale Earnhardt doing whatever it took to win a race. You have to want to win to be good and that he was.”
Ross hopes to move on to bigger things down the road.
“My goal in motorsports is to get with a good team in Late Models, Tour-type Modifieds or Super Dirt Late Models(he started his racecar career on dirt in an extreme front wheel drive car at 311 Speedway in Madison, NC), maybe even bigger. I definitely want to pursue a career in racing.”
There is already talk of Ross moving up to a top notch Late Model Stock Car in the not too distant future and whatever happens, fans won’t soon forget the excitement created by this young talent in 2010.
