Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Altamahaw, NC(March 31, 2010) -- As we all read and heard last year, Ace Speedway in Altamahaw NC was having some problems. The track has went through four rounds of management in as many years, and by the end of last year a bad taste was starting to form with checks being bounced and a all-around "outcast" feeling being formed by the racing community.

It looked bleak for the 2010 season for the track, as they lost their NASCAR sanctioning in the off season and many lawsuits were filed against the owner of the speedway. But new life has perked into the troubled track, as former Ace modified competitor Brad Allen has taken over the reigns to try and right the ship. I got the chance to sit down and talk with him, and from the get-go, I liked what I saw as Brad is a straight shooter and obviously cares about the track he has always called home.

Corey Latham(CL): So why are you here, how did this come about?
 

Brad Allen(BA): It was put out there that the track was looking for another general manager, and I also heard the place was closing down. Robert Turner approached me and told me I should inquire about it, I was in between jobs anyway, so I threw my resume out there and it started gaining momentum. Then you realized the trouble that it was in. The people that had applied for the job, along with the past ones, said to me that it was destined to continue down the same path. I told Abraham (track owner) that if he looks on my resume, track management is nowhere on there. But I have been here for 15 years, I know where it was, I know where it is now, and I think I know where it needs to be in the future, that was the whole platform that I applied for it on, then it literally fell into my lap. I heard I had got the job before Abraham gave it to me, then when I talked to him I could see how much trouble the place was really in.

CL: You have never had any experience in track management, your a racer, you have been doing it for a couple months now, what new things have you seen that you are going to have to tackle to bring it to where it needs to be?

BA: I've been in the decal business now for many years so I know about the marketing and promotion standpoint to a good extent. I have worked with some of the best minds in NASCAR and see how they work from that aspect, I just never had a reason to apply it from my end. Putting on a racing event it is much different, but I can also draw off of my experience because I have seen and know how it should be done. Now I pick up the little bits and pieces of what they were talking about and you start to put it towards this. The formula is simple, take care of your drivers and take care of your teams so you assure that you'll have a good car count so you can give your fans something to look forward to. The first part of this year we are going to do a lot of promotions to get people in here for less money so we can generate a crowd. It's going to be a work in progress all year long.

CL: Rome wasn't built in a day, but it can be done.

BA: That's right. When we lost the NASCAR sanctioning everybody said it would be the kiss of death. For me it couldn't happen at a better time, it eleviates the pressure to an extent we're not under the fulfillment to give them X amount of money per week, so It's basically back down to ground level. Now that we have went with ASA for 2010, it is less pressure they are great to work with and we can focus more on Ace Speedway than anything else.

CL: Did you have anybody to lean on for advice, you have scheduled the PASS series and UARA this year, so you had to talk with Kerry Bodenhamer and Tom Mayberry, how did you go into those negotiations?

BA: Well, I just looked at some past notes, we have had the UARA and other series here before. Looking at it from a competitors standpoint, if it appeals to you, you know It's going to appeal to the fans. The UARA was a no-brainer anyway they have had some of the best racing that the track has ever seen. We had to look at it like this, ok we needed to get some credibility back into the track and here's some series' that are willing to take a chance on us. I had great conversations with Wink and Kerry and with Alan Deitz from the PASS series, I let them know they could help me out, I needed it to an extent. But they also could see that I had my head in the right place I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for Ace Speedway and nothing else. We are leasing the track to PASS and we did that to not stretch ourselves thin so we could meet our obligations for our weekly competitors. They were great to work with and we came up with a plan that made both sides very happy. I just want to be careful and not stretch myself out there too far.

CL: It's hard to have big expectations knowing that you have to repair things first and foremost.

BA: Yeah, you have your list of wants and you have your list of needs and that's what we are after to start with our needs. That's why I did my schedule as such, I think we need breaks, it used to be an every Friday night thing here. I don't think with the economy the way it is that it allows the fans to do it anymore and the racers are already stretched thin. I think with a new management group we can run two events then step back and see what changes we need to make if any. Then by June or July, we know what It's expectations are.

CL:How has the feeling from the racers been about coming back? It's no secret that we had some problems last year with some bad checks and disgruntled racers.

BA: These guys want to race and we have one of the nicest facilities on the East coast to do that. To me the idea of the track had got away from what it was supposed to be, they wanted it to be a concert venue, or a tractor pull place, It's a racetrack first and foremost. I've had conversations, they wanted to put a motor-cross track out here, I said NO. We have a racetrack that we have to restore before anything. You feed the cash cow, the cash cow will feed other events if warranted. What they had done was bury the cash cow, and in turn it drained from the luster and reputation of the track, from what the initial investment was that we already had. The go-cart track is prime example, it was thought that that was straight profit off the top. Well, the go-cart track is tied into the insurance, the utilities, and the main track ends up paying for that. We just need to focus on the track, if I can get the Speedway back to where it needs to be, these other things can capitalize off being at Ace Speedway, it needs to be the main attraction.

CL: That gets me to the hard questions. Last year it got bad, checks were bouncing, the guy running it didn't have a clue as to what was going on, what's going to assure the racers that it is going to be different?

BA: I've made this perfectly clear since day one, if I ever get in a situation to where I can't put on an event, we're not going to have the event. We're not going into things with a "Wish upon a star" attitude so to say, that's what they were doing last year. I've got Abraham to give me a nice cash infusion to start with, and then It's my job to get fans and sponsors in here to see that's things have changed, so we don't get to the level we were last year. Money management was a problem last year, some of the times money was here, and it simply got missing, not pointing a finger at anyone, but that's what happened. That WILL not happen while I'm here.

CL: I've always said it and it has become known, the people here at ACE are a nice core group, they have no part in the problems that need to be addressed first, it has been the money and management. And that comes from the top, the owner. Have you had good dealings with the owner, Mr. Abraham Woidislawsky? Have the conversations been positive?

BA: We have had some very tough discussions, I won't say they have been heated, but they are hard and straight to the point. Abraham has been burned by some people here, and when you get burned enough you don't go near the fire. I made it clear I am either going to do it right or not at all. I need this and that to start with, and he tried to tell me different. This Isn't some other place in the world, this is Alamance County, things have to be done a certain way. People around here have got burned themselves, and I have to repair those relationships this year, I'll restore them next year. We owed some people money, we still do, but I am reaching out to those people and telling them, "We'll leave your sign up", or "I want you to be a race sponsor", I'm going to pay your money back anyway but I'm not going to charge you to be in front of the people. I want to show them what we can do and how they should of been treated before.

CL: You got to have money to make money. New ideas are great, but as far as the racers, what things are going on to help them? How is the purses looking have they went down, went up?

BA: Right now we are going off the same thing we had last year. One thing I am going to look at is our car count. I am going to adjust the pay by the count, and that goes for the laps too. If they get paid less, they will be running less laps so that's less wear and tear on their machine. Take the modifieds for example, they could have a 5 car field before and the winner was still getting $500. The fans hated it, the drivers loved it, they didn't have to race anybody and the track was getting killed. So you have a class that's only bringing $400 to the gate, and the track is paying out $2200, that's just not good business.

CL: So the rumors aren't true, the purse is not going to be paid off what you bring in at the back gate that night?

BA: No sir. My purse for opening night is sitting in the envelopes already. If I have to cut a class for car count, they will know that before they get here anyway. It will be posted, Modified, Limited , Mini-Stock, if you have less than 7 cars, your laps are cut. They are still getting the same money for the amount of laps, but I don't want my fans up there watching a 35 lap race with 5 cars. It goes the same for the Late Models, if they don't have 12 cars I have to cut them back to 50 laps.

CL: Speaking of the Late Models, how is the class looking for this season?

BA: Right now, just going thru my list, I went back as far as 2007 contacting people, one to see if they are still running, two to see where they are running at, and three to see if we can get them here. Right now, I feel safe to say that we will for sure have 16 LMSC's here, but with announcing the $2500 to win, we have gained a few more. If I can get them here, it is my job to make them stay here. If some come opening night and don't come the next week, I'll be on the phone asking them what happened and what we can do to get them to come back. I'm going to be more involved with the racers than anybody has ever been here. I'm a 3-time modified champion here, I ran a few races last year at the beginning and never came back, but I never got a phone call asking me why, telling me they needed me here, and my class suffered from that mentality as did other divisions.

CL: Going back to the pay, how are the racers being paid this year?

BA: Every week it will be cash money after the races, no more checks will be written. If we don't have the money to pay everyone by 12pm on Friday, we will cancel the races that night. It got ridiculous, it was the reason I quit racing, I figured with the heartache and the direction that the track was going it wasn't worth it, and I was right. The racers come in and write a check to be here, and get one back that's no good, that's not right. They would write a check for gas, or tires, or for a part, and would be told their check for the purse would be made good the following week. Well, the tire man, gas man and part man ain't waiting a week to cash your check that you wrote, so why should you have to wait for your purse?

We got our pay cut last year because of a tractor-pull. I don't race tractors, what does that have to do with me? The racetrack is going to take care of the racetrack this year, now the ATV's and go-carts, show me a way to make it profitable and self-supporting, and we'll do it. The go-carts made money last year, but they didn't account that it cost the track to run it and none of that money was put back into the track, causing it to lose money. If I see that the go-carts or ATV's are taking money from the track, we won't have them. The way I have it set up now, by the time we pay our bills and the racers and everything on race night, we can make a few hundred dollars. That doesn't sound like much to start off with, but It's a far cry from losing $11,000 in one night like we had.

CL: So what is the purse structure looking like?

BA: It will be the same up front, but without the sanctioning fees that we were stuck with, we are trying to spread some more money from the middle back to the end of the field. The guy running in 20th spends just as much on the gate, fuel and tires as the guy that wins, so we are trying to help them out some. And with the tire rules we have here and what not, Ace is one of the cheapest tracks top run at in the region, and the payout is comparable to most tracks around percentage wise.

I just want to have a relationship with the drivers, they come first, they are the show, they are the reason people sit in those grandstands. The drivers have been treated like a customer too long, in fact they are a partner of the track. If we have a disgruntled partner, we are going to find out what the problem is to fix if It's anything that was on our end, with a quickness. I heard stories from last year that the GM was not even here on most race nights, that blows my mind. Things are going to change, I love this track too much to see it fall to the wayside. And the competitors and fans are going to be taken care of like never before. And if the powers that be don't let me do the things that need to be done to make things right, I'll leave, simple as that. I look for things to really turn around though, we just have to put that effort out there to show it can be done, and it will.

Conclusion: ACE has become my home track in recent years, it is one of the nicest facilities in the US, and, I said it last year, ACE had the best racing in the entire region, car count is over-rated, quality of racing is key. But the fiasco that has been building in the last few years finally caught up, and it looked as if there was no way out. I had talked with the previous GM's, and truth be told, aside from Larry Rose, they were doing their job to the best of their abilities as what was provided to them. But now we have Brad Allen, and he is not from a GM mold, he is a racer. I think this will work nicely because he doesn't know the "tricks of the trade" as they say, with him, what you see is what you get, no side talk or gimmicks. A racer will take care of other racers, and it looks as if Brad will fit in just fine. Now It's just up to the powers above him if they let it flow the way it needs to, to get the track back into the glory it once had. $2500 to win this Friday night, see ya there.