Rodney Acker Has the Time of His Life
As the Ultimate NASCAR Experience Winner

Rodney Acker has been a long-time race fan, having attended virtually every NASCAR race at Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, DE, over the last five years. Each time he sat in the same front-stretch grandstand seat, just to the turn-one side of the flag stand.

However, the “seat” that Rodney had at Dover this past June, he will tell you, was the best trackside seat he ever had.

Rodney, along with his father, Lary, operates Acker & Sons Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors in Kensington, MD. In June, Rodney was the winner of the Northeastern Supply Ultimate NASCAR Experience held in conjunction with the MBNA Platinum 200 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race at Dover.

Dressed in the actual crew uniform of the Albertson’s Supermarkets/Northeastern Supply-sponsored team for driver Jason Keller, Rodney served as an honorary pit crew member during the day.

Working with the team from early in the morning, Rodney helped prepare the sets of tires the team was to use during the race and then set up the pits. After watching the driver introductions and posing for some pre-race photographs, Rodney then watched the entire race from the team’s pit area that was situated directly in front of Victory Lane and directly across from the section of grandstands where Acker customarily sits to watch the races at Dover Downs. It gave the Maryland native what he called “the best seat in the house”.

“You really have no clue what it is like to be on this (the pit) side of the track during a race rather than watching it from the grand stand,” Rodney said during the race. “The power of those race cars, the teamwork of the crews, all of the pre-race car preparation, meeting and talking to the drivers before the race, and the whole atmosphere in general cannot really be appreciated totally until you experience it yourself. It was awesome!”

The contest was open to all Northeastern Supply Company customers who had their names entered each time they purchased $300 or more of selected products. Double entries were awarded customers who placed their orders on Northeastern’s website.

There were four prize levels in all with the grand prize being the Honorary Pit Crew title on race day. Prize winners’ names were drawn randomly from all of the names that had been submitted during the two-month-long promotion.

Acker also received a weekend pit and garage pass that gained him entrance into both the Winston Cup and Busch Grand National garages. He also attended qualifying day activities, as well as a private cookout Friday evening, hosted by Northeastern Supply. In addition to Acker, the cookout was attended by other customers, driver Keller, and the race team.

“I learned a great deal about racing that I never knew before. I will watch races now with a totally different perspective and I have the fine folks at the Northeastern Supply Company to thank for that,” Acker ended.

Keller, who has been one of the Busch circuit’s leading drivers all season and who also has been dominant on race tracks with concrete surfaces like the one at Dover, never could get a handle on his car for this race and had to settle for a thirteenth-place finish.

Had Keller won the race, Acker would have also earned a $1,000 cash prize from Northeastern Supply.

Honorary Pit Crew Contest Winner Rodney Acker (right) poses with driver Jason Keller and his Albertson’s Supermarkets/Northeastern Supply sponsored race car just before the start of the June 2 Dover Downs race