Overseeing the competition from a flagstand is something Warren Alston is quite familiar with in short track racing.
The New Jersey racing official has been flagging racing events for 30 years.
Now he will take on the role of ultimate overseer of action.
Alston will serve as race director for the Valenti Modified Racing Series. He replaces interim director John Spence Jr.
Alston arrived as the Valenti Modified Racing Series flagman prior to the start of the 2014 season. He was brought into the series by former racing director Scott Tapley.
“To me, it’s an honor to be asked to do this position,” Alston said. “Basically, back in the day, the flagman would run the show from the flagstand. As time has progressed, we’ve really had more where the race director has run the show and the flagman has turned into his puppet. Working with Scott was great, I knew Scott from our days with the old Busch North [Series]. It was great to work with Scott.
“Now to be the race director, it’s going to be a little be different for me because obviously I won’t have the [flags] in my hand like I’ve had for 30 years now. … But I think that my experiences on the flagstand will lend me to be a good race director. I think I have everyone’s respect and I’ll be able to manage that position pretty effectively.”
Alston oversaw the series’ annual preseason meeting Saturday during The Racer’s Expo in Marlborough, Mass.
“We had a good turnout for the meeting,” Alston said. ““I hope that I can continue to keep the series going in a forward momentum. We have a great group of officials that I work with and I’m just one cog that makes administrations of the race happen.”
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