HOLLY, Mich. – Sixty-five-year-old Dave Mader III has had quite a month.
Mader finished second in the ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega on April 24, just eight hundredths of a second behind winner Corey Heim.
Then last week, Mader announced plans to compete in the upcoming Must See Racing Sprint Car Series presented by Engine Pro event at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, S.C., May 14-15.
Although it will be Mader’s first time competing with Must See Racing, it will not be the first time he has competed in winged asphalt sprint car events.
The long-time stock car competitor competed in the discipline years ago.
“I’ve drove [a pavement sprint car] four times,” explained Mader. “I ran for Johnny Ardis twice at Pensacola and twice at Mobile in the early 2000’s. I have always loved those cars since I was a kid, when they were the supers. I always wanted one and I ended up acquiring one several years ago.
“Now I’m getting it ready to race and I’m gonna race the damned thing.”
It will be a busy couple of weeks for Mader before heading to Anderson for his Must See Racing debut.
“I’m gonna race Montgomery this Saturday with my late model car. Then I’m gonna practice my ARCA car at Charlotte for that race, which is the week after Anderson,” Mader tipped. “After the Charlotte test is over, I have to test the sprint car in-between.
“It’s turned out to be a busy May. We just do it for fun.”
Mader has had a very impressive career. He has made starts in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series. He is the 1978 Snowball Derby winner and also won championships with the All-American Challenge Series from 1985-’88.
After the Anderson Motor Speedway events, Mader insisted there will be more, and that his Must See Racing appearance isn’t an one-off weekend.
“We plan to race with Must See Racing at Montgomery in the fall,” Mader noted. “There is talk of possible events at Pensacola and Mobile before the year is over. We may do those events also.”
Mader, who resides in Irvington, Ala., has lofty expectations for his Must See Racing debut.
“I go to win. I’ve been doing that for 50 years,” said Mader. “[I have] 350 feature wins now; I’m not the type of person that’s going to be happy just to be there.”