A special guest made the Monarchs hockey game at the Verizon Wireless Arena more exciting and increased the attendance as well. The 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton drew a large crowd of enthusiastic fans, many of them proudly wearing No. 22 Cat shirts.

“Ward’s a special king of guy,” said Larry Cutliffe, director of marketing for the Northeast Cat dealership. “He’s a family man, with high principles and values, and we at Southworth-Milton are proud to be associated with him.”

The Monarchs’ Corporate Account Executive Matt Welch agreed. “Ward went out of his way, making sure he spent some time with each and every person who had bought tickets for the special dinner with him. He didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially the kids,” said Welch.

According to Welch, there’s a crossover between hockey fans and NASCAR enthusiasts, so the invitation made a lot of sense. “You could say there was great crossover between us and Southworth-Milton. We both believe in constantly raising the bar, and delivering beyond expectations. We’re very appreciative of their support for this event, it turned out to be a success beyond what we had expected, and we look forward to repeating it.”

A question-and-answer period provided a good opportunity for the young members of the audience to hear from the NASCAR driver what got him started, and what makes him succeed.

“My father was a drag-car enthusiast, so I always attended races with him,” Ward responded to the first question. His second answer was, “If you’re lucky enough to learn at an young age what you really love to do, then you apply yourself to it, 100 percent.”

Ward made sure his young fans took home a message that combined the passion and excitement of racing, and the dedication it takes.

At the end of the game as an extra surprise, Ward became “Flagman” for the night and members of the Junior Hockey League got the chance to team up into two groups and race Zambonis around the rink.

For more information, visit www.southworthmilton.com.