Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Hall of Famer, took time during his address at the 2016 Wood Flooring Expo General Session on April 28 to recognize David and Melinda Ashley of Ashley Hardwood Flooring (W. Jefferson, N.C.) for doing the floors in his vacation home.
“When I was hunting around for floor people, I knew I wanted quality work, done fast and cleaned up when it was over,” Wallace told the audience. “That’s why I chose David.”
The home features a site-finished, character-grade, random-width hickory floor manufactured by Appalachian Flooring Ltd. and finished with Bona US products.
Ashley Hardwood has been an NWFA member for more than 20 years, and has been in business for more than 30. The company is currently working on an 8,000-square-foot job in a clubhouse nearby Wallace’s vacation property.
“I’m a big wood flooring fan,” Wallace said. “I wanted to get the best I could get, and they really did everything for me.”
Wallace’s address to General Session attendees included wisdom he’d learned through his 25 years of racing in NASCAR.
Wallace’s pit crew when he first started was only a handful of guys, but that number has multiplied to 300 men and women in NASCAR racers’ crews today. The sport became more specialized, he told the audience, which required the crews to train hard each week to stay on top.
“It’s the same in the [wood flooring] business,” he said. “If you’re going to do the quality of work that the sort of people in the Wood Floor of the Year Awards did, you’re going to have to train to know what you’re doing. To keep up with the times, you’re going to have to be willing to change and really have your act together.”
