By Neto Baptiste
The drag racing fraternity has been caught unawares by the resignation of its president Gene Mason after he abruptly gave the body’s executive notice on Monday that he would be leaving the post immediately.
This is according to General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Drag Racing Association (ABDRA), Renee Edwards-Ambrose, who said she received Mason’s official resignation letter on September 8.
“It just came out of the blue and at first, when he had reached out and said in the group that he would resign, I had to make a call and see what the problem was. At that point in time it was just word of mouth and I didn’t want to reach out to anyone to say anything. So I waited patiently and asked him if he was sure about it and yesterday [Tuesday] we were furnished with the official letter,” she said.
Efforts to reach Mason for a comment proved futile but Ambrose said the president indicated his decision was of a personal nature.
“He’d reached out and said that due to personal reasons he had to do it and he didn’t think it would be fair to the executive or the drag racing fraternity not being able to fully give of his time and his efforts to the association because of these issues, so I totally agreed with that because as everyone knows, it’s not a paying job,” she said.
Mason’s departure, Ambrose said, would not stymie the progress or plans of the executive.
“Even before his resignation we all had a sit down and we all had a clear cut view as to where we want to go as an association for the next two years, so the remaining executive members, we just have to sit down and see how we are going to push our way forward with regards to the association going forward,” Ambrose said.
In his letter, Mason did not go into details as to the nature of the personal reason or reasons that led to his decision but wished them well moving forward. Vice President, Denelle Richards, will assume the lead role until the body hosts its next general election due in January.