The driver or car owner with the best average finish in the three races will pocket a minimum of $1,380.
Ron Silk celebrates winning The Icebreaker at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on Sunday, March 15. It’s been a good couple of weeks for Modified racing in the Northeast.
The ice has been broken - in the form of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season opener - and new sponsorship opportunities both on the Tour and in the “Tour-Type” world are helping provide drivers with more prizes to pursue.
The creation of a Tour-Type Modified “Triple Crown” was announced last week, which begins with the May 12 Whelen Modified Tour race at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. Keeping with the theme of racing on fast quarter-mile tracks, the other two events will be the SBM 125 Modified Open June 16 at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., and the Buzz Chew Chevy-Cadillac Night 200 July 28 at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.
The driver or car owner with the best average finish in the three races will pocket a minimum of $1,380. It should create for some exciting racing when a regular at one of these tracks comes across someone vying for the Triple Crown.
Among the benefactors putting up the money for the Triple Crown are car owner Eric Sanderson, who owns the No. 16 WMT car driven by Ryan Preece, and fans Bruce Bachta and Jim Schaefer. Preece, former No. 16 driver Mike Stefanik, 2011 WMT runner-up Todd Szegedy and Tour rookie Daniel Hemric are among those intending to race for the money.
"I hope this is just a starting point for this award," Schaefer, the event organizer, said in a press release. "The quarter-mile tracks are what I grew up watching, so these races are the ones I look forward to the most."
This year, the second annual SBM 125 - promoted by Lowell Sun racing writer Kevin Rice - has the advantage of not competing with either a WMT or a Valenti Modified Racing Series event, which hopefully encourages more teams to enter. Riverhead is always a popular track for Modified enthusiasts, which should create a great atmosphere for the finale.
This is a great thing for Modified racing in this area. The Whelen Modified Tour has seen dwindling car counts in recent years as costs increased but purses remained stagnant. The Valenti Series has seen Tour drivers enter races on off weekends, proving that these guys will race anywhere for pretty much anyone. The potential to have both series represented in the same three races, along with the regulars at those tracks, is a positive for the sport.
This news follows the announcement earlier this month that Teddy Bear Pools owner Ted Hebert is throwing in $5,000 to the pot for the Monadnock race. Also, the July WMT race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway recently picked up a title sponsor - Town Fair Tire.
Slowly but surely, the money is flowing back in.
SILKY SMOOTH: The Whelen Modified Tour is off this weekend after opening its season last Sunday at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Ron Silk began defense of his points championship in the best way possible - by holding off Ted Christopher in a green-white-checkered finish in the prestigious Icebreaker. Silk’s only subpar showing last year was in that race, so he’s already ahead of 2011.
Preece took the victory in Thompson’s regular Sunoco Modified division, giving his family team a bit of early momentum.
RECOGNITION: Modified enthusiasts were thrilled when the late, great Richie Evans was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January. While his candidacy is a longshot, Evans’ biggest rival is on the short list for 2013.
Jerry Cook, whose battles with Evans all over upstate New York and elsewhere were legendary, is among the 25 names being considered for the Class of 2013, from which five will be selected. Cook does not have Evans’ national name recognition, nor the nine NASCAR Modified titles of the “Rapid Roman,” so his supporters really need to mount a strong campaign to spread the word.
Jason Remillard can be reached at jremillard@repub.com