SMART Modified Tour & South Boston Massive Purse, Hype Around King of the Modifieds A Win For All3/12/2024 Who is the current King of the asphalt Modified world?
Someone is going to be crowned on Saturday, March 23 at South Boston Speedway. In a $20,000 to win race with the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, one driver is going to come out on top in Virginia. And the event, the third race of the season for SMART, continues to get bigger as it draws closer. With $20,000 on the line to the winner, the event matches Stafford Motor Speedway's Spring Sizzler as the highest paying Tour-Type Modified posted winners prize. The winner portion is only the beginning of a purse that is over $90,000 with a 36-car starting field. And if the first two events of the SMART season and social media buzz are right - the race will be sending some cars home. The event has sponsorship from Dominion Energy, Vista Installations, Stanley Law Group and Pace-O-Matic, among others. It pays $20,000 to win, $10,000 for second and $4,000 for third with a minimum of $1,200 to start. Carson Loftin, one of the rising Modified stars in the south, has shown in the first two SMART races he is the real deal. Loftin won at Florence, passing Matt Hirschman for the lead late, then followed it up by out-dueling former Daytona 500 winning driver Ryan Newman at Caraway last weekend to score another win. Wouldn't it be even more impressive to become King of the Modifieds with a $20,000 check and a third straight win? Newman and Hirschman will be two names to watch rolling into South Boston. Hirschman needs no introduction, known as "Big Money" after winning just about every major Modified event up and down the East Coast. Newman seems to be fitting well with his new team, with strong runs in both of the first two races. Tommy Baldwin Racing, the team that fielded the championship winner Caleb Heady in 2022, is entering the South Boston party with six-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby driving. Dunleavy Racing and driver Woody Pitkat, multiple-time winners at Stafford Motor Speedway the last few years, are also heading south. Speaking of Heady, he will compete in the No. 99 for Jamie Tomaino Motorsports in his first start of the season. After running the first two races for Tomaino, Jimmy "Showtime" Blewett will bring his family-owned No. 76 to South Boston to compete. Sadler-Stanley Racing is bringing rising star Luke Baldwin and Jonathan Cash, their two full-time SMART drivers. They're joined by names like Danny Bohn, defending SMART champion Burt Myers, Blake Barney, Anthony Bello and many more. And as the event keeps getting closer, there are sure to be a few more surprises added to the entry list. SMART and South Boston Speedway deserve a massive amount of credit for the purse and the buzz they have created about this race. They've done it in a short period of time. And if you listen to talk in the Modified industry, many feel like it's going to be a race to never forget. Tickets are now available for the King of the Modifieds 125 at South Boston Speedway on Saturday, March 23. Fans can purchase tickets online at southbostonspeedway.com and find more information on the race at SMARTModifiedTour.com.
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The Pro All Star Series (PASS) Super Late Models will be on track this weekend to open their 2024 campaign in North Carolina. Even though the series is based in New England, Hickory Motor Speedway has been the host of events for the last few years to kick-off the year. The series is heading back to one of NASCAR's most historic short tracks this Friday and Saturday for twin 150-lap races - and it's attracting top talent. The race weekend will be the first look into what will be a stacked 2024 field for PASS. Defending PASS National and North champion Max Cookson in the No. 39 will be a threat at Hickory. Cookson's dominating 2023 season, which included a weekly championship at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, also included the 2023 Kulwicki Cup Championship - in memory of fallen NASCAR star Alan Kulwicki. The rising star, who has also fielded an entry in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour this season, will be ready to challenge. Speaking of the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, turning heads early in their 2024 season has been New England based driver Jimmy Renfrew Jr. After New Smyrna Speedway Speedweeks success, Renfrew finished second in the CARS opener at the beginning of March at Southern National Motorsports Park. His No. 00 is always a threat in PASS competition as well. Other names to watch include former champions DJ Shaw and Derek Griffith. Shaw, entering his second year with Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, looks to get off on the right foot with a Hickory win. Griffith is a former PASS winner at Hickory who will look to rebound after wrecking out of the ASA Stars event at New Smyrna, ending his Speedweeks early. Gabe Brown, another one of the rising Super Late Model drivers in New England, brings the CC Russo Inc. No. 47 to Hickory looking to challenge. He's joined by Richard Moody Racing driver and PASS Thompson winner last season Trevor Sanborn, former Oxford 250 winner Cole Butcher, Wayne Helliwell Jr., Joey Doiron, Mike Hopkins and more. Derek Kneeland, NASCAR Cup Series spotter for Kyle Busch, will compete at Hickory before moving over to Bristol Motor Speedway for Cup action this weekend. PASS has an optional practice day on Thursday, before race day action on Friday and Saturday. Don't count out former PASS champion Ben Rowe, either -- driving the No. 28 for JR Robinson. Other names to watch include Rusty Poland, Garrett Hall, Ryan Moore, Bryan Kruczek, Cory Casagrande, Josh King and Jeremy Sorel. Friday's racing action begins at 5:30 p.m., while Saturday's will kick-off a bit earlier at 3:30 p.m. On top of 150-lap PASS races, both days also include the Carolina Mini Stocks and MASS Streets. For those unable to make it to Hickory, Racing America will stream both days of racing live. FULL WEEKEND SCHEDULE FRIDAY PASS ENTRY LIST SATURDAY PASS ENTRY LIST |
Kyle SouzaSouza Media writes for several tracks, sanctioning bodies and race teams in the motorsports field, while also presenting original content by staff. Archives
March 2024
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