(Press Release from Bullring Bash)
Today, the Bullring Bash Quarter Mile Challenge officially unveiled its event format for its three 2019 rounds. Each Modified event will feature a combination of qualifying races to set a grid of up to 24 cars, with a 125-lap main event split into three segments that will determine each overall Event Champion.
“What truly sets the Bullring Bash Quarter Mile Challenge apart from other modified promotions is our event format,” said Bullring Bash founder Josh Vanada. “We’ve devised a race format with plenty of punch—one that will provide fans with constant excitement and force drivers to be up on the wheel every lap. We can’t wait to get the excitement started with our first event at White Mountain Motorsports Park in June!”
The Modifieds will be segmented into a number of equally sized Qualifying Races based on the amount of entries. Multiple cars from each of these 12-lap Qualifying Races will advance directly to the Main Event, with the rest of the field going to a 15-lap Last Chance Qualifier to fill the remaining spots on the grid. From there, the field will run a 125-lap Main Event broken up into three Segments of 50, 50, and 25 laps. Points will be rewarded on a reverse scale after each Segment, with one point to the winner, two points to second, and so forth.
After all three Segments are completed, the driver with the lowest amount of total points will be crowned the Event Champion. In addition, a number of inversions will keep the action interesting and facilitate passing opportunities. In the Main Event, the starting order for Segment 2 will be determined by inverting all lead lap cars after Segment 1.
Finally, the starting order for Segment 3 will be determined by fastest lap times for all remaining lead lap cars from Segment 1. Each event will stand alone from all other events on the calendar, with no point fund or point system.
The standalone event system enables officials to provide the teams with prize money and products during the season when they need them, instead of at the end of the year.
The first two events of the 2019 Bullring Bash Quarter Mile Challenge will take place at White Mountain Motorsports Park on June 16 and August 10. A visit to Thunder Road Speedbowl on September 14 will complete the inaugural Bullring Bash calendar.
Further announcements on sponsorships, event purses, and more will be made in the coming weeks. To keep up with the Bullring Bash Quarter Mile Challenge, teams and fans can visit http://www.bullringbash.com. Fans can also stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @BullringBashQMC.
Pros and cons. Pros, I love the no points deal. Show up, race, leave with a check. Old school right there. Cons, as a fan, I hate segment racing. After the checker shows I have to wait ten minutes for some dude in the tower to tell me who won??? MRS does it at Lee that way. Not a fan.
Just one person’s opinion. What say you?
I think its atleast diffrent, and kudos to them for releasing information and it sounds well planned. AMT hasnt released anything yet. This format needs lots of cars to be succesful, if only 15 show up it will be a disaster. Purse information should be next announcement!
100% agree with JD. Thompson has had the “overall winner” not cross the line first in any of the 3 races. So there can be a total of 4 winners in 1 event? Never liked it. Confusing and gimicky. I had to read this article slowly and multiple times to comprehend and that doesn’t even include the pay structure.
Hopefully the purse will be $5,000 + to win for a good car count ..
Pros: The money is everything as Chaser said but otherwise they are doing just an outstanding job promoting and building excitement on their roll out for new events in Late Model country for modifieds. Cons: see Pros if you’re a fan of traditional modified venues. They’re doing it too well and thinning the resources for the traditional tracks and series.
Love the lowest points total wins. Takes out the influence of number of cars that show up. Fantastic.
Nobody cares about modifieds up there just like nobody cares about ACT style latemodels further south. I give them credit for trying. I attend pretty much every race at Thunder Road since I live up here now so I’m looking forward to it. The last two MRS races there the stands emptied out after the act feature was over and I’m sure they would still be racing there had it been a viable race for everyone.
I actually don’t think the purse matters much here in terms of attracting cars. They will get a mostly MRS based field. Hope that a few MH / Woody types show. I don’t see many of the CT based teams hauling 4-5 hrs. Star gets about 25 cars and they are a hell of lot closer for many teams. It is a damn nice area to spend father’s day though.
Teams that don’t chase points in any one series have a plethora of options this year. Just keep those social media sites updated so fans know who’s racing where.
True story..👆
It makes for great racing at 2 little bullrings.T Road gas been using a similar format for decades.
JD you probably won’t have to wait to know the overall winner as the tower will be playing that up as the race goes on.
Hope I can fit the races into my schedule & they have good weather.
This can be a little confusing as far as determining the overall final positions go. I’m not much of a computer guy but I would think they could have a computer program to take transponder results and quickly calculate the overall positions. Beyond that, I think it’s a way to promote full-on racing throughout the main event. All teams will be racing hard for finish points from each segment for the $$, and the inversions will increase that even more. If the $$ is there, it looks like 3-4 heats, a consi, and three features. That sounds like a good day of Modified racing to me!!
Love all the open questions here. Is the track abrasive? What tire will they be on? How many and when?
I’ve never been to WM and only once to T Road for Lates so I have these circled on my calendar. Hope Matt does to.
Just like the Milk Bowl at T road, fans will know the winner when the final checkers fly. Eliminates the “riding around” aspect of the Thompson 300 of days past.
Last time MRS ran at T Road did not go well. I don’t think they strung together 10 green flag laps during the entire race. Most fans left due to boredom. Hopefully the new surface will help.
Seriously Crazy? We all know you are associated with MH so please don’t try to hide it. You already know it is on the calendar! Let’s just hope it is on everyone’s calendar so we get a good turn out and good racing!
Segment 1 will start off like group qualifying with teams keeping an eye on race monitor. Then tire management and strategy on which of fastest segment 1 cars you might need to align yourself with. Who knows. Can you afford to cruise to a couple fifth or sixth place finishes knowing you will be sitting on the pole for segment 3? Put them on a hard tire and let them loose for 100 laps.
According to the info above, you can’t be on the pole for the third segment unless you run the fastest lap time in the first one and finish on the lead lap. two fifth place finishes in the first two give you ten points going into the third. I’d bet the overall winner will need 7 or less points.
No dog in this hunt but can’t help but notice some really good things.
-the name, logo and buzz these guys are creating for a new series in Late Model country for modifieds is very impressive.
-nice seeing the northern tier fans weighing in with their perspectives and historical observations.
-the race format and the banter it is generating is impressive.
-Most impressively. Having another open series principal competing for competitors weighing in on it’s purse structure.
This could be a banner year for teams with regard to choices and seeing an OPEN discussion of money circulating in the media. Pun intended.
PS. time to step it up Stafford on your Open purse structure lest ye be left behind.
I’m guessing the first one on 6/16 will have a good field of cars due to no direct schedule conflict, although a Stafford Open is on 6/14. That and the 8/9 – VMRS @ Claremont & 8/10 – Bull Ring Bash @ White Mountain might be a good option for some teams to have a doubleheader weekend.
As for the others, I guess we’ll have fun trying to figure out who goes where, based on points battles, $$, and distance.
7/27 – VMRS @ Speedway 51 vs. SBM125 @ Star
8/24 – VMRS @ Monadnock vs. TTOMS @ Oxford
9/14 – TTOMS @ Monadnock vs. Bull Ring Bash @ Thunder Road
I wonder if an sk two barrel carb rule would even the competition and make the sk’s competitive. If true then that would open up a lot more cars
Doug, pretty sure stafford’s open 80 purses are the same as the 2nd and 3rd bash show. Stafford purse was 24 and change last year, bullring bash round 2 and 3 says $24,800. The other show is a 30k purse. Interested to see what entry fees look like and how many tires your allowed to buy. Stafford’s entry fees were only $50 a show if you entered early and you were capped at 6 tires. Steve, why would anyone want to run Sks in open shows. Why have an SK if you arent going to run in an SK division?
Thanks car owner.
Question: if you are an owner that competes in Opens what are a few of the things you look at to decide what shows you will enter.
With regard to Stafford’s Opens I’m a fan and will be at each event. That said I would be very disappointed to see another 20 car show like the two last year. Fine for a debut year, not fine now it is a staple of the schedule.
The winners share in my view should not be less then the SK 5K and certainly not less then the experiment up north in Late Model country. Money to start should be more as well to fill out the field.
Would I pay more to see a better purse. A couple bucks perhaps. $32 works for me. Although I’d prefer it be accomplished with a bigger crowd.
In my humble, fan based ignorant view anyway.
Car owner, SK with a 4 barrel might just work on the bull ring track, 650 HP matter of fact. Run the same rules as the MRS which gives a weight break and additional left side weight.
Another tour type mini series? Good grief.
Humphry, I’m not sure what the rules were at the time, but Matt Hirschman proved your theory correct a few years ago at one of the Seekonk Open Wheel Wednesday races. He won it with an SK car.
Doug, Why do Open Modified shows have to have a bigger purse than SK’s Modified shows?- I think the bigger purse should be paid to the best series out there and I think you can’t find a better show than SK’s at Stafford… I also think sk lites would be even better if the SK drivers were in them. JMO Car owner, why would an sk run and open show? – first of all it’s not an open show – there are rules… Sk engines are very close to what these guys are running in the so called open show. Sk’s owners would love to run for that kind of money that’s why.
“Sk engines are very close to what these guys are running in the so called open show. Sk’s owners would love to run for that kind of money that’s why.”
Seriously? The 18 degree or 23 degree tour type engine they run in the open show is not even on the same planet as a SK legal spec engine.
If as a track you have committed to Opens in a big way which Stafford has. If you believe they will put on an out standing show. If you want more cars to come and participate in the show and eventually attract more fans. Then you need to pay them rates that are competitive with other opens. If you’re Stafford I would hope the goal is to do better. I admit that may be naive. That the numbers may not work. That 20 cars may be just fine for management. But I hope not.
Were competitiveness the only criteria then Street Stocks would have higher purses then the LLM’s and the SK Lights would be the second division and be paid more then the LM’s.
The reason the Bullring Bash will likely be a success is precisely as Fast Eddie described. On the small ovals your tour type and SK are on as even playing field as you can get. Matt did indeed beat Preece
in 2012 at Seekonk with Bob Horn’s (at the time) SK. Wet sump with a 4bbl and Matt’s set up was as good
anybody that day. At Stafford an SK (unless it got a substantial weight break) wouldn’t have a chance to keep up with a steelhead or NASCAR 390. That’s one of the reasons the TTOM does so well. The tracks they run on don’t favor h.p. as much as set up. Plus at 80 laps straight up you won’t have the strategy that the Bash will have. I’m liking this the more I read on it. I DO wish they were on Racers though.
Sk Motors with 4bbl 650 are grenades waiting to happen, not built for that. HP Wise they are still down 80hp to a tour type. When Tri Track 1st started alot of Sk teams tried running, now most cars that qualify are legit tour cars. RPM ranges and gearing are totally diffrent, Starts and Restarts Sk cars are in the way and cant accelerate as hard wich is verry important in Heat Races decide who makes the show and who goes home.
Interesting anecdote.
Todd Owen and Chassis Pro are building a car specifically designed to compete in the Stafford Opens and modified tour races at other tracks. A chassis that is “a different animal” according to Owen then the SK and accommodates the additional horsepower of tour engines.
“Todd Owen and Chassis Pro are building a car specifically designed to compete in the Stafford Opens and modified tour races at other tracks. A chassis that is “a different animal” according to Owen then the SK and accommodates the additional horsepower of tour engines.”
So how are they any different from LFR, Troyer, SPAFCO and CD? They all accommodate SKL, SK and Tour Type power and racing. Is he creating different suspension components that are proprietary to him with a secret sauce that no one is aware of?
Not a well thought out statement from a marketing prospective. Can’t believe anyone would buy into that……….
“It’s pretty exciting for us to be building our own Chassis Pro car for the Open Modified shows,” explained Owen. “We’ve run at Stafford, Thompson, and Waterford with the SKs and the Tour car is a different animal with the horsepower and bigger engines so we’re looking forward to the challenge”
I’m assuming Mr Owen knows what he’s talking about. No greater implications to any other chassis. More like saying an improvement over the current chassis he is using in the SK’s. You could say Chassis Pro bringing its design up to that which already exists in the other tour modified builders cars.
No marketing implication whatsoever I would think. That would come after success with his new car.
I thought it was interesting since Owen is an SK guy primarily and now with regard to the engine and chassis he is going full tour as a package. Maybe I read too much into it.
I’m not an engineer, but I wonder if “the different animal” comment has to do with factors like chassis flex and center of gravity. I would think with more available horsepower comes the need for more supports, maybe different placement of them, or maybe more gussets in major connection points to further control chassis flex. You would want the suspension to handle that and not the chassis, the suspension being more predictable and controllable as it relates to handling. That sometimes is the reason a brand new car runs well and drops off a little over time when it flexes more and more due to stress. The flex changes your suspension geometry. That along with mounting points for suspension components and the engine combine to affect the overall center of gravity which in turn changes handling characteristics. Hence the racing saying, “Nothing better than new pipe!”
Fast Eddie, great points. Some teams have specialized cars for certain tracks. Some teams have (or had) cars specifically for Loudon, then the bullrings, and then the meat & potato tracks like Stafford and Thompson. Most have two cars for the speedways and then the momentum tracks. If you are only going to run the bullrings, build the car for the bullrings.
Regarding chassis flex, you pretty much nailed it. Ideally, the chassis (pipes) will be perfectly rigid, leaving all reactions to motion to be left to the mass, suspension springs and shocks. Once chassis flex is an issue, it becomes a mess. Much of the flex of a chassis comes from micro cracking of the welds. A good winter project would be to go over the car and hit up the welds. When the micro cracking happens, the weld joints allow some angular displacement, and hence relative deflection of the pipes, resulting in what appears to be flexure. It just makes the chassis appear to be a softer spring. I would say there’s nothing better than fresh welds.
If the pipe is actually weakening and getting softer with normal racing loads causing larger deflections, then we should have been seeing cars fold up like origami on their own, simply due to the loads of racing. That has never happened. If the pipe is weakening due to stress cycling, then the loads are too high for the material, resulting in loads that are too close to the critical material maximum allowable stress. I doubt that. There are lots of pretty old chassis out there that should look like over cooked spaghetti by now. It is rather common for welds to crack.
Tech talk. Love it. How’s this theory?
New chassis after being jigged up, tacked up and mig’d up is comprised of joints each of which is essentially neutral. The neutral car has all the goodies added, is scaled up, tuned and ready to deliver consistent results based on the component variables added.
Then is wrecked. Ouch! Pretty badly actually maybe like Rufrano in his Fall Final SK Light crash that happy for him didn’t prevent him from winning a championship.
Bad stuff cut out or straightened, new stuff in. Components back on, scaled up, same readings, looking good aye. Not so fast.
The problem: the cage and chassis in total may be in a neutral position but individual joints that weren’t replaced now have positive and negative forces acting on them. The triangulation that race cars strive to include now just a mass of competing forces.
That in a static condition may appear to approximate the new chassis but when forces are put on the joints under racing conditions all kinds of funky things can happen. The chassis now has all these crazy preloads and stresses on different joints with unanticipated pushing and loose conditions ensuing.
Not to worry that is what knowledgeable setup folks live to figure out and compensate for.
New pipe. Maybe for Top Fuel and Funny cars with chrome-moly tubing and trickier tig welding that if aren’t done right can be brittle.
Not a fan of the metal fatigue theory. For circle track Speed Racer it’s about wreckology, stress and joints man.
Hey Humphrey- Stan Mertz is going to White Mountain with his SK engine…I’m thinking that with a weight break and a 4 barrel the sk will lack nothing except restarts on a quarter mile. Throw a dry sump on and you are all set.
I see that Steve. I think it is a good choice and I can think of others that will probably do the same thing. There are some advantages to it that most people don’t even think of. The only question is will the 4 barrel work better with the spec SK or a built?
The only real difference between the spec sk engine and the old one is that the spec engine has better heads and intake. When they went to the spec engine HP increased around 50 hp. Now put a 4 bbl carb u get at least 25 more. Not even sure why they are called sk’s anymore – far cry from where they started.
Yea, your right there. I was talking to an engine builder and he said 30-35 depending on what you can get away with. Then you look at the weight break and the left side percentage it could prove interesting. Even a little gear for the restarts maybe.
To combine a little of Dareal’s and Doug’s theories. take a car that has run for a while that gets wrecked and repaired. Now everything measures up o.k., but you have part of the chassis brand new and most of the chassis with mileage on it, perhaps with some micro-cracks at the welds. I wonder if that’s why it seems prevalent to replace a front or rear clip instead of just repairing the damaged corner. That way things are more uniform from left to right on either the front or the rear.
We put a front clip on our car every other year whether it needed it or not. Two full seasons on a front clip is a lot of stress.
Cool info Humphry! I wonder if that might be done by some of the current teams as off-season maintenance/updating. Expensive to be sure, but maybe part of what needs to be done for the top level teams.
If you want to run with the big dogs then you do what you have to. Expensive yes however the level of competition dictates what needs to be done as a part of the annual upkeep.
Ah the good old days. When all you needed was two stout chains, a 2 foot diameter maple tree, a Blazer with 411 rear end gears and a good sense of how much is too much to straighten a frame. And when we really got sophisticated there was the porta power.
I can’t find anything on micro cracks short of aircraft and pipeline construction discussions. I never heard of teams re-welding joints as a part of routine maintenance nor did I observe any broken welds in the cars I worked on. Then again I didn’t have an x-ray or whatever they use to check for micro cracking. I also can’t find anything related to my countervailing stress theory either other then cutting cages out of old cars and seeing joints deflect as the cut is completed.
The Google machine and youtube are surprisingly absent information and stories on race car wreck repair at least in my search.
What I have gleaned and maybe humphry or someone more knowledgeable about modifieds can comment on is this. If there is significant damage to the front of rear clips teams generally replace the entire clip as opposed to messing with a localized repair. Not easy for sure but in many cases easier then a patch that may create more unknowns involving more time.
For anyone that has fixed a wrecked race car of any type you’ll appreciate this link.
http://www.timlightfoot.com/writing/racecarrepair.htm
Not to analyze this to death like others do, drop the car in the jig and that will pretty much dictate the level of repairs needed.
Fair enough. But most teams don’t have fixtures nor do they have the time or energy usually to strip the car down to place it in the fixture, fix it, put it back together and make the next race.
Time for spiral ham.
It is called “burning the midnight oil”. Wreck on a Saturday night, car at the chassis builder on Monday morning when they open, repaired and back on Tuesday, racing again on Saturday night. It is called being committed and running for a championship.
Of course teams don’t have the technology to repair their own equipment unless they designed and fabricated the car themselves which means they most likely have their own jig. That is why you have the Troyer/LFR dealers, CD & SPACFO to do the chassis repairs. The rest of the elbow grease the team supplies.
I guess I’m lumping Streets, LM’s, LLM’s, Lights, SKs and tour modifieds altogether. They all use clip variations that involve 2by3 .083 box tubing. Depending on the extent of the damage and how far up the food chain they are determines how sophisticated the repairs are.
Maybe the big dogs are doing all that stripping, running back and forth to chassie guys and repairs via jigs and such. Depending on the damage the far greater likelihood for the greatest number of teams is to do what has always been done. Repairs are made as best they can by skilled fabricators on their crew or folks they associate with sans fixturing but heavy on reconfiguring the setup.
A least i hope the “we can fix this” attitude is still the rule and not the exception.
Did you send the whole car or bare chassis to the chassis house/rep?
We sent a mostly bare chassis, just the interior stuff like a dashboard would be left on the chassis, when straightening or being re-clipped.
Cockpit sheet metal along with the seat, belts, window net, mirror, dash gauges, wiring etc. remained in the car. Everything else stripped.