Following the 2023 racing season at Thompson Speedway track promoters Cris Michaud and Tom Mayberry announced they would add a new division – the Sunoco 604 Modified division – to the track’s schedule for the 2024 season.
The division replaced the former Sunoco Modified (SK Modified) division at the track.
On Monday the track’s management group announced they would be dropping the Thompson Outlaw Modified division from the track’s schedule for the remainder of the 2024 season. The decision comes following an event last Thursday that saw just six teams show up for the $5,000 to win event for the division.
In announcing the dropping of the Thompson Outlaw Modified division, it was also announced that purses would be increased for the new Sunoco 604 Modified division. The purse and format change also includes a name change for the new division.
The division that began the season at the Sunoco 604 Modified division will now be rebranded as the Thompson Sunoco Modified division.
The division will now run 50-lap regular features with a $3,000 to win purses and $400 guaranteed to start. The division will run their first event under the near format on Thursday June 27.
Jon Puleo won the twin features for the division in its first appearance at Thompson for the Icebreaker in April. Keith Rocco won the division’s feature last Thursday.
So by dropping the 604 does that mean they will allow other engines in the division? I was honestly wondering why they didn’t just combine the races last Thursday to have more cars on track.
It would be cool if some sort of package to allow the CT SK’s to run with 604’s.
Marshall they are not dropping the 604. They renamed them. Same division now going 50 laps. Imagine paying $30 to get in to watch that.
So what’s the rational for the name change? They’re still 604’s ain’t they?
Everyone asking if an sk can compete, CLEARLY does NOT have an sk to compete with, or you would have shown up the last few years… Sk mods stopped showing up, so they were dropped, you had your chance… Want to run Thompson? Go buy a 604 create, it’s half the price of a competitive sk motor.
@Todd considering the prices other live sporting events charge $30 to watch racing is a bargain to me. It’s an expensive sport for the competitors, it’s an expensive sport for the track operators, and I love modified racing at Thompson, so I’ll try to be there as often as I can.
Agreed, Car Owner. PASS/ACT gave the SK Modifieds (and the Outlaw Open Modifieds) three-plus years each, and for whatever reasons, they didn’t show up consistently, so the promoters pivoted. If half the people complaining about the switch had showed up with cars when they had the chance, PASS/ACT wouldn’t have felt the need to make the switch.
Anyone with a competitive SK engine that spent twice as much as a 604, carb to clutch, is a fool. Anyone that invested in a 604 engine for a modified to run events run at one track run by a promotional team that doesn’t own the place, doesn’t have a long term lease, doesn’t promote events elsewhere with that engine package, and has no other CT tracks to draw cars from with that engine package has too much money to burn.
Hopefully that gets the car count up. I hope they give a more $$ to the sk lights, overall they have had the best mid-week Modified car counts of all the classes.
If it hasn’t got fenders, let ’em go. I’ve never cared for the open wheel prima dona attitude.
Easy Jake, you’re talking about Connecticut, the epicenter of Modified racing. Plenty of fenders up in northern New England for you.
There is no cost savings between 604 and Sk engine, by the time its in the car its 15k for the 604. 15k gets you a fresh top Sk motor any day of the week.
Only 8 or 9 604 teams exist, meanwhile over 50 SK teams currently run,
No security in 604 purchases as other said, Thompson could be done at any time and now your stuck
Sk motor can run Stafford or Waterford and win.
604 cant run Stafford and cant win at Waterford, they have tried it multiple times over the yrs. Terry used to lease the damm things at Waterford. No way a 604 beats a competitive Sk at Thompson
Sk turns 7500 or more and has 45hp more
604 turns 6400
Next problem, GM is done with 604s(350s) everything is going LS based and so are all the part manufactures.
Some kind of LS based engine is what we need to be pivoting too, they are cheap and make power and on par with next generation hot rods.
Shawn, I do believe that the Sunoco modified name originated from the IMCA type modified class the Hoenig’s ran back in the 90s and into the 2000s. The class struggled to attract cars and was dropped. The name moved onto the SK class.
I can’t see forking over $30 for a “weekly” show. Especially since that $30 should have been for the open show, expecting 15 cars or more. Now are we aiming for at least 10 604’s?
Rich, I think there are a number of 604’s that ran with NHSTRA at the Norm Wrenn tracks. Monadnock used to get 15-18 cars regularly, I think they get about a dozen. Current rules let them use either a 602 or 604.
…But I still think the best option would be to run both 604’s and SK’s. get the rules to even the two options and that might be the quickest way to have a respectable car count.
Didn’t SK’s start to abandon Thompson once the purse was reduced to $400 to win (?)
NewtownJack,
The SK Modifieds have never raced for $400 to win at Thompson Speedway.
Shawn Courchesne,
Then which class was it that had the purse (dramatically) reduced?
NewtownJack,
In December 2019 track ownership announced a planned reduced purse structure for the 2020 season. With COVID shutdowns in place by March of 2020, the track ultimately never opened in 2020 under the management of track ownership and no events were ever run with those proposed slashed purse structures. Cris Michaud and Tom Mayberry ended up leasing the track for two events late in the 2020 season and then took over operations of the oval for the 2021 season. The Michaud/Mayberry management group has always paid the traditional purses to the track divisions that were paid before the proposed purse slashing was announced by track ownership.
Fast Eddie the NH guys were allowed modifications to the 604s, Thompson says bottle cap seals only I believe. Also cant rely on NH cars to race CT Tracks mid week when they race on Fri Sat Sun up north.
RIch, thanks for the correction, I didn’t know they could make modifications to the NH 604’s. That explains why we haven’t really seen any at Thompson.