(Press Release from American-Canadian Tour)
Following several discussions over the past weekend, American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials have made the decision to drop the Outlaw Open Modifieds from the Thompson Speedway schedule for the foreseeable future and have moved to elevate the Thompson Sunoco Modified division and Thompson track championship divisions.
With the decision, the Outlaw Open Modifieds are effectively cancelled for the remainder of the 2024 season. Moving forward, PASS and ACT officials have increased the purse structure for the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds to a $3,000-to-win, $400 to start model, a $16,000 weekly purse to 25 starters, and increased their feature events to 50 laps. The Tour-type Modifieds will return to Thompson with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events on Wednesday, August 14 and Sunday of the Sunoco World Series and with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 on Friday of World Series weekend.
“What we saw on Thursday was a committed fan base supporting our efforts to keep Thompson Speedway alive,” said PASS president Tom Mayberry. “Unfortunately, there is just too much to choose from when it comes to open Tour-type Modified racing and it’s flooded these teams’ schedules.”
“We thought we had the momentum with the Open modifieds at the end of last year but it hasn’t continued into the weekly plans we have at Thompson this season,” said ACT managing partner Cris Michaud. “With the support of the fanbase, and our weekly teams, we’ve chosen to put these funds toward a growing Thompson Sunoco Modified division and elevate the track championship chase.”
Thursday Night Thunder is back at Thompson Speedway in just two weeks on Thursday, June 27 headlined by the $3,000-to-win, 50-lap trophy dash for the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds! Along with the Thompson Sunoco Modified 50-lapper, the Late Models, AZ Roofing SK Light Modifieds, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks are back in action on Thursday, June 27 with a 6:00pm Post Time!
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
For technical information concerning all PASS divisions, and for media or marketing questions, please contact [email protected] or visit www.proallstarsseries.com. Don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow on Twitter @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.
For general Thompson Speedway inquiries, call (860) 923-2280, email [email protected], or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. You can follow Thompson Speedway on Facebook and Instagram at @ThompsonSpeedway or on Twitter at @ThompsonSpdwy.
First thing that popped into my head was a quote from Field of Dreams. “If you build it , they will come “ Let’s hope this works for Thompson
If Rocco , Owen, Christopher , Williams get a 604 the Division will grow and be saved… People will pay to watch these top Drivers with EQUAL POWER battle it out on the HIGH BANKS…. Hopefully for the Future of the the MEN FROM MAINE & THOMPSON it can happen, or it will the Big 3 Races , ICEBREAKER , BUDWEISER AUGUST 150 & THE WORLD SERIES as the only races that they make MONEY ……
What is the actual status of the tri track race? is it going to be “resumed” from where they left off at during the icebreaker weekend? or was everything a wash and theyll just do everything over?
i had assumed it was going to be the former, but saw FB comments suggesting it was the latter.
As for the changes of the weekly stuff, I commend them for trying, and I think the 604s would be a good little division if they get them to grow. I hope it works.
What nobody is saying is the Nice Crowd that was there came for the Open Mods, they paid a elevated ticket price for that reason, a premier Car. Now Thompson wants to charge same money for fans to watch 8 604 modifieds run 50 laps that are barely 2 tenths faster than Sk lites? Just combine lites 604s, let 602s run 4bbl and be done with it.
The issue with the open modified races really manifested itself last week when the Thompson open mods were scheduled on Thursday and Stafford rescheduled the remainder of the Cassella open mod race Friday. Even though Stafford canceled Thursday afternoon it was too late to make a difference.
Looking forward two weeks, you have the Seekonk TTOMS race Wednesday 6/26 and Thompson open mods on Thursday 6/27. No matter how you slice it Thompson would come out on the loosing end again.
And sandwiched in between is the WMT race at NHMS this coming Friday and Saturday.
I am in no way casting blame on the Thompson team for trying and frankly I liked the 50 lap, balls to the wall for 5k format. However, there are not enough tour type modifieds that have the equipment and personnel and can afford the cost of racing an open modified anywhere, anytime especially with all the dates scheduled.
Zig,
My understanding is the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event at the World Series will a full start over.
I think they should combine the 604 with the 602 (weight and carb adjusted). This way you have a full field of mods with a really good purse. It’s going to take time to get a full field of 604’s . Stafford should allow 604’s with the SK’s JMO
Stafford should allow 604’s with the sk’s? Why??
Hillary, why not? More cars cheaper engine option. This is how small block modifieds made it back to NASCAR and Stafford Speedway back in the 70’s.
Thompson started the Sunday Small block series – Stafford NASCAR Mods fields were dwindling – Stafford gave the small block mods a weight break and paid an extra $500 to the first small block every week – John Rosati was the first small block mod to win against the mighty big blocks ( I think) – this is how the small block modified became so popular – history always repeats itself. You can run a 604 at the bowl now.
I hope they plan on dropping the price of admission. 30 dollars seems a bit much for what they are offering with this change. Is there any way to combine the SK engine package with the 604 engine with some weight adjustments to run together on a somewhat equal level at Thompson. I think that is the only way you get a full field of Sunoco Mods at the Big T. Not at all surprised by the move. The tour type cars just weren’t there for the mid week non tour mod shows.
Can someone here estimate the difference in lap times at Thompson for SK Lights (602 crate engine?), the 604 mods and SKs?
Would it be crazy for Thompson (i.e. ACT/PASS) to make SK Lights the “headlining” division
I would think maybe the 604’s could be set up to be equal to the SK’s. I have only seen this on a couple of short tracks, but the MRS has a 604 rules package that made them very competitive with the Open engines. One night in particular at Monadnock a 604 was leading a 1/2 lap ahead for about 3/4 of the race untill his tires started going away. The long straights of Thompson might make it unworkable though.
I have talked to 3 race fans about this change. They all said they understand the decision, but all said the same thing. What are they charging? They won’t go if the price remains 30 dollars. We all came to a collective thought. They only had 8 604s at the last event. the change is in name only and sks are still not allowed to run as we understand it. How is a 8 car 604 50 lap race that much better than 6 car tour type modified race and a 30 lap 604 race. Small sample size for sure, but most of the survey group goes to a race or two a week if the weather plays nice. I am the outliner and go to about 1.a month on avg. We all agreed to get us to go the car count would have to be better and or the admission would have to come down.
I know you can run a 604 with the SKs at Waterford. Puleo does it and runs well. Much smaller track but there has to be something they can do to allow SKs to run so they can get a decent field. Maybe they really want to push the 604 combination which would be a good sign that they plan on coming back next season. Pass stuck with their NESS super modifieds through a small field year 1. Honestly not sure how they are doing year 2. Hoping to see them Saturday at Star.
What is the smallest car count you need to put on a good show? I think it varies based on the size of the track. You need more cars the bigger the track. I think your headline division has to have a good car count. Not sure 8 will get the job done.
Hope it works. I would hate to see Thompson oval close.
Correct me if I’m wrong – late models have been running 604’s for years at Thompson and Waterford. The 604’s have won against open late model engine rules at Thompson and Waterford. Yes the 604 is very competitive on short tracks against Monaco racing series open mod rules. Weight and carb adjustments is all you need
Rafter, the Winner of the SK Light Feature had a 20.271 for best time…
the 604 sunoco mod winner had a 19.814 for best time ….
FOR A 0.457 SECOND DIFFERENCE ….JUST SHY OF HALF A SECOND..
THE SK’S WERE DOWN IN THE 19.46 RANGE COUPLE YEARS AGO ..
CLOSE TO ANOTHER HALF SECOND ….
Stafford is doing fine with the program they are running. Why change now and potentially screw things up?
If you’ve mentioned that Stafford consider opening the rules up to the 604’s I’d suggest you may not be aware of Stafford’s methods of operating. Their SK division is strong as it is and more importantly they have their SK Light to SK pipeline humming like a Swiss watch. They also are not now or have in recent history cared at all about unifying rules or enabling other tracks divisions to cross over and in fact have created barriers is some house divisions to make crossover more difficult.
Best single lap times by the race winner except where noted:
J. Bonsignor, Tour Mod, Icebreaker…………………..19.03(qualifying)
Hirschman, Tour Mod, Thompson, Icebreaker……19.13 (Heat Race)
Ronnie Williams, Tour Mod, Thompson 6/13/24….19.23
Williams, Tour Mod, World Series, MRS……………….19.45
Rocco, Tour Mod Open race, 2023 World Series….19.43
Rocco, 604 Mod, Thompson 6/13/24 ……………. …..19.81
Puleo, 604 Mod, Thompson Icebreaker……………… 19.81
Rocco, Sunoco Mod (SK), 2023 World Series..…… 19.77
Talman, Sunoco Mod (SK), 2023 Icebreaker………. 19.71
Chapman, SK Light, Thompson, 6/13/24…………… 20.05
Fuller, SK Light, 2023 World Series………………………20.55
Bowes, NESS, World Series…………………………………..17.02
No conclusions only observations and questions.
Could you explain tour modifieds to your golfing buddy you brought to the 2023 World Series? He ponders aloud at the local watering hole on Sunday after the weekend has concluded and seen all the races. He gets most, Late Models, Mini’s even the slower SK Lights to some degree. But there were three races he says, with basically the same type of car, they all look the same and go about the same speed. So why don’t they have one big race and have them all compete against each other wouldn’t that be more interesting?
Does any short track dirt or asphalt across the US have multiple feature races with essentially the same class of car at the same event and divide them up based mainly on the basis of three competing profit centers? If you’re trying to promote racing for a class of cars and sell it to people that don’t know the subtleties of each profit center does that even make sense? I don’t know I’m asking.
I get it and know there a lot of Thompson diehards that love ACT/PASS for saving racing at the oval and in fact innovating the heck out of races there. They don’t think outside the box they live outside it. But is the notion of having multiple features at the same event separated only by sanctioning group good for the sport or enabling the watering down of the class of cars? Eliminating the Outlaws a good start but is it enough? Is starting the 604’s from scratch with virtually no support from any other local track for a limited schedule have any real chance of growing and being successful?
Draw whatever conclusions you like from the times shown. Stipulated we all understand that different tire compounds, different times of year and the time of day make a difference. We all understand that a tenth of a second is a lot. However to all the guys that really know 604’s and the SK brands I’d ask are they close enough to consider a rules modification that could possibly entice Todd Owen and all those SK’s sitting in the shops to head up to Thompson and try their hands against the 604’s. Or is ACT/PASS all in on 604’s, the fact they get a piece of the engine revenue if in fact they do wary of letting the SK’s in and hindering the growth of the class of modifieds they’ve created?
@Doug everyone I’ve brought to a track always has questions about the different cars even if they look wildly different. One thing people consistently ask me is why they (NASCAR and local tracks) have a truck division. It seems weird when it’s obvious they’re no racing actual trucks, the racecars are just kinda shaped like trucks (at a few tracks I’ve been to it’s obvious some of them are just clumsily adapted old late models)
At the most recent race I went to at Monadnock they had a combined mini stock and six shooter race, and I had to explain to my girlfriend what a six shooter was, because to her they all looked like beat-up street cars. Then the pro stock race started and I had to throw my hands up.
PASS and ACT constantly have events together and the cars basically look the same to outsiders. I know what a straight-rail chassis is but unless you’re really into racing it doesn’t matter that much. What really matters to a lot of newcomers is that the cars look like cars, and if there’s two divisions there’s more racing.
At Stafford you can definitely tell the difference watching an SK Light race where the cars are usually stuck together and an SK race where the field can spread out a bit. You can REALLY tell the difference during the Open races where the cars are much louder, and even if the lap times are only off by a half a second they still rocket down the straights. Besides it’s not always just for the benefit of the fans. The drivers want to race modifieds, and having multiple levels of access with essentially the same car creates more opportunities.
Dirt Big block Dirt Small block and Sportsman all look the same on dirt tracks
Wait, did I say weekday shows don’t work?
21 legend cars at New London Waterford speedbowl for a regular Wednesday night show tonight.