Mention the phrase Thompson 300 to anyone around the Modified racing scene and typically eyes light up.
The 300-lap event on the .625-mile Thompson Speedway oval carries with it iconic status in the eyes of many across Modified racing.
And the on again, off again historic event is back on again in 2021 as part of an ambitious six-event oval track schedule at Thompson Speedway that will introduce a new slate of Tour Type Open Modified events at the track.
After putting on two events at Thompson Speedway in 2020, American-Canadian Tour managing partner Cris Michaud and Pro All Stars Series owner Tom Mayberry will partner again to operate the Thompson Speedway oval for a six-event schedule in 2021.
That effort will include the introduction of the new Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Series, which will run six events at the track, highlighted by the $20,000 to win Thompson 300 which will be part of the 59th Sunoco World Series Weekend Oct. 8-10.
The Thompson 300 will feature $50 per lap sponsorships opening the possibility that a driver could walk away from the event celebrating a $35,000 payday. The late Ted Christopher won the last Thompson 300, which took place on Sept. 11, 2005 and was a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event.
Thompson Speedway will kick off its season and the new Outlaw Open Modified Series at the 46th Icebreaker weekend April 9-11. The weekend’s schedule will be highlighted by a 150-lap $10,000 to win Outlaw Open Modified Series event.
“We think the Outlaw Open Modified Series is going to be huge for teams and fans,” Michaud said. “The open-event model for the Modifieds has gotten a lot of traction in recent years, and we got to see it first-hand at the most recent World Series. We’re especially excited for the return of the Thompson 300. Somebody will be walking away with at least $20,000 that weekend, and it’s going to take the intensity to a whole other level.”
Thompson Speedway will host four more Wednesday night events over the season on June 16, July 7, Aug. 11 and Sept. 8.
An announcement from ACT/PASS said: “These dates were chosen to minimize conflict with other tracks and series in the region, allowing teams and fans to attend as many events as they wish.”
The Outlaw Open Modified Series Wednesday events will pay a minimum of $5,000 to win, with that number possibly being increased. Drivers and teams attempting to attempt all events will be eligible for potential provisional starting spots for the final event of the season.
Michaud and Mayberry partnered this past season to put on the Whelen Modified Tour Thompson 150 on Sept. 3 and the Sunoco World Series in October, which featured the season ending event for the Whelen Modified Tour. No events for the Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson have currently been finalized for the 2021 season.
Thompson’s regular weekly divisions, the Sunoco Modifieds, Late Models, Limited Sportsman, SK Light Modifieds and Mini Stocks will be part of all six events at the track in 2021. According to the announcement from ACT/PASS: “Details are still being finalized, ACT and PASS officials hope to organize special events for the local divisions throughout the summer, giving each class a chance in the spotlight.”
The ACT/PASS announcement also said: “A variety of touring series and open shows will also be part of the Icebreaker and World Series weekends. More information regarding all events will be announced over the coming weeks.”
“The most important part of all of this is that Thompson oval track racing will continue,” Mayberry said. “We were very satisfied with how the Thompson 150 and World Series went in 2020, and those events showed the appetite is still there for racing in eastern Connecticut. With those events to build on, we think the excitement for Thompson Speedway is going to be even bigger in 2021.”
Wow , very interesting the timing to get this out on the calendar first. Puts big pressure on NASCAR, in my opinion, to either try to run that as a tour race weekend as well and accept the fact 5 cars will show or just throw in the towel and not run that day. Of course this throws down the gauntlet for a big power struggle in the modifieds. Silly season starts NOW
Awesome, just awesome. To have these 2 guys step up, and essentially save the track. ” Open” modified shows are gaining popularity, because they give car owners more options then the WMT, and offer more entertainment value for the fans. Having the regular weekly series joining the fun just magnifys the entertainment value. Bringing back the iconic 300 as part of the world series, as an open event is the icing on the cake. Even if NASCAR schedules dates to conflict, there are enough open modified teams, that I don’t think it will even matter. There’s a new guerrilla in the monkey cage🙉🙈🙊🏁🏁🏁
And good morning to you. That’s some news right there. I said weeks ago Thompson had to put out the 2021 Thompson plans early. Well done. Tracks and series are dropping dates left and right now. I love it.
These guys are best friends with Nascar. There is more to come I’m sure. This guys are trying to put together a big end of season show at WMMP. A little change in the WMT schedule isn’t bad. We now know Oswego is a lock for next Labor Day weekend.
Great news as it appears modified racing will be very healthy in 2021. The return of the 300 will be modified racing’s crown jewel event in 2021. Hopefully rules will be similar to TriTrack so all types of tour mods can compete on equal footing. This puts the NASCAR modified tour in serious trouble next year. That plus the recent poll on this website that shows that fans support the TriTrack format over the NASCAR tour by a 70% to 30% margin. Great that the Thompson group made this announcement now to allow competitors to plan for 2021. Can’t wait for the Icebreaker
JD,
How do we know Oswego is a lock for Labor Day weekend?
But I thought that moving demo derby at Stafford last weekend was the best modified race of all-time?
This was bound to happen eventually. You can probably have a high paying non-NASCAR race for the same or less money than a NASCAR race since you don’t have to pay NASCAR their large sanctioning fee. When NASCAR started increasing their fees in the early 2000’s many of the long time Modified and Busch North tracks had to drop those series or not bring them back until many years later. It also killed the 4 Late Model\Super Late Model series NASCAR had in different parts of the country. However, after NASCAR dropped those Late Model tours, new non-NASCAR sanctioned series eventually sprang up to replace them. The cars and tracks were still out there. Exact same thing could happen to the Mod Tour if changes are not made
Shawn, I read the NEMA press release you posted yesterday. NEMA talked about Coby doing the double with the WMT in town. $10,000 to win. Etc etc.
Oswego had previously confirmed a WMT race in 2021 anyway. As has Seekonk(no date yet). Oswego is running two classic weekends. One is a makeup for 2020.
Since all of these Thompson dates were Traditional WMT races I assume Thompson is not hosting the WMT this year?? This kills Stafford too. Not enough cars for everyone.
Great news. I do think that the state of the pandemic will dictate and change things as we go along, but, I’ m thrilled to see a management team step up to try and run quality events, and keep the oval viable. I love that place.
As for the NEMA piece I read here, I thought I did read where NEMA will share the card with the Whelan tour on Saturday, Labor Day weekend. Even mentions Coby doing double duty. I can only assume premature slip, as Nascar schedule not yet published? Did I read that wrong?
Anyway, great to see tracks planning, surviving, in these very uncertain times.
JD,
I can’t speak for what NEMA put in their press release. The Oswego website doesn’t confirm any commitment to the Modified Tour for 2021.
I am sure that Oswego has announced they are having 2 “Classic” weekends for the Supermods in 2021. One in May and the other the traditional Labor Day weekend. However, I don’t think they have announced any other divisions besides the Supers
This is amazing … both from the perspective of the concept, and the fact that it’s the ‘full-fendered’ guys that are bolstering the mods at Thompson. Very excited to see how this plays out.
This is the best news possible for Thompson Speedway fans , Car Owners , Drivers. Putting out the schedule early so everyone can plan is huge. The Outlaw Modified Races are going to be excellent at Thompson High Banks. The Return of the Thompson 300 is very meaningful for longtime Mod Fans. When you look at the list of winners, Its a mostly the greats of Modified Drivers who have won the 300. Hardly any upset winners at all . Geoff Bodine 1975,76,78,79. Ed Flemke SR 1977. Ron Bouchard 1980. Ray Miller 1981. Greg Sacks 1982. Richie Evans 1983, 85. Jim Spencer 1984, 86. Mike McLaughlin –1987, 90 , 93. Mighty Mike Stefanik 1988, 89, 2002. Steven Park 1991, 95. Rick Fuller 1992. Jeff Fuller 1994. Jerry Marquis 2001. Tony Hirschman 2003. Ed Flemke Jr. 2004. Last Man to Win the 300 was none other than Ted Christopher in 2005 the last 300 that was run. I was surprised not to see Bugsy or Desaro not on the win list. The race was run continuous from 1975 – 1995. took a break, ran different formats then returned in 2001 – 2005 . It will be great to see the Tradition continue in 2021.!!!! Looking at the history of winners it will be easy to predict one one the Top Dogs will win this Race !!
Bobf,
Yes the NEMA press release mentioned the Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego, but to my knowledge nothing has been singed and salted as far as that event taking place in 2021. Oswego has details listed for their schedule for 2021 and nothing on there mentions the Modified Tour returning.
You know Stafford is thinking same exact thing Thompson did, either way you already had 6 Tri Track Dates confirmed and now 6 Thompson dates, can only assume Stafford has 4-6 Opens aswell. Not much room for MRS but they will try anyway. Nascar Points Fund better be wicked strong to keep Teams from leaving in 21,
I am so very excited to be working with the people of Thompson Speedway again next year. A fantastic facility with a great contingent of dedicated staff and with a great mix of new and old ideas, I’d say 2021 will be a barn-burner of a year for race fans!
Just as JD said, the excitement of all these dates being dropped is almost too hot to handle, it’ll be a long winter for sure!
It really makes it sound like nascar mods aren’t going back to Thompson since they state the headliner is going to be the new open mod shows and they honestly sound a lot more compelling than what nascar has been doing.
As for what Rich said about the MRS tour, I’m wondering if they go back to Claremont. Claremont lost Tri-track by the looks and quite a few MRS cars showed up for the open mod show they had in August so who knows. I just hope there’s some kind of open mod race at Claremont next year.
The Outlaw 300 is at the end of the season. Who will run it? I doubt the NWMT cars will be concerned. It will be at the end of the season, they have NWMT points to be concerned with and can not be distracted by another race. Maybe NWMT teams with a spare car will give it a go, but teams high in the points will keep their backup cars as backup cars for points. Maybe if this Outlaw 300 is after the NWMT World Series race the NWMT teams can consider it.
But don’t get too excited, the 🦠 is in complete control. What happens in the spring or summer of ’21 will probably not resemble anything we are talking about now.
I am extremely happy to see the Thompson 300 returning for 2021 as this was the crown jewel of modified racing for decades. 50+++ cars every event from all over, the best of the best battling for a starting spot. Took Thursday, Friday and Monday off work, made camp and enjoyed a weekend of racing and what we will call “socializing” with friends. Great job guys!
Great news for Thompson. I am really happy they announced this early. Now, competitors know that Thompson will be running several shows next season they can choose to prepare to run there. The return of the 300 is an instant classic and should be considered one of the crown jewel events of modified racing. It does seem as though Nascar is falling further and further out of favor with local tracks. Thompson and Stafford have or are offering tour type races without the sanctioning body on a somewhat regular basis. It seems to make sense financially, you can run an open show for less money than a sanctioned show. You have proven you can get a pretty good field without Nascar. I am really curious to see what Stafford comes up with for next season. Is Whelen there 3 times, twice, once or not at all. I would expect they would continue their open mod events at close to once a month pace which is right around where they ended up this season.
Anyone know what Nascar pays for Whelen tour points? Does anyone know if they are paying out the full payout for this past season or are they reducing the payout given they only got in a little over half the shows. Paying out full points may be a good gesture given there is going to be significant competition available for tour type modified teams.
Does Nascar go with WOO type of driver incentive where a certain number of teams basically sign a contract to support all the Nascar races for additional incentives. Some of the terms in the agreement ensure drivers will not support competing series/events within a certain time frame and geographic region of Nascar tour races. It seems Nascar has more competition than ever when it comes to tour type modified racing next year. It is going to be an interesting offseason. I am getting my popcorn ready
Thanks Shawn. That clears it up for me. B
Ahhhhh Thompson. The track i dream about when i am falling asleep at Stafford.
Goodfella NWMT World Series race? Like when or were is that going to be? There not going to run that 300 on Saturday They will run it Sunday and there not going to run 150 lap outlaw modified race on Saturday for the Icebreaker either.
All of this isn’t going to mean squat if we don’t get Covid under control in the U.S. The demographics for race fans are mostly older folks, the most vulnerable age wise, and dead people don’t attend races.
I’ll be the oddball here. I’m not looking forward to any 300 lap race at Thompson. It’ll either be a snooze or wreckfest. And it will be a damn shame if the WMT is not part of the Icebreaker or world series. I’m also not going to pretend to be excited for a six race “season” either. What happens when the track surface is deemed, not safe like the owner said it will be in the next year or so? Somebody going to start a GoFundMe page?
Last time I checked, Thompson road course and oval facilities were available on a rental or lease basis. I didn’t notice anything in the PASS press release, or from Thompson that Mayberry/Michaud have exclusive rights to oval events there, just 6 race dates. Mayberry often leases facilities to run PASS shows so this is nothing new to him. I’m not making any assumptions NWMT won’t be at Thompson next year, either under MayChaud or some other promotion. One thing in Mayberry’s favor with open shows though, this year he learned how to maintain purses and break even at Oxford and PASS LM events with front side stands limited to 200 fans, doubt one could do that with the NWMT even with streaming sales. Wonder if the MayChaud lease contract has a COVID clause in there.
2020, would you rather have 6 races at Thompson, or 0 races? By all accounts, there’s not exactly a line of people looking to promote events on the oval, so it appears those are the realistic options at this point.
Love the 300 back under any sanction BUTTTTTTTTTTTT running it as part of WORLD SERIES WEEKEND IS DUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBB a 300 lap race takes alllll day, u cant have 19 divisions and THE 300, u hAVE TO START ON THURSDAY AND if they are gonna PAY 20K to win, what will they charge to get in for the weekEnd $100??
What am I missing here? Thompson racing surface being deemed unsafe? By who? Thompson speedway owner? That was just an excuse for them to shut down the oval track. I don’t hear an outcry from the competitors or NASCAR about it. If the owners of the facility don’t have a capital fund for infrastructure improvements then shame on them. That’s poor planning and business practice. Do you really think they aren’t going to do something to the oval racing surface since it is part of the road course, their pet source of revenue? They either have to spend funds reconfiguring the road course to eliminate the portion of the oval they utilize or repair/repave the section of the oval to keep it as part of the road course.
And speaking of the road course, what will they do with that when it needs resurfacing? Shut it down? Don’t think so since it is their biggest source of racing revenue. I hope they have a capital improvement fund established for that as well as the garage/pit area for future repairs. Again, if not plain stupidity.
Thompson was repaved in the late 90’s or early 2000’s by Palmer Paving, the same company that repaved Stafford around the same time. Don’t see how the surface would wear so quickly at one track, yet not the other. Stafford runs way more races, and has for years and Thompson was done after Stafford. Like someone said, that was just a lame assed excuse by uninterested Ownership.
wmass01013, there are plenty of ways for it to happen with a little creative thinking. With no Open Mod feature on Saturday, they can move one or two of the Sunday features to Saturday night so the 300 starts earlier. Or they could shift another division or two to Friday – this year’s Friday program was completed before 8:00pm, so clearly there’s a little room to work with.
As for ticket prices, I’m guessing this $20K-to-win event won’t cost anywhere near as much as it would with a NASCAR sanctioning fee on top of the purse. So maybe hold off on assuming ticket prices are going to double. (For comparison’s sake, the $25K-to-win Oxford 250 before attendance restrictions was $70 for a three-day ticket and $35 for Sunday-only.) Bottom line, ACT/PASS have been promoting events for awhile, and I’m sure they didn’t blindly decide to put a 300-lap event on World Series weekend without first considering how to make it work in terms of time and finances.
“Outlaw” racing anything sounds good. A group called “ACT/PASS” sending shock waves through modified nation is ironic.
Facebook-Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
“The Thompson oval track will return in 2021!!!!! Thanks to ACT & PASS, there will be six oval events next season with a BIG twist: the Outlaw Open Modified Series!
The major news: the Thompson 300 is BACK
Look for the historic 300-lap event to headline the World Series in 2021 with at least $20,000 to win. Thompson’s five local classes will also return to racing at all six events!”
The traditional season ending final points race is out? Is that what they’re saying? Some twist. More like a dagger in the heart of the NWMT. Must be more to this. Makes no sense.
Is this 3 parts nostalgia and 2 parts substance. The 2005 race had 37 cars at a time the tour was the bees knees.
A 300 lap marathon, at a time of the year with sketchy weather. On a Sunday afternoon at the end of a 3 day marathon festival of racing.
What am I missing?
Does $5000 to win modifieds make Wednesday events that have been panned in this forum suddenly attractive?
An open on Wednesday then another somewhere else on Friday or Saturday isn’t interfering?
On the surface this appears very disruptive rippling through all the tracks and series.
The modified team population is robust but it does have limits. On paper there are more events being floated then spots to put them Don’t kill the golden goose.
Filling out the calendars this year should be a hoot.
OK CAPT NO SO OBVIOUS
YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO A THOMPSON 300
Wow. It’s great to have the historic Thompson 300 back. I am surprised to see it on World Series weekend. I would have thought the WS is a guaranteed winner on its own and having the 300 on a separate date would give them two big dates. At any rate this is sure to give us all plenty to ponder all winter.
ITS ABOUT TIME THEY BROUGHT THE THREE HUNDERD LAP BACK SHOULD HAVE ALLWAYS BEEN THAT WAY
wmass01013, since you’ve clearly been to several, I’m sure the ACT/PASS folks would be happy to hear your suggestions on when and how the event should be run. Maybe you should send them an email instead of just complaining and assuming the worst.
NOOOO i can make my thoughts known here as SHAWN has allowed, IF U don’t like my opinions i suggest you don’t read them, i don’t need to EMAIL anyone, i just went to an 81 lap race Saturday that took several hours to complete at a Smaller track, THE ACT/PASS folks can do as they choose, but your DUMB remarks like they can move a few things around and should be OK make No sense!
I could see this being problematic for Stafford and SKs in general. First off, these purses are already much higher than Stafford. Stafford already has several guys fielding SKs and Open cars. What if those guys decide just to go open racing? Six races at Thompson. Four or five at Stafford. Maybe a TT race or two. They all pay more than an SK race. Chasing big money while maybe giving yourself a few summer weekends off sounds like an ideal race schedule. If you build an Open car you can still enter TT, WMT or other open shows on occasion too. Why build a SK that you can’t race outside of CT with. You can chase big $$ all over with an Open car.
In regards to the 300. Ya’ll remember why it ended?? The fans stopped going.
Thompson Opens, Stafford Opens, TT, WMT,
possibly MRS. That’s a lot of tour type racing. Is it sustainable?? Can these opens draw the big names in a normal year to draw the crowds. There will be a winner and loser here.
Folks, think… who can run the 300? You think the TTOMS teams will do that? No way… look what just happened in the 81 lapper at Stafford. They are bullringers. MRS? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
The only teams that can run an event like a Thompson 300 are the NWMT teams.
I’ve been to the 300s, they were packed. Awesome races. Watching the race prep was awesome, like watching gladiators get ready for battle.
Dareal, I have to agree to disagree. With the onslaught of open tour type modified racing in recent years, I think in the coming years your gonna see good talent shift away from NWMT spec racing. Simply put the open style racing gives car owners and teams more options. NWMT is just a more expensive form of racing. In a few years when we start recovery from the inevitable recesion about to happen people are going to be tighter with their coin, and looking to build race cars that you can run at more tracks. We may even see open modifieds as the headline division at some tracks. NWMT has simply started to price itself out of the market, and from a fans perspective the open shows offer more bang for the buck.
Have you noticed that whenever NASCAR announces a rule change or whatever, to cut the cost of racing that inevitably the cost of racing goes up?
Goodfella you don’t get it yet the only teams that can run the 300 are the tour teams READ the press release OUTLAW Modifieds and Wednesday shows for OUTLAW Modifieds sure a tour team can run with them if they want to run against the power of a outlaw modified at Thompson if there even there.
To ACT managing partner Cris Michaud and PASS owner Tom Mayberry… A HUGE THANK-YOU!!!
“We think the Outlaw Open Modified Series is going to be huge for teams and fans,” Michaud said.
I DEFINITELY AFREE!!! Thompson Speedway is STILL ALIVE! Sounds like a GREAT schedule to me!
To those worried about Thompson’s racing surface; the racers seem to be fine with it. I don’t think there have been any public complaints about it from the racers, so I think we’re good for a while longer.
To borrow a line from “Blazing Saddles”:
ROADCOURSE?? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ ROADCOURSE!!! 🙂
How much has changed in a year. Thompson announced that they are cutting purses and only paying the top ten in each division, no one expected Waterford to open, looked like ct race tracks we’re going away. A year latter the future looks bright with purses going up, car counts going up and three tracks are racing in 2021. If this pandemic goes away by April, it will be a great year for car owner and fans
I believe a few former SK runners (Galko, Salva, McDermott, Flannery, Izzo/Prestige, Cipriano?) have already taken the open mod approach suggested by JD above. IF the Thompson open mod plans come to fruition, others could follow. But, the fact that you can absolutely count on Friday nights at Stafford means that it will take some time to “prove” that the open mod alternative is preferred by others.
Outlaws will be very cool for fans and teams. Better to run in August- September though!
How will payouts be for the weekly five divisions?…. Back to respectable I hope!!!
Excuse me…. where are these Outlaw modifieds going to come from? NWMT, MRS, TTOMS, other vaporware “series”?
At best, this Outlaw Open Mod series will be the horsepower open mod market segment. Just as the TTOMS is the bullring market segment, this outlaw series can focus on a track like Thompson. The racing will be pretty good if they stay on the same track and teams can refine their setups. Stafford has been growing an open following, let’s see if Thompson can make it work. I think Thompson is a better oval for mods. Stafford is good, I just like the little extra distance and banking of Thompson, and the wider pit lane.
I would be curious to the reaction from TT, Stafford, drivers and owners.
Could the WMT open at Martinsville if they are not part of the Icebreaker? Not saying they aren’t part of it but if they are not.
You all are acting like you don’t remember when Thompson tried a open mod series.
20 grand is good but Stafford just ran 81 laps for 10 grand , that’s about a quarter of the distance of the 300 , modifieds at Thompson are good ,bad part is the high speed and lack of a safer barrier, I know safety has come a long way but the concrete doesn’t give
Thompson’s previous attempt at Open Modified racing was not $5K to win and not when there were many of those cars available to race. Even if WMT teams don’t show, between the TriTrack, Stafford Open, MRS, and others, I think there will be a good field of cars even on a Wednesday.
Goodfella cross the NWMT off your list except for some shows because they will be in other states. You will find out soon.
Fans will COMPALIN IF NASCAR schedules WMT races against these OPEN SHOWS but what do you EXPECT NASCAR to do, just sit aside and have another 9 race season?? Like or NOT THE WINSTON/FEATHERLITE/WHELEN MOD TOUR has been around for 35 years, many have and still complain NASCAR does NOTHING for Modifieds but if they do schedule races, they are THE BAD GUYS AND BULLIES, I Am Happy MODIFIED racing will be fulll force at Thompson, but as we talked a few years ago when NEW series started and we alll said toooo MANY tours willl spoil the GOOD racing, 2021 covid 19 wise IS STILL An issue and tooooo many MOD RACES whether TOURS OR OPEN WILL NOT HELP in my opinion!!
wwmass01013 your right and you get 70-80K if you are the Tour champion pre-covid TT has a long way to go to catch up with there point fund.
So Shawn, who’s responsibility is it to renew the NASCAR sanction with Thompson for 2021? The track owner?
Thanks
If all of the “open” series, and tracks who run their own “open” shows work together, and in conjunction with WMT, when it come to scheduling, everybody wins. Although I can see the open guys working together, knowing everyone benefits by it, I’ve got a feeling NASCAR won’t play nice. The loser…NASCAR. If this “open” concept keeps growing, and expands to new tracks, and those tracks have quality shows using this “open” concept, how long do you think it will be before tracks drop their NASCAR sanctions.
Earl,
That’s not a question I can answer.
Nascar has no choice if there not wanted to each his own this was tryed before and failed once it sets in there are no national points we’ll see what happens. Most dates will conflict and the big name drivers won’t be there for people to cheer on and hate lol.
Shawn, reason I asked is does a track have to be NASCAR sanctioned to host a WMT event? Or is that just about regional and national points?
Thanks
Earl,
A track does not have to be NASCAR sanctioned to host a Whelen Modified Tour event.
Suitcase Jake, the reason you don’t see Bugsy Stevens name among the Thompson 300 winners is because with the lead in 1977 Sonny Kozela had DaBug pit the #15 Woodchoper Special #15 under caution when a light rain started. Ed Flemke Sr. was the lucky recipient of the win when the light rain turned into a monsoon and the race was called… Tough luck!
One has to wonder if Tom Mayberry will run the new Thompson Outlaw 300 the way he has run all of his PASS races–all green flag laps with no caution laps counting. I hope he does that for the fans as lots of strategies will be in play at the end of the race.
white mountain where 2 WMT races held in 2020 is NOT NASCAR sanctioned
The precedent for these new opens isn’t in the distant past or theoretical. They ran one at the World Series and it was a success. 31 cars with the NWMT running the next day. A great race.
Which is not to say the Wednesday events would be successful from a fan standpoint but the cars certainly exist to make it a well populated event.
A very strong vibe on Facebook suggesting, like here, that it might be better to run the 300 as a stand alone event. It’s ain’t scheduled until there is a schedule and as we’ve seen maybe not even then.
If Stafford TT Race went 300 laps there would be 4 or 5 cars left running good luck with no cautions.
The World series MOD race along with 18 or 19 or 30 other divisions will draw a overflow crowd ALL THE TIME unless monsoon conditions possible, the 300 would draw a huge crowd when held, STUPID NOT TO SEPARATE these events for any SMART PROMOTERS, the 300 lost fanfare as it was held on OPENING DAY NFL SEASON which has become HUGE to sports fans and BIGGGER TO NEW ENGLAND fans since the Patriots sucess since 2000, and like i tried to tell capt obvious you need a full day to run a MOD 300 LAP race, sure this yrs WORLD SERIES might have run smooth but as most here know ANY rain delays or other delays can make for LATE NIGHTS ALL 3 DAYS and why take that chance in mid october??????? when weather can be rainy or COLD
I expect their will be races for the mods at Thunder Road,White Mtn and Oxford that Michaud and Mayberry own. Why promote Thompson and not have races at your own track.