(Press release from New England Supermodified Series)
Now introducing the formation of the NE Big-Block Super Modified Series. An organization to help save the high horsepower, lightweight, Methanol fueled speed machines.
Big Block Modifieds have always been a fan favorite division but car counts have been less than stellar lately. Brian Allegresso, of New England Motorsports Supply and a former ISMA (International Super Modified Association) Board Director, has his thoughts on the current problems with big black super modifieds, the cost.
“ISMA is losing two cars a year and one of the biggest reasons is travel”.
Brian explained a lot of the teams in New England don’t even want to travel to Oswego let alone Ohio. With rising fuel costs and 6 -12 hours of traveling the cost of hotel rooms and loss of time at work is keeping multiple cars home on jack stands. While ISMA races 8-9 times a year only a few races are one day trips for New England teams. Brian believes that is also preventing new cars from being built. Another huge problem with Super Modified racing is the engine cost.
While an article on ISMA a few years stated the cost to build a brand new turnkey Super Modified was $60,000.00 Brian says some teams are spending that amount of money to just build an engine. These Big Blocks produce 900 plus horsepower but they need to be rebuilt every year to the tune of another $10,000.00 or more. While racers have never had the allusion of turning a profit the expense has grown too great for a lot of teams and even scared some new teams away from joining the class. Without new teams building cars and so many current teams fading away Big Block Super Modified Racing is in trouble.
This is where Tom Mayberry steps in.
Mayberry, although mostly known for his work with the Pro All Star Series (PASS) and Oxford Plains Speedway, understands what it’s like to be a racer without place to race and he wants to prevent that from happening to others. In 2000 the North East Pro Stock Tour (NEPSA) was the premier tour. Mayberry finished 4th in points however the series was failing and the future was uncertain.
Mayberry decided to hang up the helmet and pick up promoting. Creating PASS in 2001 the tour has now become the top Super Late Model tour in the country and just celebrated its 20th season. Tom also brought PASS to the Super Late model starved South East back by creating events like the Easter Bunny 150 held at Hickory Motor Speedway each year. Mayberry, also with assistance from the American Canadian Tour’s Cris Michaud, prevented Thompson Speedway from closing its oval in 2020. When a division or race track is in trouble Tom has always stepped up to ensure the betterment of motorsports and he’s ready to do the same for Super Modified Racing.
In no way does Mayberry want to step on toes of the ultra-successful ISMA tour. First of all, Mayberry is working hard to find ways to prevent any conflicts in the NEBSMS and ISMA Schedules. After consulting former ISMA Presidents and current board members its apparent it’s time for a change and that a new tour is the best for the future of Super Modifieds in the North East.
This new series is looking to bring big block super modifieds to more local tracks, more frequently and help create a better outlook for an otherwise struggling division. With a tentative schedule soon to be released NEBSMS will hit famed Ovals like Thompson, White Mountain, Thunder Road and Oxford. Creating no more than a 4-hour commute for any competitor in New England. The savings on hotel rooms and fuel bills alone will create extra dollars for more local competitors to compete.
With cost at the forefront of the conversation NEBSMS will be implementing an unaltered crate motor rule. This same thing that has saved late model racing across the country, although instead of a 400 Horsepower small block 350 cubic inch motor like the late models this will be a $16,000, 800 Horsepower, 572 cubic inch Chevrolet Big Block as well as a rule prohibiting 3 element wings to save racers even more money and level the playing field. With these rule changes the class will save teams upwards of $20,000 a year, all while still racing for an extremely competitive pay out.
After talking with Super Modified builders and racers alike it seems there will be no negative impact to speed on any track smaller than a half mile. With that being said, testing will be in affect within the weeks to come to confirm. The tour looks to help younger racers make the jump to a Big Block if they are so inclined. Nearly a dozen drivers have already expressed interest in running NEBSMS in 2022 with new conversations happening every day.
For more information, please reach out to NEBSMS PR director Spencer Morse at 207-890-8719 or by email at [email protected] also keep an eye on the PASS Website http://www.proallstarsseries.com/ for more information to be posted as it becomes available. An informational meeting is being planned for the end of November. Please RSVP if interested to Spencer Morse at the above email. We ask for your RSVP so to allow for space at the meeting location. Date, time, and location of the meeting
Does this sound like a reoccurring theme we have heard with another touring division?
Yes anything to keep these cars on some of our local tracks is welcome and it was good to see them at Seekonk this year, there is nothing like these cars and ISMA just does not have enough local races for the fans to get to see them.
good luck to the super-mods,, i may be wrong,, but,, seems to me that super-mods perform best on “bigger tracks” ( around 1 mile ) and there are just not that many of those in this neck of the woods,, so,, travel required.. i am a modified guy so hope that something can be developed/worked out..
More good news! Years ago they ran an ISMA exhibition race at NHIS and decided they were too fast for the one-mile track. The supers put on a good show on the smaller tracks especially if they have a decent car count. And yes, they definitely need to be able to run more often in the northeast.
I would say , These cars perform well at Star , Seekonk , etc.. They put great shows I have seen at both of those 2 Tracks… Yes Thompson & Stafford produce Faster Speeds which are Fantastic to watch , I looked forward to Watching them every Year at Thompson for many many years , They are Awesome on the High Banks !!! I am not sure how often they have run Stafford in the past… ? But hey , Good news for Supermodifieds I believe, many of the 350 Supers can buy the Big Block Crate and increase the numbers very quickly… My money will still be on Jon McKennedy to be the first Champion of that Series… He has Won 8 straight at last count in the Races He entered… I will buy a ticket to watch the Series no doubt ..
Engine costs haven’t been the big issue. BB supers are all about thin rule books, who can build the best rat trap, and drivers with no fear. Crate engines just don’t do it here, each car is a one off creation built and run by someone with passion, engineering knowledge, and specific fabrication skills. Someone like a Clyde Booth or Vic Miller, and there aren’t many newcomers interested with that capability. By the time one adds a dry sump, mechanical injection, and tunes that 12:1 572 for meth it will be more like 30k and have less HP than it would with a carb on gas. Besides GMPP is phasing out the race version of the 572 for a new design 632 anyway. A few issues hurting ISMA over the last couple of years have been the limitation of Canadians crossing the border, some of the Midwest teams converting over to winged/non winged pavement sprints, and the probability of Sandusky closing. Good luck to this group.
To me this sounds like another 350 Supwr mod class,Star he’s this as a semi weekly class and the 350 SMAC division…this will only water down the class….defeating the purpose of the big block supers
I do not know Mr Mayberry personally.
But hats off to him. Busy guy. Saving racetracks, and racing genres in my opinion.
We need more of those types of guys.
Good luck!
““ISMA is losing two cars a year and one of the biggest reasons is travel”.
“In no way does Mayberry want to step on toes of the ultra-successful ISMA tour.”
“and help create a better outlook for an otherwise struggling division.”
Ultra successful, losing cars, struggling it can’t be all at the same time.
Of course you want to step on their toes you just don’t want it to appear that way starting up.. You want teams to sell out of the super expensive engine packages and into that $16,000 big block crate with crazy horsepower and have features with 25 plus cars. Ideally long term you’d like to put ISMA out of business but actually saying that would be impolite.
Good news Thompson fans. This new venture will be unveiled at the Thompson opens.
Preece suggested something like this for modifieds. Crate big blocks. And exactly why would it not make sense if you can power up a tour modified for money that’s less then an SK motor? Too heavy, too fast so what’s the draw back? With cast iron blocks they sure are more cost effective over the long run then RYR spec engines.
Tom Mayberry doesn’t have enough to do so he dreams up this beauty to fill the remainder of his time. The guy is a machine. Starting a series pretty much from scratch.
So what are you guys up in Super country thinking of this you’re the experts. Could this thing have legs or not?
Big block crates with crazy horsepower on small tracks. Shear speed at the cost of door to door, wheel to wheel, lap after lap competition. I don’t get it but if fast is your thing super duper Supers sure have all that and more.
Go to Track Talk in Facebook and my latest column about how popular dirt racing is down here in the South and what these guys are running to win, from the low of $10,000 to $100,000. The numbers to win with supers, not real good. might be a factor.
My problem with the Super Modifieds was always car count and what cars they did get would be drastically reduced by early retirements during the race. Hopefully this series will help the car count for the Northeast I do think Star will probably take a hit which stinks because they have a pretty good field up there. I know those PASS Modifieds struggled for a bit but he stuck with them and they are getting a nice field of them at Oxford. They had the PASS mods at Seekonk for a midweek show and had a very respectable field and put on a good show.
Not a fan of the crate motors at all. the entire lure of the super mods were the leaned over, dry sump, fuel injected big blocks, with billet internals, roller cams, easily replaceable timing belts, magnetos, shaft rockers, and the smell of methanol. this just won’t be the same. A fixed wing, like Oswego is ok, it works, but not having unlimited motors changes everything, its no longer a super modified.
I could be totally wrong, but I swear ISMA started out as a series that ran mainly ran the New York and Ontario tracks.(I think they may have raced weekly at Fulton when it was pavement) And the New England teams\tracks had their own sanctioning body that eventually faded away. The travel thing goes both ways too. I am sure the Ontario, Ohio, and western New York teams don’t exactly like running Lee and Claremont on a Friday or Seekonk on a Wednesday.
I appreciate the perspectives of the commenters on this interesting initiative. As a Canadian supermodified fan that hasn’t seen a race in two years (because of COVID border restrictions) I look forward to seeing how this all works out.