(Press release from GW Promotional Group)
GW Promotional Group announced on Tuesday that the team has prepared five events for the 2022 season as part of the Whitcomb 5 Series. The series will cover five historic New Hampshire short-tracks, showcasing the local stars of the Modified division as part of the NHSTRA Modified class.
Races will take place at Monadnock Speedway, Lee USA Speedway, Claremont Motorsports Park and Hudson Speedway. All four tracks — owned and operated by members of the Wrenn family and their group of professionals — will see these special events put their weekly Modified stars in the spotlight for race fans.
The series will visit Monadnock twice, while all other tracks will hold one special event. Races will take place beginning in May and will be spread throughout the summer and into September, where the champion will be crowned. The Whitcomb Five Series will see one race per month, with all events set for 125 laps.
“We’re really excited to debut the Whitcomb Five Series and thankful to these great race tracks in New Hampshire for allowing us to work with them for 2022,” Gregg Whitcomb, owner of GW Promotional Group, said. “The excitement level is already spiking for this series and there are a lot of drivers interested in the concept. We look forward to sharing some more information in the next few months leading into the first race.”
The high-banks of Monadnock will host the first event as part of their big opening weekend on Sunday, May 1, 2022. Just one day after the Tri Track Open Modified Series visits the track on Saturday night — a 125-lap race for the NHSTRA Modifieds — coined as the Whitcomb Classic — will open the Monadnock weekly season in style on Sunday afternoon. The series will then move across the state to Claremont Motorsports Park in Claremont, New Hampshire, for a 125-lap race on Friday, June 17. From there, New Hampshire’s Center of Speed — Lee USA Speedway — will host the series on Friday, July 15.
On Sunday, August 14, Hudson Speedway’s high-banks roar to life with the NHSTRA Modifieds taking center stage with a massive event, while the champion of both the Whitcomb Five Series and the track overall points battle will be crowned as part of a two-day spectacular, right back at Monadnock, on September 16-17.
Announced last week, both Jack Arute and Dave Sutherland — two well-respected personalities in the racing community — will be part of the broadcast team for all five events. Additional information regarding the series including formats and more will be released closer to the first race.
“I was born and bred on modifieds,” Arute said of his excitement for the series. “My background is steeped in modified racing. I still to this day think that in terms of short-track racing, it requires the most demanding skill set a driver can have. You have the open-wheels, the horsepower, the weight-ratio… It’s the oldest division in NASCAR for a reason. It’s run continuously since the day it was created and there’s a reason for it’s survivability.”
GW Promotional Group has a passion for everything related to motorsports. Owner Gregg Whitcomb grew up in New England, specifically in Keene, New Hampshire, where he was introduced to racing at an early age through his father. In 1987, while his father owned an established NASCAR Cup Series team, Gregg was tabbed as the General Manager of Bob Whitcomb Racing. The team won the 1990 Daytona 500 with veteran Derek Cope as driver, and also won Rookie of the Year with Ken Bouchard as driver. Gregg has been a part of the local racing scene in New Hampshire for two decades and continues to seek sponsorship to give back to the drivers who make the sport possible along with the help of his wife, Jessica.
For more information on GW Promotional Group, visit GWPromotional.com and follow on Facebook. For more information on Souza Media, visit KyleSouza.com and follow Souza Media on Facebook.
Whitcomb Five Series 2022 Event Schedule:
May 1 – Monadnock Speedway — Winchester, N.H. — Whitcomb Classic — 125 laps
June 17 — Claremont Speedway — Claremont, N.H. — 125 laps
July 15 — Lee USA Speedway — Lee, N.H. — 125 laps
August 14 — Hudson Speedway — Hudson, N.H. — 125 laps
September 16-17 — Monadnock Speedway — Winchester, N.H. — 125 laps
Are these tour type modifieds, Sk Modifieds or SK Light crate modifieds? I thought the NHSTRA mods were crates but Arutes comments seem to indicate they are Nascar tour type mods. And another modified series is born. I hope they do well. I like all the tracks they are visiting. It would be great to see Lee run mods more regularly. It looks like they have a few modified events on the schedule for 2022,
CSG, they are SK light type Mods with 602 and 604 crate engines. They were called Sportsman Modifieds at Monadnock at one time. With the purchase of multiple tracks by the Wrenn family, they wanted to make the rules the same with their categories for all the tracks, hence the New Hampshire Short Track Racing Association and the “Battle for the Belt” series. I’ve seen some good races by them at Monadnock.
Sound’s like a great Idea ‘ But what’s the car count going to look like with all these open wheel modified show’s ?
If they are the NHSTRA modified they are 604 crate. Seems like they are just taking over the “battle for the belt” races these tracks had the last couple years.
Seems to me this thing raises the bar and not by a little. If I made these observations would I be wrong?
-the NHSTRA Modifieds are clearly not sportsman or Lights in any regard. The top cars with those 400HP 604 crates at Monadnock are turning laps only 2 or 3 tenths slower then the TTOMS tour modifieds.
-NHSTRA Modifieds are a staple at Monadnock only. For their big show they can get twenty plus cars. For special races at the other tracks the turn outs have been more in the teens.
– the reference to the broadcast team jumps TV coverage a couple of rungs on the latter doesn’t it? Saying the races will be televised this early and with a couple big names calling the races is something new.
-show me the money. Or more correctly the the race teams to motivate them to show up.
-is there any way to jiggle the SK rules to see if you can draw some of the local teams up to these big shows or are those engines too powerful at this stage?
SK engines are about 460hp & the 604 crates are about 430hp . FYI