(Press release from New England Supermodified Series)
Lee USA Speedway and the NE Big-Block Super Modified Series (NEBSMS) have inked a deal to run the 22nd annual Ollie Silva Mid-Summer Classic Saturday August 6th, 2022. For the past 21 seasons ISMA has sanctioned the event. Reduced cost of the sanctioning body and huge faith in the new series prompted the switch. Joe Bassett, the General Manager of Lee USA Speedway, says he is really excited to try something new in 2022. “This race is special to my heart. It’s extremely important to me not only for Lee but with the importance of Super Modifieds in my back ground. With the all the great things that Tom Mayberry has done with the Pro All Stars Series and Oxford Plains Speedway I know he is going to put an amazing product on the track.”
While NEBSMS is a brand-new series this year, supermodifieds have a rich history in Lee, NH dating all the way back to 1965 with NESMRA (New England Super Modified Racing Association). Originally featuring races on a freshly paved 1/3 mile tri oval both on the pavement and on the snow, Lee was reconfigured in 1984 to its current 3/8-mile configuration. Over the years Lee has had many of the supermodified greats celebrate in Victory Lane – namely Bentley Warren, Chris Perley and Russ Wood who all top the all-time ISMA Win list.
The First Ollie Silva Mid-Summer Classic was won by Russ Wood in 2001, and since then 10 other drivers have taken victory in the prestigious race. 11 races have been won by the same three drivers. Dave Shulick Jr. has three wins while Chris Perley and Jon McKennedy are tied atop the list with four each. With McKennedy winning two of the last three Ollie Silva Memorials and all 8 of his last supermodified starts he is favored to break the tie this year. However when it comes to Lee there is never a guarantee. With the massive horsepower of supermodifieds and the nearly 4-decade old racing surface tire management is going to be a key. The difference from old tires to new tires is well over a second, providing lots of comers and goers and action throughout the race.
Luckily 13 of the 16 licensed drivers living within 2 hours of Lee, and 8 living within an hour from the track, understand all about tire management. Joe Bassett is thrilled to see some more familiar faces on the track this year. “It’s cool to see some of the cars that have been pulled out of the woodwork. Bringing out the local cars is going to be really big for us and the new series. This is going to bring out a lot of New England supermodified fans because it’s going to be primarily their local drivers. In years past it has been a lot of guys from the Midwest and New York. We loved having them but the fans really want to see their drivers from NH and Massachusetts.”
Tell your friends that on Saturday August 6th, 2022, the 22nd Annual Ollie Silva Mid-Summer Classic will no doubt be one of the biggest events in New England. Stay tuned for more information regarding laps and purse to be announced within the coming weeks. For the full NEBSMS Schedule check out ProAllStarsSeries.com.
Didnt Pass say they were going to work in conjunction with ISMA. I wonder how ISMA feels about this development. Honestly, ISMA lost me when the car counts slipped well under 20. I think Seekonk had around 10 supers for their show this year. It was midweek, a non points event prior to their season starting but that had to be disappointing car count. Most of the NE shows had around 13 cars if I remember correctly maybe the Star classic got about mid teens.. Hopefully, the drivers can support both series without repercussion. Having more chances to race close to home might entice some racers to make the very expensive decision to run a super modified. I think a NE based Supermodified series will help the super mod car counts in the area. There are super modifieds around. I know Star has had a good field for their SB super modified weekly racing series. I think there is a 358 super modified series too.
NE has pretty much every asphalt division running in the country. I think most regions have less divisions to choose from and it concentrates their racers into 2 or 3 main divisions thus keeping car counts in those divisions propped up a bit. In NE you have mods (tour type, SK, SK Light Crate, PASS IMCA style, and Pro4), late models (SLM, Prostocks, ACT), super mods(BB, SB), midgets(NEMA, Nema lt) trucks, Legends and various street stock and 6 or 4 cyl divisions. There are just a lot of divisions to chose from here splitting up a decreasing amount of drivers who can afford to race. Its amazing the car counts are as good as they are in some of these divisions.
Good luck to PASS Super mods and ISMA. I hope it works out well for both series. The cars are good looking, run methanol and are fast. They are unique division that I look forward to seeing when they are on the card. I will try to check out a race with this new super modified series if the car count looks respectable. I havent gone to an ISMA show since pre covid and probably wouldnt go to one until I saw an increase in car counts.
Travel is the thorn for the ISMA series… see what’s happening?
And therefore, the NWMT goes nuts with mega travel.
Mask up!!!!!!
Total Number of Events
ISMA 10 Confirmed
NEBSMS 9 Confirmed
Total Tracks Holding Events
ISMA 6
NEBSMS 5
Regional Split
ISMA-Western NY,PA and Midwest 8,NE 2
NEBSMS –All New England
Tracks Supporting Recent Super Mod Events
ISMA-10
NEBSMS -1
Events at Tracks ½ Mile or More
ISMA-6
NEBSMS-1
We’ll see over time but as was said the type of car is challenged. The fan base fragmented and geographically diverse with marginal car counts.
Happy talk at first is starting to transition into poaching and competition. In the long run I’d bet the goal is to crush ISMA. In the transition they’re allowing ISMA cars with rules tweaks. In time gravity to cheaper power will take care of the rest.
The only unanswered questions are will the people support the new series that is limited to New England and will the car counts be strong with more competitive racing?