RaceDayCT Poll: Would You Like To See The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Return To Thunder Road?

Comments

1. Doug says

   May 31, 2022 at 7:56 am

   Sounds like you were there Mr. Courchesne. Hopefully we’ll get a more in depth rendering of your impressions of the sights and sounds of Thunder Road in the next episode of Unmuffled
   So after reading the article about how everyone raved about the event I’m wondering why even have this poll. Slam dunk right?
   Let’s just take a breath for a moment, let the glow of a successful MMTTS race wear off a bit and take a stone cold objective look at it in the light of day.
   The weather was perfect, the teams heading north (or west) knew there was no chance of a weather event and were probably juiced like Pitkat to see what the track was like. Crowd base was great in part because it was a signature event for the Late Models and only the second event on schedule in a new season.
   Last year the SRX race at Stafford sold out really fast because it was novel. As of now there are still 1000 tickets left for this years event. Point is it’s just not as special the second time around.
   One would expect MMTTS management will ask a representative sampling of the competitors their feelings. 9 teams from Connecticut, 7 from Mass, 6 from NH, 2 from Vermont and 2 from Pa. It’s one thing for the top finishers getting bigger checks to make the trek and another for the cars with lesser goals and smaller checks. When novelty wears off and becomes more of a travel grind can you count of the same participation?
   Pretty much everywhere the MMTTS series runs there is a local population of modified teams sprinkled around the area guaranteeing a strong base. With just two from Vermont most of the race is imported. Nor does the natural audience of modified racing exist in Barre, Vermont. The MMTTS race was in many respects a part of the under card, the vast majority of the fans there to see their neighbors and friends racing the full bodied cars headlined by the Late Models.
   MMTTS events are a precious resource being so limited. Are you saying you have no problem shipping one out to Late Model country to an audience that may look at them as a curiosity before the main event they are really there to see?
   Finally how about the traditional mission of the series. Part of it was making it easier for teams to participate by keeping it in a tighter geographic area was it not? The NWMT teams don’t seem wild about travel and now you’re starting to do it in the MMTTS series? The backbone of it is the meat and potato, lower budget teams that can get to races fairly easily and get a good check to cover part of the expense. Now you want to change that winning formula?
   The series may very well return to Thumder Road that track is just so special and well run but the decision in my view is by no means a slam dunk.
2. Rob A says

   May 31, 2022 at 7:43 pm

   Doug you sound old, late model county and modified country isn’t the thing it used to be, I’m so sick of hearing it from Ben every time he’s north of Massachusetts. Heck Thunder Road is the only VT track that doesn’t have a modified division lol. Fact is that race fans are race fans, you can’t expect a bunch of VT tour mods without having a race for 12 years.
3. Doug says

   June 1, 2022 at 7:44 am

   No question about it, I am old. Is that bad?
   Help and old man out. What asphalt tracks in Vermont run modifieds on a regular basis?
4. Lettuce says

   June 1, 2022 at 8:22 am

   Doug, I would also disagree.

   Vermont race fans do not have a one track, one division mind. These are real fans of stock car racing, folks that you see every week at Thunder Road are the same ones you’re bound to run into at Devil’s Bowl and Bear Ridge, Claremont, Oxford 250 weekend and at the Thompson Icebreaker and World Series.

   The Modifieds also have a long, albeit spaced-out, history in Vermont. They are far from a novelty and I’m sure they’d be welcomed back by race fans.
5. Doug says

   June 1, 2022 at 9:49 am

   I see what’s happening here. Fans in favor of a return to Thunder Road interpreting my entry as being against it. That’s not the case at all I’m simply being the devil’s advocate.
   How about a look back to a first time race with different circumstances but similarities with regard to the initial fan reaction.
   The year, 2020, the year of the pandemic. Seekonk shut down and the MMTTS makes their finale a special event at Stafford. So how was that event received???

   “RaceDayCT Daily Poll: What Was The Best Race At A Connecticut Short Track In 2020
   November 1, 2020”

   The MMTTS race at Stafford won that poll with 43% the next favorite garnering only 19%

   “You Make The Call: Whelen Modified Tour Or Tri-Track Open Modified Series At Stafford?
   October 25, 2020”

   MMTTS won that poll 70% to 30%

   I guess you could say the fan base in 2020 was totally in favor of a return of the MMTTS series in 2021 to Stafford in some shape or form then this statement from Ed Bennett November 10, 2020.

   “It was really enjoyable working with the Arute family at Stafford this year and we all worked hard and put on a great event,” Bennett said. “Unfortunately, because of schedule conflicts we couldn’t find a way to make something work for 2021. We really hope to get the opportunity to work with them again in the future.”

   What did Bennett say about their Thunder Road experience?

   Said Bennett: “We had a really positive experience. Good car support for the times. Everybody was giddy about how easy the Thunder Road people were to work with. Big cooperation, a lot of respect. You can’t say enough for the cooperation with the track and their staff and whole deal. I didn’t hear one person complain about anything Sunday.”

   I had the 2020 Stafford race in mind when I wrote what I did the point being the initial reactions may not always reflect the realities the guys paying the purse and bills are dealing with.
   Of course we get the race we wanted this year with the MMTTS returning to Stafford and in a big way. The premier division at one of the tracks two biggest events with a fan base that drips modifieds out of every pour in their bodies.
   I am in favor of the MMTTS management doing whatever they think is best for their series in 2023 or whenever it usually seems to work out pretty good.
6. Rob A says

   June 1, 2022 at 7:59 pm

   Nothing wrong with age, it’s just a number but there’s been a lot of good historical information put out there on the history of Vermont racing in podcasts that really put a much newer light on the late model/ mod split. I’m sure all this history is in books but how many average race fans actually read those books, a lot easier to hear in a podcast.

   Mods were pretty predominant in Vermont until Ken Squire switched the top division at Catamount to late models and that caused all the top drivers of the time to switch to late models and that’s where it all started. I believe he wanted to copy the late model stock racing from the south so that Vermont drivers could show what they had in the same kind of cars.

   The coupe mods were run all over the state before then, they ran them on dirt and asphalt alike but when the late models became a thing on pavement the mods stayed on dirt. Eventually dirt modified’s evolution split them from the pavement world and that’s why they’re still a big deal at both dirt tracks in the state, Bear Ridge even still has a coupe modified division. Those divisions existed from before the late models became a thing in Vermont.

   Although I’ll be honest, most young people probably don’t know this stuff but it’s a lot more likely, especially at Thunder Road because of Uncommon Deeds podcast.