(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
For just the fourth time in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Virginia’s Langley Speedway will welcome the series this Saturday night for the running of the CheckeredFlag.com 150 (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
NASCAR’s oldest division visited Langley for the first time in 2017, when Timmy Solomito led the final 13 laps on his way to Victory Lane. The series returned one year later, with current NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Preece winning after battles with Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman and Chase Dowling.
After a few years off, Langley returned to the series schedule in 2022. Doug Coby, driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing, dominated that event on his way to his third victory of the season for the team.
Tommy Baldwin Jr. will not field a car at Langley this season. The team owner this week announced he’s temporarily stepping away from Tour competition as he battles cancer.
Tickets to Saturday’s CheckeredFlag.com 150 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the 12th race of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
CheckeredFlag.com 150 at Langley Speedway
What to watch for:
Two points is all the separates Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore in the battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship as the series returns to Langley Speedway on Saturday night for the 12th race of the 2023 season.
While neither driver has won at Langley, they should both be considered favorites to emerge victorious in the 150-lap affair that is set to headline a busy night of racing that also includes NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series action at the 0.395-mile paved oval.
They’ll be joined by several familiar faces, including Austin Beers, who will be looking to earn his third victory of the season in the No. 64 KLM Motorsports entry.
MORE LANGLEY: Watch live on FloRacing
Max McLaughlin, son of 1988 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Mike McLaughlin, returns for his fourth start of the 2023 campaign aboard the No. 77 entry fielded by Mike Curb and led by Gary Putnam.
Also entered are Whelen Modified Tour winners Anthony Nocella, Craig Lutz, Kyle Bonsignore and Tim Connolly. Kyle Ebersole is back with the series following a 10th-place effort at Lancaster Motorplex, Tyler Rypkema continues his search for his first Tour victory, and John-Michael Shenette fulfills a lifelong dream by making his Whelen Modified Tour debut.
The complete entry list for the CheckeredFlag.com 150 is available here.
RACE FACTS
| Race | CheckeredFlag.com 150 |
| Date | Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 |
| Track | Langley Speedway |
| Layout | 0.395-mile paved oval |
| Location | Hampton, Virginia |
| Start Time | 8 p.m. ET |
| Laps | 150 |
| Posted awards | $98,495 |
| Live stream | FloRacing (Live) |
Schedule: Saturday, Aug. 26 … Final practice from 3:15-4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET … CheckeredFlag.com 150 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).
Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the CheckeredFlag.com 150 is limited to 24 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is three (3) tires, any position.
5 cars, wow. Just wow!
Sorry 15 cars. Wow!
Last year there were only 19 starters at Langley. One team has closed (Jon McKennedy), one driver has been suspended (JB Fortin), Tony Baldwin has stepped away to battle cancer, and Matt Hirschman (Langley was on his schedule) broke his arm last week.
Checking other schedules the SMART tour is at Ace Speedway in NC the night before for a rain-out date. I wonder if that conflict might have taken away a few potential starters. Or maybe Langley just isn’t a good spot to have a modified race.
The tour should probably only visit tracks with solid local modified team support, which is tough because it’s too damned expensive for local race teams. Somehow Stafford makes it work, and that’s just enough support to extend outward to Thompson and Waterford. New Hampshire has 4 tracks that share a modified rules package. Riverhead has two modified series.
That’s the extent of my knowledge being based on the northeast, but still that’s 8 tracks that should draw at least an honest field of cars, 9 if you include the Cup series weekend at NHMS. I wonder if NASCAR can get back in Stafford’s good graces, but as good as Stafford is doing I might not want to mess with it.
Either way, there are modified teams out there. New Smyrna had 31 entries. The Monaco tri-track series regularly draws 25 to 30 teams. Stafford has 20 to 25 trans show up for their open shows. The SMART tour had 26 starters in their last race. Clearly there’s a way to make a schedule that will attract teams to your series. As cool as it is that NASCAR supports the series with a big schedule, maybe 18 races just isn’t realistic.
NASCAR will never be accused of excellent management.
No southern Modifieds are entered? Geee, I wonder why.
Bowman Gray is about 5 hrs away, so indeed, it appears to be true that southern mod teams won’t drive across the street to race.
And some folks still wonder why the NASCAR Southern Modified Tour series was allowed to die a slow and excruciating death.
15 cars, and we wonder why the mods travel out of the northeast?
The biggest WOW by far is that adult grandstand tickets are only $18. That’s half of what Thompson charged last week.
@darealgooddfella the southern mods are racing the night before at Ace Speedway in North Carolina. It’s a rain-out date, so not an intentional scheduling conflict.
Midnight Economist,
Langley also has just over half the NASCAR Modifieds entered as Thompson got, is running one fewer support division, is doing time trials for the local division rather than heats, and is based in an area where the cost of living is generally much lower. It’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison. Regardless, I’ll be interested to see what Langley gets for a crowd, as Thompson had a turnout that can be considered excellent at almost any price tag.
Captain Mike Q.,
Who wants to watch an excessive amount of support divisions? I don’t feel that they add enough value to justify the excessive ticket and time cost to watch them. That’s why I love Flo Sports–I can walk my dog, take out the trash, or go to the store when there are too many support divisions. I prefer one or two–that’s it.
Support division racing can occasionally be exciting. If it was that often, it would be worthy of a standalone product on a separate night.
Barring and unfortunate broken arm and cancer diagnosis (🙏 for Matt and Tommy), this event would have had the top 10 teams (owners points) on the tour. I don’t care that Thompson had 6 more cars for the 2X ticket price. The same top 10 quality teams would have been at both races.
Moreover, using the cost of living to justify a 2X+ ticket price is not justifiable. What cities are you comparing? Fairfield vs the cheapest town within 100 miles of Langley?
Labonte and Newman had Langley on their personal schedules at the start of the season. I’m guessing that “not an intentional scheduling conflict” changed their plans. There may have been other teams planning to make the trip, but I personally hadn’t heard of any.
Langley is a well run track that likes having the mods come in. It’s a shame all the tour can come up with is 15 cars.
Years ago, I heard complaints that the tour was too centered around Stafford/Thompson and in order to grow they needed to branch out and attract new fans.
I’ll pass by the exit for Ace on the way to Langley. I’ll watch the SMART race on Flo in my hotel in VA. I’ll be at Langley to support the tour and the track.
Will Colby be there in his own # 10 car?
JH,
Who is Colby?
Why can’t these modified teams race two nights in a row? Dirt sprint and late model teams do it dozens of times each year with crews 1/4 the size that I saw with Justin Bonsignore in victory lane. Is modified racing become more of a glorified show car circuit?
Colby is a guy from Wisconsin who made cheese. He had a cousin Jack from California. They combined their cheeses to make a blended cheese called Colby-Jack. Good flavorful stuff!
Rumor has it that despite their often wide differences in opinion, both daRealKnowItAll and former 6-time WMT champion Doug COBY both enjoy Colby-Jack cheese on their favorite deluxe sandwich at Chick-fil-A.
The only track in VA that is good enough for the Tour is Martinsville. New Smyrna works to start the year because of all the other mod races run during the World Series. Call me selfish but the Tour belongs in the Northeast. Hell, Nascar ruined Busch North for us, it appears they are trying to do the same with this series.
Yup, the fast typing and not spell checking got me again! Doug Coby of course.
JH,
Link to the entry list is part of the story you are commenting on. Doug Coby is listed under the Tommy Baldwin Racing entry for the event and listed as now withdrawn. No indications whatsoever that he will re-enter the event in his own equipment.
After this race got 19 cars last year it should have been dropped from the schedule. Even if you had Coby, Hirschman and a couple southern teams, it would still be bad. NASCAR shouldn’t be scheduling any races they don’t think will get at least 25 cars.
Lowest car count ever for a Thompson tour race last week. Lowest count ever for a tour race this week. Not a good couple weeks for nascar.
“For Sale: LFR Gen2 Chassis 085
NWMT legal available as a roller ($50,000) or complete with RYR NASCAR spec engine ($78,000)
Chassis has five races on it (3 NWMT and 2 TriTrack) and ran top 5 every time on the track.”
…
You can read the rest of the ad on Doug Coby Racing
@Smooth Operator 32 the financial incentive to run 2 races at different tracks on back-to-back nights must not be there in this case. Just anecdotally from what I’ve heard there are dirt races that offer much higher payouts than for asphalt modifieds. Also if a modified team does require 4 times the crew size as a dirt team (not saying that’s typical, just an example) that’s more ways a smaller payout needs to be split, reducing the incentive even further. The low ticket price, which is great for the fans, might also be contributing to a smaller than average prize pool, something that really hurt North Wilkesboro in the 90s.
Personally, the only times the tour should travel past the Mid-Atlantic is for “big” tracks and “Cup” tracks. For example, New Smyrna, Richmond, North Wilkesboro, and Martinsville (all tracks bigger than a half mile with name recognition). Again, people shun Caraway because, it apparently has no amenities like Langley after being renovated, (I’ve never been to either track only watched videos) but, I’d trade Langley which is a tiny, flat boring bullring, to a banked .455 mile track that drivers seem to like to race on and Modifieds belong on like Thompson. Ronnie Williams traveled in July to the SMART race at Caraway with Tomaino’s car. Otherwise all this travel is bad with the economy regardless of track speeds and the amount of average RPM’s on engines .
Always laugh when people say teams have left because of the economy or the travel. No. Wrong. Teams left because NASCAR has made owning a team a terrible experience and they made being at races miserable. Simple as that. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be a hobby. Nobody owns a race team at this level to make money. We just want to have a good time. Nothing is fun about it now. You spend a whole bunch of money to have people in NASCAR shirts break your balls all day about wearing an ID around your neck or moving your hauler 9 inches or how you have to be at the track 10 hours before a race for a meeting they could do 4 hours before the race. Eric Sanderson, Wayne Darling, Mark Pennink, Kevin Stuart, Chris Our, Bob Garbarino, Mike Smeriglio, Ed Bennett, the Nocella family, the Pasteryak family, the Blewett family, Doug Coby, Eddie Harvey, Tim Lepine. See that list. They’ve all left as team owners in the last few years. None of them left because of the economy. They all left because NASCAR makes being a team owner miserable.
You would think if it was solely NASCAR making life miserable for those team owners, they would have found a home racing modifieds elsewhere, right?
Outside the pasteryaks, none of them really did.
Langley trip for New England team all said and done is about 8 thousand … totally ridiculous. Tire bill alone is 3000 or so . If you finish 2nd you don’t even cover your expenses. Need more money in pay outs ! If these car owners would make a point and make a stink or stay home all together maybe there would be change . Nope … All show up and take it and complain. Circus clowns putting on the show making no profit while giving the track owners all make a good living watching you guys put the show on ! Wtf is wrong with this picture .
Money goes a long way towards making a miserable experience tolerable. And even if you expect to lose money there’s a huge difference between losing $10,000 per race and losing $20,000 per race. Not that I actually know what the numbers are, just that everyone has their limit.
Yea the tour isn’t dirt! Or a well run or marketed touring series. It’s dead! When those dirt series run for 5 to 10 times the purse money sell all your asphalt stuff and go dirt racing. It’s what I did 15 years ago with success. And stop crying about support divisions they bring in the purse money all you couch promoters! WMT is all but done. Sorry folks.
Its the almighty NASCAR WMT…..Going down in flames..good…BTW..Oxford Plains has 68 Super Late Models entered for the 250,all taking part in heats….
To conclude anything from that list of team owners pointing in one direction seems dubious at best. Each had their own reasons for leaving that may or may not have had anything to do with the lack of fun. However the conclusion that NASCAR is a buzz kill on race day echo’s Dunleavy’s comment to a tee. Paraphrasing but something to the affect that it’s a day being jerked around by NASCAR for 3 minutes of fun.
so tell me the people that are out of racing now?
Ed Bennett, Nocella, Blewett, Coby are certainly all racing but mostly outside of NASCAR.
Pennink (son) injured for instance and retired, many others I see getting older like the rest of us and simply eliminate racing to run their business or are retiring. It happens.
Team owner sounds right on. Make it un-fun and guess what? People will quit, they do not need the aggravation in their lives.
Former Team Owner said,
“Eric Sanderson, Wayne Darling, Mark Pennink, Kevin Stuart, Chris Our, Bob Garbarino, Mike Smeriglio, Ed Bennett, the Nocella family, the Pasteryak family, the Blewett family, Doug Coby, Eddie Harvey, Tim Lepine. See that list.”
Eric Sanderson just faded out.
Wayne Darling was never a significant owner, ran on a shoestring budget and quit because it was too expensive. This was published in an interview long ago. I think when his team jumped ship for another owner was the end for him.
Mark Pennik left when Rowan, his son, sustained back problems that took him out of driving.
Kevin Stuart refused to travel to a southern race when Silk was driving for him because of the cost to run that race and that his car was not a championship contender.
Chris Our left to spend more time with the family. He had many problems that were not caused by NASCAR.
Bob Garbarino ran a car for almost 60 years. I think he legit retired.
Mike Smeriglio abruptly left, not sure why. With all the money he was spending, I didn’t think NASCAR could bother him.
Ed Bennett was never a serious full time heavy hitter.
Nocella family not a heavy hitter.
Pasternak family are hobbyists.
Blewett can’t get funding to run full-time and competitively.
Doug Coby?????? He’s not been able to run competitively as an owner. Can’t even his own car.
Looks more like many people try to be owners, start with a huge fortune and end up with a very small fortune, and realize they better quit before it is all gone.
Earlier this summer Gary Casella was asked why his team doesn’t run more WMT events. He mentioned that he didn’t like being told he couldn’t open his own hauler until a certain time. Being at a track for two days to run an hour race. And mostly the lack of FUN. Didn’t mention finances. Didn’t mention travel distance.
Hope this race happens. Weather is looking threatening. It will be hot and humid with high chance of popup storms.
The entry list is loud and clear: travel is not welcome. NASCAR better open negotiations and apologies with Stafford and Thompson to get them back on the schedule, and bigly.
The rest of the season, dominated by big travel destinations, is looking scary. There will be very small entry lists from here out.
Camerissa, not too many owners are going to openly say anything about costs. Some of the owners can run a team with no concern for costs. Others want to look like they can run a team with no regard for what it costs. They complain about other things. Then there is the part part-time team that complains about hot pit stops being too expensive and looking to save pocket change.
All the owners care about what it costs, some just don’t talk about it. Some do.
So you really think Gary Casella does not run the WMT because of when he’s allowed to open his hauler? Seriously? He’s incredibly petty, or you are naive, or both.
For those of you that continue to talk about the NWMT growth, and therefore needs to travel to attract new fans and spread out, you need to stop.
There was a Southern NWMT years ago. It died a slow and cruel death. There is very little interest in Modifieds outside of the northeast. With the exception of the Bowman Gray anomaly.
It was said many years ago that southern teams won’t drive across the street to a race. That still appears to be true.
Look at the North-South races. Plenty of northern teams traveled south, hardly any southern cars traveled north, and that ended the north-south races.
I used to go to the NWMT race in Bristol. No fans showed up. The race was awesome, the Mods were insane on the high banked concrete, yet nobody showed up.
It has been proven there is little interest in Modified racing outside of the northeast.
If you want Modified racing to survive in the northeast, Thompson and Stafford better get back in the game.
Hi Dareal, Do you know any Drivers, Owners or employees of the NWMT? I understand that most people who post here most likely don’t. But by the same token, most don’t make such large sweeping statements in a factual manner like yourself. You also discount what others say in a fashion like you are in the know somehow… You don’t have to mention who but maybe your statements would carry a little more weight if you had any sort of insider knowledge… If you don’t, you just come across as a NWMT fanboy who enjoys trolling. My guess is I’m not the only one who views your posts the same way as I do
Hi RaceDayNH. You clearly do not know any knowledgeable NWMT team members, or have gotten near what it takes to field a competitive car. That is obvious.
You are probably like most that think the $5k winner’s purse is fantastic. Well, it doesn’t come close to covering the cost to run a car for one event. In fact, unless you finish in first place, you are losing tons of money. First place might cover all expense once in a while. Otherwise, you are paying and paying. Why do you think NASCAR stopped posting how much was paid out to all the cars each race? Well, because most people could not grasp that this is a hobby for those that can. Those that finish a race near the top lose less than those that finish near the bottom. If you think a team owner is having wild and crazy parties race after race with the few bucks he won, you are wrong. Those parties simply increase the losses.
You sound like a person that has to make decisions over beer money, cigarette money, gas money, and tickets. That doesn’t get you close to understanding.
RaceDayCT has done a great job over the years presenting racing news, and most of what I also contribute or support from my own experience. And that is often met with derision by the tribal folks like yourself when you can’t understand, don’t want to believe the facts that are being presented, or are envious because you simply don’t know.
Facts ignored are still facts. Deal with it.
If more car owners spoke up , grew some BALLS and put their money ego aside maybe the whelen tour would race could race for more money. Nope … everyone scared to speak up in driver, crew chief and owners meetings. Stand there all scared to speak. Then walk away and complain. Spend 250 thousand to make around 120 point fund money including and that’s a being top 5 car ! Circus clown putting on the show for free. Track owners love it ..
So do you have any insider knowledge? You didn’t answer… I’ll ask one more question (that I’m sure you won’t answer). In my above post how does it make me sound like someone who struggles financially?… You are not a nice person
North WILKESBORO will have the Biggest car count of the WMT Schedule!!!!!!!!!
This last half of the season is where the 01 climbs in the points, getting all those attendance rewards.
“there is very little interest in modifieds outside the northeast”
I’m not sure if I agree with that. I think modifieds are a pretty well respected division among any short track fan.
The problem back then was that if you didn’t live in CT, NH or on LI, you didnt have much opportunity to follow the tour.
Things are different this day in age. it’s never been easier to follow the tour now that it’s on Flo. You *can* build a following with that, and I’m sure some of that revenue being used for this expansion.
IDK why you bring up 5k winners purses? do you think thats what the tour pays?
as for casella’s comments, I think he contradicts himself a bit. You don’t want 2-day shows, but you want to open your trailer earlier? do you want more time at the track, or less?
There are 2 multi day shows this year. World series and NHMS. A lot fewer than a couple of years ago. there have been 3 planed pre-10am garage open times this year so far, so its alot easier for the teams to get to the event the day of.
i really dont know what more you want them to do here.
Shawn . What type of tree was it that this darealgoodfella fell from ?
Everyone keeps talkin about MORE money, now sure if every WMT race paid 200 or 300 k it would be great but lets see.. Besides the Sizzler, show me a series or races that pay more for Modifieds
New Smyrna $122,108
Richmond $120,400
Mad Dog $ 83,450
Riverhead $83,450
Lee $88,100
Seekonk $81,600
Riverhead $81,600
Wall $81,600
NHMS $139,600
Claremont $83,845
Lancaster $108,995
Thompson $92,955
Langley $98,495
Melissa is still the reigning three time Whelen Modified Tour Most Popular Driver.
Facts ignored are still facts. Deal with it.
“there is very little interest in modifieds outside the northeast”
…
Depending on how you define northeast and little interest that definitely could be true.
Then I’m watching Bowman Gray. Not packed but the place is huge and they easily get more fans for regular shows then any track in the northeast racing modifieds. SMART is not going away, they started 25 cars last night at ACE.
“Things are different this day in age. it’s never been easier to follow the tour now that it’s on Flo. You *can* build a following with that, and I’m sure some of that revenue being used for this expansion.”
I hope that’s true and it could be true but we don’t know it’s true do we? One might guess that’s NASCAR’s motivation for streaming the modifieds but only they know if it’s resulting in any kind of bump in nationwide interest. I’d think not because all racing is local but that could be old thinking. I see comments on Facebook from all over, even over seas on local modified races but they tend to be northeast transplants hungering to see what they no longer have access to.
“Earlier this summer Gary Casella was asked why his team doesn’t run more WMT events. He mentioned that he didn’t like being told he couldn’t open his own hauler until a certain time.”
I’d bet that’s true and if it is it sums up perfectly the challenge the Tour has going forward. Another factor relates to what John Swanson recently said. Matt’s dad said Casella has one interest only and that’s winning. If anyone would know he would. If that’s the case then the NWMT besides the lack of fun would never be attractive to the 25 team seeing as how with the rules as they are a win would be very unlikely.
zig13, the internet has been around long before the southern NASCAR Modified Tour died. There was ample opportunity to get that exposure… ample. I used to do it. I followed the southern tour, mostly to see how the northern teams invaded and relentlessly kicked their butts. And there were paper publications. How do you think we did it before the internet???? I had a subscription to AARN. Do you know what AARN is????
There was a report a couple years ago that folks did not know what the Modifieds were at one of the “new” tracks. The same was for when there was going to be a race at Iowa… they had no idea what a Modified was. No way any revenue stream was going to happen from that. The Iowa speedway is in the middle of corn fields, no population centers. Truck and tractor pulls rule the motor sports mind share out there. Iowa speedway may no longer exist… it was in severe financial hardship years ago. So that saying, “You build it, they will come” does not always apply.
Okay, so what is the actual NWMT winner paycheck? Well, not much more than $5k. A little more for NHMS or a heavily sponsored event. That is NOT the norm. And the competitive teams spend small fortunes on specific cars for NHMS.
The Modifieds have been around the northeast for decades and decades and decades, and have not been able to grow beyond the northeast. That’s history, it has been carved in granite. And with the general downturn in interest in car racing, expansion of a series that has relentlessly failed to grow outside of the northeast is not going to happen.
What little Modified racing there is outside of the northeast is insignificant and irrelevant. They never travel to the northeast. You would think they would want to try their mettle in the northeast, but they stay away. Refuse to drive across the street. Why does the northeast NWMT have to attempt to grow outside the northeast? Why aren’t the modifieds already outside of the northeast trying to grow? Because they are barely surviving as it is. The southern NASCAR Modified tour expired a few years ago. Bowman Gray is an anomaly that is still not understood. If it was understood, it would have been repeated all over the place.
The northeast Modifieds are NOT looking to expand. They are praying for no further contraction. With Stafford and Thompson off the schedule, and Waterford off-limits, the NWMT is looking for ANY open port. This is a really big, bad storm going on, and the NWMT needs *ANY* open port right now.
Just about every long distance event (outside of the northeast) will be a multi-day event. Travel there the day before, travel home the day after. You forget travel days are included in the event. And that requires fuel, plane tickets, lodging and meals expenses. Oswego will be multi-day because the race ends late at night and teams stay overnight to travel home the next day. Riverhead is a multi-day because the ferry does not run late, so teams stay overnight and travel back home the next day. That’s all expense to run the event. I stayed overnight in Bristol, at a motel most teams stayed at, and then saw most team haulers on the highway the next day heading back north. It was like a NWMT convoy.
I still can not believe that you people have no idea what it takes to field a team, and support ($$$$$) that team to and from events. The expense of supporting the team does not happen exclusively at the track. Expense to the owner does not start upon arrival at the track, and does not stop upon departure from the track. Question any of that and you are revealing yourself as a total stupididiotmoron.
With Flo televising, and the late race start times, it means teams will most likely have to stay in the area overnight. If it were earlier afternoon and early evening start times, some teams could make it home that night.
In conclusion, NASCAR NWMT had better resolve the problems they have with Stafford and Thompson, and get those two tracks back on the schedule. The survival of Modified racing as we know it depends on it.
Zig,
You say: “There are 2 multi day shows this year. World series and NHMS. A lot fewer than a couple of years ago.”
The whole “one day event” thing is one of those magic buzz phrases. It’s like saying all you eat is salads so you’re “eating healthy”, but what you’re really eating is taco salads on most days. Yes, NASCAR will say there are only two events on the schedule that are not “one day events”, but go ask a team owner what they think of that phrase. Sure, everything happens on track in one day at New Smyrna, Richmond, Lancaster, Langley, Oswego, North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, but none of those events are “one day events” in the eyes of most team owners or crew members. Most of those events are a commitment of at least three days for most teams. So yeah, you don’t have an Icebreaker, Spring Sizzler or Fall Final with Saturday qualifying and a Sunday feature, but you still have as many or more events on the schedule that necessitate multiple days away from home, even though what happens at the track for those events is completed in one day.
kay, so what is the actual NWMT winner paycheck? Well, not much more than $5k. A little more for NHMS or a heavily sponsored event. That is NOT the norm. And the competitive teams spend small fortunes on specific cars for NHMS.
WHAT planet are you on, Most EVERY race with the WHELEN BONUS the winner is 10-14K
Dadope rambles through here like a know it all, but doesn’t even know that Wayne Darling won a champpionship as an owner with his bestie Coby. How is that for not being a significant owner?
Did anyone else hear that this race was going to be boycotted, but two teams said they wouldn’t participate in the boycott.
My sources say two of the top runners will not run the tour full time next year.
Let silly season begin
wmASS01013, I made it clear that the winner’s share was without the bonus, sponsorship extras, etc. Then let’s use the purses you posted above… say $90,000. Divide that on average among say 25 cars and they get $3,600. That’s just pocket change more than the tire bill for the event. There are *FAR* more expenses that need to be paid, FAR more. Now I am aware that the payout is not on average or flat, there is a curve. That means MOST cars get less than that $3,600 and lose a ton of money to run an event. A HUGE TON of 💰. Some cars lose a a little less. The extra bonus money and sponsorship money eases the pain.
Engines are usually refreshed ~1,000 laps. That includes practice laps. That’s maybe 5-6 events on a refresh. That’s several thousand dollars in engine refresh expense every 5-6 races. When you consider the cost to acquire the engine, you are spending almost as much in engine per race as tires per race.
Oh, and that $10-14k number you mentioned… barely or rarely covers ALL the expenses to run an event. It’s all out there… just pay attention. Many, many years ago, TC said in an interview it costs $7.5k to run an event. That was many years before he was lost. That $7.5K then is $10k today. Then in a promo video for a NHMS race many, many years ago, a driver spoke about how big the NHMS race is and that teams spend upwards of $10,000 and more to run that race. Some teams had special cars and engines just for NHMS.
I believe Wayne Darling was cooperating with another team to share resources, and share costs, it was a combined team. That was a shoestring operation, a very lucky shoestring operation. In the end, Doug Coby said he left the Darling operation because it was treading water, and he left for the security of the MSRIII operation. Good move, the Darling operation folded like origami.
So you folks that are dealing with the high finance of deciding to buy beer, cigarettes, gasoline, crack, meth, or tickets, you have no idea what the costs are to run a competitive car. The good news is that you have no idea.
Darealgoodfella,
When Coby won the Whelen Modified Tour championship with Darling in 2012 Darling was not working in cooperation with any other owner that season.
DRGF, what point are you actually trying to make? Everything you said applies to almost any modified race. And why wouldn’t you include bonus money, lmao. does it not spend the same as non-bonus money?
Very few, if any, racing series have their expenses solely covered by the purse.
And yes, the internet may have existed back then. Streaming sure as heck didn’t.
At my age, i don’t even know what a newspaper is. and I’m not convinced many people still alive do (slight sarcasm). But I can hand on heart say i have never read about racing in a newspaper, nor would i care to. Print media is a dead as it could be to me.
But I can say I’m following more series than ever now that I can watch them easily. World of outlaws, cars tour, ASA, super dirt series, ASCOC, USAC, STSS.
I don’t really ever recall print media funding tracks, series, and events like streaming is doing right now either. (even if i think its an unsustainable bubble, but thats another argument for a different day)
And FYI, winners share for the tour races this year have been $16,300, $14,800, $11,300, $11,300, $12,300, $11,300, $11,300, $11,300, $16,300, $13,300, $12,800, $13,300.
how many other races have had more than that? 2? both of which added to their number big time with bonus money you dont seem to like.
Obviously, its not enough. Just like Stafford purses or tri tracks purses havent been enough to maintain what they used to get either. But NASCAR doesnt control every expense. theres only so much they can do.
And Shawn, fair point. But to me that would be included in the “travel” spectrum of complaining.
2 day show to me is clearly meaning being at the track 2 days.
zig13, thanks for pointing out your lack of wisdom. That is so helpful. It shows why you have to ask what is the point, all while you continue to argue.
Thanks for posting the winner’s share of the tour races… those winnings are not covering the costs to run that race for the winner. Keep in mind that only a handful of cars win in any given season.
Many years ago I posted that fans need to thank the owners for what they do.
Spending tons of money to support a team before and after race day is not complaining. It’s expensive. Most of the remaining schedule will be 3-day events, with a couple 2-day events. Depending on the distance a team has to haul, Monadnock may be a 1-day event, a very late night one-day event.
zig13, everything is not always all about you.
zig13, here’s a point for you… you and many others should not be talking about what tires cost, purses, purse share, etc. Y’all are comparing that to your daily budget for cigarettes, beer, coffee, THC, crack, meth, CBD, and gas money. That’s two entirely different worlds, two entirely different galaxies. You will never understand what it takes to run a Modified, or a competitive Modified. Hence, all the talk about purses, shares, etc. is completely pointless.
RaceDayNH posted,
“So do you have any insider knowledge? You didn’t answer… I’ll ask one more question (that I’m sure you won’t answer). In my above post how does it make me sound like someone who struggles financially?… You are not a nice person”
That you ask if I have any insider info at this point is revealing. No answer is necessary. You wouldn’t believe anything anyways.
Look, motorsports racing does not attract the fans from the highest levels of the economy. Simple observation and demographics. Fans bring in their coolers full of beer and energy drinks, chain smoke, party in the parking lots, put Cheech & Chong to shame. This is all out in public view, with complete arrogance and obstinance, in defiance of property rules and laws. I was at NHMS and a guy behind me, with his own cooler, was drunk, but said the energy drinks were great because it enabled him to drink more beer. That’s what the stands are filled with. Look at all the wagons that are used at NHMS to haul in all the beer and coolers in from the parking areas. I’m still stunned that is allowed. All the wagons are locked up to the fence at the gates. Stunning. People have to use wagons to haul their beer at the race track.
Just look at all the complaining about the cost of beer at the track, and those that post they tank up in the parking lot before they enter.
You know it.
ah classic. you start looking bad so you resort to calling people crack heads LMAO.
News flash, I do work on a modified team. I have a fairly decent idea on things.
zig13, when I was working with a mod team, the owner told me to never share car plans or sensitive competitive information with certain personnel. You would have been one of those.