(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
RaceDayCT Poll: Your Thoughts On The 2024 Whelen Modified Tour Schedule
A week before crowning the 2023 champion at Martinsville Speedway, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour plans to carry on a new schedule tradition by opening mere miles from the birthplace of NASCAR and finishing at one of its most historic tracks as the 16 race dates on the 2024 schedule was announced today.
For the third consecutive year, the Tour will open at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida as part of the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Cars Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks, racing under the lights on Saturday, February 10. The 66th running of the DAYTONA 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway then takes place a week later to conclude the opening week of NASCAR action.
Martinsville Speedway returned to hosting the Whelen Modified Tour’s season finale in 2022, and will carry on the new tradition for the third consecutive year in 2024. The race on the Virginia short track moves to a weekend date on Saturday, Oct. 26 – opening up a week of camping and activity for fans of the Virginia short track. NASCAR will then set the field for the Championship 4 in all three national series – NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series – the next weekend, Nov. 1-3.
“We have seen over the past two seasons how exciting it has been for our fans and competitors to open at New Smyrna and finish at Martinsville,” said Jimmy Wilson, Senior Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “The mix of tracks on the schedule pays tribute to the Tour’s roots and sets up a competitive season from start to finish, demonstrated by how once again this year our fans are going to see the Whelen Modified Tour title decided at the finale.”
Richmond Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway return to the schedule as companion events alongside NASCAR national series race weekend. Richmond will remain the second race of the season on Friday, March 29, while New Hampshire holds a mid-summer Saturday, June 22, date.
New Hampshire has hosted a total of 75 Whelen Modified Tour races, led by the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Mike Stefanik’s eight wins. Tony Hirshman is second on the all-time wins list there with seven, while Reggie Ruggiero and Bobby Santos III have each tallied five victories in the heart of New England.
Richmond began hosting Tour races in 1990 and has seen the likes of NASCAR Hall of Famer Mike Stefanik, current NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece and three-time Tour champion (and current title contender) Justin Bonsignore visit Victory Lane in their 13 races thus far.
North Wilkesboro Speedway joined the Tour’s schedule for the 2023 season and returns for the second straight year in 2024 on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Connecticut) will host a trio of marquee events during the 2024 season, starting off with a Sunday, April 7, event during the 50th Icebreaker Weekend. The Tour will return for a Wednesday night mid-summer classic on Aug. 14, before a third and final visit on Sunday, Oct. 13, during the World Series of Speedway Racing.
Another stalwart on the schedule, Riverhead Raceway, will host a pair of key races for the Whelen Modified Tour, starting with a Saturday, May 18, race in the spring. They will then host a Saturday, September 14, even that will continue to pay tribute to late track owner and team owner Eddie Partridge.
Riverhead stands as track that has been the longest continuous host of the Whelen Modified Tour since coming on board in 1985. Although scheduled to hold a race in 2020, the pandemic prevented the race from taking place.
“It’s important to the Tour to be a part of tentpole events that honor the history of our sport such as those at Thompson and Riverhead,” said Wilson. “And then we also have incredible support from tracks such as Monadnock Speedway, which always provides a great event experience for fans and will continue to do so with a trio of races in 2024.”
Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, will continue to build upon their schedule of races under JDV Productions, as they are slated for three dates in 2024 – Saturday, May 4; Saturday, July 20; and Saturday, Sept. 21.
“There are so many great tracks in the Northeast that provide exceptional racing and close proximity to home for our teams,” added Wilson. “These tracks, and their fans, are truly at the heart of what is great about Modified racing in the Northeast.”
Those tracks include Lancaster Motorplex (New York) – formerly known as New York International Raceway Park – that returns to the schedule for the third time, and second straight, with a Saturday, August 3, race. The track first appeared on the schedule in 2021.
Seekonk Speedway (Massachusetts) returns to the 2024 schedule with a Saturday, June 1, event and Oswego Speedway (New York) rounds out the schedule with a Saturday, Aug. 31, race.
“We’re proud this year’s schedule provides balance for our competitors and their teams, who themselves are managing jobs and families away from the track each week,” said Wilson. “And our fans will still continue to see the high-quality and exciting Whelen Modified Tour racing action they have come to love at their favorite facilities.”
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour concludes the 2023 season on Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway, where the Tour will crown a champion. Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore have battled atop the standings all season, and enter the race separated by 13 points for the title. Silk, the 2011 champion, holds the lead over three-time champion (2018, 2020, 2021) Bonsignore.
Below is the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Schedule is subject to change. Race times and broadcast networks will be announced at a later date.
RaceDayCT Poll: Your Thoughts On The 2024 Whelen Modified Tour Schedule
Looks like NASCAR is going back to having more New England events. Eight out of 16 scheduled, works for me!
All in all, I think this is a good schedule. 12 of the 16 events are in New England or New York, which is where the Tour’s base (teams and fans) is. The remaining four events — New Smyrna, Richmond, North Wilkesboro, and Martinsville — are at historic tracks that have consistently drawn strong fields the past few years. It will be interesting to see how teams respond to this schedule, but on the surface, it certainly looks promising.
Its a good schedule. Lost Langley, Lee and Claremont. Gained a new race at Monadnock and Thompson. I will take it. A little less travel for the teams should increase participation I would think.
Also how great is Nascar for getting the schedule out so early. Now other tracks and series can work to put their schedules together and hopefully avoid conflicts.
Lost Wall Stadium as well. I fear that Wall ain’t long for this earth. If I’m wrong about Wall maybe Seekonk and Wall can alternate odd even years with a Tour race. What is the consensus up there on Claremont? I saw the Tour race that McKennedy won and maybe one other on video. Did Vanada promote that race? Other than the track lighting being poor, at least it seemed to me, the race track itself had some character and didn’t seem anymore of a “bottom feeder’ than Monadnock or a few others. Is the facility overall a dump? (parking, rest rooms, grandstands, etc.) Riverhead down from 3 to 2 was probably the track managements call. I like the October release of the schedule for the reasons mentioned above. I don’t see much to nitpick over.
Good catch Enduro. I thought Wall had a good crowd this year. I am surprised they didnt come back. Hopefully it’s not an ominous sign and Wall stays around. Just in case maybe I should try to get down for the Turkey Derby. I used the same thought process to convince myself to go to the World Series. Anyway, I thought Wall sold out to a housing development a few years ago. Maybe 2019 or 2020. It was going to be a bunch of affordable townhouses. I guess they dodged that bullet. I believe there was also some warehouses going to be built around the track in the old gravel pit parcel off turns 1 and 2 and off the backstretch. Wall seems to be consistently rumored to be closing. It would be a shame to lose that one.
48-9-27-14-14-24+28+14+11+17+14+7+14+8+13- That’s the number of days between each event as scheduled. Only 3 dates 9 days or less between races. A considerable improvement from 2023 that had 7 dates, 8 days or less between events in the schedule when it came out last fall.
7 long distance races in 2023 or 37% of the 19 race schedule. Percent of long distance races goes up to 38% in 2024 but with less events scheduled that’s one less event involving big travel.
The 2023 schedule had the teams running down to Langley on August 26 then out to Oswego on September 2nd then to Monadnock on the 9th and Riverhead the 16th a brutal one month run. It put a ridiculous burden on teams racing for points, assumed there’d always be perfect weather and guaranteed conflicts with other series. Nothing like that in 2024.
9 of 19 (47%) races on bigger tracks in 2023. 10 of 16 (63%) in 2024. More expense per race but with fewer events less expense over the course of the season.
Bottom line it looks like NASCAR came to it’s senses. One less big travel event a minimal improvement but the spacing between events a vast improvement. Better for the teams obviously, more breathing room for rain dates for sure while decreasing the odds of conflicts with other series that was good for nobody.
my favorite part of the schedule is the move from Thursday to Saturday for the season finale in Martinsville!
i thought it was a slap in the face to the NWMT to have them in and out of the Speedway before the Cup teams arrive! especially for the race that will likely decide their points championship!!
Phil A
The Saturday Whelen Modified Tour event at Martinsville in 2024 is the weekend before the Cup Series is at Martinsville. The Tour is at Martinsville on Saturday Oct. 26. The Cup Series event is Sunday Nov. 3, eight days after the Whelen Modified Tour is there. Does that now rise from slap in the face to punch in the gut for you?
thanks Shawn
i wasn’t aware of that
i guess Martinsville is gonna pair the WMT with their big late model race they have every autumn?
i found it funny two years ago when the 2022 NWMT schedule was announced that NASCAR promoted it as getting the NWMT exposure in front of the Cup teams. the Cup teams most likely weren’t even gonna be on the property that Thursday night.
oh well
very good 2024 schedule
glad Langley is gone
would love to see Thunder Road and Dominion added to the schedule sometime soon!!
Thanks Shawn!
did Martinsville decide to pair the NWMT with their annual Late Model race they host every autumn? that’s how it was back in the 80s!
38 years ago today, we lost Richie at Martinsville!!
ha
i can take either the punch to the gut or the slap in the face, just don’t kick me in the groain!!
it was pretty funny two years ago when NASCAR announced the 2022 NWMT schedule and they promoted the Martinsville race as great exposure for the NWMT teams to race on a Cup weekend. the race was (and is again)on a Thursday night and most of the Cup drivers and crews won’t be on location until Friday!
funny, and a bit insulting to think that their fan base is too stupid to see things for themselves!
anyway, a very 2024 schedule!
i’m glad that Langley is gone
hopefully, Thunder Road and Dominion are added in the near future !!
The LMSC race has already been announced for the same weekend in September. So it won’t be paired with that. Nor would it really be doable with the car count that race gets.
I’m not saying there won’t be a race paired with it, just that it won’t be the valley star 300.
The big reason the race moved is that the truck series will be racing on Friday night next year. That was always the backup plan for rain on the Thursday race. The property simply can’t handle 40 Xfinity cars, 40 trucks and 40 modifieds in the same day. Especially with un moveable TV windows.
Moving to Saturday gives them options and keeps the teams from getting screwed in the case of rain. It’s NASCAR being proactive, which everyone always asks them to do.