THOMPSON – Thompson Speedway general manager Josh Vanada confirmed to RaceDayCT that management at the track has decided to cancel Friday’s scheduled NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour road course test.
The track had announced the test on May 28 and invited all teams from the Whelen Modified Tour to participate. Most teams had decided quickly not to participate.
“We’re going to call the test off due to lack of participation,” Vanada said. “What we found is that we’re not sure if it’s a result of the fact that there were as many events as there were in a short period of time or if it was lack of interest. But, we are not going to explore the test and we don’t have any plan of action for the future at this time.”
The test was scheduled to take place just after a stretch that saw Whelen Modified Tour teams participate in three events over a 12-day span. The division ran at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on May 30, at Stafford Motor Speedway on June 5 and is running at Thompson in the Mr. Rooter 125 tonight.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm when we brought it to the teams,” Vanada said. “I’m just not sure that it was just that there’s a lot going on right now or they’re second-guessing their enthusiasm.”
The Whelen Modified Tour last ran a road course event at Lime Rock Park in 2011. They also ran at Lime Rock Park in 2010. The division ran at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International six times from 1996 to 2000.
The road course at Thompson opened in 2014. The facility offers a 1.7 mile circuit that also can be optionally converted to a 1.5-mile configuration.
The fact that according to the Thompson website, teams would have to pay $150 per car to test on a track that they may not race on probably didn’t help. If you are going to “invite” teams to test to see if the track would be feasible for the WMT in a future event, then don’t charge a $150 fee per car.
They finally realized it was just not the right time for this . I would bet they will be there at the seasons end .
Bottom line here is whoever set the date did not have a clue what it takes to make a modified attempt to turn right. Just another case of it looks good on paper but won’t actually work. Someone should have done a little more research before setting the date.
It’s like inviting some people over for dinner and telling them they have to pay for the food and drinks