The Modified Tours have always been an integral part of
NASCAR racing, dating back to the first race in NASCAR history
in 1948. As NASCAR celebrates 60 years of racing and 60 years of
Modified champions, the 2008 schedules for both the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
enable the series to race at some of the best short tracks in
America and revisit some of the roots of the sport.
“The schedules for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour are very strong. They encompass
new markets and position both series well for the future,” said
George Silbermann, NASCAR’s managing director of racing
operations. “With the support of Whelen Engineering, a terrific
group of track promoters and a strong field of competitors,
we’re looking forward to continued excitement and close racing
throughout the season.”
The 16-race, eight-track NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule
will begin and end at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway –
a track that first opened in 1940 and has always been an
important stop for Modified drivers touring the northeast. The
Tour will take the green flag April 5-6 with the traditional
season-opening Icebreaker, and conclude Oct. 17-18 as part of
the track’s World Series.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour kicks off its fourth
season March 22 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., and will
conclude Oct. 4 at the .455-mile oval . The schedule features 13
races at seven different tracks.
The two Tour schedules also include the fourth annual Made In
America Whelen 300 Sept. 21 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the
combination event with the two series.
Other key dates:
- The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will make five stops at
the historic 3/8-mile Thompson International Speedway. In
addition to the Icebreaker and World Series, the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour will run at Thompson July 19, Aug. 14,
and Sept. 6. The July race will be run under a unique
format, where for the first time it will be run as a 75-lap
event where only green flag laps are counted.
- The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will also feature four
races at the traditional half-mile of Stafford (Conn.) Motor
Speedway. The first race will be April 27 as the main event
of Stafford’s Spring Sizzler weekend. The Tour will return
to Stafford May 23 and Aug. 8. The final race of the season
at Stafford will be Sept. 28 as part of the track’s Fall
Final weekend and will run in conjunction with the NASCAR
Grand National Division, East Series.
- The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule features three
stops to the state of New York – a traditional hotbed of
Modified racing. The Whelen Modified Tour will run on Long
Island Aug. 2 at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, a track that has
been part of the NASCAR racing schedule for more than 50
years. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will make two trips
to upstate New York with races at Spencer Speedway in
Williamson July 12 and Chemung Speedrome Oct. 4.
- The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will make two stops at
the Magic Mile – New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 28 and
Sept. 13) – as part of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends.
The Tour will also make a return trip to Mansfield (Ohio)
Motorsports Park in conjunction with the NASCAR Grand
National Division, East Series.
- The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, in its fourth
season, will also feature several stops at tracks that date
back to the earliest days of NASCAR, highlighted by its
annual midseason visit to historic Bowman-Gray Stadium in
Winston-Salem, N.C., the .25-mile oval that features
tremendous side-by-side, short-track Modified racing.
- In addition to the season opener and finale, the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour will make four more stops at
Caraway – April 12, April 19, July 4, and Sept. 6.
- For the first time, the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour will race at the 3/8-mile Lanier National Speedway in
Braselton, Ga. Lanier opened in 1982 and is considered to be
Georgia’s premier short-track facility.
- The early-season portion of the NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified schedule includes stops at three of the fastest
tracks in the southeast: March 29 at the high-bank 4/10-mile
oval of Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, N.C.; April
5 at South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway, which has
been hosting NASCAR races since 1957; and the first of two
stops at the tight, high-speed 4/10-mile of Ace Speedway in
Altamahaw, N.C. Ace, which also hosts a Whelen Southern
Modified event Sept. 19, has a history of NASCAR racing
dating back to the 1950s.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
(NASCAR), which began in 1948, is the sanctioning body for one
of America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator
sport – holding 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the
U.S. and the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television with
broadcasts in more than 100 countries. NASCAR fans are the most
brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500
companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.
About NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours
The oldest touring series – and the only open-wheeled
division – of NASCAR, the Whelen Modified Tour cars weigh 2,610
pounds and have a wheelbase of 107 inches. Whelen Modified Tour
cars drive on wide Hoosier bias-play tires, while power is
provided by “small block” 350 to 360 cubic-inch engines. The
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour holds races throughout the
northeast, on tracks ranging in size from a 1/4-mile to
one-mile. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour was
established in 2005. While the Tour itself was a new addition,
Modified teams have competed in championship events up and down
the east coast since the earliest days of NASCAR.
For more information contact: Jason Christley, NASCAR Public
Relations, (386) 947-6788 or
jchristley@nascar.com
2008 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SCHEDULE
Date
Site
Location
April 6 Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
April 27 Stafford Motor
Speedway Stafford, Conn.
May 23 Stafford Motor
Speedway Stafford, Conn.
June 19 Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
June 28 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H..
July 12 Spencer
Speedway Williamson, N.Y.
Aug. 2 Riverhead
Speedway Riverhead, N.Y.
Aug. 8 Stafford Motor
Speedway Stafford, Conn.
Aug. 14 Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
Aug. 23 Mansfield Motorsports
Park Mansfield, Ohio
Sept. 7 Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
Sept. 13 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H.
Sept. 21 Martinsville
Speedway Martinsville, Va.
Sept. 28 Stafford Motor
Speedway Stafford, Conn.
Oct. 4 Chemung Speedrome
Chemung, N.Y.
Oct. 19 Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
2008 NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED TOUR
Date
Site
Location
March 22 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
March 29 Southern National Raceway Park
Kenly, N.C.
April 5 Greenville-Pickens
Speedway Greenville, S.C.
April 11 Ace
Speedway Altamahaw,
N.C.
April 12 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
April 19 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
July 4 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
Aug. 2 Bowman-Gray
Stadium Winston-Salem, N.C.
Aug. 30 Lanier National
Speedway Braselton, Ga.
Sept. 6 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
Sept. 19 Ace
Speedway Altamahaw,
N.C.
Sept. 21 Martinsville
Speedway Martinsville, Va.
Oct. 4 Caraway
Speedway Asheboro, N.C.
Subject to Change
Source: Jason
Christley/NASCAR PR
Posted:
December 15, 2007
