The Silver Anniversary campaign of the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour will feature a 14-race schedule that includes stops at
NASCAR’s premier short tracks.
The schedule for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 25th
season includes races at tracks that have been staples of the
tour throughout its history, as well as an exciting new
addition. For the first time, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
will race at Tennessee’s famed Bristol Motor Speedway in a
combination event with the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
The race will be part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series August
race week.
"The 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar will again
feature premier racetracks, both in the series home base of New
England, as well as regionally," said George Silbermann, NASCAR
managing director of racing operations. “The Silver Anniversary
season of the tour will be contested on a great mixture of short
tracks, bullrings, speedways and as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
companion events."
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will visit four tracks that
held tour races in the tour’s first season: Thompson (Conn.)
International Speedway, Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway,
Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Stafford will play host to four races, highlighted by the
Spring Sizzler on Sunday, April 26 and the Fall Final on Sunday,
Oct. 4. The half-mile track has held 90 NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour races since 1985.
A fixture on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule since
the Loudon, N.H. track opened in 1990, New Hampshire Motor
Speedway will once again be the site for a pair of races on
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends. Last year’s New England 100
in June produced the closest finish in tour history when Chuck
Hossfeld edged Ted Christopher by .001 seconds. The 2009
Modified race dates are June 27 and Sept. 19.
Thompson will open the 2009 schedule on Sunday, April 5 with
the Icebreaker, and the season will also conclude at Thompson
with the World Series on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Other 2009 highlights include:
Stafford will have mid-season dates on May 22 and Aug. 7 in
addition to the Spring Sizzler and Fall Final.
New York’s sister tracks Chemung Speedrome (Aug. 29) and
Spencer Speedway (July 11) will return to the schedule for the
second year in a row. This will be the third all-time NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour race at Chemung and the sixth at Spencer.
In addition to the Icebreaker and the World Series, Thompson
will also have a race on Aug. 13.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return for the 25th
consecutive season to Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway on Saturday, Aug.
1.
Schedule Notes:
The 2009 schedule features a total of 14 dates at eight
different tracks across five states.
The Martinsville date will mark the fifth year in a row that
the event will be run as a combination race with the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour. In 2008, Martinsville played host
to the 500th race in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour history.
The Bristol date, also a combination race, will fall on the
same day as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the
track.
Bristol will become the 36th track the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour has held a race at in its 25-year history. Tennessee will
also become the 13th state to welcome the Modifieds since 1985.
Riverhead and Thompson have been part of the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour schedule in each of the series’ first 24 years.
The only year Stafford was not on the schedule was 1988.
New Hampshire has held 48 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races
all-time. Ted Christopher, 2008 series champion, has a
series-leading eight wins at the track.
The date at Chemung was moved up from the first weekend in
October in 2008 to the last weekend in August of 2009.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
(NASCAR), celebrating 60 years in 2008, is the sanctioning body
for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1
spectator sport – holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended
sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated
regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast
in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. 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 The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
The oldest and only open-wheeled division of NASCAR, the
Whelen Modified Tour features cars that 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 .25-miles to one-mile.
2009 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
SCHEDULE
Date Track
(Length)
Location
Sun., April 5 Thompson International Speedway
(.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
Sun., April 26 Stafford Motor Speedway
(.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Fri., May 22 Stafford Motor Speedway
(.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sat., June 27 New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-Mile)
Loudon, N.H.
Sat., July 11 Spencer Speedway
(.5-Mile) Williamson, N.Y.
Sat., Aug. 1 Riverhead Raceway
(.25-Mile) Riverhead, N.Y.
Fri., Aug. 7 Stafford Motor Speedway
(.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Thur., Aug. 13 Thompson International Speedway
(.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
Wed., Aug. 19*Bristol Motor Speedway
(.533-Mile) Bristol, Tenn.
Sat., Aug. 29 Chemung Speedrome
(.375-Mile) Chemung, N.Y.
Sat., Sept. 19 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
(1.058-Mile) Loudon, N.H.
Sun., Sept. 27*Martinsville Speedway
(.526-Mile) Martinsville, Va.
Sun., Oct. 4 Stafford Motor Speedway
(.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sun., Oct. 18 Thompson International Speedway
(.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
* Combination race with NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
All dates subject to change
Source: Jason
Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
Posted:
December 20, 2008
