2008 NASCAR Whelen Modfied Tour Schedule Announced
Tradition Continues For NASCAR’s Oldest Division
Daytona Beach, FL — 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.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR
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