Excitement Surrounds 75-Lap WMT Race at Thompson
Thompson, CT — The excitement is building for the Thursday, June 19th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (WMT) 75-lap main event. Fans and competitors alike are looking forward to this short distance, sprint type race with great anticipation.
It has been 23 years since a race of this nature has been run by the Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson. The New England Dodge Dealers and Charter Cable, Internet and Telephone jumped at the chance to sponsor this unique event.
The race will be 75 green flag laps and will require race teams to prepare their cars for an all-out assault of hard charging competition from start to finish. This race format is throwback to what has been called the “golden era.” of NASCAR Modified racing.
“The idea of bringing back a short distance, flat out race event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is something we have been considering for some time. We continually look to bring something new and exciting to our fans. After much discussion with NASCAR, the idea of such a race has become a reality,” said track owner and promoter, Don Hoenig. “Many Whelen Modified Tour fans have enthusiastically recalled the exciting days of the hard charging, short distance WMT feature races. We hope that this race of 75 green flag laps will excite both new and long-time Whelen Modified Tour fans,” the veteran promoter concluded.
Ed Flemke, winner of the 2008 ICEBREAKER at Thompson says that he is excited about the potential of this 75-lap event. “I’m looking forward to it, said Flemke. It has the potential to be exciting and if it brings excitement and new interest to the fans, then I am all for it,” he concluded.
A full field of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars is expected to attempt to qualify for the thirty six car starting field on Thursday, June 19th. Qualifying will be by time trials which will begin at 6 PM. The Whelen Modified Tour will be joined by Thompson’s “super six” NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions in feature event only racing.
Grandstands will open at 2 PM and practice will run until 5:45 PM. The 75-lap Whelen Modified Tour race is slated to get underway at about 8:15 PM. Grandstand tickets are available in advance by calling the Thompson International Speedway track office (860)-923-2280. Complete details of the day’s activities are available on the Thompson web page www.thompsonspeedway.com.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson Int’l Speedway PR