NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 2009 Schedule Announced
August visit to Bristol added to the slate
Daytona Beach, FL — 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.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
2009 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SCHEDULE
Date Track (Length) Location
Sunday, April 5 Thompson International Speedway (.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
Sunday, April 26 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Friday, May 22 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Saturday, June 27 New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-Mile) Loudon, N.H.
Saturday, July 11 Spencer Speedway (.5-Mile) Williamson, N.Y.
Saturday, Aug. 1 Riverhead Raceway (.25-Mile) Riverhead, N.Y.
Friday, Aug. 7 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Thursday, Aug. 13 Thompson International Speedway (.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
Wednesday, Aug. 19 * Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-Mile) Bristol, Tenn.
Saturday, Aug. 29 Chemung Speedrome (.375-Mile) Chemung, N.Y.
Saturday, Sept. 19 New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-Mile) Loudon, N.H.
Sunday, Sept. 27 * Martinsville Speedway (.526-Mile) Martinsville, Va.
Sunday, Oct. 4 Stafford Motor Speedway (.5-Mile) Stafford, Conn.
Sunday, Oct. 18 Thompson International Speedway (.625-Mile) Thompson, Conn.
* Combination race with NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
All dates subject to change