B Mains May Be Toughest SCoNE Races in 2012
CHESTER, VT – With a likely increase in the number of competitors and possible average car counts in to 20 to 24 ranges, the B Main or Last Chance Qualifier may just provide some of the best racing for the Sprint Cars of New England during the 2012 season.
“We really hate to send anybody home without qualifying for the A Main,” says SCoNE honcho Mike Kondrat, “but we have to strike a balance. Having more than 18 full sized, winged 360 Sprint Cars on the tracks we race on doesn’t make for a good show for the fans and almost always tears up a lot of equipment. Don’t get me wrong, there is no place we’d rather race than on the quarter miles at Canaan, Bear Ridge and Legion, but we have to use our heads too.”
Unless track operators specify otherwise, SCoNE features will be limited to 18 cars in 2012, as they were in 2011. When there are 22 or fewer cars, two heats will be run and seven cars from each heat will qualify for the A Main. The remainder will go to the B Main from which four cars will qualify. When there are 23 or more cars, three heats will be run with five cars qualifying. An additional three cars will qualify from the B Main.
In order to maintain SCoNE’s hard-won reputation as the tour that starts the fastest cars and best drivers at the back of the A Main, the current handicapping system will continue in 2012, with minor changes.
Drivers are handicapped based on championship points earned in both the heats and features for the previous three events and if a driver misses an event, 65 handicapping points are assigned. Drivers with the highest points start at the rear in heats.
In features, drivers are assigned to their handicapped starting position if they qualify through the heats; except, the driver who won the previous feature starts as the last car qualified through the heats (assuming he/she qualified through a heat). Drivers qualifying through the B Main start behind the drivers who qualified through the heats. They start the feature in the order they finished in the B Main.
The SCoNE season starts at Canaan Dirt Speedway on Friday May 18. Bear Ridge Speedway hosts the fire breathing mudslingers for the first of seven visits on Saturday May 26.
SCoNE’s first visit to Legion Speedway is on Sunday June 24.
SCoNE’s annual Triple Crown Weekend takes place at Canaan on August 31, Bear Ridge September 1 and Legion September 3.
For more information, visit nesprintcars.com.
Sources: Mark McKeon/SCONE PR