RACE OF CHAMPIONS SERIES MANAGEMENT POINTS LATE MODEL RACING IN THE REGION IN A NEW DIRECTION WITH HELP FROM PARTICIPANTS
– First Race under New Format to take place Saturday, August 28 at Holland International Speedway –
Buffalo, N.Y. – (August 10., 2021) – Race of Champions Series management was approached by several different active Late Model teams, seeking a change in how the division operates and is managed with a patterned growth in mind.
The format will be simple, but it will change the “optics” of the division locally. In 2022 a schedule will be released prior to the season, with two races “bookending” the season that will pay a traditional Late Model purse. Series management will seek a third race to place on the schedule that will pay the traditional purse. There is an initial goal of an additional four races to add to the Late Model schedule.
In between the two races, there will be point races that pay a minimum purse, where teams will only be eligible to purchase one tire. Those races will pay a maximum of $800-to-win and a minimum of $100-to-start, making the limited car fields more affordable and attractive for the event promoters.
Under the current conditions, the limited fields and high purses have forced promoters into different options. The promises of the high purse producing additional competitors has not been met, therefore a new approach was needed.
Eldon King, III of Delevan, N.Y.; Sam Fullone of North Collins, N.Y.; Joe Mancuso of Buffalo, N.Y., and multi-car owner and FOAR Score Hall of Fame inductee, Bill Eschborn of Buffalo, N.Y., agreed in principle to the concept.
“Late Model racing has been a staple of racing in Western New York,” stated Joe Skotnicki, Race of Champions. “It has been led off path with little structure. After meeting with this group, each individual is vested and extremely passionate about Late Model racing in our region, we were able to come up with a plan that can and more importantly will work for the division. We understand that it will take time, however we are committed to seeing this through as we have done with many other things.”
The first race that will be run under the new conditions and format will be the race at Holland International Speedway on Saturday, August 28. Originally scheduled to be the Rick Wylie Classic, the family and Series management made a change to make it a Race of Champions Super Stock race with the goal to return to being a Late Model race in the future.
The new format, will see the Late Models compete in a 25-lap event, paying $800-to-win, with teams only being able to purchase one new tire, as many competitors in the area already have an existing inventory of tires.
The Race of Champions is a sanctioning body presenting Modified and Stock Car racing on asphalt and dirt surfaces throughout the Northeast, with events in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey with primary marketing partners Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Waddell Communications, Image X Graphic Deisgn, Sherwood Racing Wheels, DirtTrackDigest.com, FX Caprara and Billy Whittaker Ford. The 71st annual Race of Champions weekend will take place in 2021 at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pennsylvania and is the second longest consecutive auto-racing event in North America, second only to the Indianapolis 500.
For more information, contact Race of Champions Media at media@rocmodifiedseries.com
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Sources: ROC PR