Waterbury, VT — When Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park comes alive for the Icebreaker April 10-11, the roar of Modified engines will once again hit the high-banks. The Sunoco Modifieds and SK Light Modifieds, Thompson’s two local open-wheel divisions, are back for another year and will compete at all six events during the 2021 season. (more…)
Stafford Speedway has announced that Olson Apartments of Feeding Hills, MA will return to the track’s contingency program for the 2021 season. For the sixth consecutive season, Olson Apartments will provide a weekly $75 bonus to the third-place finisher of each SK Light feature event. Olson Apartments’ contingency bonus brings the weekly payday for 3rd place SK Light finishers up to $325. (more…)
The second round of the 2021 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship season gets underway at Road Atlanta March 26 – 28 and there’s more than a touch of spring in the air for one of the most experienced drivers on the TA2 grid; New Hampshire’s own Tom Sheehan. (more…)
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (March 24, 2021) – TeamSLR took its youth movement all the way to victory lane last Sunday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval in the TA2 class of the Trans Am ProAm Challenge. Seventeen-year-old Sam Mayer scored the win and 22-year-old teammate Connor Mosack joined him on the podium with a third-place drive (more…)
LEBANON, Tenn. (March 23, 2021) – NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Dale Jarrett visited Nashville Superspeedway on Tuesday to share their thoughts on the track, the 2021 Cup Series season, and the sport as a whole with local media during a Goodyear Tire Test. (more…)
LEBANON, Tenn. (March 23, 2021) – Rackley Roofing, one of Tennessee’s leading industrial and commercial roofing contractors, will serve as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 18 after agreeing to a multi-year deal, track officials announced today. (more…)
CONCORD, N.C. (March 22, 2021) – Officials of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program (KDDP) announced today the seven drivers who will represent the organization during the 2021 racing season. These young racers will be helping keep the memory and legacy of 1992 NASCAR Cup Champion and Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki alive, while also competing for the rich ($54,439) and prestigious annual Kulwicki Cup Championship. (more…)
Roger Penske still dreams of a sold-out Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend but hasn’t committed to a particular attendance figure if that’s not permitted by the state.
In the meanwhile, Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues to do its part to curb Indiana COVID-19 numbers by hosting a vaccination site that ran through historic Gasoline Alley. It also plans to host a mass vaccination event next month before track activity begins on May 14.
The owner of both IMS and the IndyCar Series is hopeful to present something befitting of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing after running the event behind closed doors in 2020.
“We’re not making any predictions at all because anything I would say today could be completely wrong,” Penske said during a Monday press conference. “Our goal is to have 250,000. I mean, that’s what we want to have.
“It’s outside. We’ve got the biggest stadium in the world and it’s a matter of where we’re going to be with the CDC and with the governor and the mayor. So, I don’t have any number that I’d want to hang my hat on.”
The current state positivity rate in Indiana is 3.1 percent over the past week. It’s not clear what the positivity number of vaccination percentage would need to be for Penske to get the ‘all-clear’ to host a full capacity Indianapolis 500, but his company is doing its best to be good stewards for the community by hosting a vaccination site.
The four-day mass vaccination drive took place from March 4-7 and was one of just three such locations in Indiana to do so. The IMS drive issued over 16,000 vaccinations.
“We haven’t worked out the details (for the April event) yet with the state, but we think there’s an opportunity to make a big impact here (and) give back to the community,” Penske said. “With the size of our facility and what we’re able to accomplish just in three days, we think we can really help this whole area — the city of Indianapolis and the surrounding counties.”
With the exception of the Grand Prix of Toronto, which remains an unknown, Penske anticipates every IndyCar event having fans this season. Like Indianapolis, it’s just a matter of what the state and local jurisdictions will permit.
The season opening Grand Prix of Alabama is scheduled for April 18 and will host fans. A capacity limit for the expansive road course has not been set but it will take place after the state’s mask order will be lifted the week before.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida on April 25 will permit 20,000 fans, equal to the number allowed for the season finale in October. The event at Texas Motor Speedway will likely have as many fans as they sell tickets for with a facility that’s capable of hosting up to 181,655 fans.
“What we’re doing with each of the promoters is based off what the local rules are,” Penske said. “We’re going to have the sponsor capability with the teams. We’ve limited some of the hard cards, etc., but they’re flexible and the promoter will decide how many fans we’ll have.”
“I’m very fortunate to get hooked up with Larry through PJ Fearns and Viper Graphics,” Max Zachem, who has seven previous Tri Track starts, said. “Larry sponsored us last year at Stafford Motor Speedway and we got to know Larry and his dad well. He’s doing this with nothing but class-a equipment. There’s no reason we can’t go run top-five and top-10 and be there to win.”
Zachem has previous Modified experience, but hopes to take a brand new LFR Chassis to Victory Lane with Westgate. With the help of Lu-Mac’s Package Store, his family, friends and crew, he’s hoping this will be a breakthrough year for him as a driver. The team will also run the Outlaw Open Modified Series event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on April 11 to get their feet wet together, before starting the Tri Track season on May 1.
“I’d love to get a win, we’re going to have the right equipment and the right people,” Zachem said. “You have to have it all work out at the track. You have to be there at the end with 10 to go and put yourself in the right spot. We’ve always run well at all of the tracks — it always seems like I’m in the top-five at Star in the SBM race with 30 to go and something happens. I definitely have Monadnock circled on the schedule, and enjoy Seekonk.”
Kievman, who will also be running Tri Track inside the All Phases Renovations race team, is appreciative of Westgate and his group jumping on board for the season.
“I think it’s exciting anytime that someone wants to pump money into racing, especially Modified racing,” he said. “I appreciate Larry and All Phases Renovations picking us to support this year.”
Kievman, who has been involved in racing as a driver for more than 30 years, has multiple Late Model and Super Late Model wins, and even a few Late Model championships as part of his team. But he’s yet to taste the winning glory in the Modifieds, something he is hoping to change during the 2021 season. The team already opened their year in the SMART Tour race at Caraway Speedway in March, where they finished 10th.
“We don’t unload at any race track anywhere without the intention of winning the race,” Kievman continued. “It hasn’t happened for me yet, but I have a room full of trophies at home, and Modifieds have been a steep learning curve. But that’s not going to stop us — I don’t intend to quit Modified racing until I win high-profile races. I want to race against and beat the best.”
Kievman also has support from A-Best Forklift, Viper Graphics, Billy the Kid Engines and others. Zachem’s career has been based on running for his family-owned team, and those crew members will follow him.
“I couldn’t do it without my dad and my race team,” Zachem said. “I’m fortunate to have good people involved.”
For more information on the Tri Track Open Modified Series, visit tritrackmodifieds.com and follow the series on social media channels.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 23, 2021) – VP Racing Fuels, best known as the World Leader in Fuel Technology®, has joined Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as an official supplier to the six-race short-track series that will debut this summer on Saturday nights in primetime on CBS. (more…)
