November 22, 2017 Speed Sport 0

16 Races For NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

Sixteen races, including two at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, have been scheduled for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. (HHP/Andrew Coppley Photo)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will feature 16 races at nine tracks next season.

The champion will once again be crowned at Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park, as the .625-mile hosts the 56th Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing on Sunday, Oct. 14.

The calendar spotlight’s some of the Northeast’s iconic short tracks, includes three fast southern venues and features the longest distance race in tour history as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour takes center stage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September for a 250-lap showdown.

“Year in and year out, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour puts on some of the most exciting and pulse-pounding action in racing, and we are looking forward to the 2018 season,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR vice president of racing operations. “We’ve made some tweaks in the dates to alleviate some of the schedule congestion and better help teams work through the season. In 2017, we saw six drivers enter the final race of the season with a shot at the title, and we’re eager to watch that high level of competition continuing next season.”

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts has been moved from August to June 2. The date change means the tour will only have one instance where it will race three weeks in a row, and will have at least a weekend off between races on 10 different occasions.

Last year, the tour began its new unified era with the season opener at Myrtle Beach. South Carolina’s semi-banked half-mile oval held its first NASCAR event in 1958, and will once again host the opener on Saturday, March 17.

Earlier this summer, NASCAR and New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced the tour will be the headliner on Saturday, Sept. 22 as part of a special event that will also include the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

The NASCAR Whelen Modifeid Tour will also visit New Hampshire in July with a championship points race as well as the annual invitational, non-points All-Star Shootout. The tour will also be part of the national series weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.

After opening at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to New England for two of the staple weekends of the early racing season: The 44rd annual Icebreaker at Thompson and the 47th annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway.

The tour will make four stops at Thompson, and three at Stafford.

The tour schedule also features two races at Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway, a bullring known for their high-intensity, close-quarters modified action, as well as return trips to New York’s Oswego Speedway and Virgina’s Langley Speedway.

2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Schedule

March 17 Myrtle Beach Speedway Myrtle Beach, S.C.

April 8 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thompson, Conn.

April 29 Stafford Motor Speedway Stafford Springs, Conn.

June 2 Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, Mass.

June 13 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thompson, Conn.

June 23 Langley Speedway Hampton, Va.

July 7 Riverhead Raceway Riverhead, N.Y.

July 20-21 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, N.H.

Aug. 3 Stafford Motor Speedway Stafford Springs, Conn.

Aug. 8 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thompson, Conn.

Aug. 15 Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tenn.