| Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
| Still Growing: Whelen Southern Modified Tour | Tour enters fourth year of successful starts
The growth of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, entering only its fourth season of competition, has been nothing short of remarkable and proof that short-track racing is still very much alive and well.
While one might consider any major NASCAR touring series still to be in its infancy after only three short seasons, that’s not the case as the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s progressive and explosive growth in that short time has been a remarkable story.
History is expected to be made this Saturday night at the famed Caraway Speedway when the largest amount of cars in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour competition are vying for 26 starting positions in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour 150. There will also be a number of top Whelen Modified Tour competitors on hand at Caraway to help their southern counterparts kick off the 2008 season.
By the number of early entry blanks already turned in for the 2008 season-opener at Caraway, there will be a record number of teams and as a result, several drivers that will fail to qualify for the 26-car field will be forced to watch from the sidelines.
It’s a trend many top NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour veterans expect to see continue into the season with increased interest from many up-coming-drivers as the tour has become a viable outlet in making a name for themselves in the racing world.
“It got to the point last year for the first time where we had full fields of cars and there would be very good cars and drivers that didn’t qualify,” said L.W. Miller, the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion. “I really have a feeling we’re going to be seeing that more this year because the Whelen Southern Modified Tour has grown so much in a very short amount of time. I really think we’re going to see 30 cars or more this Saturday night at Caraway.”
Miller said while it’s tough to send cars home, it’s a necessity for the continued growth of the Tour’s future.
“It’s hard to say it but that’s good for our series and shows how far the NASCAR Whelen Southern Whelen Modified Tour has grown,” Miller explains. “It’s all a credit to NASCAR as well as Whelen for putting their support behind us and making things bigger and better every year.
“It shows how strong the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour has become when you have top names from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour that want to come to Caraway and race against us like they are this Saturday night.
“There’s a reason those guys want to come down – the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is good racing.”
The numbers behind the growth of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour are impressive. In its inaugural season in 2005, the car count for a 12-race schedule averaged out to be about 17 cars per race.
In 2007, there was an average of almost 22 cars for each event that year in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour competition, with a season-high of 30 cars last year for the season-opener at Caraway.
"The growth of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour in just three seasons has been great,” said Mark Suddreth, director of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. “The car counts keep going up every year and there are more and more fans in the grandstands every week.
“The clean and hard racing that these teams deliver, along with the long-term commitment from Whelen and NASCAR will help guarantee the continued growth of the Tour.
“I’ve been with this Tour since the beginning and it’s really neat to look back to where we started from in 2005 and we where we are now.”
During the offseason, NASCAR and series sponsor Whelen Engineering of Connecticut announced the extension of the sponsorship agreement to 2016 – providing a solid future for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour to continue its growth.
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