Brian Danko's Whelen Modified Tour Report

By Brian Danko

THOMPSON, CT--------

For the third consecutive weekend, the big winner in racing has been Mother Nature as she once again caused the postponement of the World Series at the Thompson Speedway and the Waterford Speedbowl finale.

The northeast, which for most of the summer had no rain, now has seen well over two feet of rain in some parts of the New England region. As the skies have opened up and has caused havoc with schedules at Thompson, Waterford and many other race venues in the northeast.

Thompson Speedway officials postponed the race on Friday afternoon after looking at the National Weather Service and then in a conference call with officials from NASCAR in Daytona Beach, FL decided to call it and move it back to the weekend of October 28th and 29th.

The early postponement of the event meant the teams wouldn't have the long drive for nothing, a gesture I'm sure all appreciate.

With the postponement came some several significant changes to the schedule and the admission price for the now readjusted World Series.

Thompson Speedway was to host the Twin 100's this coming weekend, an event that was rained out in June and reset for October 8th. That event was to feature two 100-lap features for the NASCAR Busch North Series and the Whelen modified tour.

With the calendar and the weather turning against Thompson, they have decided to cancel the 100-lap portion of the modified tour event and add the 100 lap event for the Busch North to the World Series.

So the modified tour championship will come down to a 125 lap shoot-out between current points leader, Ted Christopher and four time series champion, Tony Hirschman.

Christopher needs to finish seventh or better to claim his first title.

Thompson Speedway officials have also announced a new reduced price schedule is in effect for the World Series.

General admission is now $35.00 and pit admission is $45.00. Originally, the pit fee was set for $75.00 and front gate general admission at $50.00 so Thompson officials have cut the prices and added the championship event for the Busch North series.

The modified tour feature is scheduled for around 3:45 while the Busch North race is set for 5 p.m. The first race of the day on Sunday is set for noon.

The World Series will now also be just a two-day event, rather than a three-day as the original schedule had been set for.

The World Series brings together over 13 different forms of racing to the Thompson Speedway which includes the Whelen modified tour, the ISMA Supermodifieds, the NEMA midgets, and other divisions such as the SK modifieds, late modifieds, outlaws and many others.

Now with the addition of the Busch North series and the price reduction, it is the race fans dream all rolled into one weekend before the snow flies.

While Thompson Speedway has been trying to get in their final show(s), the Waterford Speedbowl, located just down I-393 has been trying to get in their season finale. They had been trying not to schedule it in conflict with Thompson and they, thanks to Mother Nature have been turned back every time.

They have now settled on the date of November 5th and 6th but some of their SK drivers are scheduled to run the SK race at the North South Shoot-out in Charlotte, NC on the 5th.

Thompson officials as well as those at Waterford and NASCAR are hoping for nice weather this coming weekend. If for some chances the weather is wet again, it poses a major problem, as the Thompson Speedway is unavailable the weekend of November 5th and 6th as Don Hoenig has his traditional Swap meet.

Waterford Speedbowl would be all right, depending on what SK modified driver from Waterford head to Charlotte and the North South Shoot-out wouldn't be hurt in any way but no one wants to think about returning to Thompson in mid November.

Let's hope for some sunshine and warm weather, please.