DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - What was old has become new again as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour 2016 schedules have been revealed.
Upstate New York’s Oswego Speedway and Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway have returned to the Whelen Modified Tour schedule for the coming season, reuniting the northeast-based circuit with two venues that have played an integral part of the tour’s history. Likewise, North Carolina speedplant Concord Speedway has also rejoined the Whelen Southern Modified Tour calendar for next year while East Carolina Motor Speedway is a newcomer to the southern circuit.
The 32nd season for the Whelen Modified Tour will feature nine different facilities and 17 championship races, the most for the tour since 2005. Here is a breakdown of the 2016 calendar:
• Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park will once again hold the season opening and season closing events as well as two midseason races. Each of Stafford Motor Speedway’s four traditional dates also return to the famed Nutmeg State oval.
• The Whelen Modified Tour will remain a fixture on the racing card for both New Hampshire Motor Speedway NASCAR national series weekends.
• The Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours will return to Bristol Motor Speedway for the eighth edition of the annual combination event during the popular August NASCAR race week.
• Long Island, New York’s Riverhead Raceway once again will return with events while Monadnock Speedway and New London-Waterford Speedbowl will feature one race each.
• The late spring run of consecutive Connecticut events at New London-Waterford, Stafford and Thompson returns for the second year, but is spaced out over the course of a month this time around.
• Oswego, a .625-mile oval near the shore of Lake Ontario, contested four Whelen Modified Tour races in both 1988 and 1989. Seekonk, bordering Rhode Island and its capital city Providence, held its first Whelen Modified Tour race in 1987. The .333-mile oval welcomed the tour back for five races between 2000 and 2005.
The 12th season of Whelen Southern Modified Tour competition will feature 11 points races at seven different southeastern tracks. Here’s how the 2016 schedule shakes out for the southern tour:
• North Carolina’s Caraway Speedway will once again play host to the season opener. The venerable oval will have three subsequent dates, one more than a year ago.
• A champion will once again be crowned at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking the seventh consecutive year the tour has visited the frontstretch quarter-mile at the legendary North Carolina facility.
• Virginia’s South Boston Speedway will return with two events while the famed Bowman Gray Stadium has its traditional summer showcase.
• Concord, a high-speed, half-mile tri-oval located in the heart of North Carolina’s NASCAR industry, held one previous Whelen Southern Modified Tour event in 2009.
• East Carolina’s high banks are set to play host to the first Whelen Southern Modified Tour event in its history. The D-shaped, .375-mile oval is located in Robersonville, North Carolina.
The All-Star Shootout will also return for a third season as part of the July NASCAR race weekend at New Hampshire. The non-points event features champions, race winners and Sunoco Rookies of the Year from both the Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours.
The 2015 Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tour seasons concluded in mid-October with Doug Coby and Andy Seuss the respective titlists.
2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Schedule
| Date | Track | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 4/10 | Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park | Thompson, CT |
| 4/24 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Stafford, CT |
| 5/14 | New London-Waterford Speedbowl | Waterford, CT |
| 6/3 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Stafford, CT |
| 6/15 | Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park | Thompson, CT |
| 6/25 | Riverhead Raceway | Riverhead, NY |
| 7/15 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway (All-Star Shootout) | Loudon, NH |
| 7/16 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Loudon, NH |
| 7/23 | Monadnock Speedway | Winchester, NH |
| 8/5 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Stafford, CT |
| 8/10 | Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park | Thompson, CT. |
| 8/17 | Bristol Motor Speedway (combination with NWSMT) | Bristol, TN |
| 8/27 | Riverhead Raceway | Riverhead, NY |
| 9/3 | Oswego Speedway | Oswego, NY |
| 9/10 | Seekonk Speedway | Seekonk, MA |
| 9/24 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Loudon, NH |
| 10/2 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Stafford, CT |
| 10/16 | Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park | Thompson, CT |
2016 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Schedule
| Date | Track | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 3/12 | Caraway Speedway | Sophia, NC |
| 3/19 | Concord Speedway | Concord, NC |
| 4/9 | South Boston Speedway | South Boston, VA |
| 4/16 | Caraway Speedway | Sophia, NC |
| 7/1 | Caraway Speedway | Sophia, NC |
| 8/6 | Bowman Gray Stadium | Winston-Salem, NC |
| 8/17 | Bristol Motor Speedway (combination with NWMT) | Bristol, Tn |
| 9/3 | East Carolina Motor Speedway | Robersonville, NC |
| 9/17 | South Boston Speedway | South Boston, VA |
| 9/24 | Caraway Speedway | Sophia, NC |
| 10/6 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (.25-mile) | Concord, NC |
