 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(January 2017) |
Supermodifieds are a class of open wheel race car that compete on paved short tracks throughout the United States of America and Canada. The class was founded in the 1950s and is especially popular in the Western states, the Northeast and Great Lakes regions.
Supermodifieds are generally constructed from aircraft-quality .095 thick chromium-molybdenum ("chromoly") frame tubing with steel and aluminum components. The bodies are fabricated from fiberglass and aluminum. The cars are powered by American fuel-injected V8 engines that run on methanol fuel and can produce in excess of 800 horsepower. At a weight of around 1,850 pounds the cars achieve an enormous power-to-weight ratio. [1] Big block V8 engines are also sanctioned and are primarily raced on the west coast, with nearly all competitors choose to run aluminum small blocks ranging from 410 to 430 cu. in., whereas the cars of the east run the mandatory cast iron big block with aluminum heads bored to the allowable maximum displacement of 468 cu. in. Cars in the midwest can run small blocks up to 412 cu. in. or big blocks up to 481 cu. in. [1]
Modern era supermodifieds run a radical offset chassis that is up to 18 in. to the left of center. The engine and driveline components themselves are mounted in a specially-fabricated area placed outside the left side frame rails. The engine is thus a stressed member of the chassis. This allows weight distribution to favor the left side (often as much as 70%) and thereby aid cornering around the left-hand turns of an oval track. The giant wings, (generally 24 sq ft (2.2 m2)' max), mounted on the roll cage of the cars bear a resemblance to those found on sprint cars and serve a similar purpose, designed to produce down force and allow them to make tight turns at high speed. The west coast style cars of ERA and SMRA run a fixed wing, whereas the cars of the east generally run a wing mounted to the suspension or chassis by pneumatic struts. The racing slick tires used on a supermodified are among the widest used in pavement oval racing.
Like sprint cars, supermodifieds do not have starters, batteries, or transmissions and are push-started.
The combination of high power, light weight, and high cornering ability allow supermodifieds to average over 120 miles per hour (190 km/h) on a 1/2-mile oval and 150 mph (240 km/h) on a 1-mile (1.6 km) oval, with top speeds over 190 mph (310 km/h).
The largest of the four is the Liverpool, New York-based International Supermodified Association (ISMA). Founded in 1974 by multi-time Oswego Speedway champions Jim Shampine and Nolan Swift to ensure the future of supermodified racing. With the help of local businessman, Tom Heveron, they formed ISMA as a forum for owners and drivers to express their ideas and opinions as they felt that they were not allowed to do so under the management of Oswego Speedway.
The goals were to upgrade supermodified racing with better safety conditions, more events per season to insure sufficient purses and to aid drivers with their race related problems. The association worked with track managements in making decisions and in discussing ways of improvement. The club encouraged new drivers and owners interested other tracks in supermodified racing and helped to make the division stronger and more well known to a wider audience.
Tom Heveron as president, with the help of Vice President, Jim Shampine and Secretary/Treasurer Fred Graves, led ISMA through its developmental stages. ISMA negotiated with Lancaster for a 40 lap race held on July 3, 1974, which Todd Gibson of Richwood, OH won. The following year ISMA booked races at Fulton Speedway with a $5,000 purse and $1,000 to win.
Starting in 1976, ISMA developed a point fund with tracks contributing $500– $1,000 per race to this fund. Unlike most other point systems, ISMA awards points to the car owners as ISMA is an owners club rather than drivers. Joining the Heveron, Shampine and Graves team, Shirley Letcher took over the responsibility for the point system. In just three seasons, ISMA had accomplished sanctioning over $96,000 in purse money and races, adding a point fund of $4,400 paid by promoters, having tow money at all of the ISMA sanctioned races, having insurance certificates from each promoter on file, and working with other promoters for more races in 1977. With races at Fulton (NY), Delaware (Ont. CAN), Star(NH), Flamboro(Ont. CAN), and Thompson(CT), Steve Gioia, Jr. became ISMA's first points Champion.
ISMA continues to be at the forefront of supermodified sanctioning bodies, pioneering the franchise system, in which teams purchase a franchise at the beginning of the season. Creating a win-win situation for both the teams and promoters, each of the 19 franchise teams are allowed to miss up to 3 shows during the race season while being guaranteed a minimum starting purse of $1,000 at each event. This system helps to ensure solid, stable car counts and a successful event for the promoter.
ISMA generally sanctions between 13 and 17 shows a year including two of the prestigious supermodified Triple Crown Series at 1/4-5/8 mile paved short tracks located in 6 states and Canada.
Major events on the ISMA schedule include leg one of the supermodified 'Triple Crown' the Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals, held annually at Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway since 1978, and leg three of the Triple Crown, the Star Classic 150 held at Star Speedway in Epping, NH for over 40 years. Races are also run at other tracks across the Northeast and Midwest, including Delaware Speedway in Ontario, Canada.
The cars in this series use wings that are designed to move with the airflow over the car, lying almost level with the ground on straightaways creating less aerodynamic drag, and standing up in the turns to increase down force. The only allowable engine with ISMA is a cast iron big block up to 468 cu. in. Aluminum heads are allowed and the cars must weigh a mandatory 1,850 lb (840 kg) post race.
Notable ISMA competitors, past and present, include Russ Wood (eight championships), Chris Perley (six championships), Bentley Warren (four championships), Doug Heveron (four championships), Steve Gioia Jr. (four championships), Pat Abold (three championships), Joe Gosek (two championships) and Mike Ordway Sr. (two championships). Canadian champions include Dave McKnight Jr. (2001) and Mike Lichty (2012 & 2019). As of the end of the 2020 season, the top five drivers for all-time ISMA feature wins are Chris Perley (74), Russ Wood (54), Bentley Warren (45), Mike Ordway Sr. (36) and Joe Gosek (30).
Established in 2001, the Sandusky, Ohio-based Midwest Supermodified Series (MSS; formerly the Midwest Supermodified Association - MSA) runs primarily in Ohio. MSS drivers frequently take part in ISMA races and vice versa. Notable MSS champions include Tim Jedrzejek (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009), Trent Stephens (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014) and Dave Shullick Jr. (2005, 2006 and 2007). Dave Shullick Jr. has also won two ISMA championships (2015 and 2016) and one Oswego Speedway championship (2017).
The Super Modified Racing Association (SMRA) governed supermodified racing in the Western United States during 2008–2011. The SMRA grew from the defunct Western States Supermodified Racing League (WSSRL), which ran one season in 2007 at tracks in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah and Washington before disbanding. Of these tracks, only Rocky Mountain Raceway in Utah and Madera Speedway in California have returned, with a third track, Magic Valley Speedway in Idaho, made up the 2008 SMRA schedule.
The SMRA had a much more liberal rulebook than its eastern counterparts, with less restrictions on engine placement (rear-engine cars were universally banned in the 1980s) and allowing other such advancements as independent suspension.
The SMRA ceased operations in early 2011 and no sanctioning currently exists in California. Nearly half the races scheduled for 2011 were cancelled due to a shortage of entries.
The oldest of the four sanctioning bodies for supermodified racing is the Colorado-only Englewood Racing Association, which was formed in 1965 at Englewood Speedway. That track closed in 1979 and following its closure the series ran a 9-race schedule, all of which were run at Colorado National Speedway (CNS) in Dacono, Colorado until Sunday, May 29, 2016.
A tech inspection for the May 29th 2016 race revealed one car in the Supermodified class had an incorrect muffler installed on the car. This did not offer a competitive advantage and the car was allowed to run on that day but a correct muffler would have to be installed if the car wanted to compete on a future race date. "Representatives from the ERA SM club disagreed with the CNS decision, and stated in an ultimatum that if the non-conforming car was allowed to compete, the club would pack up and leave for the evening. Based upon these hostilities, CNS Officials responded that if the club chose not to compete on the 29th, it would not be welcome back at the track for the remainder of the 2016 racing season. After a number of the ERA SM club members loaded and left the track in protest, CNS determined that such behavior was detrimental to the sport and spirit of competition, and therefore decided to remove the SM Division from the 2016 racing schedule." [2] Following this disagreement in 2016 there has been very few Supermodified races at CNS.
The ERA Supermodifieds now primarily race at I-25 Speedway an asphalt 1/4 mile high banked oval in Pueblo, CO. Some of the regular Colorado Supermodified ERA drivers have raced their cars at the Meridian Speedway in Meridian Idaho in non ERA sanctioned races.
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately 0.25 to 2.66 miles. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southern United States; its largest governing body is NASCAR. Its NASCAR Cup Series is the premier top-level series of professional stock car racing. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom also have forms of stock car racing. Top-level races typically range between 200 and 600 miles in length.
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most continents. There is a worldwide tour and national midget tours in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorcycles. Two different types of race cars dominate — open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the Midwest and South. While open wheel race cars are purpose-built racing vehicles, stock cars can be either purpose-built race cars or street vehicles that have been modified to varying degrees. There are hundreds of local and regional racetracks throughout the nation. The sport is also popular in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.
The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in their ASA Member Track program along with racing series in the United States and Canada.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a 5⁄8 mi (1.0 km) paved oval racetrack and a 1.700 mi (2.736 km) road racing course. Once known as the "Indianapolis of the East", it was the first asphalt-paved racing oval track in the United States and is now under the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Pro All Star Series (P.A.S.S) banners. Both of these sanctioning bodies are the current operators of the oval track, which was leased by them starting in October of 2020. Each year, Thompson hosts one of the great fall variety events "The World Series of Speedway Racing" highlighted by the New England Supermodified Series (NESS), and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. This event frequently draws over 300 race cars in 15 separate divisions over three days. Thompson currently hosts the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour three times a year, and has also hosted various SCCA sports car races between 1957 and 1972, NASCAR Grand National series races between 1951 and 1970, and two SCCA F5000 events in 1968 and 1969.
Star Speedway is a short-track oval race track located in Epping, New Hampshire. It hosts a tour-type modified stock car racing division under the management of the Webber family.
Shangri-La Speedway was a speedway in Owego, New York. It was a half-mile (0.8 km) oval race track facility. Over a span of fifty years, Shangri-La hosted automobile races of various kinds, AAA Championship Cars, stock cars, Modifieds, Supermodifieds, and supporting classes. Shangri-La's weekly racing was widely considered among the best in the sport during several different periods, including years when nine-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Richie Evans and six-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Jerry Cook were regulars. The facility also included an eighth-mile (0.2 km) drag strip and a tenth-mile oval track for microds. Its formal name was changed to Shangri-La Motor Speedway and to Tioga Motorsports Park, but most racers and fans still referred to it as "Shangri-La".
The Jukasa Motor Speedway was an auto racing track located near Cayuga in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Modified Division is NASCAR's oldest division, and is the only open-wheeled division that NASCAR sanctions. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events are mainly held in the northeastern United States, but the 2007 and 2008 tours expanded to the Midwest with the addition of a race in Mansfield, Ohio. The tour races primarily on short oval paved tracks, but the NWMT also has made appearances at larger ovals and road courses.
Bentley Warren, is an American racecar driver. He is best known for racing in the USAC Championship Car series, and for some New Englanders, even more so for his racing in the Supermodified winged cars, now called ISMA. During the 1970s, he twice raced in the Indianapolis 500.
Delaware Speedway is a half-mile paved race track that is one of the oldest continuously operating tracks in Canada. It is located a few minutes west of London, Ontario northeast of Delaware, Ontario. It hosts stock car racing every Friday night during the summer. The track opened in 1952 as a quarter-mile dirt track that was paved in 1960. In August 1969, the track was expanded to a 1/2 mile paved oval and continues today.
The Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC Silver Crown Series. Since 2016, it is temporarily covered with dirt at the end of the season in September to host Super DIRT Week, featuring the Syracuse 200 Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds. The track is the Labor Day Weekend home of the 200-lap, non-wing, big-block supermodified Budweiser Classic and Race of Champions.
Sandusky Speedway is a half-mile automobile race track located south of the city of Sandusky in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio, United States. The track features low banking in the turns and long straightaways. It has a layout similar to Martinsville Speedway.
Douglas Wayne Heveron is an American race car driver from Liverpool, New York. He has driven Supermodifieds, modifieds, IndyCars, NASCAR Winston Cup cars, NASCAR Busch Grand National cars, Sprint Cars, Late Models, and Midgets.
Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name.
The International Supermodified Association (ISMA) is a sanctioning body of short track auto racing in the United States. It is the largest sanctioning body of supermodified racing, an open wheel discipline popular in Upstate New York.
Monadnock Speedway is a paved one-quarter-mile (0.40 km) oval race track in Winchester, New Hampshire. Located south of Keene, the track is nestled between New Hampshire Route 10 and the Ashuelot River.