Ranking The Modified Tour Races

Saw an item today posted in the blog of the Boston Herald’s David Exum concerning the upcoming Whelen Modified Tour opener at Thompson International Speedway.

I hate to say it David, but I have to disagree with what you said.

Exum said the upcoming Icebreaker at Thompson “is by far the tour’s biggest race of the season.”

It got me thinking about where I would rank the events. So here you go. Shawn's top-6 Modified Tour events.

1. The World Series at Thompson: The Modified Tour has had a knack of late for coming down to the wire with dramatic championship chases ending at the World Series. Coupled with the fact that the World Series has grown into one of the top short track racing weekends in the area, I’m putting this event No. 1.

2. The Sylvania 100 at New Hampshire International Speedway: September in New Hampshire usually marks the event where the contenders separate from the pretenders for the stretch run of the season. And that separation often times happens in some dramatic fashion in races that still leave fans breathless for 100 laps (or usually more).

3. The Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway: The great point races of late on the Modified Tour annually get set up at the schedule’s penultimate event, the Fall Final at Stafford. With everybody still catching their breath from the Sylvania 300, the Fall Final is usually the race that sets two combatants apart from the pack to go one-on-one for the title at Thompson.

4. The New England 100 at New Hampshire: It’s almost as if every year you kind of forget how good the Modified Tour is at NHIS then they take to track for that July event and after the first time there's 4-lead changes on a lap you quickly remember never to take your eyes off the track.

5. The Icebreaker: No disrespect to the opening event of the year, and I know it’s NASCAR so it’s fashionable to call the opener that division’s Super Bowl, but I rarely feel any sort of overriding vibe at the Icebreaker. It’s a great event mind you, everybody seems happy to be back at the track, but it’s kind of like an anticlimactic happy, like the winter’s over and we’re just relieved for that.

6. The Spring Sizzler at Stafford: The Greatest Race In The History Of Spring. I just love saying that.

Shawn Courchesne, 8:31 p.m.

Comments

[Ted Baxter]

Shawn.
You got it 4/6th's correct. Take out the Fall Final and Icebreaker, and I gotta put Martinsville and Riverhead in there. Martinsville, because of the history, both good and bad, and we need to have a great Southern track. Riverhead, also because of Long Islands Great History, but more so because Modifieds have always been awesome on tight 1/5,1/4,1/3 mile bullrings up and down the east cost. Tracks Like Islip, Freeport, Lee, Seekonk, Westboro, Holland, Waterford, Star, Wall, New Egypt, and of Course Riverside Park helped shape the landscape of what we call Modified Country up north. Yes, The Icebreaker is great, but I'll take a 1/4 Bullring race any day of the week. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.