As the 2017 Spring Season rolls on, we have added a pair of major races to the schedule for a couple of our divisions, plus we have added some more details on a pair of our Sportsman Series races.
Modified Series – Thelemic Printshop World Series 200
We have partnered up with EastWest Promotions to put on their second major Tour Modified event of the year. The ground-pounding modifieds will take on the New Smyrna Speedway for a 200-lap race on Sunday, February 19th. This event has been added to the Dunleavy’s Modified Series schedule, but will be a non-points event as drivers will instead race for purse and prize money. Thelemic Printshop has come on board to be the title sponsor of the event, while Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair has also partnered up for the event.
Practice will open up at 7:00 PM Eastern for 30 minutes, then at 7:30 qualifying will begin for two rounds of single car Time Trials. In the first round of Time Trials, drivers will put down their best laps to lock in the top 20 cars. In round two, any drivers that qualified outside the top 20, will get another shot to re-qualify, and the top six drivers from that group will also lock themselves into the feature. To finish things off, the top 12 drivers from Time Trials will battle it out in the Pole Dash, a short race for those drivers to battle it out to win the Pole Dash, and the chance to improve their qualifying positions before the 200-lap feature. The Pole Dash, the the main event will take place immediately after Time Trials.
The race will be broadcasted by GripTV.
Registration is required for the event, so to sign up, and for more information on the Thelemic Printshop World Series 200, click HERE.
Sportsman Series – Callaway Investments Championship 200
When the 2017 Spring Season winds down and we get ready to crown a champion, the Callaway Investments Sportsman Series will run their longest race in league history with a 200-lap feature event at Lanier to close out the season. Callaway Investments, a long-time SARA partner, has come on board as the title sponsor of this race, which will take place on Tuesday, April 18th. This will be a points event for the Sportsman Series regulars, as they will get their turn to shine in a broadcasted event with the Digital Forge Broadcasting Network providing the coverage.
In the event that we get a larger car count for this race at the end of the season, we will adjust the qualifying procedure to guarantee that drivers atop the standings will be locked into the race, while other drivers will have to qualify to fill out the remaining spots. More details about the qualifying procedure will be released closer to the event.
Sportsman Series – Michigan and Daytona Race Details
Michigan – As we get ready to make our first trip to the Michigan International Speedway next week in the Callaway Investments Sportsman Series, league officials have released some more details for the upcoming event. With the race at Michigan falling outside of our normal style of running short-tracks, this event will be a fixed-setup race. The racing at this track will include plenty of drafting, side-by-side racing, and non-stop action throughout the race, and due to the track being 2-miles in size, we want the drivers to race it out for the victory, rather than the setup being the deciding factor in the outcome. Michigan will be a great equalizer for those drivers who sometimes feel off the pace, and a fixed setup will also help with that as well. We will be using the “charlotte_quadoval” fixed iRacing setup, with a 3.15 gear change.
In addition to the Michigan event being a fixed-setup race, one fast reset will be allowed, and also one set of tires will be available at a halfway break. We will also turn off iRacing cautions for the event and will use manual cautions throughout the race, meaning the race will be 50-green flag laps, but we will be manually calling out cautions when major incidents happen. Once a caution is called out and the field bunches up, drivers will be given a maximum of three laps under caution for drivers to get down pit road to get their fast reset if they have one, or make repairs, before we go back to green. At the halfway point of the race (the completion of lap 25), or if a caution comes out close to that point, we will allow all drivers to head down pit road for a new set of tires. This will be the ONLY time tires will be allowed, so if a driver doesn’t get them at that time, they will not be allowed to take them later.
Check out the preview in the video posted to get a glimpse of the action that can be expected next week. As long as drivers are patient and make smart moves, this race will be the best race and one of the closest finishes we’ll have this season.
Daytona Short Road Course – In two weeks, the division will make the only trip of the season to a road course, running a 42-lap race at the Daytona Short Road Course. As we have done with previous road course races in the league, we will be using a fuel limit. This limit it being place at 7 gallons, which will be plenty to make it past halfway in the race, but won’t be enough to make it to the finish. This will force drivers down pit road to take on more gas. One set of tires will be allowed for this race, but aren’t mandatory which will mean that drivers will have to choose whether or not taking the tire will be worth a little extra time on pit road.