The New England Truck Series has introduced a number of significant changes in the series’ just released 2014 rulebook. The biggest change is a transition to crate engines by 2015. Paired with newly allowed manual transmissions and available new spec chassis, the series expects to attract new teams and drivers. Utilizing the same engine and transmission package as many modified and late model divisions means affording drivers more upward mobility while giving them valuable experience at tracks like Thompson Motorsports Park, Waterford Speedbowl, and Monadnock Speedway. <\/p>\n
By giving drivers as young as 14 the opportunity to run the same engine and transmission combination that many other divisions are using, Series Director Lorraine Pard feels the region’s truck tour is heading for a growth spurt. \u201cThe past few years we’ve admittedly struggled finding our identity. But I believe the changes we are making will better position NETS as division where new drivers will be able to thrive and not worry about investing in an engine or transmission that is only usable here. We want to see new drivers driving new trucks, developing skills, winning races, and when the time is right give them the ability to easily take that investment to Modifieds and Late Models if that’s where they want to go.\u201d
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\n Moving to the Chevrolet crate motor program also represents the opportunity to control costs for all competitors who call the New England Truck Series home. \u201cThe crate motor is the way of the future for affordable racing,\u201d continues Pard. \u201cOur series has traditionally run motors built by multiple manufacturers, but the costs associated with building a Dodge, Ford, or even the Chevy 305 powerplant have skyrocketed to the point where it really doesn’t make economic sense for our teams to build and maintain them when there are other options available. The crate motor has its detractors, but for this series I think it’s the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re not looking to keep people from racing,\u201d says race director Chris Austill. \u201cQuite the opposite. We want to work with competitors to create a level and affordable playing field. We invite teams to talk with us. We don’t want someone to feel they can’t come out and race because they have a Ford engine in their race truck and don’t want to buy a crate [engine]. We hope that they will keep coming to race with us \u2013 but when the time comes to refresh that engine they’ll see a crate engine program that will save them money down the line, and want to make that investment.\u201dTeams who competed in 2013 may continue to use \u201copen\u201d motors indefinitely, however those joining the division in 2014 and beyond are expected to transition to the series’ crate motor rules in 2015.<\/p>\n
Series officials stress that the NETS position on crate engines is no different than existing engines. \u201cA crate engine seal does not excuse us from doing our job as officials,\u201d says Austill. \u201cWhile we don’t want to tear apart engines for no reason and cost our teams money to reassemble them, we also let all our competitors know that just because an engine is sealed does not mean we aren’t going to inspect it. We will open the engine up if we feel we need to. Maintaining a level playing field takes work, and as a series we are dedicated to making sure each racer knows that we will do what is necessary to maintain parity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The New England Truck Series will be at The Racers Expo this weekend to discuss the 2014 rulebook, register competitors, and take deposits for new race chassis. The northeast’s largest racing only trade show takes place Friday, February 7, 2014 and Saturday, February 8th at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlboro MA. NETS kicks off it’s season at Waterford Speedbowl on March 28th and 29th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The New England Truck Series has introduced a number of significant changes in the series’ just released 2014 rulebook. The biggest change is a transition to crate engines by 2015. Paired with newly allowed manual transmissions and available new spec chassis, the series expects to attract new teams and drivers. Utilizing the same engine and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[15499],"class_list":["post-15217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-england","tag-new-england-truck-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15217\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}