{"id":17355,"date":"2014-12-01T22:02:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T03:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=17355"},"modified":"2014-12-03T22:03:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T03:03:43","slug":"thompson-speedway-motorsports-park-releases-innovative-2015-short-track-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/thompson-speedway-motorsports-park-releases-innovative-2015-short-track-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Releases Innovative 2015 Short Track Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thompson<\/a>Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Releases Innovative 2015 Short Track Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thompson, CT – Officials from Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) \u2013 the famed 5\/8-mile speedway in Connecticut\u2019s quiet corner \u2013 released a creative and innovative seven (7) event schedule today, featuring twelve different touring series and sanctioning bodies, and boasting over $500,000 in posted awards. Two weekend events, and a five event Wednesday summer series \u2013 with four rain dates \u2013 make up the calendar. The schedule is highlighted by four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) events, two new Triple Crown Series, and significant enhancements to the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of effort went into taking a fresh look at the schedule, and providing the best events we could for our race teams and fans. We have some traditional fan favorites that will return, and we have made some valuable additions to complement that core. We are very proud of the finished product and are excited to announce our 2015 schedule of short track events,\u201d Josh Vanada, TSMP General Manager, remarked.
\n<\/p>\n

For the 29th season, the track will operate under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner, offering Sunoco Modified, Late Model, Limited Sportsman, and Mini Stock competitors the benefits of NASCAR membership, awards, as well as state and national championship competition.<\/p>\n

The season will begin with the 41st running of the Icebreaker on Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12. Modified fans will be in for a treat, as not only will the first race for the NWMT be part of the program, but TSMP\u2019s own Sunoco Modifieds will be featured in a 75-lap main event to kick off the facility\u2019s 75th anniversary celebration. In addition to the full-fendered Late Models, Limited Sportsman, Mini Stocks, and Granite State Pro Stock Series, the winged NEMA Lite cars will make their maiden voyage to the historic Connecticut oval. The Vintage Outlaws and New England Truck Series will also be part of the action. Fans will have the opportunity to meet the stars and cars of all nine divisions on Sunday morning at the Fan Appreciation Party.<\/p>\n

A new addition to the schedule, which was announced in October, is the addition of another NWMT race. Scheduled for June 10, this 125-lap event will mark the first time since 2012 that the Tour will make four stops at TSMP. The Mini Stock and Limited Sportsman Divisions will be on stage for the summer series opener, also, as they compete in the first race of their Triple Crown Series. New in 2015, both the Limited Sportsman and Mini Stock divisions will participate in three events in which their finishing positions will earn them both TSMP championship points and Triple Crown Series points. The Triple Crown will pay their own point fund and award the top three. The Sunoco Modified, Late Model, and Vintage Outlaws will all be part of an action-packed night of stock car racing, too.<\/p>\n

The second annual Late Model 20\/20 Sprint will take place on Wednesday night, July 8. The popular format from the inaugural event will once again be used in 2015. An added bonus for the race winner, besides the handsome purse, will be a guaranteed starting position in the ACT Championship 100 at the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing in October. The second Triple Crown race for the Limited Sportsman, as well as the Mini Stocks and ground-pounding Sunoco Modifieds will all be in competition, as well.<\/p>\n

Slated for Wednesday, July 29, the Sunoco Modifieds will once again compete in a 20\/20 Sprint. As with the Late Models, the same format from 2014 will be used, but with a new twist. Following the completion of the second segment, the overall leader will be given the opportunity to take advantage of a bounty, by forfeiting his\/her starting position and starting in the rear for a cash prize, should he or she emerge the overall winner following the 10-lap sprint. As part of this must-see event, the Mini Stocks will compete in their second Triple Crown race, and the Vintage Outlaws will make their third of four stops to the Big T. Late Models and Limited Sportsman will also do battle in championship point races.<\/p>\n

One of TSMP\u2019s favorite summer traditions, a 150-lap NWMT race, will once again be back on the docket for August 12. An added bonus this year will be the addition of the Northeastern Midget Association for a 25-lap race, which is guaranteed to feature at least two NWMT drivers in the field. The Sunoco Modifieds, Late Models, Mini Stocks, and the final Limited Sportsman Triple Crown race fill out a very robust night of racing.<\/p>\n

The last event of the five-race summer series will feature a double points opportunity for the Sunoco Modifieds. Twin 25-lap main events will be contested for TSMP\u2019s top-tier division. The Late Models, Limited Sportsman, Vintage Outlaws, and the final Triple Crown race for the Mini Stock division will be part of a Back-to-School Bash night, giving families one more opportunity to hit the race track before school begins.<\/p>\n

Dubbed one of the nation\u2019s finest short track events \u2013 the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing \u2013 will be even finer in 2015. TSMP\u2019s final event will showcase fifteen divisions that will compete over the course of three days. Culminating with the final NWMT event of the season on Sunday afternoon, NASCAR\u2019s oldest touring division will be supported by some of the region\u2019s most popular touring series: the International Supermodified Association, Valenti Modified Racing Series, and Northeastern Midget Association. The addition of the 100-lap championship race for the American-Canadian Tour on Saturday will feature New England\u2019s most talented full-fendered drivers, and adds to an already star-studded lineup of events. TSMP\u2019s own Sunoco Modified, Late Model, Limited Sportsman, and Mini Stock divisions will be joined by the New England Truck Series, North East Mini Stock Tour, New England Pro 4 Modifieds, and Lite Modifieds \u2013 who will be back after a one-year hiatus. The North East Street Stock Tour will end their inaugural season by crowing their first champion on Saturday night. The NEMA Lites, too, will be competing in their first World Series event, hosting their final points race on Sunday afternoon. When all is said and done, nearly 600 laps of feature competition will be contested, and fourteen new champions will have been born.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to talk about ways to improve an event like the World Series, but I know we\u2019ve accomplished that. The addition of the American-Canadian Tour, coupled with some of the other invitations we extended will make for some extremely competitive racing across three full days. Fans and competitors alike have a lot to look forward to \u2013 not only at the World Series \u2013 but throughout 2015,\u201d Vanada concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Releases Innovative 2015 Short Track Schedule Thompson, CT – Officials from Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) \u2013 the famed 5\/8-mile speedway in Connecticut\u2019s quiet corner \u2013 released a creative and innovative seven (7) event schedule today, featuring twelve different touring series and sanctioning bodies, and boasting over $500,000 in posted awards. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"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":[196,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-thompson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17356,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355\/revisions\/17356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}