They’re going back. Finally.
Today, Martinsville Speedway announced that the Whelen Modified Tour will return to the half-mile paperclip in May of 2020 for a 200-lap night race.
Not only will the Tour be back at the Virginia short track, they will race on the Friday night of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekend at the track, pushed back from mid-March to Mother’s Day weekend.
Let’s be honest: Martinsville is seemingly tailor-made for modified racing. The long straights and tight turns will produce some of the best racing short-track fans will see all year.
All of a sudden, there are opportunities for Cup stars like Ryan Preece and Ryan Newman, both of whom have made their love for modified racing clear, to hop into a ground-pounder and go toe-to-toe with the best on the Tour.
Just as in the Cup Series, the list of Tour winners at Martinsville reads like a who’s who of modified stars over the last 35 years: Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, Reggie Ruggiero, Jeff Fuller, Preece, and the late Charlie Jarzombek all visited victory lane at Martinsville until modified racing was halted at the track after 2010.
This is a win for everyone. Not only does the Tour get to bring its phenomenal racing to one of the best short tracks in America, it also gets to play in front of what should be a pretty solid crowd with the Cup Series in town that weekend. After all, the late model races held at Martinsville under the lights have drawn well.
A night race. A big crowd. Great racing. What’s not to like?
Read more Short Track Scene:
