The SMART Modified Tour will be making an extra stop on their 2021 schedule at Franklin County Speedway for the Kenny Minter Classic on May 8.
Promoter Langley Austin said that Modifieds have always been well-received by fans at Franklin County and is excited to have the series visit his facility next month.
“This is Modified country up here,” Austin said. “There are many fans in our immediate area that don’t attend races unless we are running Modifieds. We’re glad to be able to give them the show they’re looking for and with what the SMART Tour has morphed into, it’s a series that every track wants to get to their venue.”
Modifieds experienced a resurgence at Franklin County in 2020 after COVID-19 restrictions in North Carolina resulted in Bowman-Gray Stadium cancelling their season, which brought many competitors from the track over to Callaway, Va.
SMART Modified Tour Director Chris Williams said that those circumstances allowed the series to build momentum in its first season and hopes that the race at Franklin County will be a success after the previous iteration of the tour ran there five times from 1995 until 1999.
“Franklin County is a perfect track for Modifieds,” Williams said. “Being able to add a race there was important to us after we weren’t able to have them on our original schedule. I grew up going to races [at Franklin County] and I’m looking forward to bringing the SMART Tour back there.”
The 110-lap feature will pay tribute to Kenny Minter, who regularly competed at Franklin County in the 1980s and 1990s until he lost his life in a SMART Modified Tour race at Caraway Speedway on Oct. 29, 1995.
Austin said that naming the event the Kenny Minter Classic was the perfect way to honor a driver that meant so much to him and Franklin County fans during the prime of his career.
“Kenny Minter was the kind of guy who went out of his way to be nice to me, the promoter’s son, and I’ll never forget him for it,” Austin said. “This is a special opportunity to honor one of the greats of not only Franklin County but the original SMART Modified Tour as well.”
The Kenny Minter Classic will be the second race of the season at Franklin County. A full schedule of the weekend’s events, including additional support races, are expected to be announced at a later date.
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