Due to a November rain-out, two All-American 400s will take place in 2019 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, but only one of them is scheduled for 400 laps.
The first All-American, slated for April 14 and given the
slogan Unfinished Business, will see
a race length of 300 laps, while the November 3 race will return to the historic
400-lap benchmark.
The reason, as explained by Speedway Vice President Claire
Formosa, is to save racers money with respect to the number of marquee events
on the schedule.
“A lot of thought went into this,” Formosa said. “We realize that 800 laps for two races, especially when you consider how busy the schedule is during the summer, is a lot to commit to. So, we got feedback from as many drivers as we could and landed on 300 laps.”
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Formosa spent the winter reaching out to drivers that attended the postponed
November event, seeking feedback on what it would ensure they return in April —
in addition to attracting a handful of new entrants.
She was concerned that teams would pick one All-American 400 over the other, when she wanted to do everything
possible to make sure a full field was represented across all three of her
marquee Super Late Model events in 2019.
In addition to the two All-Americans, the track will also play host to the
North-South Super Late Model Challenge on May 4 alongside the ARCA Menards
Series.
In cutting 100 laps for the April race, she hopes to make the race less
expensive for teams and a little more action-packed for fans.
“It’s not something that any promoter wants to have to figure out,”
Formosa said. “I know a lot of fans were excited when we went back to 400
laps, and I was too, and we hope we never have to deal with this again. But it
was important that we still promote the event and do it in a way that made sense
for all the teams.
“That’s why I made a point to reach out to every racer. I personally called and texted each one of them to ask what made the most sense for them.”
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One such driver was Bubba Pollard, the recently-crowned
World Series of Asphalt champion, who was amongst the majority who voted for
300 laps for the spring make-up date.
“I think shortening the race is a good idea,” Pollard said. “It helps our cost and the number of
laps on our equipment. And the biggest part, to me, is that it makes it for
exciting for the fans. The longer races can get boring with guys just riding
around and saving their stuff.”
The tire allotment for the 300-lap race in April will be
reduced to 12 tires, giving each race team a set of tires every 100 laps —
also at the request of a majority of the participants.
“We’re excited to see how it plays out,” Formosa said. “I
know it’s not going to make everyone happy and I hope we don’t have to go through
this again. I really do think this is the best way to make sure we can have two
All-American 400s without one taking away from the other.”
The make-up All-American pays $16,000 to win $6,000 for second and a $1,000 to start.
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