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Five Drivers Challenging for Title Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway
Photo Phil Cavali Photography
South Boston, VA (October 18, 2024) – ““Grab a bag of popcorn this should be interesting.”
The words of Danny Bohn, one for five title contenders with the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic. Those drivers will wage war on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina in a “Winner-Take-All” scenario (amongst those drivers) to decide the season-long championship.
Four of the five drivers are searching for their first Bankers Life SMARTY Championship Trophy, Bohn (Freehold, NJ), Carson Loftin (Lexington, NC), Luke Baldwin (Mooresville, NC) and Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN). The only driver of the five contenders to have won the hardware prior to now is Burt Myers (Walnut Cove, NC), a three-time and defending series champion.
None of the drivers have been in a one-race, best finish takes the championship equation for a Modified championship, but Newman is no stranger to this style of racing.
“Everybody knew that there was going to be a winner take all in the end,” said Newman, who was in the 2014 “Championship 4” battle for the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway (FL). “I’m happy to be a part of it and have a shot. Modifieds are a blast and I couldn’t think of a better place to crown a champion for the SMART Modified Tour. Yet, North Wilkesboro will be like any other race this year; we are there to win!”
The format was set at the beginning of the year, but recently the number of drivers was expanded from three to five drivers with a chance at the championship in the season finale. No matter the amount of drivers, everyone has an opinion on this style of championship.
“It’s very similar to the Cup format. It adds a lot of controversy and should be really interesting for the fans,” said Carson Loftin, who is the SMART Mods point leader and a winner of five races this year. “We are just going to go out and give it our all, and hope for the best.”
“I’ve never been a fan of the winner-take-all reset,” said Burt Myers, who won last week’s race at South Boston Speedway in Virginia. “If you earn the most points; you had the most consistent year, you deserve the championship. That’s why it is a championship and not a win. With that being said, we all race within the same format. This year it IS winner-take-all, so we’re ready to embrace that and go win it.”
“It does remind me of the Cup series,” added Bohn, a SMART winner this year at Carteret County Speedway in North Carolina. “I’m not saying I’m a fan of the format; I think the team with the best season should be the winner, but we also need some excitement, so we will do the best job we can and see how the cards fall. I’m the only guy in the group without a teammate or team car, so hopefully the five of us can race it out amongst ourselves; time will tell.”
“No matter what the scenario is, we still have a job to do and that is to go win a championship,” said 18-year-old Luke Baldwin, a two-time SMART winner this year. “Our mindset is the same as always going into this weekend. I know my race car will be fast. All we need to do is execute, and I’m confident that we can be riding the lift (to victory lane at North Wilkesboro) at the end of the night.”
Four of the five championship-contending drivers have experience at North Wilkesboro Speedway through the years, but only Baldwin has raced on the new pavement this season. The third-generation Modified racer competed in the ZMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour event in August.
Newman won a non-points event for the SMART Modified Tour at North Wilkesboro in 2022. Myers has the most starts at the track with 10, including two, top-five finishes with SMART in 2022. Loftin has three starts at North Wilkesboro, two in Crate Modifieds, and one with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour last year. Bohn is the only driver without a start at the facility, but did participate in a test at the track a few weeks ago.
There have been 16 SMART Modified Tour events at North Wilkesboro Speedway with three multiple winners; Junior Miller (3), Phillip Smith (2) and Frank Fleming (2).
The championship for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic will be decided this Saturday, October 19, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. The event is a doubleheader with the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Cars and Pro Late Models. Tickets are available via the North Wilkesboro Speedway website.
Grandstands open for spectators at 3:00 PM (ET), with qualifying for the SMART Modified Tour at 3:30 PM. A driver autograph session is being held at 4:00 PM, with driver introductions at 5:00 PM. 7:15 PM is the scheduled start time for the SMART Mods, with CARS Tour races before and after it.
All SMART races are streamed live on FloRacing, the official streaming broadcast partner of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
For updates on the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: SMART Modified Tour| Twitter: @SMARTMods_ | IG: @smartmods_).
By: Bob Dillner – X: @bobdillner
