Speedbowl14
Ryan Preece and short tracks
Full Throttle Weekend Gone At NHMS; Whelen Mod Tour Currently Not On 2021 Track Schedule - RaceDayCT.com
Editors Note: Update on Nov. 27, 2020 – According to NHMS management, there has been no change in the status of the Whelen Modified Tour at the track for the 2021 season. At this time the division is still not a part of the schedule for the track in 2021. Editors Note: Update on Nov. […]
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So if I say New Hampshire Motor Speedway most board members will either think of Jeff Burton leading all 300 laps the year they ran plates, or you'll think of "The Modifieds" and how they put on one of the best races that's NASCAR sanctioned in the country. When NHMS lost its second Cup weekend the modifieds got a huuuuuge 250 lap, $25k to win race as a replacement. The race lived up to expectations the last three years, and while attendance was OK the first couple years, this year it was bad with COVID.
Now next season there'll be no solo modified show in September and currently there's no mods on the Cup weekend either. Ticket prices for next years Cup race are out and they're slashed to prices I haven't seen in the 30 years the track has been around. Still, who would come to New Hampshire for just Cup and Xfinity races? Attendance has fallen off a cliff. While the track was getting a better crowd than most in the late 00s, the attendance crash finally came and it's hit the track harder than many other tracks. SMI has put very little money into the track, despite owning it since 2008. SMI has tried to put in lights which never came and a Casino which never came. Both because the town wouldn't allow it. Now with attendance as bad as it is and the track needing a repave within the next decade, at what point does Bruton say "f-it" and tear it all down? I do not see a way for things to get better- the modifieds at NHMS were their own draw, not an undercard. Without them the racing card is pretty lackluster, and attendance will almost assuredly suck next year.
I do not think this is the beginning of the end for the track- that ship sailed with the loss of the second Cup date. I think we're very close to bulldozers.