It’s no secret supermodified racing on the West Coast has been all but dead the past decade.
With the announcement that supermodifieds are now a part of Davey Hamilton Jr.’s Open Wheel Showdown, it will give the supers a chance to showcase themselves as part of this highly anticipated event.
The December 1-2, event at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway already includes a $10,000-to-win national pavement midget event and a $50,000-to-win, 100-lap winged sprint car race as part of a $200,000 total purse for these two events.
Meridian (Idaho) Speedway created a two-day supermodified reunion event two years ago to get guys to bring their cars back out in competition. The event was a success and other two-day events were added. Due to this renewed interest, the Meridian Speedway-owned Speed Tour began sanctioning events and created a small schedule this year. The schedule consisted of six events at Meridian Speedway, Magic Valley Speedway and Madera (Calif.) Speedway.
Now, Hamilton is doing his part to help revive the division by adding them to the Open Wheel Showdown. It is expected that this Speed Tour Supermodified event will be the biggest in nearly two decades in terms of participation and media coverage.
Currently, there are 22 confirmed entries for the event with more entries expected to be filed in the coming weeks. The list already includes Davey Hamilton Sr., Ricky Otts, Bryan Shafer, Dave Adamson, Jim Birges, Austin Carter, Shane Vanderpool, Nathan Byrd, Bryan Warf, Colton Nelson and many more. In addition, several states are represented on the current entry list.
Supermodifieds don’t have much history at the Bullring. But the track did host a two-day unsanctioned event on the same weekend last season.
The Open Wheel Showdown will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT 1.