The Early Modified Series for 2021 is now history and what a Series it was. The Series encompassed five races and ran from 6/07/21 08/30/21. A total of eight drivers participated in the Series entering 10 unique rides.
Early Modifieds are a new class of racing. The class is based on the tried and true Econo chassis originally designed by Bob Hanna. The chassis is an in line design constructed of .062 brass and piano wire. Side pans rattle from side to side (there are no hinges). A brief and abridged summary of the rules is shown below
- Bodies may include 1/24 or 1/25 scale American iron from 1928 to 1948 coupes or sedans, no convertibles. (Models with chopped tops OK). No fenders are permitted.
- Bodies can be cut across the bottom so as to have a minimum body height of 1.930" at the lowest point of the top as measured from the bottom of the chassis.
- Must have a scale motor and radiator up front (oil pan can be modified to fit on top of the chassis).
- Top hoods are permitted
- Front and rear track not to exceed 3.250"
- Power is supplied by Deathstar or ProSlot 16Ds
Format for the Series is as follows.
- Each race will be one time through with two minute heats. Ample time will be provided between heats for detailed scoring and allow drivers to prepare their rides for the subsequent heats
- Overall finishing order for the Series will be determined by the number of points accumulated by each driver. Points will be awarded in each race as follows. 20, 15, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 etc. for first through eighth respectively.
- Drivers will qualify (one minute - any lane OK) for seeded positions in the initial race only. Seeding for subsequent races will be determined by finishing order in the prior event
- Trophies will be awarded to top five overall Series drivers
- A trophy will be awarded to the Rookie of the Year (Race director will announce eligibility prior to the beginning of the series based on experience)
- A trophy for Concours dElegance will be determined by secret ballot and awarded prior to the initial race.
- A trophy for Top Qualifier will be awarded prior to the initial race.
- Teams will be chosen by the two Team Captains. Team Captains will be the top two qualifiers for the Series. Each Captain will select racers for his respective teams and alternate choices
- Team points will be tallied by summing Team members individual points in each race and accumulating these points for the Series. Note that Team points will not impact individuals scores and/or point totals for the Series
Prior to the first race qualifications, Concourse dElegance was determined by secret ballot. All of the cars looked quite good but Lowell went the extra mile with a very detailed interior including a custom roll cage.
Qualifying order was determined by drawing lots. Each qualifier selected a lane and ran for one minute. Qualifiers were then ranked by best lap time achieved during his particular one minute of qualifying. Rich was top qualifier posting a best lap time of 4.969 seconds. Bob was second at 5.110 seconds and Ron was third with a 5.323 second fast lap. See images below
Subsequent to Qualifying, Rich, captain for team Danbury Race Arena and Bob, team captain for Starlight Speedway selected their respective teams. Team selections are shown in the images below.
Early on in the Series, Bob and Rich established themselves as Top Dogs, outdistancing the mid field by four or more laps in each race. With evenly matched cars, the two battled it out for the top spot in each and every race pushing each other to the limits. New record total laps were set by one or the other in nearly every event and in many cases the margin of victory was only a few sections. In the end Bob won the Series amassing 95 points with Rich second scoring 80 points.
Joe and Ron fought it out for the bottom step of the podium. Going into the final race, Joe and Ron were tied at 50 points. Although the final race was hard fought Joe ended up on top to finish the series in third place with 63 points. Ron was fourth with 62 points
The fifth and final trophy spot was really up for grabs between Mike and Scott. Going into the final race Scott was ahead of Mike by a single point. Mike managed to beat Scott by a single point in the final race so that these racers were tied at 48 points apiece. The tie breaker turned out to be the racer who turned the fastest lap and that was Mike
In the team competition, Starlight Speedway beat Danbury Race Arena with 250 to 24 points respectively.
