Knoxvilleknight
11-12-2012, 06:31 AM
Friday November 9th - The season officially wrapped up on Friday night at Sullivan's Restaurant on Kingston Pike in Knoxville. The first ever SMLRS banquet was held with nearly 40 attendees. There was a lot of big news announced on Friday for the 2013 season. The top five drivers in points were recognized as well.
Things kicked off with new plans and format changes for the upcoming second season. The SMLRS plans to book a 10-12 race schedule of series races in 2013 with a purse that pays $400 to win and $50 to start each race. Wartburg Speedway will remain the home track for mod lite racing in between the series races. Wartburg Speedway will host at least two of the series races in 2013 as well as have a weekly racing point standings and fund. (One of the series races will take place on Wednesday July 3rd). The idea behind this is to allow those interested in racing only Wartburg Speedway a chance to race exclusively there or to allow those interested in chasing only series points to do so. This should help the growth of the class across the board.
10 Series races with 16 car fields will result in $17,500 in purse money. In addition, the biggest news of the banquet was the announcement of Diversified Enclosures and Screen as the 2013 series sponsor. With their addition for 2013, the points payout will go 10 drivers deep and the champion will earn a minimum of $2,000.
The awards section of the program began with the appearance of Robbie & Casey Moses along with Owner Roger Sellers from Smoky Mountain Speedway. Smoky Mountain Speedway presented driver Tony Kelly with a roll-over trophy for his spectacular crash back in September. They also announced two series races for 2013 which will occur on Saturday May 4th (with the USCS sprint cars) and Saturday September 21st (with the Southern All Stars).
In addition Roger Sellers also announced the series first contingency sponsorship for 2013. Tennessee RV will pay an additional $50 to each series event winner and $25 to each runner up as long as those drivers are carrying the Tennessee RV decal on their cars. That would make each event winner's purse $450. Roger also provided each driver present a fire extinguisher and purchased each driver's meal at the banquet. We cannot thank Tennessee RV enough for the support of our racing series!
From there all the series sponsors and t-shirt sponsors were recognized. The West Haven Speed Equipment Hard Chargers were handed out to the 8 drivers that won earned the $25 certificate to West Haven. The Wartburg Speedway champion Josh Pugh and the top 5 drivers in points were recognized as well as the Summer Holiday Shootout champion John Stout.
Concluding the evening was the presentation of trophies, payout and awards to the top five drivers in the 2012 Southern Mod Lite Racing Series. JOSH PUGH was crowned as the first series champion. Josh collected a $500 purse, large trophy and champion jacket. He won over runner up John Stout, third place finisher David Appleby, fourth place finisher Ron Dodson, and fifth place Alan VanWhy. Josh Pugh also collected a carbon fiber battery as well from Braille Battery. John Stout was awarded a race wrap from Outlaw Graphics in Crossville TN. David Appleby won a new body from White Lightning Bodies in Karns TN. Ron Dodson won a fire retardant undergarment suit from Counter Fire. Alan VanWhy won $100 towards body work from JCM Components.
2013 is shaping up to be even better and more exciting for those cars with "Big Excitement in the Little Package". We look forward to even more growth from the 21 cars we now have in TN. 2012 saw 22 competitors with 10 different winners. Look for the SMLRS on your local schedule as they bring the show to YOU! www.smlrs.com
Things kicked off with new plans and format changes for the upcoming second season. The SMLRS plans to book a 10-12 race schedule of series races in 2013 with a purse that pays $400 to win and $50 to start each race. Wartburg Speedway will remain the home track for mod lite racing in between the series races. Wartburg Speedway will host at least two of the series races in 2013 as well as have a weekly racing point standings and fund. (One of the series races will take place on Wednesday July 3rd). The idea behind this is to allow those interested in racing only Wartburg Speedway a chance to race exclusively there or to allow those interested in chasing only series points to do so. This should help the growth of the class across the board.
10 Series races with 16 car fields will result in $17,500 in purse money. In addition, the biggest news of the banquet was the announcement of Diversified Enclosures and Screen as the 2013 series sponsor. With their addition for 2013, the points payout will go 10 drivers deep and the champion will earn a minimum of $2,000.
The awards section of the program began with the appearance of Robbie & Casey Moses along with Owner Roger Sellers from Smoky Mountain Speedway. Smoky Mountain Speedway presented driver Tony Kelly with a roll-over trophy for his spectacular crash back in September. They also announced two series races for 2013 which will occur on Saturday May 4th (with the USCS sprint cars) and Saturday September 21st (with the Southern All Stars).
In addition Roger Sellers also announced the series first contingency sponsorship for 2013. Tennessee RV will pay an additional $50 to each series event winner and $25 to each runner up as long as those drivers are carrying the Tennessee RV decal on their cars. That would make each event winner's purse $450. Roger also provided each driver present a fire extinguisher and purchased each driver's meal at the banquet. We cannot thank Tennessee RV enough for the support of our racing series!
From there all the series sponsors and t-shirt sponsors were recognized. The West Haven Speed Equipment Hard Chargers were handed out to the 8 drivers that won earned the $25 certificate to West Haven. The Wartburg Speedway champion Josh Pugh and the top 5 drivers in points were recognized as well as the Summer Holiday Shootout champion John Stout.
Concluding the evening was the presentation of trophies, payout and awards to the top five drivers in the 2012 Southern Mod Lite Racing Series. JOSH PUGH was crowned as the first series champion. Josh collected a $500 purse, large trophy and champion jacket. He won over runner up John Stout, third place finisher David Appleby, fourth place finisher Ron Dodson, and fifth place Alan VanWhy. Josh Pugh also collected a carbon fiber battery as well from Braille Battery. John Stout was awarded a race wrap from Outlaw Graphics in Crossville TN. David Appleby won a new body from White Lightning Bodies in Karns TN. Ron Dodson won a fire retardant undergarment suit from Counter Fire. Alan VanWhy won $100 towards body work from JCM Components.
2013 is shaping up to be even better and more exciting for those cars with "Big Excitement in the Little Package". We look forward to even more growth from the 21 cars we now have in TN. 2012 saw 22 competitors with 10 different winners. Look for the SMLRS on your local schedule as they bring the show to YOU! www.smlrs.com