JACKSTANDS: The Busy Weekend is Finally Here
Posted By Tj Ingerson On July 19, 2013
Categories: Jackstands
PHOTO: The largest weekend in Late Model stock car racing in the Northeast has finally arrived and VMM Editor T.J. Ingerson talks about it. (Eric LaFleche/VLFPhotos.com photo)
--by T.J. Ingerson (@TJIngerson)
VMM Editor
The weekend that every late model stock car fan in the Northeast has been talking about since October 28, 2012 has finally arrived.
On that day, American-Canadian Tour President Tom Curley announced an event that would go head-to-head with the TD Bank Oxford 250 on Sunday, July 21. That event, the ACT International 500, would be a replacement event for the ACT Late Models, who were dropped after Pro All Stars Series President Tom Mayberry purchased Oxford Plains Speedway and promptly changed the 250.
Months of talk, discussion, and debate about the two rival events and the two rival promoters have built the rivalry greater than it has ever been.
Which event will have more cars? Which event will be better? Can the ACT International 500 be successful? Why must Tom Curley go straight against an event that he once promoted?
All those questions have been asked. And now, it is time to find out the answers.
Sunday is a day in which I have been looking forward to very much. Not just because it is the biggest day of coverage for Vermont Motorsports Magazine, or the comparison to battling a two-front war in covering both the ACT International 500 and TD Bank Oxford 250, but the fact that it is the largest weekend of racing in the northeast late model racing.
We all know the storied history and prestige that the TD Bank Oxford 250 carries. The return of the Super Late Models to the 250, though, has put a lot of buzz back into Oxford.
But the Late Model teams have their own special event to look forward to. There are very few times when a driver will bring up a specific event, but drivers are bringing this event up, relaying how excited they are.
The two events have created something in the northeast that had been lacking, and that is talk. People are talking about these two events -- whether positively or negatively.
But at the end of the weekend, I think a lot of people are going to be talking about the ACT International 500 positively. It gives something Late Model teams had lost, and that’s a big money race. And I think a lot of fans are going be raving about Airborne Park Speedway. We’ve seen time and time again how well the Late Model cars race at Airborne.
I’m excited. And I hope you guys are, too.