King Of Dirt Racing Series Introduces Home Track Points For 2018

Story By: ROB HAZER / KING OF DIRT – FONDA, NY – King Of Dirt Racing is working towards 2018, which starts with the Banquet on February 10th to celebrate the 2017 season. News will certainly be coming before that starting with the addition of home track bonus points to the tour next summer.

There are moving parts to how home track bonus points will work in 2018, however simply put a driver on tour regularly will have an opportunity to earn extra points to be added in with their tour points through the racing season by racing their home track a set number of races.

The number of races that count towards King Of Dirt Racing tour point standings is based off how many races are scheduled per division. For example if there are 8 Sportsman races scheduled, then a drivers best 8 finishes from one track will be used towards KOD point standings as home track bonus points.

There will be two classifications of home track bonus points, including in market and out of market home tracks for drivers. This is another moving part to make home track bonus points work, as KOD Racing is not a sanctioning body per say.

“We’ve always thought of our series as something different. You don’t have to have a home track where we visit per say, but you can still be in the mix to win the title and we wanted a way to maintain that and offer home track bonus points. I think we found a happy medium,” said KOD promoter Rob Hazer.

‘In Market’ tracks are simply defined, as tracks that host a KOD touring event in that drivers particular division. Drivers competing at ‘in market’ speedways will automatically have their home track bonus points figured into their tour standings. There is no additional cost for drivers using home track bonus points from ‘in market’ speedways.

‘Out of market’ tracks are defined, as tracks that do not host a KOD touring event in that drivers particular division. Drivers competing at ‘out of market’ speedways can have their home track bonus points included by paying a $50 membership fee to KOD Racing, which will go into that divisions point fund.

For a driver to be eligible for home track bonus points he and/or she must compete in at least 70% of all scheduled KOD events. For example if there are 7-scheduled 358 Modified events a driver couldn’t miss more than 2 races to be eligible for home track bonus points.

The final moving part to make home track bonus points work in 2018 for drivers on the KOD tour is the point scale. With KOD increasing the regular point system to 100 points for a win, 97 for 2nd, and down by one point to last the home track bonus points will be awarded based on the 60 point scale. (60, 57, down by 1)

Put it all together and what does it mean? A driver racing at Lebanon Valley in the 358 Modified division weekly who also follows the KOD Small Block tour can earn up to a max of 360 points if there are 6 scheduled tour events. Home track bonus points must be from one track and can’t be combined finishes from multiple speedways. Out of market memberships to receive home track bonus points must be paid by July 1st.

“I wanted a way to further reward the tour drivers who spend their summers showing up to our races. This is the perfect way to do that. They have the opportunity no matter where they race to earn home track bonus points, which will be important since there will be no drop or sub rule in 2018,” continued KOD promoter Rob Hazer.

More details on the 2018 King Of Dirt Racing season for all divisions will be coming soon including schedule announcements, rule changes, and other news involving the quest to find Kings.

KOD SMALL BLOCK NOTES: During the first season of racing for KOD Small Block Modifieds there were 87 different drivers who competed at scheduled events. There were 6 different winners out of the 7 scheduled events, with Bobby Varin being the only repeat winner on tour. The average car count was 30.1, with Marc Johnson winning the championship. It was his first on the KOD tour.

KOD SPORTSMAN NOTES: During the third season of racing for KOD Sportsman there were 166 different drivers who competed at scheduled events. There were 4 different winners out of 8 scheduled events, with Rocky Warner being the only repeat winner on tour. The average car count was 41.8, with Rocky Warner winning the championship. It was his second on the KOD tour.

KOD PRO STOCK NOTES: During the third season of racing for KOD Pro Stocks there were 61 different drivers who competed at scheduled events. There were 5 different winners out of 6 scheduled events, with Kenny Martin Jr. being the only repeat winner on tour. The average car count was 27.1, with Rob Yetman winning the championship. It was his first on the KOD tour.