NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Returning To Oswego For Third Straight Year
Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – For the third time in as many years, NASCAR will return to Oswego Speedway as part of the 62nd running of Budweiser International Classic Weekend when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ‘Classic’ 150 will commence on Saturday, September 1.
Since making its return to the speedway in 2016 after a nearly thirty year absence, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has seen two 150-lap events at the Steel Palace presented by Toyota and McDonald’s with defending series champion Doug Coby as well as pavement specialist and rising NASCAR Xfinity Series star Ryan Preece each going to victory lane.
September 2018 will mark only the 11th appearance by the tour in speedway history as the Mighty Modifieds will be joined by the International Supermodified Association ‘Supernationals’ 60 for the Winged Warriors as this newly-formed Saturday night tradition will again take place on Classic Weekend.
“For the past two seasons, we’ve been lucky enough to kick off our Classic Weekend feature events with a headliner between the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the ISMA Supermodifieds,” said track owner John Torrese. “This is a re-established tradition we’ve received great feedback on and hope to continue for many years to come. Its encouraging to see some of the best Modified drivers in the country come here to compete for the right to be called Classic champion. The tour provides a great addition to one of the biggest weekends in pavement racing and a fantastic show for our fans.”
In the past two events, Coby and Preece have each etched their names into Oswego’s storied history books as first time winners, while Preece received the honors of being the 50th different Modified winner in track history last September while piloting the Maynard Troyer tribute No. 6 car.
Notably, Matt Hirschman also set the tour record for time, grabbing the pole position with a blistering quick lap of 17.460 seconds in his Pee Dee Motorsports No. 60 machine on September 2nd of 2017.
The tour has visited Upstate New York on only a mere ten occasions in the past two decades, making stops at Watkins Glen International, Holland International, Chemung Speedrome, Spencer Speedway, Adirondack International Speedway, and of course at Oswego, with the only other stop in New York State taking place at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island.
Oswego’s Budweiser International Classic Weekend will officially kick-off on Friday, August 31 with ‘Fast Friday’ pole-day qualifications for the Supermodifieds and Small Block Supers plus preliminary action for the SBS division along with the return of the Party in the Pits.
Saturday, September 1 will feature the NWMT ‘Classic’ 150 alongside the Bud Light ISMA Super Nationals making for over 200-laps of main event action on ‘Super Saturday.’
As done for the past six decades, the 62nd running of the Budweiser International Classic 200 for the Supermodifieds will cap off this action-packed weekend on Sunday, September 2, with the Bud Light SBS Classic 75 yet again set to join the International Classic on the same day for only the fourth time since 2008.
Individual ticket pricing as well as weekend pass information for the 62nd annual Budweiser International Classic Weekend will be made available next month.
The full 2018 event schedule for Oswego Speedway has now been made available under the ‘Schedule’ tab on the track’s website.
