Are Asphalt Modifieds the Last Class to Allow Innovation?

Published by Mike on June 10, 2017

Check out this great variety of Modifieds from Bristol Motor Speedway’s Short Track US Nationals

While talking a walk through the pits and talking to racers at Bristol’s Short Track US Nationals event we were struck by the great variety of body styles when it came to the Modifieds.

The NSTA Modified Tour out of Indiana worked at Bristol as the host sanctioning body. The NSTA hosts races through the central United States, but for the Bristol race they also wanted to pull cars from the Southeast, which is also a hotbed of Asphalt Modified racing.

“We wanted to give as many racers an opportunity as we absolutely could to come race at Bristol,” John Robbins, the NSTA’s Series Director, explains. “It was an awesome opportunity for Modified racing. So we worked with Stan Narrison and the Modifieds of Mayhem racing series down at Montgomery (AL) Motor Speedway. He was great to work with, and we came up with a common-sense set of guidelines that let everyone get o the track without having to cut up their cars too much.”

Chad Poole set the fast time at practice with a lap around the half-mile track at 16.956 seconds. He went on to win the feature. Notice the full-length sail panels at the outer edge of the car, no windshield and a low, flat hood.

Jeff Letson’s black 131 has a greenhouse that looks a lot more like a traditional Late Model.

There are many differences between the Southeastern and Central US Modifieds, but definitely the most noticeable are the variations in the bodies. “It was a daunting task to figure out how we were going to get all these cars on the track without one style having an advantage,” Robbins says.

One of the most obvious differences in the cars was is the fact that the Southeastern Modifieds are allowed to use windshields. You might think it would provide a big advantage for those cars to add downforce over the center of the car, and the NSTA did allow their own racers to add one if they wanted to. But after testing there didn’t seem to be a big difference between the cars, so most of the NSTA racers left their cars as they were.

Still, there was a great variety of body styles, which is definitely nice to see on the race track. Do you think Modifieds still allow for the greatest innovation in racing?