#sk lights

[noodles1295]

Stafford Motor Speedway-Welcome to the 2026 Racing Season-New Coming Drivers, Returning Drivers, and Drivers who are moving to other Divisions.

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From tonight's SK Lights feature. Thought that we weren't going to finish it. We eventually did get the feature completed.

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We returned to the track tonight for the SK Light Double Down race... Very uneventful evening, in our honest opinions, but very eventful early action in the main event (until everything got under control). Here's the false start from said Double Down event, courtesy of the blog admin through Instagram.

Thinking we might take a little road trip down south in a few weeks, but we're not sure yet. Want to take a guess where to? It all depends on mood.

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Found on YouTube on the early morning of July 25, 2019.

From the night of May 18, 2012. Why is this being posted, of all videos? Because I never saw the Late Model feature from the retro program seen. And when the SK Light race happened, I got a front-row seat in an area of the track that I will probably never watch a race from again: The infield.

Remember how I made note of (and have done that numerous times since) my time in the two-seater Modified back in 2012? If you look carefully, you can catch a glimpse of me in the firesuit after the race is over. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss me.

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2019 Schedule Preview

Schedule day is here, and it has been officially announced. Some really exciting races have been planned for 2019, and there are a few key changes (if you want call them that) from last year’s schedule. I think that we should go over them now, because last year... My opinion of this was done extremely late.

Tour Races

No surprises right out of the gate. The Whelen Modified Tour comes for three races. Two of them are at the usual points: Spring Sizzler and Fall Final. Their other race is on August 2nd.

Surprising to see that the Modified Racing Series is only coming once, on August 30. They had been coming multiple times over the course of the last few years, so to see them only showing up once is a little unusual. It seems odd, to say the least.

Open Modified Events

The Open Modified races are coming back this season. The three (!) special dates are May 10, June 14, and July 12. A nice step up from last year. Hopefully, more participation?

Extra Distance Races

The SK5K is coming back. No surprise. The 100-lap event is June 28.

The SK Lights will have a 40-lap feature on May 24 (Modifiedz Night).

The Late Models run an 80-lap feature on August 23.

The Limited Late Models get a 25-lap feature on June 7.

The Street Stocks get three (!) 30-lap features this year. This is new. Dates for the events are on Spring Sizzler weekend, Fall Final weekend, and June 21. Points will be awarded for these three features, and the track will name a Triple Crown winner. I am not sure how this is going to work. Will these be separate from the other points races? Stay tuned.

Other Events

Last year’s TC Shootout was a success, so Stafford’s going to do that again on July 12. It’s probably going to be the same format again, since no news was given that it’s going to change.

There’s your schedule in a nutshell. Seems like this is going to be a good season.

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2018 SMS Schedule Released

An hour ago, Stafford announced what the 2018 schedule would look like. Granted, it’s nothing completely different than schedules of years past. There are changes and additions. Let’s go over the main points.

First off, the DARE Stocks are no more. It was announced a few weeks ago that they would be renamed as Street Stocks. This name change (and rules, if you’d like to include them) is packaged with one of the better division schedules of the season:

The distance for the regular-distance Street Stock features have been upped from 15 laps to 20. This is something that was really needed. 20 laps gives the youngsters more time to get used to the track. They will also have two extra-distance races - May 11 (25 laps) and September 7 (30 laps). These changes are for the better.

The other support divisions will also have extra-distance races:

Limited Late Models: July 20 (30 laps)

SK Lights: May 25 (40 laps)

Late Models: August 17 (50 laps)

The SK Modifieds will also have an expansive schedule this year. While their 40-lap features will remain intact, they’ll have three extra-distance races in ‘18: May 25 (50), June 29 (SK 5K; 100), and July 13 (their usual 40-lap feature plus 13 extra laps).

(Put two and two together for what the 13 bonus laps on July 13 mean.)

As for touring divisions... You’ll have your standard Whelen Modified Tour and Modified Racing Series events (two WMT, three MRS). But there are two dates on the schedule that are reserved for “open Modified” races.

June 8th and July 13th will be those dates for the 80-lap events. Things are still being worked on, such as how those events will work. Those should be quite fun. How many drivers will enter? That’s something that you’ll obviously have to stay tuned for.

There’ll be off-track promotions scattered throughout the season, and those will be brought up when the dates get closer.

Share your comments: What do you think of the schedule?

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VFT1 (Written) Editorial: The Downfall of a Good Thing

You know what happened when I rode around in the two-seater Modified back in 2012. That’s documented here. Things change over time, and those changes started very quickly.

Those changes weren’t settling well with me then, and they’re still not settling with me now.

It didn’t take very long for Stafford to change up the packages for the SK Light ride-around. I think it started out with three packages - practice ride, in-program ride, and feature ride. I did the feature ride. It was hot laps, then down onto pit road so I could watch the entire race. That didn’t seem like it was so bad. It felt kind of safe, because you weren’t in close proximity to the entire field. They were all spread out, and you were in the back of the line.

Then it changed to something I still don’t think was a good idea. It might have changed later on in that season, and it... Well, didn’t seem right. The car was in the back of the pack, and all of a sudden, you had the green flag and real action. I had originally wondered why the race was underway for real with the two-seater still on the track, and I even verbally expressed my displeasure with the idea. But it was to no avail.

Apparently someone working for the track thought it was a great idea, and made up a new package over time - it was “ride for a few laps under green in one of the heats”, along with the standard packages of practice, in-program, and feature rides. It was pretty crazy to think that the person in charge of this program signed-off on something that looked so harmless one week, but dangerously stupid the next.

There are four programs now, all of which I explained in the paragraph above.

What happens if, in the heat or feature, the car ends up getting in an early wreck? You sign a waiver in advance saying that any physical damages (to yourself) are your fault, because it was your idea for getting in the car to begin with. It’s definitely not the fault of the competitors in the race, but there is one little issue. It should be the fault of the track, for deciding on letting this get out of hand.

I’m not one to say “go back to the way it was”, but maybe it’s a smart idea to go right back to the way it was originally.

These have been my opinions, and you don’t have to take them if you don’t want to.

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VFT1 (Written) Editorial: Mom, I'm in a Race Car!

For those of you who haven't experienced the whole two-seater Modified, let me go through what happens and what you experience - as I'm one of the few who got to go around the track in it.