#spring sizzler

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So, this happened tonight at the close of the second day of the Spring Sizzler. Matt Hirschman was probably the obvious pick to win the open Modified race today, earning the right to race with the SRX drivers in July's return appearance to Stafford.

Can he pull a Doug Coby and beat the SRX drivers? We'll find out in a few months.

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SRX Returns in 2022...

The hottest event in town from 2021 is returning to Stafford in 2022.

It was just last week that the track's social media accounts mentioned an announcement at the start of this month. Many people were clamoring about what it could have been. Of course, a day or two before the announcement was made, they had posted a taco emoji with a "superstar" gif... So the surprise was basically spoiled by then.

Last Tuesday, the revelation was made known: July 2nd would be when the Superstar Racing Experience will make a return trip to New England, as this time it will be the third stop on the tour (rather than the debut track). This gives anyone who's going to the event ample time to get to know the series, which is a little more convenient than last time.

As like last year, the SK Modifieds will also be on-hand. Unlike last year, however? The race they're in is going to be a points race. None of this all-star business they were involved in last time.

Also, we don't know who the hometown driver is going to be. Remember when it was revealed that Doug Coby was the local driver in 2021? It won't be so easy to tell just whom that will be this time around. All will be answered as to which driver will be driving with the SRX in July at the Spring Sizzler. According to Stafford:

In 2022, Modified history and SRX history will meet as the winner of the 50th running of the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler will have the opportunity to run in the Stafford SRX event.

Remember that this is the first time in recent history that the Spring Sizzler will not involve the Whelen Modified Tour. The race that will be determining who the local representative is will be an open Modified race, one of many that Stafford will have on the 2022 schedule (which is a different story within itself).

Tickets were pre-sold for select groups last Friday, and went on sale to the general public the day after. If there's still tickets left, you might want to grab them while they're available. While this isn't a once in a lifetime experience (no pun intended), the 2022 event will probably be just as good as the 2021 one was.

We'll be waiting for you, SRX and CBS.

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A Few Random Points...

Just wanted to go over a few random things from recently-covered stories and my personal thoughts, but without all of the filler...

Stafford announced early last month that they would be joining the FloRacing network, as they are to become the first asphalt track on the platform. It’s a good chunk of money to subscribe to FloRacing (according to the press release linked, it’s $150 per year to subscribe; you do get a massive amount of content to watch, however). I do remember a tweet that Stafford put out back in July about adding every available race they have archived on their (now former?) StaffordSpeedway.tv site. Would they still be interested in doing something like that? Maybe let the fans pay for past events, and monies could go towards a charity or two of the track’s choice? Honestly, that wouldn’t be a bad idea in the slightest.

Yesterday, ticket sales opened up for the Spring Sizzler weekend/opening day... And there’s one thing that surprised us about the sales process: Saturday and Sunday are considered separate events, and therefore, you could buy seats for the day of your choice. The last weekend in April is always considered to be Sizzler weekend. But 4/24 is actually called “opening day”. So the Sizzler is a one-day thing in 2021? I was going into this thinking that one ticket was to be good for both days. Guess I was wrong on that? It’s possible that the decision to make the first weekend two separate events was due to COVID. Can’t be too sure on that one, so we might have to toss this to Stafford for their comment.

After the third race on NASCAR’s Cup schedule, Homestead-Miami, there are two drivers who have finished top-10 in every race: Kevin Harvick and Michael McDowell; both of whom have an average finish of 5.0 after this past Sunday. Harvick I expected to see continue after being half of a dominant duo from last season, but who would have guessed that McDowell would be the other driver to start off strong? The early Cinderella story of 2021... But to be honest, I don’t see him continuing a hot streak after Vegas. I hate to admit it, because this is such a feel-good story after the Daytona 500 win on 2/14-2/15.

To continue the topic of winners in the Cup Series, could this be the year that sixteen+ winners find themselves “clinching” spots in the Chase come this fall? Quite a few people think so, but I’m not so sure about this. However, if you glance at the schedule, there are plenty of curveballs that could pose a threat. Bristol’s pre-Chase race is a dirt race. Four races are on road courses: COTA, Sonoma, Road America, and the race at IMS. Daytona’s second race is the cutoff to the Chase itself. So there are plenty of opportunities for more winners than allotted Chase spots. I’m not going to say this isn’t going to happen, but I’m not going to say that it will, either. I’m just going to take it one week at a time. (And question: If there are sixteen different winners, how many of them are repeats? Who won’t make the playoffs if there are more?)

There are many more things swirling in my mind, but there’s just too much to get into. I guess we’ll have to dive into my thoughts in a week or two.

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Covid-19 and a Way Around It?

If you haven’t been aware by the news of the month, Covid-19 is here. And, unfortunately, it’s been the reason why your favorite event coming up has been either postponed or flat-out cancelled. The CDC has explained that it’s best if no more than ten people are in one area at once (which is why my workplace is actually saying that we won’t be allowing more than 50 customers in the building at any given time).

This is the reason why NASCAR has postponed all races that were supposed to be run through May 3rd to a date that will be announced later. In fact, the announcement regarding that impacted the Whelen Modified Tour’s schedule. The first three races were also postponed to future dates, including Stafford’s Spring Sizzler. Tentatively, of course.

But there is a way that the show can still go on, without leaving the comfort of your couch. Last weekend, NASCAR brought a number of drivers together and pitted them in an iRacing event, televised for FOX Sports. Successfully put together (although we here at VFT1 didn’t exactly see it for work reasons), the craze of iRacing has come to the short tracks.

Put all of that together, and you have this Friday night planned. At 7pm ET, the NAPA Auto Parts 100 will air live on Stafford’s YouTube channel. Drivers who raced in at least one event last year, or are on a roster for this year are eligible to compete in the virtual SK Modified race.

We’ll have to check it out and report back when the race ends. Stay tuned. And stay safe.

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Spring Sizzler Entry Lists

I mentioned that I would be posting the entry list for the Whelen Modified Tour when I saw that it was starting to go up. We are less than a month from the Sizzler, and it’s up. So I’ll share that one... As well as the one that’s up for the Vintage All-Stars.

Links to the lists are (quite) obvious, and should continuously be edited up until the event.

WHELEN MODIFIEDS | VINTAGE ALL-STARS

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Sunday's action during Spring Sizzler weekend.

Read here and here for detailed information.

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Saturday's action during Spring Sizzler weekend.

Read here for detailed information.

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This is all you need right now. The Whelen Modified Tour entry list. Growing each day, leading up to the event in question - in a little over two weeks.