Modifieds return to the Acres
By Matthew J. Sullivan
After an exciting season opening Pepsi night this past
Saturday night at Redwood Acres Raceway, racing is set to return for a special
Sunday evening Salute the Troops show at Eureka, California’s 3/8-mile paved
oval. In addition to the local stars and cars in the late model, Thunder
Roadster, mini stock, roadrunner and bomber divisions, RAR will also be hosting
the North State Modified Series which is in its debut season.
The North State Modified Series was created to mirror the Lucas
Oil Modified Series, a popular touring series which races in southern
California. It features IMCA and NASCAR Grand American modifieds. The NSMS held
its debut race at Anderson, California’s Shasta Speedway earlier this month on
May 3rd which was won by Jay Linstroth.
While Redwood Acres Raceway has never had the modifieds as a
regular local division, the class does have a rich history at the track. The
modifieds have been one of the staples of the annual Fall Spectacular event and
RAR has long been popular with racers in the division due to the fact that the
track is a great equalizer between the teams and drivers who race regularly at
other facilities.
The Fall Spectaular modified event has seen some of the best
racers in Northern California and Southern Oregon participate and win. Lucerne,
California’s Bob Strauss was a popular racer who won the race numerous times.
Oregon’s Willie Thompson is another driver who won at the Acres several times.
2013 NASCAR K&N West Series champion, Derek Thorn was victorious at Redwood
Acres in the modified Fall Spectacular event. Current RAR promoter, Blair Aiken
also won the race in 1995. The most recent modified race winner was, Darin
Knight who won last September.
While the top three finishers of the first NSMS race,
Linstroth, Kyle Borden and Jason Philpot all have prior experience racing at
RAR they will be facing different track conditions than usual as the modifieds
have not normally raced this early in the season. Sunday's event will feature
three 6-lap Dashes for Cash sponsored by Lucas Oil, Scrubba Bub's, and Road
Safety. The winner of each dash will be presented with a $100 bill. The 60 lap
feature pays $1000 to the winner, $700 for second, $600 for third, $500 for
fourth and $400 for fifth. All starters of the 24-car event are guaranteed to
get $150.
Grandstand ticket booths open at 5:00 PM while racing begins
at 6:30 PM. There is a special test and tune event Saturday the 24th for all
divisions. For more information regarding the series visit
NorthStateModifiedSeries.com or check out North State Modified Series on
Facebook. For more information regarding Redwood Acres Raceway, please visit
the track’s new and official website, www.racingtheacres.com.