The IMCA-style modifieds are easy to identify as a whole, but distinguishing between the sanctioning bodies is all but impossible.
They utilize full tube chassis, which to the untrained eye, looks to be a sprint car chassis, but is much different in reality. The front suspension is usually a coil-over setup, with a torsion-bar set-up for the rear suspension. The roofs are very flat, and tilted to catch additional air.
The driver sits in the middle of the car, with high-downforce, wind-channeling tunnels on either side of him.
The Super DIRTcar Series modifieds are the easiest to identify. Almost every dirt sanctioning body has a class of modifieds.
Problems playing this file? See media help.ĭirt modified is probably the most popular type of racing in the US. Unsanctioned dirt modified racing at Beaver Dam Raceway - 2.1 MB Although both sanctioning bodies use the same rules (much as NASCAR and ARCA did with the Sprint Cup Series and the ARCA Re/Max Series), they do not share a single race date, nor do they race at any of the same tracks. The ASA was contacted, and the new series was formed. The ASA Southern Modified Tour came about as some tracks that were part of the NASCAR buyout of SMART were unable, or unwilling to join NASCAR. NASCAR's Whelen Southern Modified Tour has a direct competitor in the American Speed Association Southern Modified Tour. The two tours were permanently merged for the 2016 season.Īmerican Speed Association ASA Southern Modified Tour Once per year, the northern tour and the southern tour race at Bristol Motor Speedway, in Bristol, Tennessee. The majority of races on the southern tour schedule occur before late April and after August as not to interfere with weekly racing at Bowman Gray Stadium. The southern tour uses exactly the same set of rules as the northern tour, but races primarily in the southeastern section of the US. In late 2004, NASCAR bought out the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (SMART), and promptly renamed it the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. Main article: Whelen Southern Modified Tour NASCAR Whelen Modified tours Northern Tour The series changed hands for 2017, from ICAR to NSTA, after being purchased by John Robbins (nephew of the former ASA pioneers) from Dave Muzillo. In 2013 they raced for the first time on a road course, near South Haven, Michigan, at Gingerman Raceway. This travelling series races at local short tracks in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. It was once called the USA Modified Series. The NSTA Top Speed Modified Tour is located in Carmel, Indiana, and has been around for approximately 30 years ( These asphalt race cars got their start at Mount Lawn Speedway near Indianapolis. The largest builder of modifieds in the US is former driver Maynard Troyer, who (after retiring in 1982) set up shop and in the 1980s was turning out 100 asphalt modifieds annually. All of these cars sport small NASCAR or ASA stickers on the doors. The driver sits on the left side of the car, and most of the time will have some type of small plastic windshield in front of him or her. The roofs of these cars are more rounded than the other types of modifieds, their bodies look somewhat squashed, and have large, 8-inch-high (200 mm), Lexan spoilers on the rear of the cars. These modifieds sit on large slick tires that are exposed on all four corners of the car. Both of the sanctioning bodies (NASCAR and ASA) listed here use the same rules, but do not race on the same tracks. These modifieds are found mostly in the eastern half of the US. NASCAR modifieds getting ready for a race at Stafford Springs, CT.