North West Modified Cup Grows Bigger in 2016,
New Sport Mod Challenge Announced
What do you do when you have a successful launch of an independent series awarding the top drivers in the Modified division in two states? Well, if you're Steve Kerstulovich, you take it up a notch and make it bigger. Kerstulovich grew up in the sport and had an idea to help the cause a little more. He would take the statistics from the Modified divisions throughout Washington, Oregon and Yreka, California and make a championship series.
The point counting concept is similar to IMCA, the organization that sanctions the division at most of the tracks involved. Main Events pay 20 points to win with a one point per position drop on back. This makes it easy to keep track and helps keep the point battle close. How close? The Modifieds actually had a tie for the championship between Mark Carrell and Colin Winebarger last season.
This series is billed as the North West Modified Cup. Last year saw the Top 5 drivers earn trophies that were sponsored by Jeff Hanson, and the drivers split $2400 in prize money. In addition to Carrell and Winebarger, the other front runners were Jesse Williamson (third), Lawrence O'Connor (fourth) and Mark Wauge (fifth) This year, the Kerstulovich promoted effort has nearly doubled the prize money at $4100, and it will be awarded to the Top 10 drivers in points, thanks to some amazing sponsors.
Hanson of Hanson Automotive Machine has returned to sponsor the Top 5 driver's trophies. Some of the many great sponsors making this possible include Hoppes Motorsports, Mark's Auto Body, Driving Force Graphics, JetStream Aqua Massage, Wizard Motorsports, Colville Printing and more.
Prize money includes $1500 to the champion, $750 to second and $500 to third, and there are contingency prizes for several positions as well. For instance, the champion will receive a championship jacket sponsored by Wizard Motorsports, a 100 minute massage by JetStream Massage and a Modified wrap by Driving Force Graphics.
The schedule is pretty simple. Run your race track's schedule, and race elsewhere when you can. The Northwest Modified Cup will gather the finishes and keep track of points. Drivers wishing to complete for the awards need only do one thing, pay a $25 membership, $20 of which goes back into the series and $5 to administrative expenses. Though all drivers will receive points, only members will earn the awards and prize money.
Already, over 30 drivers from the nine competing tracks have signed up for a shot at the increased prize money offered in this season's Northwest Modified Cup. Drivers signed up include last year's co-champions Winebarger and Carrell, Wauge, O'Connor and other hard chargers such as Yreka champion Nick Trenchard, Monte Bischoff, Jeremy Shank, Shaun Mayea, Shane Mills and B.J. Wild. More drivers are expected to sign on to the growing new promotional effort in the days ahead.
Tracks included in the Northwest Modified Cup this year include Willamette Speedway, River City Speedway, Sunset Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Madras Speedway, Skagit Speedway, Grays Harbor Speedway and Siskiyou Motor Speedway.
Kerstulovich could easily just focus on the Modified effort, which has several sponsors helping make it bigger, but he wanted to add more. Hence, the Northwest Sport Mod Challenge was created. A $1000 point fund has already been secured for a payout of $500, $350 and $150 to the Top 3 drivers at four tracks, including Siskiyou Motor Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Sunset Speedway. The new Sport Mod series was made possible thanks to the initial sponsorship of Frisbie Motorsports and Quality Auto Repair.
Late word is that Siskiyou Motor Speedway has chipped in another $100 to the point fund, and negotiations are ongoing for contingency prizes for the Sport Mods. Word was that there could be an announcement on this front soon.
A two time winner and point runner up at Sunset Speedway in Banks last season, Michael Melton has gotten on board this effort and is joined by Chris Frisbie, Trevor Tiffee and Jayson Nelson. IMCA Oregon State champion Mike Medel has also just joined. We also just got word that Kurt Lorenzini is joining the Sport Mod ranks for this series. The Lorenzini family has been a part of the sport for a number of years, and Kurt is the latest generation to get the bug to go racing. As with the Modifieds, the Sport Mods have a $25 season membership fee. It's also an opportunity to be a part of a new promotional effort that can help grow the sport and is a chance for the racers to win more money.
Kerstulovich is giving the racers an opportunity to compete against the best drivers in the Northwest to crown an overall champion in the region. This will only get bigger as the racers get on board and help make it happen. For further information, check the official NW Modified Cup and NW Sport Mod Challenge web page at http://wizard1056.wix.com/nw-modified-cup.
