Photo Courtesy Evening Tribune – Story by Steven Ovens
(Penn Yan, NY) The Bicknell Racing Products Can Am Late Model Series, headed up by former race announcer and driver-favorite promoter Gary Montgomery, announced exclusively on the Turn 5 Racing Podcast that the series will return for 2014.
In an article to come out in the future, the newly elected Yates County legislator had told Race Chaser Online that he didn’t think the BRP Can Am Late Models would return in 2014 as they were currently structured. Race fans, drivers and team owners thought there was a real possibility that the series as they knew it was over and may no longer exist. The Finger Lakes area Late Model guru put all of those rumors to rest.
“When I left the 2013 season I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to do. I told everyone we were going to have to change what we do as a series,” Montgomery told the co-hosts of Turn 5.
“The change is strictly in the way we will run the points program. We’ve always run with an emphasis on the tour events with home track bonus points added in as a factor.”
The series will take on what looks to be a 10-12 race schedule featuring approx. 5 races at Little Valley Speedway, 1-2 races at Raceway 5 and 2-3 races at the Woodhull Raceway. The series will be capped off by Championship night taking place at the Short Track Supernationals at I-88 Speedway in October- a weekend promoted by promoter Brett Deyo. If the name Brett Deyo doesn’t ring a bell, it should. Stay tuned to Race Chaser Online for more on that.
The point structure will follow how the Super DIRTcar Modified series awards home track points to supplement the series points earned. If a BRP Can Am Late Model driver wins the championship at either Freedom Raceway, Raceway 5 or the Woodhull Raceway that driver will earn 1000 home track bonus points. 2nd place points finish earns 990 points and so on down the line at 10-point increments.
Now you take that and add each tour race that runs on a 100-point format and you have the equation to determine the BRP Late Model tour champion. The tour and home track points are equally important. A driver who wins the championship at his or her home track improves their chances greatly to win, but still has to perform well while running the tour to win it.
The series will boast a $15,000 point fund to go along with $15,000 in racing product that will be distributed at the year-end awards program. The awards program is quite popular and is held yearly at the National Parts Peddler show in November each year at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY.
You may be asking, “What is the difference between the BRP Can Am Late Models and the Crate Late Models I have heard of in Upstate New York?”
The BRP dirt late models run what is known in New York and Pennsylvania as a super stock chassis and front clip with an “open” 360 cast iron motor. This is compared to the Go Nuclear! Dirt Late Model Series that use true dirt late model chassis with a crate motor.
The Go Nuclear! Series and BRP Can Am Late Models ran several challenge races in 2013 with the Crate Late Models having a clear advantage in power coupled with lighter dirt late model chassis.
“We’ve tried to marry the two rules packages. We tried it once at Canandaigua Motorsports Park and twice at Black Rock Speedway and the results were what we expected. The real late models just womped us,” said an open and descriptive Montgomery.
Montgomery went on to talk about the future, “The cars just aren’t comparable enough. My dream is, and still is although it won’t happen in 2014, is to drop our ‘open’ motors into real late models.”
Tour sponsors for 2013 have signed on for 2014 in Title Sponsor Bicknell Racing Products, ISKY Racing Cams and Lias Tire (American Racer distributor), which have been on board since the tour’s inception. This fact is something Montgomery was also excited to announce.
“Things have changed such that I wasn’t sure they’d want to continue to be perfectly honest. But wholehearted support from Bicknell Racing Products, Lias Tire and ISKY Cams for 2014.”
For more information on the BRP Can Am Late Model Series log on to www.brpcanamseries.com.