DUNDEE, NY — Official Release — Brad Ovens Photo — Yates County Speedway Promoter Dan Harpell has announced the running of the inaugural Suburban Propane Seneca Lake Shootout, September 19th at the 4/10ths mile Dundee oval. The Modifieds will headline the show with a 50 lap, $4,000 to win race. They will be joined by a $600 to win event for the Street Stocks, a $500 to win open show for the 305 Sprint Cars and a $400 to win show for the Four Cylinders. Race time is 7:00 p.m.
“We are really excited about this show”, said Promoter Dan Harpell. “We wanted to come up with a big event for September and had this date set aside. We have finally been able to put it all together and I think we have the makings of a blockbuster event”, he added.
The date was originally on the schedule as a Modified and CRSA Sprint Car show. It has since evolved into something much bigger and marks the beginning of a new fall tradition at Yates County Speedway. The Sprints will be running an open event as the race is no longer sanctioned by CRSA.
“After a good discussion with CRSA Director Mike VanDusen, we mutually agreed to not make this a sanctioned event”, said Harpell. “The majority of the CRSA cars come from the eastern part of the state and with the full schedule that they have for the month of September, it just didn’t make sense”.
CRSA runs a different right rear tire than what is run at the track weekly and at nearby Canandaigua Speedway where the weekly car count is approaching 20 cars. That would have required the local drivers to buy a right rear tire to be able to compete. Now they can run their regular weekly tire.
“Mike is a class act and runs a first rate operation”, said Harpell. “We would have really been extending their limits by running this as a sanctioned event as it is the farthest they travel for any race. We plan on getting together over the winter to discuss the possibility of a return visit by CRSA in 2015”.
The Big Block and Small Block Modifieds will headline the show, which will pay $4,000 to win for 50 laps. It is the only special Modified race that night within several hours of Yates County Speedway so you can expect a great field of cars from Central, Western and the Southern Tier of New York and the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.
“The one thing that I constantly hear from fans is that they want to see the Modifieds back at Yates County Speedway”, said Harpell. “This is your chance to put your money where your mouth is and show us that you truly want to support Modified racing at the track”, he added. This will be the second race for the Modifieds at Yates County in 2014. Two time Syracuse winner Vic Coffey took home top honors on July 22nd.
The Race of Champions Modified Series was scheduled to take place in the spring but was rained out on two occasions and wasn’t able to be made up. The final Modified race of the season will take place on Saturday, October 25th as part of the Dutch Hoag National Open Weekend.
The Street Stocks will also be in competition on this night in a 25 lap race, paying $600 to win. Yates County averaged 23 Street Stocks per week in 2014 and with no other Street Stock race taking place anywhere close by, a strong field of cars is expected.
The Four Cylinders will take to the track as well. They will run a 20 lap feature paying $400 to the winner. Yates County Speedway rules will apply for this event.
Suburban Propane has signed on as the headline sponsor of the event. With locations in Auburn and Penn Yan, they have the Finger Lakes region covered for all of your propane, gas, diesel and fuel oil needs. They are the official propane supplier at Yates County Speedway. Call them at 1-800-PROPANE for more information.
“We are happy to have Suburban join us as the headline sponsor of this event”, said Harpell. “Having a company the size of Suburban sponsor the event adds credibility to what is certain to be a new long standing tradition at Yates County Speedway”, he added.
The “Seneca Lake Shootout” refers to the close proximity that Yates County Speedway has to Seneca Lake, the deepest of the Finger Lakes. The track is located in the heart of wine country in the beautiful Finger Lakes region. If you are travelling from out of town for this event, make plans to spend the night and visit the wineries the next day.
Rules Format & Guaranteed Starting Spots Will Be On The Line
This will be the second of three appearances by the Big Block and Small Block Modifieds. They will follow the same rule structure as the July 22nd race. Rules for the Friday, September 19th Seneca Lake Shootout are as follows:
Modifieds:
Tire Information: Tire Options: American Racers Right rear: SD48 Left rear: SD 38 or SD44 Left front: SD33 Right front: SD33 or harder.
General Rules: The standard for motor, body, chassis and safety rules are based on ’04 dirt rules.
Weight Info: Big Block Modifieds – min. 2,500 lbs. no tolerance. (’04 dirt legal) Small Block Modifieds – min. 2,400 lbs. no tolerance. Max. 361 c.i. SB2 heads permitted but must weigh Big Block weight (2,500 lbs.) Small Blocks with dome pistons must weigh minimum of 2,450 lbs.
NO mixing and matching of rules. NO SAIL PANELS!!
Street Stocks and Four Cylinders:
Will follow the regular Yates County Speedway rule structure. The complete set of Street Stock and Four Cylinder rules can be found on our website at www.yatescountyspeedway.com.
305 Sprints:
Will follow the same rules that they run weekly at Yates County and Canandaigua Speedways. Those rules can also be found on the website.
Guanranteed Starting Spots:
Guaranteed starting spots will be on the line in the Seneca Lake Shootout. The winner of the Modified feature will not only take home the $4,000 top prize, but will also become a guaranteed starter in the Southern Tier 100 to be held at Five Mile Point Speedway on November 1st.
The winner of the Street Stock feature will be a guaranteed starter in the Empire 100 on Saturday, October 25th at Yates County Speedway.
The Four Cylinder winner will also receive a guaranteed starting spot in the Four Cylinder portion of the Dutch Hoag National Open on Friday, October 24th at Yates County.
Mark it down on your calendars now. A new fall tradition is born at Yates County Speedway with the running of the Seneca Lake Shootout on Friday, September 19th. Pit gates will open at 4:30 p.m., grandstand gates at 5:00 p.m. and race time is 7:00 p.m. The track is located on Route 14A in Dundee, New York, just ten miles from historic Watkins Glen.
For more information look us up on Facebook under Yates County Speedway or call the speedway office at during the week or on race day.