Public Stature
The series has been a minor league with a strong and loyal regional following. Most national media attention has appeared in racing-centered publications (magazines such as Stock Car Racing Magazine or Speedway Illustrated, or newspapers such as National Speed Sport News or Speedway Scene) rather than general mass media. In the 21st century, several books about historical Modified drivers have been published. The series was featured in the EA Sports NASCAR series starting in 2004, though after 2006, the series became exclusive to PlayStation 2 releases.
No full-time Sprint Cup driver competed regularly in Whelen Modified Tour events until 2010, when Ryan Newman won at Bristol and won twice at New Hampshire driving for Kevin Manion. However, Ron Bouchard, Geoff Bodine, Brett Bodine, Steve Park, and Jimmy Spencer went on from WMT competition to become race winners at the Cup level. Other WMT veterans such as Mike McLaughlin, and Jeff Fuller have advanced to become race winners and championship contenders in the Nationwide Series, the top minor league under Sprint Cup. 2-time Nationwide Series Champion Randy Lajoie also began racing Modifieds in Connecticut before moving on the NASCAR. Sprint Cup crew chiefs that started in WMT include Tommy Baldwin Jr. and Greg Zipadelli.
In recent years, small numbers of races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour have aired on network television, with none appearing on prime-time television.
Traditionally, there are two weekends when the Modifieds run as part of the undercard for the Sprint Cup: i.e., the July and September races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In the past, Modifieds ran with the Cup cars at Martinsville, and the old SMART tour (which today would be the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour) at North Wilkesboro with Cup cars. Typically, a name driver is recruited to participate in the race to pique the interest of casual fans. For example, Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards and defending Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart raced in the July 2006 race. On August 19, 2009, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour made its debut at Bristol Motor Speedway as part of a four-series meet (with the three national series) that week. This was a combination event for the Whelen Modifieds and the Southern Whelen Modifieds, with same-day coverage on Speed Channel, and part of the Camping World Truck Series race meet that evening. The Modifieds have also historically run with INDYCAR when the series raced at Richmond International Raceway, and will add a third New Hampshire Motor Speedway race in 2011 when it is paired with the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Read more about this topic: Whelen Modified Tour
Famous quotes containing the words public and/or stature:
“The rush to books and universities is like the rush to the public house. People want to drown their realization of the difficulties of living properly in this grotesque contemporary world, they want to forget their own deplorable inefficiency as artists in life.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“With hym ther was his sone, a yong squier,
A lovyere and a lusty bacheler,
With lokkes crulle as they were leyd in presse.
Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.
Of his stature he was of evene lengthe,
And wonderly delyvere, and of greet strengthe.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)