Pro Late Models Expected to Make 2021 Debut
Rothbury, MI (10/22/2020) - Winston Speedway announced it will be adding a new Pro Late Model division in 2021. The new division will not be exclusive to the Friday night Rothbury, Michigan speed plant, but will also be added to Muskegon, Michigan’s Thunderbird Raceway program on Saturday nights. The Pro Late Models will be running in addition to the regular Super Late Model division.
The division is being created as a hopeful answer to what some consider a problem in dirt track racing in Michigan. Car counts are questionable at most tracks for the Pro Stocks, Pro Trucks, and Sportsman divisions. In fact, Winston Speedway joins the list of tracks that have threatened to do away with the mid-tear division. Should they completely cut the class, they’d join tracks like Butler Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway who have dropped the division in recent years.
The new division will now give Late Model drivers and fans three different classes to choose from in the state; with the well-established DIRTcar UMP Late Models, what some call “Michigan Late Models” - essentially UMP Late Models on American Racer tires, and now Pro Late Models. As for the concern about starting a new class, Winston Speedway Owner/Promoter, Dean Wilkerson says they’re ready for the challenge.
“We have a lot of excitement behind it,” Wilkerson said on the Horsepower Happenings podcast. “In our area, I think there is a big call for it, because there are a lot of low budget racers racing late models that struggle to afford it and go above their means to try to compete at that level in the super late models,” Wilkerson added.
The Pro-Late Models will be allowed to run a 602 or 604 crate, or a Street Stock/Spec engine. The allowed tire will be the American Racer AR56 MARW stamped. There will also be a $200 claim rule for shocks. More details on the exact rules regarding the Pro-Late Models will be posted on the Winston Speedway website in the coming days.
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Story - Horsepower Happenings
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