ROBERSONVILLE, NC :: East Carolina Motor Speedway is getting ready to set the stage for their biggest race of the season, the Ronnie Barnette Memorial 200. The race, which will take place on October 18th, will be headlined by racing from the Limited Late Models and Modifieds.
East Carolina Motor Speedway track promoter John Vick has strong expectations for the Ronnie Barnette Memorial. In an interview with RACE22.com, he spoke about the season, next Saturday’s race and the 2015 season at East Carolina Motor Speedway.
During the offseason, East Carolina was the first of three tracks in the region to pick up NASCAR sanctioning. Vick said the sanctioning helped the track in terms of credibility but that he has work to do as a promoter to get more cars to come to East Carolina.
“I think the NASCAR sanctioning helped us,” Vick said. “It brought credibility to the track and for our sponsors. We’ve seen a significant increase. Every race this year has improved. We started out with a smaller car count to the point where we’re running really good fields. Late Models, we’re a little behind on but we’re hoping to change that next year. We got our sanctioning a little late and people didn’t know about the track.”
Vick felt the announcement that East Carolina had gone NASCAR came too late. While the deal was already in place in October 2013, the announcement did not come until well over a month later.
“I think it was announced a little too late and we didn’t aggressively go after the drivers to let them know we were a NASCAR sanctioned track,” Vick commented. “We started calling drivers and inviting them out. I think if the drivers get there, they’ll stay.”
While the Late Model Stock Car fields aren’t what Vick would like them to be, the Limited Late Models have had strong fields all season which has given Vick reason to consider possibly merging the Limited Late Model and Late Model Stock Car classes next season.
“It’s a consideration,” he remarked. “Wayne Perry (track owner) makes that decision. The only hesitation with that is, we truly believe that now that we’ve gone through our first year with NASCAR sanctioning, I think we can aggressively work toward getting the Late Models out here. Our last race, we had 11 or 12 Late Models. We’re already working toward that for next year.”
The strong car counts in the Limited Late Model division have given Vick hope that they should have a solid 15-20 car field for the 75-lap Limited Late Model feature in the Ronnie Barnette Memorial.
“I’m expecting 15-20 Limiteds for Saturday’s race and that’s pretty good,” Vick stated. “We averaged between 12 and 15. I feel like there’s a good chance Bradley McCaskill will come. I’m looking at 14 or 15 so far. Generally speaking, the ones I feel comfortable about are 15 locked in right now. I’ve called Clay Jones and personally invited them. I try to personally invite drivers all over the state. With Wake being wrapped up, I think we’ll get some of those drivers. I think the majority of our drivers have raced or do race at Kenly. We try to work with them as we do with any tracks. We’re fortunate to hae a lot of good tracks and really good drivers.”
Vick spoke about the level of competition in the Limited Late Model division, stating that many of the best Limited Late Model racers in the region have competed at East Carolina this season.
“If you look at rank with RACE22.com and Power Rankings; Rusty Daniels was every week, Bradley McCaskill races here, Boo Boo Dalton’s been here, Louis White’s here all the time, Haley Moody, points champion from Southern National, raced with us last time. We’ve been fortunate. The way we do it, I don’t think we’re in the best location but we continue to invite drivers and treat them well when they’re here. We have two groups of people to cater to – our drivers and our fans. And I think we do a really good job.”
The other headline division in the Ronnie Barnette Memorial will be the Modifieds. Next Saturday’s race will be the second time the Modifieds have competed at East Carolina. The Modifieds that will be running will be the IMCA Modifieds featured at Langley Speedway – which is where Vick feels he will attract most of his field from.
East Carolina ran a Modified race on September 5th. The race was won by longtime veteran and seven-time Langley Speedway Modified champion Shawn Balluzzo. After that race, East Carolina started putting things in motion to hold a Modified division on a regular basis in the 2015 season.
“We’re hoping to add them on a regular basis next year,” Vick explained. “We had them out three races ago, the fans loved it and the drivers loved it so we’ll have them out again on the 18th and continue to have them out next year in a more aggressive basis.”
Vick praised the drivers and the level of competition.
“All those guys were great. They worked their butt off to put that race on. It’s a tough track for people who have never been there before. They all did a really good job. And they are 100% dedicated racers. All of our drivers, from U-CARs to Limiteds, they’re pretty dedicated. That’s how we’ve grown our Limited deal. And I think next year it will be twice as good.”
The September 5th race at East Carolina featured a healthy 13 car field for the Modifieds. Vick feels the Modified field next Saturday should be even stronger.
“I’m expecting more. The Langley and Southside guys are coming. A few guys from Shenandoah might come. I’m trying to work a deal here drivers from Ace can come as well. We’ll be running a different tire and rim from Ace. We want all of them to come if they can. I think there will be more cars there than our fans have seen all year.”
One reason Vick has strong expectations for the race is because it will be the first time East Carolina’s raced on a Saturday night. The track generally runs on Friday nights from April through September.
“It’s our first Saturday race we’ve done and that’s a big thing. One of our big problems is because of racing on Friday nights.”
One of the issues that emerged from East Carolina’s schedule was the head-to-head competition the track had with Wake County Speedway, which is located less than 100 miles away in nearby Raleigh, North Carolina.
“The bad part about that is, Wake County is a good track and Adam Resnick is a great promoter and runs a great facility. So, you have two really good tracks running on the same night. It makes it a little tough.”
Next Saturday’s race at the 3/8th mile D-shaped oval appears destined to be a marquee event for East Carolina Motor Speedway. The race features a 75-lap, $1,300-to-win Limited Late Model race, a 75-lap, $1,100-to-win Modified race as well as 25-lap races for the track’s Street Stock and U-CAR divisions. The green flag will wave on the Ronnie Barnette Memorial at 7pm.
