Following a tire test earlier this month with American Racer tires, Southern National Motorsports Park has decided to keep the Late Model Stock Cars on the Hoosier F-45 tire for this season.
Southern National Motorsports Park General Manager Charlie Hansen said the decision was made to keep most of the competitors from having to make a change just to compete at the 4/10 mile speed plant.
“The tire of choice throughout this region is the Hoosier F-45 and it didn’t make sense for us to use something different than what most racers are already used to running,” Hansen said. “We’re in a position where our schedule is shorter and racers will be coming from a lot of tracks and series to compete with us and it just doesn’t make sense to make everyone have to make wholesale changes to their cars to adjust for a different tire when the rest of the region primarily runs the Hoosier F-45.”
Hansen also stated that no decision has been made about what tire the Limited Late Models will run this season but that they would have another tire test, this time with Hoosier next week before making a final decision.
“We’re probably going to put the Limiteds on a different tire this season. Something that will last longer and save them money. The Limited division will run more races and we need them to be able to afford to race all year. We’re going to test a couple different tire compounds with Hoosier before making a decision.”
The two tires that Hoosier will bring to the tire test is the Hoosier 1070 and F-80. Both tires will be tested on the same day and will be compared to the American Racer tire tested earlier this month. Limited Late Models have their first event at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 31st.
The goal of the tire change is to also help improve the quality of the tires for the Charger division and to move them to the Limiteds scuffs by the end of the season.
“This change will also filter down to our Charger division and hopefully make the racing better and give them a more repeatable tire to compete on. Our goal is to have them on these scuffs by the end of this season.”
The Late Model Stock Cars will kick off the 2018 season on March 3rd with a 150-lap race featuring a potential $4,500 payday to the winner as well as a minimum of $600 to 18th finishing position and $500 to start. The Dogwood 265 will also feature a 50-lap Mini Stock Mania race paying $500 to win, a 40-lap Charger feature and a 25-lap Bandolero race. The opener will be a daytime event with a 2pm start time set.
For more information about Southern National Motorsports Park, check out SNMP’s website at www.snmpark.com, “like” Southern National Motorsports Park on Facebook or “follow” @SNM_Park on Twitter.
