The fledgling Prestoria Racing Alliance (PRA Tours) is facing the same challenges that so many sanctioning bodies encounter during their formative years. With several different classes of racing under the PRA Tours banner, it’s somewhat of a juggling act to make sure that each division gets its proper amount of attention.

The Southern Modified Racing Series, Southeast Limited Late Models (SELLM), 602 Tour Super Limiteds and 602 Tour Modifieds all compete in any PRA meet along with the newly formed PRA Super Late Model tour for some events. Arguably the 602 mods have shown the biggest improvement in car count and competition over the last year.

Last fall, after winning the 602 Modified portion of the North-South Shootout in Concord, Robbie Brewer said that the class would grow.

“We only had six cars here today but a lot of cars are being built for this series,” Brewer said. “There’s a lot of tour modified guys that are going to have cars in 2019.”

Brewer was right and the class seems to have a great future ahead of it. At the recent PRA event at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, NC the 602 Modified field was at 11 cars. That was nearly double the field from Concord the previous fall. Brewer won again but not without a tough fight from regular tour drivers like Jonathan Brown, Lee Jeffries, and Jeremy Gershner.

What Brewer said last November has come to fruition. The 602 Modifieds are a viable and inexpensive alternative to running the more expensive Tour-type Modifieds. The 602 Modified class may be the most successful adaptation for crate motors to pavement racing.

There are several other 602 Modified events scheduled for 2019 at tracks like Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC, Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, NC and Caraway Speedway again. The traditional modified fans seem to have embraced this new type of open-wheel competition with open arms.

With more of these little monsters being built, it would appear that the sky is the limit for the PRA 602 Modifieds and it’s sure to be a highlight of PRA Tour events for years to come.

Cover photo by Brad Newman.