The Southeast Limited Late Model Series has announced their 2017 schedule, which gets underway on Saturday, February 18th at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Easley, South Carolina.
The Southeast Limited Late Models Series, co-owned by Ed and Kelli Cox of Tri-Star Racewear, will be part of the Greenville-Pickens Meltdown for the second straight season with all three of their divisions (Pro, Challenger, Junior Elite) in competition.
The series returns to Greenville for their second race on March 18th before moving to Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday April 8th and 9th for a special two-day show.
Florence Motor Speedway in Florence, South Carolina has also been added to the schedule this season, hosting the series fourth event on Saturday, April 29th.
The month of May is an open month for the series as of now, but a date may be added if the right opportunity presents itself.
The third new track of the 2017 season is the newly-remodeled Newport Speedway in Newport, Tennessee. Their SELLM show will take place on Saturday, June 10th as race number five on the schedule.
The month of July will find the series giving Franklin County Speedway a go for race number six, billed as the Stars and Stripes Showdown on Sunday night, July 2nd.
Three weeks later, Myrtle Beach Speedway gets an added date to the schedule on Saturday, July 22nd in what promises to be a huge event serving as a prelude to the season-closer as they host race number seven, billed as Beach Bash I.
Race eight will take place on Saturday, August 26th when the cars and stars return to Dillon for their second event of the year. The month of September has only one race, that being race nine on the schedule and it will be held at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
The series will be off much of October, finishing the month on Saturday, October 28th with the tenth and final points race of the year, the Catawba Classic Championship Night at the Hickory Motor Speedway.
As always, November 9th through 11th will close out the season for the series with Beach Bash II, a non-points race at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
A strong contingent of cars is expected to be on hand for the SELLM opener, as several new teams have already indicated their desire to compete full-time in the series this season.
In addition to the Pro division and the Daytona1 Challenger division, the series has added a new Junior Elite division for young racers aged 11 to 15 who have demonstrated skills in smaller classes such as legends, quarter-midgets or karts and wish to develop their skills in a full-size car in an economical and more controlled environment.
“This new division is designed to be as economical as running a late model can be,” Ed Cox said. “It’s also a way for young racers to come into our series and learn about late model racing while still only running against others their age. It is meant to be a developmental division and we want to make sure we help the drivers learn how to race the way they should. We want to keep it fun for the kids but affordable for the parents at the same time.”
One rule change that was implemented for the Junior Elite Series is the addition of the Chevy 604 motors and the “built” late model stock motors but teams wishing to run either of those motors instead of the heavily suggested 602 crate motor package will have to add 200 pounds of weight to their machines.
Commitments from nearly a dozen teams have already been given to run the new division this season.
The 2016 season-ending awards banquet will be held Friday, February 17th as a prelude to the 2017 season opener the next day at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
For more information about the Southeast Limited Late Model Series, including purse structure and rules, contact Founder / Co-Owner Ed Cox at 843-421-7276.
P= Pro C= Challenger J= Junior Elite
2/18 – Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC)
Greenville-Pickens Meltdown P,C,J
3/18 – Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC) P,C,J
4/8-9 – Dillon Motor Speedway (SC) P,C,J
4/29 – Florence Motor Speedway P,C,J
5/?? – TBA
6/10 – Newport Speedway (TN) P,C
7/02 – Franklin County Speedway (Va.)
Stars and Stripes Showdown P,C,J
7/22 – Myrtle Beach Speedway (SC)
Beach Bash I P,C
8/26 – Dillon Motor Speedway (SC) P,C,J
9/09 – Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC) P,C,J
10/28 – Hickory Motor Speedway (NC)
Catawba Classic Championship Night P,C,J
11/9-11 Myrtle Beach Speedway (SC)
Beach Bash II – Non Points P,C,J
The Southeast Limited Late Model Series (SELLM) was founded by Ed and Kelli Cox of Tri-Star Racewear. The mission of this pavement series is to provide Southeast NASCAR Limited Late Model Series racers with a number of affordable, professionally-run shows at premier tracks in the Carolinas region.
The series features two separate divisions. The Daytona 1 Challenger division is designed for racers new to Limited Late Models or those who are on a budget, as this division runs on used tires. The winner takes home $1000 and the Challenger division pays $100 to start.
The Pro division is for the more experienced racers and those who desire to run on new tires. The winner takes home $3,000, and the Pro division pays $300 to start.
The car and motor rules are basically the same in both divisions, allowing teams to easily make the move from Challenger to Pro without a great deal of additional expense.
Challenger features are generally 50 laps in length while the Pro features are 100 laps.
Corporate partners for 2017 include AR Bodies, Gale Force Suspension Five-Star Bodies, Team Full Throttle, Molecule Motorsports, Tri-Star Racewear and InLine-Designs.
For more information, including purse structure and rules you can visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
