PENSACOLA, FL :: The Southern Super Series will look quite different next season due to a variety of format changes and a new-look schedule released on Monday afternoon. The tweaks were designed to save teams money while also adding an element of excitement to the individual races themselves.

READ MORE: 2015 Southern Super Series Schedule Released

Gone are the 125-lap/six-tire races with halfway breaks and pit stops, replaced with 100-lap, four-tire races like the Blizzard Series and Miller Lite Series of yesteryear. Marquee events like the All-American 400 and World Crown 300 are also removed from the preseason schedule, replaced by the Lee Fields Memorial 150 (formerly a 100-lap Pro Late Model race) and a 150-lap championship showdown at Five Flags Speedway near the home offices in Pensacola.

Here is the good and bad ahead of the 2015 Southern Super Series season:

GOOD — Four-Tire Races

As we reported last week, Southern Super Series teams and drivers have been demanding four-tire races for months and had started to consider the upstart CARS tour due to its larger purse and cheaper tire options. It wasn’t that long ago that 100-lap/four-tire events routinely drew over 30 entries at both Pensacola and Mobile prior to the advent of the Southern Super Series.

Hopefully a return to that format will have the same results in 2015.

BAD — 100-Lap Races

On one hand, the decision to cut 25-laps from the standard-length Southern Super Series events was a byproduct of the transition to four tires and makes a ton of sense. But on the other hand, there is a perception than fans are now being jipped the 25 laps they have become accustomed to over the past two seasons.

Opinions vary on whether or not the Hoosier tires will even last 125 laps on an abrasive track like Pensacola but 100 laps instead of 125 definitely feels like a downgrade from the outside looking in. On the bright side, the tour did attempt to find a compromise by declaring the final two races at Mobile and Pensacola 150-lap showcases, finding a sort of balance between both perspectives.

GOOD — New Track(s)

As much fun as the Southern Super Series has been in the first two years since its inception, the schedule had become redundant with eight combined races at Pensacola and Mobile. The home-based doubleheaders have always been extremely entertaining but needed  complimentary events, especially after losing dates at both historic Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville and Gresham Motorsports Park.

The confirmed new date and venue at Watermelon Capital Speedway is a godsend for the third-year tour and the rumored race in Monroe, Louisiana would help eliminate the perception that the Southern Super Series isn’t a real touring series.

BAD –Inverts without Qualifying Incentive

The 100-lap events will now feature inverts of 8, 10 or 12 after qualifying to supposedly enhance the competition. Truthfully, the last thing the Southern Super Series needs is a competition enhancer. Did the tour need a competition enhancer after deciding two championships by a combined eight points? No. Did the tour need a competition enhancer after the thrilling three-wide battle for the win at Mobile in the season-ending race last season? No.

Save the gimmicks for NASCAR.

But at worst, if the series MUST have an invert, at least continue paying championship points and cash bonuses to top qualifiers. All an invert will do is create a safety hazard at the front of the field, much like at Pensacola in September when Todd Gilliland and Denver Foran bunched up the field after the halftime break.

CONCLUSION

At least on paper, the changes to the Southern Super Series should increase car counts and add an element of unpredictability to Super Late Model events in the Deep South this season.