10/8/2019
Short Track Super Series
Still Going Strong: “Working Man’s Race� Short Track SuperNationals Celebrates 12th Running at Afton Motorsports Park
AFTON, NY – The race they said would never work
is still going strong.
In fact, it
celebrates its 12th running this weekend: Friday, October 11 and
Saturday, October 12 at Afton Motorsports Park.
In October
2006, Afton Speedway promoters Pat and Janet Jordan teamed with rookie promoter
Brett Deyo to present the first “Working Man’s Race� at the fairgrounds
facility located off Interstate 88 Exit 7.
Entering its
12th edition, the Short Track SuperNationals is again contested at
its birthplace, as Afton Motorsports Park promoter Ron Ford and Deyo partner
for the two-day 2019 festival.
The Beginnings
The Short Track
SuperNationals began as an affordable alternative to the Super DIRT Week
festivities at the Syracuse mile. For both events, the venues have changed
since that very first ’06 edition, but the concept remains the same. The
SuperNationals offers the Friday, Saturday or Sunday night weekend warrior an
‘away race’ with camping, a well-balanced pay structure and a chance to shine.
Each season,
the SuperNationals attracts one of, if not the largest, car count in Northeast
Modified racing.
A Full Lineup
Short Track
SuperNationals 12 features a full lineup of diverse racing divisions.
Of course,
the big-block/small-block Modifieds of the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track
Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco take the lead role on the weekend, with a
50-lap event on Saturday paying $5,500 to win, $1,000 for 10th and
$400 to take the green flag plus a number of special awards and bonuses.
Modifieds
will be included in the Friday program with rounds of timed hot laps and a Dash
offering the winner a redraw in the Saturday 50-lapper.
Joining the
STSS Modified headliner on Saturday are the STSS Crate 602 Sportsman in the
final round of the North Region paying $1,500 to win (25 laps) plus Street
Stocks offering $750 to the victor and the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modifieds
in a pair of main events.
Friday night
is topped by the Sportsman in a 30-lap feature paying $1,500 to win ($2,000
with “Gambler’s Fee� posted), CRSA Sprint Cars in the series’ championship
round (25 laps), Slingshots paying $350 to win and the aforementioned Modified
practice.
One-on-One
The “home-track� American Racer Cup presented by American Racer tires and
Sunoco Race Fuels is included in Short Track SuperNationals weekend with unique
Match Races.
Champions
from each of the individual American Racer Cup tracks are invited to take part
in the one-on-one match races. Sportsman are featured on Friday night, with
Modifieds on Saturday night.
All
participants receive a tire certificate courtesy of American Racer and
distributor Lias Tire Company.
The Modified
winner takes home $2,000 cash, with the Sportsman victor receiving $1,500 for
their efforts!
Year-long
American Racer Cup certificates will be ready for distribution and Lias Tire
representatives will be on hand.
No Repeats
Eleven Short Track
SuperNationals Modified events have been run since ’06 at three different
facilities: the current home of Afton Motorsports Park, Five Mile Point
Speedway in Kirkwood, N.Y., and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, N.Y.
Amazingly, in
11 years and 550 feature-event laps, there have been no repeat winners.
Short-track
ace Mike Ricci started off the
SuperNationals tradition by winning the ’06 edition at Afton.
After a
hiatus of two years, the event returned in ’09 at Five Mile Point, where it
would be run through ’13. Kevin Hirthler
made the drive from Pennsylvania pay off with a win in ’09, while Sportsman
star Justin Holland put his name on
the map in the ’10 edition. Driving the Atlas Paving No. 66, Duane Howard prevailed in ’11, with Danny Tyler annexing the ’12 running
and Craig Hanson registering the
most prominent win of his career in ’13.
Afton, then
run under the I-88 moniker with Jamie and Denise Page at the helm, was back as
the host starting in ’14. Shaun Walker
was the hometown winner in the ’14 program, with Danny Creeden taking the ’15 race, Ryan Godown besting the field in ’16 and Rusty Smith thrilling the crowd in ’17.
With Afton in
need of a resurfacing last fall, Thunder Mountain’s Spoonhower family jumped in
to host the ’18 edition. Andy Bachetti
scored a last-lap victory over Mat Williamson to become the 11th
consecutive different winner.
The Points
The Short Track
SuperNationals serves as a points-paying race for both the STSS Modified Halmar
International North Region and STSS Crate 602 Sportsman North Region.
Matt Sheppard holds the Halmar North Region Modified
division top spot with just two events remaining on the series (Afton and
N.Y.’s Orange County Fair Speedway Thursday, October 24). Sheppard leads by
three markers over Stewart Friesen (who has NASCAR commitments at Talladega,
Ala., for the SuperNationals), Andy
Bachetti by 17, Mat Williamson
by 41 and Mike Gular by 45.
In the Crate
602 Sportsman battle, Tim Hartman Jr.
holds a commanding 107-point edge entering the SuperNationals. Hartman needs
only to take the green flag to secure the $1,500 championship.
$57,500 (Super) Man?
The Short Track
SuperNationals carries added pressure for the driver known as Super Matt.
Already this season, Matt Sheppard has clinched the overall American Racer Cup
title (worth $10,000). He needs only to start the Mid-Atlantic Championship at
Georgetown (Del.) Speedway Nov. 2 to clinch the Velocita-USA South Region title
($10,000).
Should
Sheppard string together North Region championship-winning finishes at Afton
and Orange County, he will receive $12,500 as the North title holder and sets
himself up for a cash bonus of $25,000 from Sunoco Race Fuels and Insinger
Performance.
Sheppard,
conceivably, is just 100 laps away from the richest-ever championship in dirt
Modified racing worth $57,500. That road runs through Afton, New York.
A Resurgent Venue
Afton Motorsports
Park’s current promoter Ron Ford doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Ford, faced
with a batch of clay that didn’t meet expectations, struggled through the ’18
season with track issues and declining fan and racer counts. Ford ended the
season early, but didn’t give up.
Loads upon
loads of clay were trucked into the Afton facility during the winter months.
The result: a revitalized Afton Motorsports Park in ’19. The racing improved
and so did the attendance. Car counts and grandstand numbers hit new highs as
three-wide action on the track became the norm.
The stage is
now set at a re-energized Afton facility as the Short Track SuperNationals
turns 12 this weekend.
Short Track SuperNationals Year-By-Year History
October 7, 2018 (Thunder Mountain): ANDY BACHETTI – Mat Williamson – Shaun
Walker – Danny Bouc – Billy Decker
October 7, 2017 (Afton): RUSTY SMITH – Andy Bachetti – Mike
Gular – Mike Ricci – Rich Ricci Jr.
October 9, 2016 (Afton): RYAN GODOWN – Danny Creeden – Andy
Bachetti – Tommy Meier – Shaun Walker
October 10, 2015 (Afton): DANNY CREEDEN – Mike Mahaney – Paul
Jensen – Jeff Heotzler – Mitch Gibbs
October 11, 2014 (Afton): SHAUN WALKER – Mike Mahaney – Mitch
Gibbs – Tyler Dippel – Bobby Varin
October 12, 2013 (Five Mile Point): CRAIG HANSON – Anthony Perrego –
Jackie Brown Jr. – Pat Ward – Chad Phelps
October 6, 2012 (Five Mile Point): DANNY TYLER – Bobby Varin – Brian
Weaver – Billy Pauch Sr. – Mitch Gibbs
October 7, 2011 (Five Mile Point): DUANE HOWARD – Danny Tyler – Billy Pauch
Sr. – Jeff Strunk – Jeff Heotzler
October 9, 2010 (Five Mile Point): JUSTIN HOLLAND – Billy Pauch Jr. –
Kevin Bates – Brian Weaver – Danny Tyler
October 10, 2009 (Five Mile Point): KEVIN HIRTHLER – Mike Ricci – Mike
Gular – Sean Merkel – Joey Grammes
October 7, 2006 (Afton): MIKE RICCI – J.R. Hurlburt – Brian
Weaver – Joey Grammes – Davie Franek