Ambitious Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour Scheduled

NORTH AUGUSTA, ON – The 2023 edition of the Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour will see eighteen events run across two different Countries, two Provinces and two States. And for good measure two different track surfaces for the first time in its seven year history.

Traditionally the Tour always visits at least one new track per season. In 2023 there will be two, which would seem to be this year’s theme. Evans Mills Speedway, an asphalt surface and The Hill Speedway in Monroeton, PA are the new additions.

There will also be some returning tracks from the past which were not run in 2022. Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY and Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna, PA will see the Tour twice, while Afton Motorsports Park and Autodrome Granby in Quebec will be on the schedule once each.

Returning from last year will be Thunder Mountain Speedway in Centre Lisle, NY with three shows scheduled, Fulton Speedway and Skyline Raceway in Virgil, NY with two each and one return trip to the Brewerton Speedway.

The Tour will also be returning to both Ohsweken Speedway and the Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne, On  in conjunction with Flat Track Canada.

“We are very excited about our schedule this year,” Jeff Ciglich, the Series Director explains. “Although we have eighteen shows, we were able to mitigate travel by doubling up almost half the shows back to back with other tracks close to each other. We also made an effort and in some cases just got lucky that our dates for the most part do not conflict with other regional series or clubs.”

The 2023 Tour Championship will once again crown a single Champion after being split into American and Canadian series the past several seasons. “There are a few reasons for that,” explains Ciglich. “The most obvious is that we only have three dates in Canada. But with the world almost returning to normal here soon we hope, we felt it was time to reunite the entire Tour”

In addition to a Tour Champion, this year will see the addition of an owner’s Championship. A wrinkle Ciglich believes will improve participation in all areas. “We have a lot of car owner’s involved who have multiple driver’s for various reasons. This will allow them to run for a Championship even if the primary driver can only race a limited schedule. The car itself will accumulate the points regardless of who is behind the wheel.”

Both driver and owner Championships will not require a team to run the entire 18 race schedule. “This is an idea we have kicked around for years given the fact our footprint is quite large geographically. So for the driver Champion we are only counting the best twelve finishes. They can run more races if they wish obviously but we are only taking the best twelve. The first tie breaker will be feature wins, the second if we are still deadlocked will be your record against the driver you are tied with. For the owner’s deal we are doing the best ten finishes with the same tiebreakers in place.”

2022 defending American Series Champ Joe August Jr from Brewerton, NY is on record stating he will be returning to defend his Championship belt. Canadian Champion Bill Profota of Dresden, On is expected to run the shows in Southern Ontario but with the schedule heavy in Central NY and the Southern Tier, logistics will see his participation limited.The Canadian belt held by Profota and in 2021 Matt Barbour of Brockville, On will become the owner’s belt in 2023.

The majority of racers from 2022 are expected to return plus a few driver’s who have not run in a few years will also be coming back. Several new faces are also expected, some are new teams, others coming over from other club’s and series.

The Tour will also see some new faces in its infrastructure. Announcers Jamie Davis and Leon Andrus will both be in the booth at various tracks throughout the season. Former Paradise Speedway GM Bill Glitch and former Southern Ontario Motor Speedway promoter Craig Smolders will be joining on as officials. And Donny Kerlin comes on board as photographer.

Returning once again will be starter Thomas Hodge and of course Tom Coughlin who has kept the DMNT going since the pandemic started in 2022.

The Tour kicks off at the end of the month, April 28th at the Fulton Speedway