Everything You Need To Know For The World Series At New Smyrna Speedway
Everything You Need To Know For The World Series At New Smyrna Speedway
New Smyrna Speedway will host the 57th Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing live on FloRacing February 10-18.
The 57th Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway is right around the corner, so we here at FloRacing figured now would be a great time to make sure race fans are caught up on everything they need to know before one of pavement short track racing’s biggest events of the year.
The Track
As always, the host for this event is the high-banked half-mile of New Smyrna Speedway. Located just 10 miles south of the world-famous Daytona International Speedway on Route 44 is where New Smyrna Speedway sits. The track was built by the Hart family, who still owns the track today. Clyde Hart built the race track as a dirt track originally, but it was paved within six months of opening in 1966.
New Smyrna Speedway is a half-mile oval with straightaways that are 600-feet in length. The corners have 23 degrees of banking, which leads to New Smyrna Speedway being one of the fastest short tracks in the country. The racing surface was laid down in 2007, but track officials have already announced that the track will be repaved after the conclusion of the 2023 racing season.
The Divisions
Across the nine nights of racing at New Smyrna, race fans will see 12 different divisions in action. The divisions competing in this year’s World Series are Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Tour-type Modifieds, 602 Modifieds, Florida Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Trucks, E-Mods, Super Stocks, Mod Minis, Bomber A, and Bomber B.
The Super and Pro Late Models will each hit the track for seven features throughout the event, including the debut of the ASA Southern Super Series at the World Series on Tuesday, February 14 with the running of the Clyde Hart Memorial.
The Tour-type Modifieds will be in action six times, including the second running of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday, February 11, which will open the Modified Tour season. Other major events for the Modifieds include the John Blewett Memorial 76 on Wednesday, February 15, and the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Friday, February 17.
The Competitors
As of January 31, there are currently more than 200 drivers entered across all 12 divisions for this year’s World Series.
The Tour-type Modified division once again leads the way with 46 cars already pre-entered. Those cars are entered for the five nights of World Series action. The entry list for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 200 has yet to be released, but quite a few names are expected to be on both lists. The Modified entry list is headlined by defending World Series champion, Jimmy Blewett, and Matt Hirschman, who owns the record for the most Richie Evans Memorial 100 victories in World Series history.
The division with the second-most pre-entries is the 602 Modified division with 33 entries for four nights of action. All total, the two divisions that are primarily from the Northeast are bringing 79 cars down to New Smyrna Speedway, and that number will grow once the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour entry list is released.
The Pro Late Model entry list is a healthy 26 deep, while the Super Late Model entry list is nearing 20 entries with more expected to arrive as the event draws nearer.
Some of the heavy-hitters on the Super Late Model entry list are Casey Roderick, who is fresh off a win in the Super Late Model portion of the Red Eye 50/50 in January, past All American 400 winner Matt Craig, and New Hampshire’s Derek Griffith who is a two-time World Series champion. Another driver who recently filed an entry is NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Stewart Friesen.
Meanwhile, the Pro Late Model entry list has an interesting mix of new talent and returning names. Dirt hotshoes Gavan Boschele from Mooresville, North Carolina and Brent Crews from Cornelius, North Carolina will be on hand. Crews just became the youngest driver to make the A-Main at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in a Midget last month. Also competing will be the all-time winningest female driver at the historic Hickory Motor Speedway, Katie Hettinger. Some of the returning talent includes Michael Hinde who is the defending World Series champion of this division.
In total, 23 states will be represented at this year’s World Series, and two countries between the United States and Canada. Florida leads the way with 92 entries. New Jersey has the second most competitors with 24 currently on the list to represent the Garden State, and New York is right behind with 23 entries coming down from the Empire State. Five competitors are making the trip south from the Great White North of Canada.
The Broadcast
For the second year in a row, the entire World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing will be streamed live on FloRacing as part of the FloRacing subscription. FloRacing became the home for NASCAR Roots action at the start of the 2022 season. And while FloRacing is not the official broadcast partner for the ASA Southern Super Series, that event will be streamed live on FloRacing since it is part of this year’s World Series.
The FloRacing subscription costs $150 for the year and gets you access to the entire NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, ARCA Menards Series East/West, select ARCA Menards Series events, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Tezos All Stars Circuit of Champions, High Limit Sprint Car Series, and much more.
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The Schedule
Friday, February 10
• Super Late Models
• Pro Late Models
• Modifieds
• Sportsman
• Bomber A
Saturday, February 11
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
• Pro Late Models
• Modifieds
• Sportsman
• Bomber A
Sunday, February 12
• Super Late Models
• Pro Late Models
• Modifieds
• E-Mods
• 602 Modifieds
Monday, February 13
• Super Late Models
• Pro Late Models
• Tour-type Modifieds
• Modifieds
• 602 Modifieds
Tuesday, February 14
• ASA Southern Super Series Super Late Models
• Tour-type Modifieds
• 602 Modifieds
Wednesday, February 15
• Tour-type Modifieds John Blewett III Memorial 76
• Super Late Models
• Pro Late Models
• Modifieds
Thursday, February 16
• Super Late Models
• Pro Late Models
• Tour-type Modifieds
• Modifieds
• 602 Modifieds
Friday, February 17
• Tour-type Modifieds Richie Evans Memorial 100
• Pro Late Models
• Super Stocks
• Pro Trucks
• Bomber B
• Florida Southern Ground Pounders (vintage)
Saturday, February 18
• Super Late Models Orange Blossom 100
• Modifieds
• Super Stocks
• Pro Trucks
• Mod Minis
• Bomber B