MILL HALL, Pa. (June 9) — Jim Bernheisel finally had a moment to decompress. Months of nonstop preparation to relaunch Appalachian Mountain Speedweek, which served as a staple for Northeastern Dirt Late Model racers from 2009-17, culminated in Friday’s opening night revival of the miniseries at Clinton County Speedway.

The 65-year-old driver and chassis builder has promoted events before, but nothing as substantial as the miniseries that many have longed to see grace Pennsylvania’s assortment of racetracks again. So, with the first night over with — an event that drew 40 entries up against the Dream at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway — does Bernheisel see his vision in motion for the miniseries he’s now directs?

“Really pleased with the car count. Really pleased with the racing. Really pleased with the people in the stands. Those three things are why we do it, right?” said Bernheisel, one of the last to depart Clinton County for the night that trickled into early Saturday morning. “We have racers. We have people in the stands. We put on a good race. I think, in my opinion, we accomplished all those things. Really happy with it.”

Clinton County, the third-mile oval tucked in the picturesque Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, isn’t as well known miniseries tracks such as Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway — Saturday's miniseries stop — Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway and Bedford (Pa.) Speedway, among others. But that, in a nutshell, made Friday the perfect location to begin Bernheisel’s cherished venture.

WATCH: Friday's full Appalachian Mountain Speedweek feature from Clinton County Speedway.

The Clinton County Fairgrounds track rarely hosts Super Late Models events. While Bernheisel didn’t aggressively go seeking to schedule the Speedweek to conflict with the Dream, at $129,000-to-win the season’s richest Dirt Late Model race, he purposely sought to stream all eight miniseries races on FloRacing because he wants to show Dirt Late Model fans across the globe the hidden gems of the Northeast — both facilities and its personalities.

“One of our goals is to showcase Northeast Late Model racing to the rest of the country that might only think of the Northeast for the Pennsylvania Posse,” said Bernheisel, the founder of Lazer Chassis. “And I think we might of started that process tonight. Fans packed it out and people around the country were paying attention. I think they might go, hey, they have some pretty stout Late Models there. Ultimately, that’s what I wanted to do.”

In its heyday, Appalachian Mountain Speedweek drew stars such as Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards, Jimmy Mars and Steve Francis. Richards won the inaugural title in 2009 and McCreadie won it in ’12.

The revived version of the miniseries, on the other hand, is tailored to regional stalwarts. Bernheisel’s put together a total purse of more than $250,000 — with all races paying at least $4,000-to-win, a point fund that rewards $5,000 to the champion, along with other contingencies — designed to put every dime back into pockets of regional racers.

“That was a specific decision on my part,” Bernheisel said. “Obviously if some nationally traveling heroes what to race with us, we’ll welcome them greatly and we understand the sanity. At the same time, I’m a believer in turning local and regional racers into stars. I’ve seen work tremendously in the past. I think it’s overall better for the sport.”

Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., is a prime example, his AMS title in 2013 being a catalyst in building a national reputation.

“It was big for me then,” Satterlee said. “I hadn’t raced tons against good cars. Mostly, it was against our regional groups of cars that we raced against. It’s big. It’d like to win it again. It’s fun to win. It’s fun to win anything.”

Satterlee believes in Bernheisel’s leadership so much that he skipped the Dream this weekend at Eldora, a track he often performs well at.

“I was flattered that a guy of Gregg’s caliber would skip an event like that,” Bernheisel said. “That did not go unnoticed. I’m thrilled guys think that highly of what we’re trying to do here. This is a tough gig, I’ve always known that. I want to do something that guys look forward to doing, and have fans look forward to doing. I think that makes it good for everybody.”

Hall of Fame racer (and 1999 Dream winner) Rick Eckert is another big name following the miniseries. Beyond that, Bernheisel’s assembled a solid group of full-week entries that’ll gun for the title.

Dan Stone, Jason Covert and Jeff Rine join Eckert as miniseries veterans. Andrew Yoder, Kyle Hardy, Bryan Bernheisel, Dylan Yoder and Justin Weaver are all in their prime and capable of miniseries success. Super Late Model up-and-comers Austin Berry, Dillan Stake and Tyler Emory are among drivers filling out the 13-driver full-week roster, optimistic they can solidify their regional reputation.

“I purposely designed our tour — its location, its timing, its financials — with the locals in mind,” Bernheisel said. “I want it to be an event specifically for that. If someone else wants to take part in it, we’ll welcome them and be glad to have them. We wanted to highlight our regional racers for our regional fans and gain some national attention with it, and get some nice paydays and recognition for our regional Late Model drivers, who I think are really, really good Late Model racers.”

Bernheisel’s consulted with Alan Kreitzer, the founder of the popular Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek, as he’s rebuilt the miniseries from the ground up.

“The Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek is hugely known and wildly popular in the area, and it’s something that fans, racers, tracks all look forward to and have to for decades,” Bernheisel said. “So, with that backdrop, when it was first started — the Pennsylvania Late Model Speedweek by Curt Smith and Jason Clapper — we thought it was a great idea we as a race team supported it as much as possible.

“We were disappointed when it went away. We’ve talked about it a good bit in recent years. We, I say, as me and my sons and other people I know. I felt like I wanted to see it revived. There’s some things in life you go sitting around waiting for somebody else to do it. And then go, why don’t I just do it? That’s kind of how we got there.”

As far as the timing of resurrecting Appalachian Mountain Speedweek, Bernheisel initially planned for its return in 2024. But then Bernheisel’s undeveloped idea rapidly took form by simple word of mouth.

“Quite honestly, my original plan was to lay the groundwork and start next year,” Bernheisel said. “We started getting, actually, the talk of it through the rumor mill. People started coming around and wanting to sponsor special events. They’d say, we’d love to race with you if you do it again. It kind of gained its own momentum as a groundswell. I decided, what the heck, why wait a year? Let’s do it now.”

The Speedweek actually has so much support that Bernheisel has a three-year masterplan backing the miniseries, including this year’s relaunch. Bernheisel’s keen on imbedding himself in the promotional side of the sport as he winds down his driving career. The Pennsylvania racing enthusiast considers himself a promoter with a diverse outlook on the sport with a lot to offer. Racing for more than 40 years, he’s likes “to think my reputation is one of an honest guy and straight shooter, and I work hard to make it successful.

“Nonetheless, it’s also not like I have a record to point to that I’ve already had these races, and this happened and we know this from past experience,” Bernheisel said. “Quite truthfully, I don’t have that yet.”

He is both old-school and receptive to the sport’s new concepts, namely the hot topic of streaming.

“The streaming scene is not one we can put back in the bottle. It’s here to stay,” Bernheisel said. “Are there conversations to be had about the equity of it and balance of it? Like, does it keep fans away from tracks? Does it gain enough revenue from the streaming? How do we offset that, and what’s the model that’s valuable for everyone? That’s a conversation that needs to be had.

“Actually, I know that conversation is going on in our region with racetracks around the nation and will continue to go on as solutions are worked on. As I say that, streaming is here to stay. And Flo is the premier service right now, especially for all things Late Model. That’s why we went in that direction.”

Bernheisel wants his version of Appalachian Mountain Speedweek to be a leading example of a thriving venture in today’s short-track racing world. Not to fight streaming, but leverage it in a way that benefits — not hurts — the region. But Bernheisel goes back to the heart of why he’s gone to great measures to bring back the miniseries, and that’s to give the Northeastern spectators a worthy racing product

“I would love to see this in print: all local race fans, regionally and anyone that can be there in person, you need to be there in person to support the racetrack and support the racers, with your finances and your presence,” Bernheisel said. “I can tell you as a racer, having full grandstands there, cheering and screaming, it just makes it so much more fun. That’s really, really what enticed me as a young man.

“I fear we’ve lost that sometimes to the detriment of the sport, not only financially but atmospherewise. Having said that, do I expect people in Arizona and Illinois and Alabama to come to all of our events? Probably not. They’re the ones I’d love to see watching it on Flo, and going, hey, this Pennsylvania-Virginia-West Virginia-Maryland Late Model racing, those guys are really good. They don’t get much notoriety, but they are really good. They’re putting on a good show there. That’s what I’d love to see happen.