Race of Champions (modified racing) explained

Race of Champions
Country/Region:United States of America and Canada
Tires:Hoosier
Website:https://www.rocmodifiedseries.com/
Last Years Champion:Chuck Hossfeld

The Race of Champions is a racing organization which sanctions eight different series on asphalt and dirt surfaces, and promotes an annual marquee racing weekend featuring one of the oldest continuing championship races in the United States.

History

The Race of Champions 250 originated in 1951 as the National Open on the dirt surfaced Langhorne Speedway in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. In order to secure the strongest modified field possible, promoters Al Gerber and Irv Fried guaranteed starting spots in the race to the track champions at many of the top short-tracks in the northeast.[1]

After the 1971 event the speedway was closed, and the race was rebranded the Race of Champions. The event was relocated first to Trenton Speedway in New Jersey, subsequently to Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, and then back to New Jersey at the Flemington Speedway.[2] [3] [4] The process of awarding the guaranteed starting positions in the annual Race of Champions was replaced with the 'Trail of Champions', a touring series of special events held at venues throughout the northeast, and which crowned its own champion.[5] [6]

In 1996, promoters Alex Friesen and Andrew Harpell purchased the rights to the event from Al Gerber’s son Joe, and moved the race to the Oswego Speedway in New York. Later that year, Friesen was fatally injured in a snowmobile accident, and Harpell moved forward with plans to expand the business model to sanction races and touring series for other classes of race cars.[7] [8] [9] Going into the 2016 season, Joe Skotnicki, a former Super DIRTcar Series director, left his post with World Racing Group and purchased both the dirt and asphalt programs from Harpell.[10]

Race of Champions Touring Series

The Race of Champions Touring Series has grown to a family of stock car racing series on both dirt and asphalt including asphalt modifieds, dirt and asphalt sportsman, late models, super stock and the 4 cylinder dash. It was nominated for and won Best Touring Series on the 51's (which is an annual fan voted awards) for the 2017 season.In the 2019 season a TQ Midget Series was introduced into the Race of Champions Group. Andy Jankowiak became the inaugural series champion at Lake Erie Speedway. Also in 2019 the Race of Champions began experimenting with sim racing via iRacing.com one of the most well-known sim racing services.[11]

Asphalt Modified Series

The Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series was first developed by Harpell in 1994 as the New York Modified Series.[12] It was rebranded upon the creation of the Dirt Modified Tour in 2005.[13]

Asphalt Modified Champions[14] !Year!Name
1994Charlie Rudolph
1995George Kent
1996George Kent
1997Chuck Hossfeld
1998J.R. Kent
1999J.R. Kent
2000George Kent
2001George Kent
2002George Kent
2003George Kent
2004Tony Hanbury
2005Matt Hirschman
2006Earl Paules
2007Pete Brittain
2008Matt Hirschman
2009Matt Hirschman
2010Matt Hirschman
2011Chuck Hossfeld
2012Matt Hirschman
2013Matt Hirschman
2014Chuck Hossfeld
2015Matt Hirschman
2016Patrick Emerling
2017Mike Leaty
2018Chuck Hossfeld
2019Patrick Emerling
2020Patrick Emerling
2021Austin Beers
2022Mike Leaty
Asphalt Modifieds: All time wins list[15] !Driver !Wins
Matt Hirschman48
Chuck Hossfeld28
George Kent22
Patrick Emerling17
Jan Leaty16
Sege Fidanza10
Eric Beers10
Mike Leaty10
Andy Jankowiak9
T.J. Potrzebowski9
J.R. Kent9
Pete Brittian6
Zane Zeiner6
Tony Hanbury6
Lee Sherwood4
Tom McGrath3
Tyler Haydt3
Bill Putney3
Jimmy Zacharias3
Erick Rudolph3
Earl Paules3
Kyle Ebersole2
Tony Hirschman2
Tim Mangus2
Rusty Smith2
Don Wagner2
Rick Kirkendall1
Dave Pecko1
Duane Delamarter1
Charlie Rudolph1
Tyler Rypkema1
Ken Woolley Jr.1
Wilbur Hebing1
John Markovic1
Kory Rabenold1
Ted Christopher1
William Thomas1
Chris Ammon1
Bill Woods1
George Skora III1
Brian Bowen1
Rick Fuller1
Tommy Catalano1
Scott Lesher1
Doug Wolcott1
Daren Scherer1
Kyle Strohl1
Donny Lia1
Rick Woods1
Bryan Sherwood1
Jimmy Blewett1
Tim Arre1
Bobby Holmes1
Tim Connolly1
Jeff Ulrich1
Mike Stefanik1
Danny Knoll Jr.1

Dirt Modified Series

The Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour was formed in 2005 as an alternative for dirt modified and sportsman cars.[13] The Dirt 602 Sportsman Modified Series continues on, but the modified portion was disbanded in 2017.

Year!Driver
2017Mike Bowman
2016Matt Sheppard
2015Stewart Friesen
2014Stewart Friesen
2013Stewart Friesen
2012Danny Johnson
2011Billy Decker
2010Stewart Friesen
2009Pat Ward
2008Pat Ward
2007SouthPat Ward
NorthRonnie Johnson
NATIONALPat Ward
2006SouthJimmy Horton
NorthMitch Gibbs
NATIONALAlan Johnson
2005SouthJeff Strunk
NorthBobby Varin
NATIONALMitch Gibbs, Bobby Varin

The Race of Champions 250

The Race of Champions 250 is the yearly stock car race using modified race cars and is the direct descendant of the National Open. Although the first 14 open championships were held on a dirt surface, Langhorne Speedway was paved in 1965, and the event has since been held on asphalt surfaces. The tracks hosting the event have ranged from the .375 mile Lake Erie Speedway in Erie, Pennsylvania to the 2.5 mile Pocono Raceway tri-oval.[9]

Race of Champions 250: Winners' list[16] !Event No.!Year!Track!Car #!Winner
11951Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Hully Bunn
21952Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Jim DeLaney
31953Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Ted Swaim
41954Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Frankie Schneider
51955Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Pete Corey
61956Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Dutch Hoag
71957Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Glenn Guthrie
81958Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Jim DeLaney
91959Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Jim DeLaney
101960Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Dutch Hoag
111961Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Bob Malzahn
121962Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Frankie Schneider
131963Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Dutch Hoag
141964Langhorne 1.0mi (Dirt)Freddy Adam
151965Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Bill Slater
161966Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Will Cagle
171967Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Dutch Hoag
181968Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Dutch Hoag
191969Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Ray Hendrick
201970Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Merv Treichler
211971Langhorne 1.0mi (Paved)Roger Treichler
221972Trenton 1.5mi (Paved)99Geoff Bodine
231973Trenton 1.5mi (Paved)61Richie Evans
241974Trenton 1.5mi (Paved)3Fred De Sarro
251975Trenton 1.5mi (Paved)Ray Hendrick
261976Trenton 1.5mi (Paved)6Maynard Troyer
271977Pocono 2.5mi (Paved)6Maynard Troyer
281978Pocono 2.5mi (Paved)1Geoff Bodine
291979Pocono 2.5mi (Paved)61Richie Evans
301980Pocono 2.5mi (Paved)61Richie Evans
311981Pocono .75mi (Paved)26George Kent
321982Pocono .75mi (Paved)5Greg Sacks
331983Pocono .75mi (Paved)24Jimmy Spencer
341984Pocono .75mi (Paved)69Brian Ross
351985Pocono .75mi (Paved)12Brett Bodine
361986Pocono .75mi (Paved)26George Kent
371987Pocono .75mi (Paved)28George Brunnhoelzl
381988Pocono .75mi (Paved)44Reggie Ruggiero
391989Pocono .75mi (Paved)1Tony Hirschman
401990Pocono .75mi (Paved)15Mike Stefanik
411991Pocono .75mi (Paved)4Satch Worley
421992Flemington .625mi (Paved)Lenny Boyd
431993Flemington .625mi (Paved)44Billy Pauch
441994Flemington .625mi (Paved)14Tony Siscone
451995Flemington .625mi (Paved)14John Blewett III
461996Oswego .626mi (Paved)25Jan Leaty
471997Oswego .626mi (Paved)Tony Hirschman
481998Oswego .626mi (Paved)77Sege Fidanza
491999Oswego .626mi (Paved)22Chuck Hossfeld
502000Oswego .626mi (Paved)George Kent Sr.
512001Oswego .626mi (Paved)George Kent Sr.
522002Oswego .626mi (Paved)93Tim Mangus
532003Oswego .626mi (Paved)Sege Fidanza
542004Oswego .626mi (Paved)9Eric Beers
552005Oswego .626mi (Paved)22Chuck Hossfeld
562006Oswego .626mi (Paved)72T.J. Potrzebowski
572007Oswego .626mi (Paved)6Jan Leaty
582008Oswego .626mi (Paved)48Tony Hirschman
592009Oswego .626mi (Paved)88Billy Putney
602010Oswego .626mi (Paved)48Tony Hirschman
612011Oswego .626mi (Paved)Zane Zeiner
622012Oswego .626mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
632013Oswego .626mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
642014Oswego .626mi (Paved)Chuck Hossfeld
652015Chemung .333mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
662016Oswego .626mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
672017Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
682018Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
692019Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
702020Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
712021Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)73Andy Jankowiak
722022Lancaster .625 mi (Paved)60Matt Hirschman
73 [17] 2023Lake Erie .375mi (Paved)07Patrick Emerling

Notes and References

  1. News: O'Brien. Dick. Race of Champions 250 set for Lake Erie Speedway this weekend . The Post-Standard. Syracuse, NY . September 22, 2022. July 31, 2024.
  2. News: Langhorne Racing shifted to Trenton . . March 19, 1972. July 31, 2024.
  3. News: Blain. Eddy. Race of Champions brings out the best . . Doylestown PA . B5 . September 24, 1992 . . July 31, 2024.
  4. News: O'Brien. Dick . ROC Finds a home in New Jersey . . NY . C3 . October 27, 1994. . July 31, 2024.
  5. News: Trail of Champions through Jennerstown . . Kittanning PA. 7 . June 28, 1991. . July 31, 2024.
  6. News: Hunt moves up. . NC. June 17, 1992. 10A . Google Books. July 31, 2024.
  7. News: O'Brien. Dick . Fulton, Utica-Rome owner plays the field. . NY . C4 . April 11, 1996. . July 31, 2024.
  8. News: Beebe. Michael. Accident kills man credited in car-race rebirth . The Buffalo News. NY . December 6, 1996. July 31, 2024.
  9. News: Blain. Eddy . Let's Go Racing. The Intelligencer. Doylestown PA. B2 . December 1, 2000. NewspaperArchive. July 31, 2024.
  10. News: Marquart. Chris. Busy week for Weedsport Speedway; iRacing in Fulton . Finger Lakes Times. Geneva NY . March 22, 2022. July 31, 2024.
  11. News: Modestiono . Lou. 2020 Race of Champions modified series schedule released . The Patriot Ledger. Quincy MA . February 20, 2020. July 31, 2024.
  12. News: Coors Light twin 125 final set for Tioga Speedway. The Daily Review. Tonawanda PA . 8 . September 9, 1994. NewspaperArchive. July 31, 2024.
  13. News: Hill. John. RoC-a-Bobby races from fifth to first and wins $4,000. The Post Standard. Syracuse NY. D8. April 13, 2005. NewspaperArchive. July 31, 2024.
  14. Web site: Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour Central. The Third Turn. August 1, 2024.
  15. Web site: Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour Central/All-Time Wins List - The Third Turn. 2020-07-09. thethirdturn.com. en.
  16. Web site: Race of Champions. www.rocmodifiedseries.com. 2020-02-05.
  17. News: Patrick Emerling Scores First-Ever Race of Champions 250 Victory in 73rd Annual Lucas Oil Race of Champions as Zane Zeiner Inches Closer to Series Crown. Speedway Digest. August 1, 2024.