The SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic released their 2024 season schedule Tuesday from its Martinsville, Virginia headquarters. The schedule will consist of 15 races across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia for the 600-horsepower open wheeled race cars. 

A few surprises are hidden within the 2024 SMART Modified Tour schedule. The first and biggest is how the Tour will end its season, with the championship finale being held at historic North Wilkesboro Speedway (NC) in conjunction with the CARS Tour on October 19. An announcement was made in creative fashion, with a video starring 2023 SMART Mod Champ Burt Myers and zMAX CARS Tour Co-owner and NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kevin Harvick. 

“I think it’s a big thing for the SMART Tour to close the season there,” says Myers. “Being a part of the video with Kevin, Chris and (Matthew) Dillner was a lot of fun. The ownership group at the CARS Tour really gets it. From Dale (Earnhardt) Jr, to Kevin, Jeff Burton to Justin Marks, those guys have been there and done that in the sport and know how hard it is to be a Short Track racer. Sometimes you race Saturdays and then you watch on Sundays and can feel forgotten. That ownership group has come together to give back to the Short Tracks. Think about it, maybe five years ago this wouldn’t have happened?  Kevin might not have done that skit. But all of those guys are doing the right things to give back to the sport and the short track community. The same can be said of Chris Williams and the SMART Tour for advancing Mod racing down here. And for Marcus (Smith) and SMI for all they’ve done to get North Wilkesboro back as a premiere Short Track.”

“There is so much history there with all of racing, especially with Modifieds and SMART,” adds SMART Modified driver Brandon Ward.  “I’ve gotten to race on the old surface and am excited to get on the new pavement. To share the stage with another great series like the CARS Tour is another unique opportunity. To settle championships with two great full-fendered divisions and our Tour is a great ticket for any race fan.” 

A new twist for the 2024 SMART season is a summer double-header between two-tracks on the coast of North Carolina during Labor Day weekend. The annual Carteret Clash, held at Swansboro, NC’s Carteret County Speedway will now be preceded on Friday night by the Pace-O-Matic 99 at nearby New River All-American Speedway. The Friday-Saturday double will be a first for the modern-era of the SMART Modified Tour. The Beach weekend has family-man Brandon Ward excited.

“We love racing at the beach,” says Ward, a husband and father to an eight-year-old daughter. “The coast of North Carolina is beautiful and we always love when our family can make a vacation around racing. We used to do that with racing at Myrtle Beach Speedway all the time. Now it doubles the reason for us to take a beach vacation with running New River and Carteret back-to-back.

“I’ve raced on a Friday night with SMART and then gone and ran at Bowman Gray on Saturday night in the Modified. That in itself is awesome to do as a racer. To have our Tour do that back-to-back is special. It does have an old school feel where you might have to go to the parking lot of the hotel after Friday night to hammer some body panels or replace a bumper or nerf bar. It can be exciting, challenging or even a disaster if you get caught up in a crash or have an engine failure in the first race. There’s two paths that double-header can take, but one thing is for absolute certain, the excitement level for the drivers, teams and fans will be there no matter what.” 

Myers, a three-time SMART Tour Champion, thinks the beach double can be an advantage to a race team. 

“Economically it works out for us racers,” explains Myers. “You are already down there, so now running two shows, a Friday and Saturday just 40-mins apart, should help everybody that is going down there make the trip more worthwhile. Racing and a couple of days on the beach isn’t a bad thing.” 

Another surprise on the schedule was the spring-race at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway being named “The King of the Modifieds.”  SMART Modified Tour director Chris Williams has been keeping details of the race close to his vest, making most in the Southern Modified scene curious about the March 23rd event. 

“I’m intrigued by the King of the Modifieds race,” says Myers. “There’s some talk going around about it already about what Chris is trying to do and it has us excited. We see a lot of big dirt races across the country and you see some of them on FloRacing. That world has so many big money shows with 50 to 60 cars. The idea of Mods potentially being able to do something bigger than normal is cool. It wasn’t long ago that Southern Modified racing was perceived as dying and now it’s become very healthy in a short amount of time.” 

“Mods in the south need a crown jewel event and something new,” says Brandon Ward. “It’s time for something new because every so often, you have to do something different and not get too habitual. This new event, a big event, whatever it is, has me excited. Maybe it attracts some more northern Modified teams? It’s the perfect place to do it because you can race hard at South Boston. The track is big enough and pit road is big enough. Knowing something is coming down the pipeline, and something bigger is being efforted, should have everybody in the sport excited.” 

There are several highlights on the schedule for SMART. The newly improved Tri-County Speedway in Granite Falls, NC, with its state-of-the-art lighting system, moves from a fall event to the spring with the Cardinal 99 on March 30. Also moving to the spring season is Orange County Speedway’s “Rumble in Rougemont” which will take place on Saturday April 6 in Rougemont, NC. The third annual Hickory Hundred carries on the long-time legacy of Modified racing at historic Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) on April 13. Traditional Southern Mod staple Franklin County Speedway (VA) runs the Kenny Minter Classic on May 24. The Inaugural Mod Squad Nationals will be held on Wednesday night September 18, before Bristol’s NASCAR weekend kicks off, at Virginia’s Lonesome Pine Speedway. On the schedule to be the penultimate race of the season is a 99-lapper at Little Rockingham Speedway behind the historic Rockingham Speedway (NC). 

Caraway Speedway will hold three races on the SMART Tour. The Warrior 100 is the second race of the SMART season on Sunday March 10. The Independence weekend tradition of the Revolutionary 99 continues on Saturday July 6. The additional date comes with the move of the Robert Jeffreys Memorial to the Sophia, NC half-mile speedplant on September 7. 

Another event will move locations in 2024 with the “Flying VA Classic,” honoring Southern Modified great Ray Hendrick, sliding north from South Boston to the ultra-modern Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia on September 14. 

“Ray Hendrick is one of the greatest to ever race a Modified and he’s from Richmond,” says Myers. “Dominion is  one of my favorite tracks. Years ago, I was a keynote speaker at their banquet. When I saw the place for the first time that day and then turned some laps in a Late Model, this was a pure Modified track. It’s made for Modified racing. I want to take that victory lap with the Ray Hendrick Flying 11 and get the SMARTY from Roy Hendrick. At Franklin County I got to take a victory lap alongside Gerald Compton’s car and that was a cool experience. Things like that and the title-belt for the Rumble in Rougemont at Orange County makes you motivated even more to win a race.” 

“I think what we’ve done to honor Ray Hendrick is special,” says Ward, who has finished second in SMART Modified Tour points for the last two-seasons. “That victory lap with his Flying 11 is iconic and makes you want to win that race. The creativity behind that concept and all the things that SMART does to make these races special is amazing.”

All 15-races for the SMART Modified Tour will be broadcast live on FloRacing.

“It’s big for us to be on FloRacing,” explains Brandon Ward. “For example: Take Bowman Gray Stadium (Brandon Ward is the 2023 Modified Division Track Champion at Stadium) and they race weekly in front of the same fans every week. Now, you put it on Flo and the whole country knows about it.  You take our platform with SMART and expose it to more people and that is a big thing for the drivers, sponsors, and teams. 

“My family loves it.  My little girl loves Flo because she gets to watch every race she can not attend. Streaming in general has a huge advantage. It doesn't keep people from attending events. It makes it easy to follow a Tour and gets them to want to come to more events. The fans that live too far away to attend get to watch it and are exposed to the SMART Modified Tour.” 

2024 SMART Modified Tour Schedule