New Northwest Tour still on track

Yakima, WA. - With the cancellation by NASCAR of the Elite division series following the 2006 season, Ted Pollock, owner of Yakima Speedway and Joe Doellefeld, owner of Stateline Speedway in Idaho, have put in place a plan to continue the series for years to come in the Northwest.

The series will be known as the Northwest Tour. “Our goal is to continue the high level of racing and professionalism that the racers, fans and sponsors have given to the Northwest for many years,” owner Ted Pollock stated recently. He went on to say, “The Northwest Tour has provided some of the best drivers, crews and fans in the entire nation. We want that excitement to continue. We want a place for the top teams to showcase their talents. There is a need for transition from late model racing up to the extremely competitive Tour type cars and drivers. Joe and I are willing to put forth the effort and finances to see that the current Tour type racing equipment is not made obsolete, and to start a new era at the top level of regional racing.”

Every effort is being made to make a smooth transition to a new Northwest Touring series that is run by people from the Northwest. The current rules concerning cars, engines and race rules will be continued, along with many of the same officials that have worked the series recently and in the past. A notable exception from the 2006 NASCAR rulebook and the Northwest Tour rules for 2007 will be the elimination of the option of running a chassis of straight rail design.

“The reason we decided to remove this option is, although it was in the 2006 NASCAR rule book, no one took advantage of the provision and built a new chassis of that design,” Joe Doellfeld said. It is generally felt that a chassis of straight rail design is an advantage on the short tracks and every effort is being made to use existing equipment for the race teams. In addition, all competitors will be required to run a spec muffler.”

Yakima Speedway owner Ted Pollock explained, “With so many tracks closing for various reasons, and most tracks now being nearer family housing, we must take steps to quiet all of our race cars down. We have left it up to the associations and competitors to police themselves and the result has not been successful. We will mandate a specific muffler at a later date to be used by all Northwest Tour competitors. All classes of cars competing at Yakima Speedway in 2007 will have quiet mufflers on or they will not compete. We cannot take a chance of losing our facility to noise complaints.”

Competitors will be racing for a purse of $22500.00 with $4000.00 going to the winner. Race length will be 125 laps on half-mile tracks and smaller facilities will have 150 lap events. Longer, special events will carry larger purses. Extra bonuses and incentives are being worked out. Contingency sponsors and a main series sponsor are also in the works.
The schedule will include up to 12 events in 2007. Fans will have the opportunity to see the Northwest Tour at most of the same tracks that have held events plus tracks that have never had the opportunity to host such an event. A race schedule will be released at a later date, when all tracks are signed up.

Tour administrator, Ron Bennett will oversee the operation for owners Pollock and Doellfeld. A Director of competition will be in charge of race day activities. Bennett said, “ We are very excited about the continuation of the Tour. Our goal is to have a top racing touring series that pays a good purse to the competitors, is more affordable for the track owners and continues with the same equipment that the race teams have.”

Bennett goes on to say, “In the future it is our hope that other regions in the country, most notably the Southwest region, will come together and also continue this type of Touring Series. The recent Shootout at Irwindale was a great event and showcased the best in the nation. It would be a shame for these teams to not have a place to use their equipment.

There is room in the Northwest for a good coexistence of top late model teams and Tour teams to compete in their own divisions. Years ago the cars were similar, but today there are too many differences and teams, with each type of equipment, will now have an opportunity to utilize it.”
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“This is a huge undertaking,” Pollock said, “ We are putting in place the best team to make this happen and are counting on the support from the tremendous racing community to make this venture successful. We want 2007 to be the start of a new era of stockcar racing in the Northwest, without trying to reinvent the wheel.”

Source: Yakima Speedway