Bianchi Accepts His 2024 Loot

Owner Kevin Bonaventura and driver Brian Bianchi accept the Old Red Boot.

On Saturday, December 14, 2024, Allen Wannamaker and Torrance Childs drove to Culpeppers Bakery in Worcester, Massachusetts to deliver Brian Bianchi his 2024 YesterYear awards. First up was the "old school-style" wooden plaque for winning the 2024 Race of Champions at Pocono Raceway. Bianchi overcame a mid-race incident to put himself in position to led the final lap (his only lap led) of the race and take the victory.

Bianchi sporting his Colony Tire hat with the Old Red Boot.

Next up Bianchi was presented with the massive "Old Red Boot" trophy, "It's a lot larger in person. The pictures don't do it justice," Bianchi said. Bianchi also shared the moment with Culpeppers Bakery owner and operator Kevin Bonaventura. Culpeppers Bakery (Worcester, MA) and Colony Tire (Edenton, North Carolina) are the two main sponsors for drivers Brian Bianchi and Rex Hoyle. When asked about the presentation, Allen Wannamaker, Founder of the YesterYear Racing™ League, said, "It was important for me and a YesterYear Board of Drivers Member to present the Old Red Boot to Brian in person and ideally at the location of his major sponsor. Torrance was nice enough to accompany me on the trip to Worcester. We got there early and sat down and ate the Culpeppers Special for breakfast. The pancakes were fantastic! I had plain and Torrance had blueberry. Top shelf for certain. We got to see some behind the scenes workings of the bakery which was interesting. Kevin was a great guy and certainly a huge race fan of all types. There were many old racing flags that adorned the walls of the bakery in the back."

In closing Bianchi said he was looking forward to defending his title next year as YesterYear travels back to 1966, a mere 17 years after the birth of NASCAR, and will re-run 15 modified stock car races from that year. The season kicks off on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway oval for The OBRL Icebreaker 300 Presented by VctryLnSprts.

Pittman Wins the Night, Bianchi Wins the Season

Brian Bianchi's Tour Modified

It was a fitting end of the season as the YesterYear Racing™ circus traveled to Martinsville Speedway for the Southern 200. It was the third visit to the "Paperclip" in 2024. In a pre-race interview, Allen Wannamaker, Founder of the YesterYear Racing™ League said, "It was nice to come back to the track where it all began back in March of this year. This was our third race here, but the second time here was back in the early spring so it felt like we had not been here in a while, and felt new."

Tom Ogle, who was looking for his third consecutive victory, set the stage early by winning his 7th pole position of the year. As the race got under way, however, it was quickly obvious that Ryan Pittman was going to be fast. Pittman had won the second Martinsville race by holding Ogle off and it looked like the big question was could he get out front and do it again. On lap 37 the question was answered as Pittman got in front of Ogle. Once in front, Pittman looked the stronger of the two cars most of the night.

In the end, it was Pittman who was able to hold on for his fourth win of the season and his second at the Paperclip. Ogle cruised to second place with Bootleg Racing League veteran Donnie Moore grabbing his first podium of the year coming in third.

Even though Pittman won the night, it was Massachusetts driver Brian Bianchi that won the season. Bianchi ran a very strategic and conservative race finishing in fourth place. The only other driver in the field that could have beaten Bianchi in the points race at the end of the night was Maine driver Lloyd Moore. When asked about how the race played out, Bianchi stated, "I tried to keep him (L. Moore) in my sights all night. I was in front of him most of the night, but Lloyd is a strong driver and anything can happen on the track. With that in mind I was able to get some space between myself and the other cars for most of the race which was good as it shielded me somewhat from any trouble on the track."

The 200-lap race ultimately had 5 cautions for 25 laps, but they came in spurts. The "Big One" happened on lap one and collected numerous cars. Then there was a very long green flag run that had some drivers thinking they would need to perform a green flag stop, which can get tricky in Tour Modifieds since the pit stops are slow. But a caution finally came out which allowed most drivers to stop.

By winning the Championship, and also winning YesterYear's flagship Race of Champions at Pocono back in September, Bianchi becomes the first driver to be able to race for the YesterYear "TRIPLE CROWN." To complete this Bianchi will need to win the points battle in the 2025 YesterYear IROC 4-race Series that kicks off in February.

In the post race interview Wannamaker thanked all the drivers, broadcasters, and participating leagues for making 2024 a success. Wannamaker also said he was looking forward to kicking off the YesterYear IROC Series in February and confirmed a second season of the YesterYear Tour Modifieds would happen. "About halfway through the 2024 season I knew the YesterYear concept was viable and I began planning for 2025. We will be going back 24 more years in time next year to 1966. A mere 17 years after the birth of NASCAR. I was able to research all that was going on back then and cob together a schedule based on 15 historic Tour Modified races. There will be some interesting tracks for sure and the schedule will be more balanced. We ran 1 super speedway, 1 speedway, 1 bull ring, and 12 short tracks this year. Next year the balance between bullring and short track will be 7 and 6 respectively," Wannamaker said.

With season one a wrap, the YesterYear Tour Modifieds will go dormant until late February. Once they awaken, we are sure 2025 will be one for the ages.

Tom Ogle Makes It Two-In-A-Row

Tom Ogle mirrored Jeff Fuller's 1990 performance in the Thompson World Series race by leading start to finish. In what would turnout to be a lean night with respect to car count, Ogle won the pole and never looked back in Tuesday night's YesterYear World Series 100-lap sprint from Thompson Speedway.

Points leader Brian Bianchi brought home second place and extended his lead over Lloyd Moore in the championship race for the **Old Red Boot**. Ryan Pittman did not grid up for the YesterYear World Series, so essentially the Championship comes down to a 2-horse race at Martinsville Speedway on Tuesday, October 29 for the Southern 200. The Southern 200 is the final race of the 2024 YesterYear Racing™ season and will culminate by crowning a champion at the end of the night. When asked about the 2024 season Allen Wannamaker, Founder of YesterYear Racing™ said, "It has been a successful season on many fronts. Car count, the racing on the track, YesterYear name recognition and brand growth, and the overall concept. It has shown that you can run a sim racing series that mirrors historic series of the past and does not race every week and get great participation. YesterYear will be back in 2025 for a second season which is something I wasn't sure about when I started this deal. I am looking forward to the break though. Running the League as I have this year has been time consuming."

Wannamaker said he had completed the schedule for 2025 and will release more details on it in the coming weeks.