Ken Allen Captures Win At Scorching Hot Spring Sizzler

Ken Allen's Tour Modified stock car

It was a scorching hot afternoon in Stafford Springs, Connecticut with the air temperature hovering at 86 degrees Fahrenheit and a track temperature over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This made for an incredibly slick Stafford Motor Speedway half-mile oval where drivers raced 200 laps with only one extra set of tires at their disposal. Round #5 of the YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modified series was set to be an interesting one. When the checkered flag flew, it was Kenny Allen winning his first YesterYear Racing™ League event. "I was very careful to save my tires throughout the race as I knew that would be critical. I also have to thank fellow driver Brian Bianchi. I know that he knows this track very well. I noticed a couple of years ago that Brian drove a unique racing line around this track. I wanted to learn it, so I did. I ran into some trouble at last year's race, but was able to stay clean this year and fortunately things worked out," Allen said in his post-race interview. Allen also started from the pole position with a lap time of 18.899. With the victory, Allen moved into fourth place in the overall season standings.

The season standings point leader coming into the Spring Sizzler was the "Iceman," James Lowe. He was 60 points clear of Luke Logan Allen in second place. Lowe had his typical no-fills, no-mistakes run going and looked like a lock to get second place behind Kenny Allen as the checkered flag neared. But a mistake coming out of turn 2 with only a couple of laps remaining got his car loose and allowed Eric Stout to make the pass to claim the second spot on the podium. "I was pretty much resigned to the fact I would get third place in the race. Kenny had checked out and it looked like James was not going to catch him, but was fast enough where I could not get around. But then he suddenly got loose and slid up the track out of turn 2 and I was able to make the pass," said Stout after the race .For his part, Lowe noted the mistake, but said he would gladly take a top three finish here and move on to Irwindale.

The race saw four cautions for thirteen laps. Numerous drivers got caught with black flags midway through the race which put them a lap or more down. Only nine of the nineteen cars that took the grid finished on the lead lap.

The Series takes a month-long break before coming back on Tuesday, May 26 to race the YesterYear Classic at Irwindale Speedway. The YesterYear Classic was run at Martinsville Speedway in both 2024 and 2025, but heads to the "Golden state" this year for the 225-lap event. That race will be the first time the YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modifieds will have been to the half-mile oval in California.

When asked about the month-long break, YesterYear Racing™ League Founder and co-owner Allen Wannamaker said, "We have several breaks during our year-long season. Because we essentially re-race an actual NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified schedule, which usually consists of 14-16 races, we have breaks. In reality, the Tour Mods cannot run every week like NASCAR Cup, O'Reilley, or the trucks. They simply do not have the sponsorship money in the series, nor do they have car owners with deep pockets. This is a working man, blue collar series in real life. Most Tour Modified drivers have full-time jobs outside of racing. We usually break for a month around this time of year. We are a third of the way through our 15-race season and I'm pretty optimistic about how the season is going. We have visited a couple of new tracks the Series has not run before, are averaging 24 cars on the grid, and the racing has been good. In addition, we have had four different winners in five races. If you were to have given me those stats prior to the start of the season, I would have taken them."

Stout Wins YesterYear's First Ever Visit To Lanier National Speedway

Eric Stout's Tour Modified

The YesterYear Racing™ League took its first trip to Georgia on Tuesday night to race the Peach Tree 150. A state known for peaches, the Allman Brothers Band, R.E.M., Uga (the World's most famous Bull Dog), and the busiest airport in the world, would play host to Round #4 of YesterYear's Tour Modified Series. A full field of 24 drivers were set to tackle the 0.375-mile bull ring in the second night race of the season. Eric Stout set the tone early by capturing pole with a blistering qualifying lap of 12.916 seconds. Starting beside him on the front row was OBRL driver Roger Hurley, who is a rookie in YesterYear this season, but a long-time veteran of the OBRL racing league. Once the green flag flew, two immediate cautions flew in the first 8 laps as drivers had to deal with changing track conditions due to the track "rubbering up," and the sun going down. From there, the race settled and drivers dealt with two long green flag runs. The first, roughly 36 laps in length, saw the drivers gradually settle into a single-file parade around the tricky Lanier bull ring. The second, a 69-lap marathon, had drivers hanging on as tires began to degrade substantially on most cars. When the caution finally flew around lap 110, almost all drivers who did not pit around lap 45 came onto pit road to change right-side tires, with two exceptions. James Lowe and his teammate Chris Worrell. Lowe, for his part, was tied with Luke "The Kid" Allen in the standings coming into the race and he valued track position over fresh tires. The strategy was to hold onto track position knowing "The Kid" was well back in the pack and would have a rough time working his way to the front with only 38 laps remaining in the race. Worrell, who sat third in points coming onto the night, played a similar strategic card by staying out. When the green flag flew again, Worrell and Lowe battled it out for the lead and even touched at one point. This was uncharacteristic of the two teammates who had worked so well together in prior rounds of the Series. This battling by two cars on old tires allowed the lead pack to stay close, and more importantly, allowed Stout to work his way back close to the front. When a late caution flew with 12 laps remaining in the race, Worrell decided to pit for fresh rubber, but got caught by taking too much time to change his two right-side tires. The result was Worrell going a lap down and falling out of the hunt for the win or a decent result. On the next restart, Lowe was re-starting on the inside, while Stout was on the outside on fresh rubber. The outside had been the preferred re-start position while the inside was the preferred racing line position once drivers began to settle. With the fresh tires, Stout made quick work of Lowe and started to pull away. Soon, Kenny Allen, who also had fresh tires, had worked his way into second and was chasing Stout. It looked like a "two-horse" race until a late caution flew due to contact between Gavin Adams and Jeff LeMire in turn 2. The result created a one-time Green/White Checkered attempt to settle the race.

With Stout starting on the inside, and Kenny Allen starting on the preferred outside lane, the green flag flew. Unfortunately for Allen, he missed a gear shift and caused a stack-up on the high line that collected several cars and once again the caution flew. With the rule package only allowing for one Green/White Checkered attempt, the race was then destined to end under caution with Stout taking the victory and James Lowe getting second. Todd Liston brought his car home in third place to round out the podium. When asked about the inaugural visit to Lanier National Speedway, Allen Wannamaker, Founder and co-owner of the YesterYear Racing™ League said, "I think it was a great race and show for the fans. Any time you get those types of green flag runs on a tight bull ring like Lanier, it is exciting to watch. The track proved tricky as it changed over the course of the night, but given the talent of the field, I was not surprised at all of the quality racing on the track."

The Series moves on to Stafford Motor Speedway for Round #5 on Tuesday, April 28, to race the YesterYear Spring Sizzler.

YesterYear Icebreaker Won By The Iceman

It was only fitting that when the checkered flag flew on the third annual YesterYear Icebreaker race at Thompson Speedway, the Iceman would come away victorious. James Lowe isn't flashy, doesn't always start on pole or set the fastest lap of the race, and doesn't always lead a huge number of laps. But Lowe is the definition of consistent and you can count on him being there at the end of almost every race he runs. That is what happened Tuesday night at Thompson Speedway in Round #3 of the YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modified Series. "We ran into some issues during the pit stops we did in the first two races. I saw Luke and a few others stay out at Concord and South Boston, so I thought we would give that a shot here. It paid off," Lowe said in his post-race interview. Lowe qualified fourth and ran near the front all night in the 150-lap event.

Around lap 100, a caution came out where a major decision had to be made by the drivers to pit or not. Lowe and his teammate Chris "Whirlwind" Worrell both chose to stay out, as did point leader Luke Allen and a handful of other cars. Eric Stout, who started on pole and was fast all night, chose to pit as did some of the drivers from the mid-pack on back. "Restarting on the outside was a huge advantage all night. I was not in a position to do that on the next restart even though I was running up front, so I chose to pit and get fresh rubber to hopefully work my way back to the front," said Stout after the race. Stout came back out and restarted ninth, but weaving through the field proved tricky, which allowed Lowe, Worrell, and a hard charging Eric "Double E" Essary to stretch things out a bit. Essary, who had pitted on lap 46 for tires, looked to be faster than both Lowe and Worrell as the laps began to wind down. But on the back stretch Essary and Lowe touched tires which sent Essary back a few positions, but which Worrell was able to recover from. When the checkered flag flew, it was Lowe, Worrell, and a hard-charging Eric Stout on the podium. Stout was able to pick off Todd Liston, Essary, and Luke Allen in the waning laps.

Points leader Luke "The Kid" Allen, for his part, led 83 of the 150 lap race and looked to be in a position to continue his marvelous run of late. But he got loose coming off of turn four late in the race and took a trip through the infield grass. This set him back from the leaders, but he still managed to come home in fifth place after coming out on top of a very physical battle with Essary for the position. Liston drove his "Toad Design" Tour Modified to fourth place in another solid finish. Liston has been the model of consistency with a 7th, 5th, and 4th place finish in the first three round of the Series.

Twenty-one drivers took the green flag Tuesday night at Thompson. The race saw five cautions for twenty laps and took 53 minutes to complete. The Series takes next week off before returning to Lanier National Speedway on Tuesday, April 21 for Round #4. James Lowe and Luke Allen are tied for the points lead with 530 points each, while Chris Worrell sits in third with 490 points followed by Todd Liston at 462 points.