Pittman Dominates the Field at the Blue Ridge 100

Tuesday night's Blue Ridge 100 seemed like a sprint race after last week's 150-minute Race of Champions marathon. Drivers had one set of tires to work with in the 41-minute event, but most did not need them. Ryan Pittman began his night on the pole and led 88 of the 100 laps to cruise to victory. Post race Pittman commented," The track was slick tonight, but it is my favorite track on the platform. I ran into some issues back in April when we visited here, so I was determined to perform well this time out." Perform well indeed, since with the win Pittman moves into third place in the standings 41 points behind Brian Bianchi with three races remaining in the season.

Thomas Ogle, who had been one of the more dominant drivers all year, was a no show Tuesday night. Allen Wannamaker, Founder of YesterYear Racing™, said, "Tom had told me a couple of weeks ago he would have to miss the race tonight. I was a bit bummed for him since YesterYear does not drop any races like other leagues. We mirror as close as possible real world history in our Series and unfortunately dropping races is not something they did in 1990." Ogle might be out of the championship hunt this year, but the Ohio driver already punched his ticket to the exclusive YesterYear Racing™ IROC Series that will launch in 2025.

The Series moves on to Stafford Motor Speedway for the Fall Final on Tuesday, October 1 with Brian Bianchi holding a slim 12-point lead over OBRL-driver Lloyd Moore in the standings. After the Fall Final, YesterYear takes three weeks off before returning for the final two races of the season which will be at Thompson Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway respectively.

YesterYear’s Race of Champions Marathon Turns Out to be a Winner

Tuesday night’s Race of Champions was one for the ages. 26 drivers lined up at a cold and overcast Pocono International Raceway to run the flagship race of the YesterYear Racing™ League. It was an “open” race event just like it was in 1977 which meant a handful of the drivers in the field were not regular members of the League. One of those drivers included Jeff Maconi, owner of Maconi Set-Up Shop LLC, who seemed to have the fastest car most of the night until he ran into trouble late in the race. Maconi led the most laps of the race but was involved in a multicar incident with Allen Wannamaker and Steve Hilbert with about 9 laps remaining that took them all out of contention. Maconi wasn’t the only driver that ran into issues though. Points leader Tom Ogle was involved in a nasty crash that took him out of the race with less than 30 laps remaining. “It was disappointing as this was the second consecutive race where I was involved in an incident that wasn’t my fault.” You just have to wipe it from your mind and move on. It was a ton-of-fun though,” Ogle said after the race.

The race was based on the 1977 Al Gerber Race of Champions that was run on October 10, 1977. Between 1977-1979 the Race of Champions was held on the full 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.” In 1980 the race was moved to a custom 0.75-mile make-shift oval at Pocono International Raceway due to the speeds of the modified stock cars. “Back in 1977 there was no Hans Device, nor all the modern-day safety equipment drivers have today. Essentially, they raced with a lap belt, a helmet, and a fire-proof suit. Very Old School. The promoters of the race saw what was happening in Formula One at the time where deaths happened monthly, so they slowed the cars down by not racing on the full 2.5-mile Triangle after 1979. It was a shame because in my opinion those three races were the greatest stock car race events held that no one either knows about or remembers,” Wannamaker said.

In the end it was Brian Bianchi that took the victory, the points lead in the standings, and punched his ticket into the 4-race 2025 YesterYear IROC Series that kicks off in February. “It was a long and tough race. Not one I would want to do more than once per year, but it was fun. I was gripping my wheel for almost all the 149-minute event,” Bianchi said in post-race comments.

The exclusive YesterYear Racing™ IROC Series will run identical Cadillac CTS-V cars at Daytona in February, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June, Atlanta 2008 in August, and Milwaukee in October providing drivers a chance to show their skill on a Super Speedway, a Road Course, a 1.5-Mile oval, and a short track. Wannamaker added, “The only way to qualify for the YesterYear IROC Series is a driver must win a 2024 series in either the Bootleg Racing League, the Old Bastards Racing League, the Red Light Racing League, or the VLS iRacing League. These are all leagues I respect and that send drivers to YesterYear Racing™ to compete. In addition, the Series champion of YesterYear will be invited, as well as the winner of the Race of Champions, which was Brian, and the winner of the 9th Annual Bootleg Racing Stone River Shootout that will be held on Saturday, September 21.” When asked if He would participate Wannamaker chuckled and said, “Unless I achieve one of the criteria for entry into the YesterYear IROC Series, I will not drive in it. I have always come from the Ric Flair school of thinking. To be the Man, you have to beat the man. And if you cannot beat the Man, you don’t get in.”

With four races left in the Season, YesterYear will head to North Wilkesboro Speedway Tuesday, September 24 for the “Blue Ridge 100,” and then go to Stafford Motor Speedway for the “Fall Final” on October 1st, before taking a three-week break and then coming back to finish the season at Thompson Speedway on October 22nd, and Martinsville Speedway on October 29th.

The 2024 YesterYear Race of Champions race replay can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFM4WFZgnt4&t=3276s

Cautions Plague the New England 125

Tuesday night's New England 125 was a caution fest. The notorious seams in the middle of the New Hampshire Speedway turns took their toll with the race having 10 cautions for 39 laps which outpaced the historic race which had 6 cautions for 28 laps. In addition, Tuesday night's race took 1 hour and 51 minutes to complete, while the historic race took 1 hour and 24 minutes. "It was a hot night and that fact coupled with the harsh track seams was a recipe for cautions tonight," Race Director and driver Allen Wannamaker said post race. Wannamaker was running 7th with less than 10 laps to go before the final caution took numerous cars, including Wannamaker, out of contention.

When the checkered flag flew it was Red Light Racing's Eric Stout coming out victorious. Stout and Jerry Isaacs battled to the finish with Stout having just a bit too much left in the tank for Isaacs to get around. Stout, a part time driver this year in the Series, had previously raced only one YesterYear event, the Camden Classic, which took place at Thompson Speedway back in June. Stout won the Pole in that race, but had a solo spin early that took him out of contention. Stout's victory, however, did come with a bit of luck. Midway through the race Stout picked up a Black Flag and got a drive through penalty. As he was coming in to serve it, Wannamaker hit a seam wrong and spun back in the field which produced a caution that allowed Stout to stay on the lead lap while serving the penalty. "I was fast tonight, but luck played a part too," Stout said in the post race interview.

With respect to the front runners in the standings, both Tom Ogle and Brian Bianchi ran into issues. Bianchi brought it home 6th while Ogle came in 8th. However, because Ogle led the most laps, Bianchi only picked up 3 points on Ogle and still trails him by 28 points heading into Round 11.

The YesterYear Circus heads to Pocono International Raceway in two weeks where they will run a legendary race that has not taken place in 47 years. The Series will replay the historic 1977 Race of Champions won by legendary modified stock car driver Maynard Troyer.