Story By: DAVE BUCHANAN / LANCASTER NATIONAL SPEEDWAY – LANCASTER, NY – The open-wheeled warriors of the Race of Champions Modified Series roll into Lancaster National Speedway next Thursday, August 2, for the inaugural running of the Midweek Modified Mania 50.
This new event expanded Lancaster’s commitment to the RoC Modified Series to five races in 2018, and marks the midway point of the RoC Series schedule.
The Thursday night throw-down for the groundpounders will be short on laps, but filled with action, as drivers will have little time to waste to get to the front of the field. The short distance takes any kind of tire-saving strategy out of the equation, and places an emphasis on track position.
The first two RoC Modified events at LNS this season have been split by a pair of drivers have dominated the headlines at Lancaster in 2018. Patrick Emerling opened the season with a win in the Queen City Clash 75. Since then, Emerling has won three VP Racing Fuels Sportsman features at LNS to give him four overall wins. Chuck Hossfeld captured the RoC Modified Series Ol’ Boy Cup 60 on June 28 just 11 days after winning the Joe Reilly Sportsman Summer Slam. Hossfeld enters Midweek Modified Mania 50 as the current RoC Modified Series points leader.
Hossfeld also leads the standings for the Treichler-Troyer Trophy. This special award goes to the driver that earns the most points in the five RoC Series races at Lancaster in 2018 based on the track’s own point system. Hossfeld leads Emerling by six points through the first two events. Daryl Lewis, Jr. is third in the standings. Lewis finished third in both the Queen City Clash and Ol’ Boy Cup races. Daren Scherer and Mike Leaty round out the top five in the chase for the Treichler-Troyer Trophy. Only 19 points separate the five drivers going into next Thursday.
Grandstands gates will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 2 for Midweek Modified Mania with racing starting at 7 p.m. The Advance Auto Parts Street Stocks and Roaming Buffalo 4-Cylinders will also be in X-Press Signs Stock Car Series action on that night. Adult general admission tickets are $18, kids 12-17 are $10 and children 11 and under are free.
