The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has been around since the beach racing days of NASCAR as it is the oldest series the sport has to offer. It was the Modified Division of the sport from 1947-1984, in 1985 it turned into the Winston Modified Tour and ran 29 races in its first season under that name. In 1994 it was renamed to the Featherlite Modified Series as modified racing was reaching peak popularity. In 2005 Whelen Engineering took over as the sponsor and is still currently the sponsor as the name is the Whelen Modified Tour.
Over those years the Whelen Tour saw many talented drivers such as Ted Christopher, Richie Evans and Mike Stefanik. Even to this day these drivers are still house hold names in the local racing community, now a new generation of racers have really taken over with the likes of Patrick Emerling, Doug Coby, Justin Bonsignore and Eric Goodale. The racing is just as good as it was 20 years ago, but one of the biggest things that has changed is car count. Not every race, but some we have seen low car entries and that is particularly due to drivers selecting to race at other tracks/in other series and also partly due to money. It takes a lot of money to race in general depending on the car parts needed for the series and then you also have to count in repairs. You also have to add in that the Whelen Tour does not have the best payouts compared for example the Tri Track Series that continues to grow in popularity.
I feel the biggest thing is the neglect it has received from NASCAR and it has shown, a lot. NASCAR continues to shadow the Whelen Modified Series, which is sad due to all the stars it has made. If you ask a NASCAR fan in California what the Whelen Modified Tour is they would most likely have no clue, the Whelen Modified Tour is not talked up unless something really big happens. With that said it is losing the chances to gain newer/more fans and for any sport that is basically a death sentence. As a whole NASCAR ratings have been going down over the years along with fan attendance ever since 2004 mainly. NASCAR continues to ignore its fans and implant stupid rule changes. I also want to mention that the Whelen Tour has been losing fans too, for the people that can not make it to they race they would have to pay via NBC Sports GOLD to watch it and it features poor announcing and no replays (Some times) and it also does not announce when there is a rain delay or stoppage, instead you get the coverage will begin soon screen.
Personally for me I love the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and I wish so many other people knew about it, but the fact is if NASCAR does not do anything good with it, it will in a way die. With the popularity of the Tri Track Series and the SMART Modifieds it makes you wonder where the Whelen Tour fully stands. I feel like the next 5 years will be very critical for the Tour to fully show the direction it is going.
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