Everything You Need To Know About Bridgeport Speedway’s Bill Thomas Memorial Weekend Nationals
BRIDGEPORT, NJ (October 14, 2015) The format and schedule for the quickly approaching 5th Annual Bill Thomas Memorial Weekend is now set for the three-day October 23-25 extravaganza. The Bridgeport ¼ mile program last saw action back on September 18 as their champions were crowned for the 2015 season (600s-Lee Nardelli, 270s-Tyler Reinhardt, 4 Cylinders-Chris Sammons, 8 Cylinders-Chris Allen Sr.). The focus has now shifted towards, what will certainly be a jam-packed weekend full of many different racing divisions along with excellent purses.
The Thomas Family has been such strong supporters of the ¼ mile program at Bridgeport Speedway over the years, as the speedway will once again honor the late Bill Thomas “There’s no doubt that this event has gained momentum each and every year that it’s taken place,” expressed track manager Danny Serrano. “The racing has been tremendous, especially in all of our Poker races this season. We wanted to not only honor the Thomas Family with a BIG weekend, we wanted to give the drivers a marquee event here at Bridgeport.” 9 different divisions have been inked onto this year’s B.T. ¼ mile Nationals Weekend over the course of the three days.
Friday: With cancellations and rainouts over the past few weeks, Bridgeport has altered its Friday portion of the B.T. Weekend. “Originally on the docket, we were going to have a Winner’s Classic for the 600s and 270s but with us losing the B.T. qualifiers we thought it made more sense to hold those races instead on Friday night,” Serrano explained. Friday’s show will consist of three 20-lap main events: one each for the wingless 600s, winged 270s, and the Servpro 4 Cylinders. The winners of the two micro divisions will not only be guaranteed starters for Sunday’s races but, will be locked into Sunday’s A-main redraw. There will be open practice throughout the night for winged 600s, 600 Xcel mods, super trucks, stage-1 mods, and slingshots. The winged 600s and Slingshots will have a little extra on the line on Friday as the fast timer during the night will receive a $100 bonus and be locked into the main event redraw.
Gates Open: 4:30
Warm Ups: 6:45
Racing Starts: 7:30
Saturday: Saturday’s racing card will see a four-division show that consists of the Winged 600s, 600 Xcel Modifieds, Delaware Super Trucks, and the Stage-1 Mods. The 600 micro sprints will see their first race in over a year using their wings. “Even though we’ve enjoyed the wingless action here at Bridgeport all year long, we still feel there’s a need to have a big ‘winged’ race for the 600s as well. Hopefully by bolting on the wing, we’ll attract some new faces and some drivers that normally run tracks like Path Valley, Lanco, and Greenwood Valley,” Serrano elaborated. The 600s will run 40 laps for $1,500 to win with a healthy $150 being posted to start the event.
Doug Borger’s Xcel Modifieds will be making their second appearance of the season, who have also been added to the Oct. 31 Romp in the Swamp. The fast-growing and exciting class will be racing for a $1,000 pay day. In their one and only appearance back in April, recently crowned champion Brian Carber was able to nail down the victory. Carber has already confirmed that he’ll be doing double duty on Saturday in both the Xcel mod and the winged 600.
The Delaware Super Trucks will be making their first appearance of the season after competing in a handful at the speedway in 2014. Courtesy Chevrolet of Salisbury, Md has posted a whopping $1,000 for first place for the trucks. This could possibly be the biggest purse in the division’s history. The very similar trucks from I-88 Speedway are welcomed to compete in this event (as long as they make weight requirements). The trucks will run in a 40-lap Enduro feature.
Rounding out Saturday’s racing program will be the Richie Smith created Stage-1 Modifieds. The Stage-1 Mods have had five appearances thus far in 2015 producing three different winners in their visits. Several new drivers are planning on making their first visit to Bridgeport’s ¼ mile for this final event.
Any drivers that are interested in shaking their cars down for Sunday’s show that include the 270s, Wingless 600s, and Slingshots will take place after the final checkered on Saturday night.
Gates Open: 2:00
Warm Ups: 5:00
Racing Starts: 6:00
Sunday: In the third and final day of the 5th Annual Bill Thomas Weekend, will feature the Wingless 600s, Winged 270s, OMS Racing/Action Track USA/Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshots, and Gasko & Son Farm & Greenhouses 8 Cylinders. The start time for Sunday’s events have been moved up to 4pm from its original start time of 5pm.
Fresh off of his 2015 Poker Series Championship, James Morris was the only driver to duplicate a ‘Poker Series’ victory. 2015 track champ Lee Nardelli, Action Track champion Tim Buckwalter, and 2014 Bridgeport champion Luke Thomas were able to add $1,000 Bridgeport victories to their resumes earlier this season. These four drivers along with many other traveling 600 micro stars will be battling it out for the $1,500 first place prize on Sunday. The 40-lap event will also pay a very respectable $150 to start.
The Winged 270s will race for their largest pay day of the season at the south Jersey facility. $1,000 will go to the winner of this 30-lap race. Top drivers such as Jacob Hendershot (4 Poker Series wins), Jay Hartman, Tyler Reinhardt, Logan Diehl, Pat Bealer, and many others are expected to tow into town in search of Bridgeport glory.
The Tobias Slingshots basically have EVERYTHING on the line come Sunday, Oct. 25! In the first annual ‘King of the Sling’, the always exciting Slingshots will be racing a race within a race within a race if that’s even possible. For starters the 40-lap ‘King of the Sling’ event will paying a cool $1,000 to the first driver across the finish line. What’s even more remarkable is that the event will see each starter of the race walk home with at least $125! Then there’s the 2015 point championship on the line that will see the champion pocket $500 for their year-long efforts. The OMS Racing/Speedway All-Star Bagel Stop point series will pay an unheard of top 20 in the final point standings. If that’s not enough incentive to get the blood pumping, there’s still the 2015 Jeffrey Hogue Action Track USA Poker Series finale which will be decided on Sunday. Three drivers have a shot at the $500 championship. They include, Andrew Kreis, Travis Beiber, and defending ’14 Poker Series champion Dave McCullough. Second and third place are wide open as a dozen other competitors have a legitimate shot at earning the second and third best hands. Needless to say, there will be a ton riding on the line for each and every slingshot chauffer in the pits come day three of the B.T. Memorial Weekend.
Rounding out the Bridgeport ¼ mile Nationals will be the 8 Cylinders. The Gasko & Son sponsored division has seen five different winners in six races throughout the 2015 season. The ‘Old Bridge Outlaws’ team has claimed four of the six events while 2014 champion Tom Wolf has conquered the last two Enduros. The 40-lap event will put conclude, what you can bet will be, an extremely exciting weekend of racing on the Bridgeport ¼ mile.
Gates Open: Noon
Warm Ups: 3:00
Racing Starts: 4:00
Free camping is offered for the weekend (no hook ups) at the speedway for all racing teams and fans. The Holiday Inn located four miles south of the speedway at exit 10 off of Rt. 295 has extended a racer’s rate for the weekend. Rooms can be reserved by calling 856-467-3322. All entry forms can be found under the forms section at bpspeedway.com. Any other questions can be answered if you call the speedway at 856-467-4408.