by Gerald Laurie

The Supermodified Racing Association announced its 2009 season schedule and Association Officers at a recent meeting in Carson City, Nevada. The SMRA will sanction seven events in California at Madera Speedway and Shasta Speedway. There will be two events in Nevada, both at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring. Idaho will host one race at Meridian Speedway and Utah will host one race at Rocky Mountain Raceways. There is a possibility of one or two additional dates being added at a later date. The current schedule of confirmed events is listed below.

At the same meeting, Jim Birges of Birges Racing was named President of SMRA, Wayne Malmstrom of Out Front Racing was named Treasurer, and Rhonda Costa with S&S Motorsports was named Secretary. A Vice President will be named at a later date. Gerald Laurie was named Race Director for the 2009 season. John Davidson was named Webmaster for SMRA.

The SMRA authorized a new website and it is now up and running at http://www.smrasupermods.com/ . The site will have added features as the various pages are developed, but contact and membership information is now available as well as 2008 results and photos. The complete 2009 schedule is also available.

It was also announced that a crate motor test program will be initiated during the 2009 season to test the feasibility of using a lower cost sealed engine based on the Chevrolet LS3 Aluminum Block in this ultimate high speed division. The engine will utilize electronic fuel injection. The test car will feature a specially built 2009 Belfiore Chassis and an engine leased from Schwanke Engines. The test motor will be 414 cubic inches and limited to 700 horsepower. It will be campaigned by Belfab Racing and feature guest drivers from various sanctioning bodies to test the competitiveness and reliability of the car and engine combination. If successful, the engines will be authorized for competition in 2010 and will offer a lower cost option for those wanting to move up to Supermodified Competition. The engine will sell for approximately $15,000 dollars and should last three seasons before needing major service. Initially the crate motor will meet the same weight requirements as the current 360 CID unlimited engines now in use by some teams. Weights may be adjusted and refined as the competitiveness of the new system is evaluated.

2009 SMRA Schedule
Date Track Location
April 4 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
April 25 Shasta Raceway Anderson, CA
May 9 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
May 16 Meridian Speedway Meridian, ID
June 13 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
July 2 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring Las Vegas, NV
July 4 Rocky Mountain Raceways Salt Lake City, UT
July 18 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
Aug 15 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
September 19 Madera Speedway Madera, CA
October 31 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring Las Vegas, NV