Car Count... What is The New Norm?  

I don't have an answer... and not trying to stir the pot either, but sad to admit it... especially when it comes to the modifieds.... I'm thinking that it might be time for guys like us to recalibrate our idea of "the norm", and maybe give in to the new reality that 27 mods is a good showing for a special midweek show... . 

It doesn't seem that long ago that we could expect to see 40 mods in NJ for a special midweek show, but maybe these days, 25 is about as good as we can expect?

Cost of racing? Lack of weeknight crew help? 6:30 start time on a weeknight?  Just not that many modifieds around anymore?

Not blaming anyone, or any one thing either, but it's definitely a change that guys like us, spoiled from decades ago... probably will just have to accept as the reality in 2023.

Here's a dive into the #'s (as you can see, I called in an expert to help):

Tuesday 6/20/23: 

• 27 modifieds at New Egypt
• There were 19 NES New Egypt modified drivers on hand Tues 6/20.  
• There were 4 other drivers at New Egypt on 6/20 that might be considered "outside invaders": (Perrego, Cozze, Tim Buckwalter, Dom Buffalino in NES modified driver Kevin Borden's car.)_
• There were 4 Bridgeport modified drivers on hand that you could call "Bridgeport invaders":  Billy Osmun III, Jordan Watson, Cale Ross, Rick Laubach.
• There were 6 "New Egypt" modified drivers who have raced recently at New Egypt but were not there on 6/20/23: Clay Butler, Brian Kuhl, Kevin Vaclavicek, Chris Grbac, Sean Weiss, Dakota Kessler, Kevin Borden (Buffalino was driving his car on 6/20)
• There are 17 "Bridgeport" modified drivers (looking at the 6/16 modified feature finish) that were not at New Egypt on Tues 6/20: W.B. James, Stan Frankenfield, Joseph Watson, Duane Howard,  Mike Franz, Neal Williams, H.J. Bunting, David Hunt, Sam Martz, Jr., Jack Swain, Brett Kelly,  Tommy Scheetz, Sam Martz, Sr., Blaine Bracelin, 20. Daylton Strohl, J.R. Fulper, Ron Roberts

So... if you take the modified drivers who have raced at New Egypt recently (26) + modified drivers who have raced at Bridgeport recently (22)... plus 4 invaders, you come up with a grand total of: 52 (actually 51 cars since Dom Buffalino was driving Kevin Borden's car on Tues night.)

That means unless others join the party (NY drivers?, Grandview drivers, and maybe a few more from Delaware) 52 is probably about the max to be expected if all the New Egypt and all the Bridgeport modifieds showed up, plus 4 or 5 invaders.

(Warning - take an aspirin before reading any more (below) in preparation for a soon to be felt headache:)

 Here's the info (below) I was using to come up with the above info

Color code:

• New Egypt Modified Driver
• Bridgeport Modified Driver
• "Outside Invader"

Finish from New Egypt 6/20/23:  1.) Ryan Godown 2.) Justin Grosso 3.) Anthony Perrego 4.) Brandon Grosso 5.) Louden Reimert 6.) Matt Stangle 7.) John McClelland 8.) Billy Osmun III 9.) Ryan Krachun 10.) Paul Mancini 11.) Anthony Tramontana 12.) Danny Bouc 13.) Jack Butler 14.) Frank Cozze 15.) Ryan Godown Jr. 16.) Jim Housworth 17.) Jordan Watson 18.) Davey Sammons 19.) Cale Ross 20.) Will Dupree 21.) Billy Pauch Jr. 22.) Tim Buckwalter 23.) Steve Davis 24.) Rick Laubach 25.) Dominick Buffalino & Wade Hendrickson, DJ Hunt

Finish from Bridgeport 6/12/23:   1.)Jordan Watson, 2. W.B. James, 3. Billy Osmun, III, 4. Stan Frankenfield, Jr., 5. Joseph Watson, 6. Duane Howard, 7. Mike Franz, 8. Neal Williams, 10. H.J. Bunting, 11. David Hunt, 12. Sam Martz, Jr., 13. Jack Swain, 14. Brett Kelly, 15. Tommy Scheetz, 16. Sam Martz, Sr., 17. Cale Ross, 18. Rick Laubach, 19. Blaine Bracelin, 20. Daylton Strohl, DNS – J.R. Fulper, Ron Roberts

So, is 25 modifieds (or in this case 27) about as good as we can expect for a midweek show at a NJ track?