Tuesday was a tough day for die-hard New England race fans.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race that was scheduled for June 15 at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut has been canceled, NASCAR Home Tracks announced. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series events scheduled for June 5 and June 15, respectively, will go on as scheduled.
A NASCAR representative declined to comment when reached by NESN.com.
[NEWS] The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Thompson has been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/lqCoP13qPK
— NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) June 4, 2019
While neither NASCAR nor Thompson have offered specific reasons for the race being canceled, a quick scan of Twitter and Reddit, as well as some recent knowledge of the sport’s regional series, offers some clues.
Take a look at this tweet from NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Landon Huffman:
Correct, because it costs 40k+ to being the series to your track, and who wants to pay that and only have a show with 10 cars.
— Landon Huffman (@LandonHuffman) June 4, 2019
And then there are these Reddit comments:
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Essentially, it sounds like Thompson didn’t want to pay big bucks for a race that features only 10 cars. Furthermore, it’s becoming too expensive for part-time drivers to field cars in the K&N Series, and well-funded drivers who could afford it are bypassing the series in favor of the Truck Series, which offers better competition and more exposure.
Just as concerning is it feels like this problem won’t be solved overnight.
Will things get better in 2020, when the K&N Series and ARCA Menards Series (purchased by NASCAR in 2018) effectively merge and operate under the same competitive framework? Perhaps, especially as it pertains to fielding more cars and thus giving fans more reasons to purchase tickets.
But you don’t have to be a hardcore racing fan to recognize there’s a deeper issue at play here, one that has cost New England racing fans one of the coolest events in the region.
