2024: A Key Year for Maritime Racing - The Tale of Two Tours

A successful and growing regional unsanctioned race - Photo courtesy of JT Racing Pix

February 23rd, 2024

As the engines rev up for the 2024 racing season, the Maritime racing community finds itself at an interesting place in time. This year stands as a key moment for two of its premier series: the Super Late Model Series (SLMS) and the ECI Pro Stock Tour.

SLMS: Beyond the Debut's Shadow

2023 marked the thunderous entry of the SLMS, capturing the attention of racing aficionados locally, in Ontario, the USA, and beyond, with its high-octane races and impressive car counts. But 2024 stands as a 'prove it' year. The SLMS faces the challenge of showing that its initial success wasn't merely a novelty effect. The series has the opportunity to continue its momentum, building upon the foundations laid last year. It's about cementing a foundation, not just living off the laurels of a successful debut.

Consistent engagement throughout the off-season, a steady-flow of sponsorship additions/continuation, and maintaining a driver/team friendly format/pay structure (relative to this type of racing) point towards good things. Also given the almost comically bad weather luck endured by SLMS in year 1, their success really suggests substance is fueling it.

ECI Pro Stock Tour: Supporting the Legacy

Contrastingly, the ECI Pro Stock Tour, with its rich history that can’t soon be replicated, faces a different kind of challenge. This year is crucial for stabilizing or reversing the concerning trend of falling driver participation. It's a year for revitalization, for taking the present spark and rekindling the inferno that made this series a beacon in Maritime racing. Make no mistake, the Tour is a mainstay, and a prominent one, with many virtues and assets that are currently unique to it, including the IWK 250 and Scotia’s Summer Clash 250, and it operates in a broader region for more dates. The tour needs some things to fall the right way, perhaps involving innovative strategies to re-attract drivers, ensuring the legacy endures for future generations. A recent step was made to introduce a Podcast, managed by Jonathan Saumier, current host/owner of the Maritime Racing Network podcast, MRN.

Unsanctioned Marquee Races

While this is going on, Petty International Speedway’s annual Mike Stevens Memorial hit a high-mark in just about every metric in 2023, from entry-list, to on-track product/race, to fan engagement, pay-out purse, and more. Meanwhile, the Speedway 660 250 had much of the same virtues working in it’s favour, both races not appearing on either the SLMS schedule, or the ECI PST schedule. With travel becoming a bit more viable after hopefully the worst of COVID’s impact, and many positive factors in recent times, there is a lot of cause for optimism.

Conclusion: A Defining Year

2024 is set to be a defining year for both series. For the SLMS, it's about proving resilience and sustainability. For the ECI Pro Stock Tour, it's about perseverance and resurgence. As these two tours navigate their distinct paths, one thing is clear: the Maritime racing scene is poised for another exciting year, ready to embrace the legacy and the new-comer.