SEEKONK SPEEDWAY ANNOUNCES TIRE POLICY FOR START OF 2022 SEASON
SEEKONK, Mass. — Seekonk Speedway announced today the tire policy the third-mile oval will put in place to begin the 2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series season. Due to the national tire shortage, affecting short-track racing across the country, Seekonk Speedway will limit the number of tires teams can purchase and maintain a specific allotment throughout the year to keep competitors on an equal playing field. Not only will this allotment keep competitors equal — but it will also help the track attempt to maintain as many tires as possible over the course of the season to ensure all competitors have enough to keep racing and not be forced to cancel events like some tracks have across the country. “We’re looking to do what is best for our competitors and fans — to make sure we have enough tires for our teams to be able to race competitively — not just in the first month — but for the entire 2022 season,” David Alburn, Competition Director at Seekonk Speedway, said. “Tire rules are nothing different to Seekonk – we’ve had tire limit rules for years to help keep fair and equal competition. This has just tightened up the rules just a little more.” The tire allotment for teams in the Pro Stock and Late Model division will begin with 8 per car for the first scheduled race of the season on Sunday, May 1. Once drivers complete a race, the team’s TCA (Team Current Allowance of tires) will increase by two tires at the next attended race. Teams that don’t race Opening Day and attend any race after the first event will start with a TCA of 6 for their car. For the Seekonk Sport Trucks and Sportsman, teams will be allowed six tires per car in their allotment to open the season. Both divisions will have restrictions on the first buy to four tires with the other two coming at other released date. The Sportsman tire rule is still to be determined as this will be the first year for them on a tire limit rule. The track will release more details when available in the Sportsman based on allotment. Teams will not be eligible to purchase tires for only practice purposes unless they are part of their allotment. Teams will have to practice on tires from previous years or will have to use part of their 8 tires (for Pro Stocks or Late Models) to practice. At the end of each feature race, the tire official will confirm that the tires on the car for that race as part of a driver’s inventory with the track for the 2022 season. If any tires are found on the car that are not registered with the track for 2022 racing, the car will be penalized. If a team is found to be racing or practicing 2022 tires that are not recorded in their inventory, they will be penalized their next TCA allowance and placed to the rear of the finishing order for that race. This means that tires purchased from Seekonk Speedway in 2022 must be run only on the car where they have been purchased for. Car 09 cannot run tires that were sold to car 15. Tire sales will take place for the first time on Wednesday, April 13, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the track. A second mid-week date for tire sales will be Wednesday, April 27 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tires will also be sold to those eligible at Open Practice sessions on Saturday, April 16 and Saturday, April 30. Rain dates will be announced if necessary. Tires will not be sold on any additional dates or times. In a chance that a team doesn’t make any of the pre-season dates, they will be able to purchase their allotment on opening day. In order to be eligible to purchase tires, each car must be registered at the track for the 2022 season in advance — with both an owner and a driver signed up. No tires will be sold to teams who have just an owner signed up or just a driver. Both must be fully registered in order for sales to occur for that team. New for 2022, upon arriving for tire sales, a raffle will take place a few minutes before sales begin to determine who will be first in line into the tire shed. This will prevent some competitors from showing up earlier than others who may not be able to get there early to get in line. The lottery will be a random draw to determine those who are in attendance in which order they can enter the tire shed to select their tires. Teams can only purchase four tires per week (Monday-Sunday) during specific tire sales times. Tires will be scanned at the time of purchase into a team's inventory. As part of their allotment, teams may register tires from last year as race tires, if they wish. They must see a tire official and fill out a registration card with each tires ID numbers. Teams must still follow the TCA for their car. If they register 8 tires from last year for opening day, those eight tires act as those in their inventory. The only tires from past years that should be registered in a team’s inventory are those that they plan to run in race competition (heats and features). Tires purchased from previous years that will be for practice only should not be registered in the allotment. All tire sales are final. When tires are recorded and leave the tire area or once tires have been mounted on rims, tire sales are final and cannot be exchanged or refunded. Tire testing will be done at the discretion of Seekonk officials. Seekonk Speedway understands the frustration that comes with the current tire situation. The track has received tires to get the season going, but this is just a limited supply. If the production increases and more tires are available during the season, we will announce changes to the allowance for each team at that time. Any questions should be directed to Seekonk Speedway Competition Director David Alburn. For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media.
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