The 20th anniversary season for the Zimmer Service Center United Late Model Series was supposed to have seven events already in the books for the 2020 season. Unfortunately, like many other regional series and weekly racetracks, along with many other non-racing summer activities that have seen delays and cancellations, so has the ULMS series. The 2020 season had a lot of hype and a lot of big ideas and plans for the upcoming season, including splitting the schedule into two regions and a $10,000 bonus if one driver won both regions with a total of $24,000 available to one driver.
Unfortunately, with six of the first seven events being cancelled without any makeup dates and more coming down the pipe, it is unfortunate that the ULMS North and ULMS South Regions will converge back into one region (tour) for the remainder of 2020, once it begins. ULMS Racing Series owner, Chris Zuver, stated, “I am disappointed that this decision was made, but it is the right decision at the moment, with the uncertain start of the 2020 season due to Covid 19 government restrictions in Pennsylvania and New York state.” The series lost both events at Williams Grove in March and April along with the Selinsgrove date in April. One of the Port Royal dates has been rescheduled for mid-October and last Friday, the series lost the ULMS North opener at Thunder Mountain, with Freedom this week and next Saturday, the series will lose the Hidden Valley scheduled date. The only June date scheduled is at Woodhull Raceway in NY and they are closed indefinitely due to state and local restrictions.
“I am concerned with the restrictions in place by the Pennsylvania and New York state governors. Many of our races this year will not be happening due to the tracks not opening or opening so late in the season that we may not be able to make up events already lost,” stated Zuver. “We have already lost four of the first five south region dates, and we definitely will be losing the first four north region dates by time the June 20th Woodhull date arrives. With the restrictions by the state governments, currently there are seven events on our schedule in the state of New York that are in jeopardy of not being able to be held. We have four events at Freedom including this weekend’s Ron Baker Memorial, the July 3rd USMC Corporal Jason Dunham Memorial and the two day Fall Classic event in September, while solo events at Genesee Speedway in August, the June Woodhull date and the July 4th event at Stateline in Busti, NY.”
The South region is facing the same restraints by the Pennsylvania governor as the spring events were already lost and the July and August events scheduled at Trail Way Speedway and Lincoln Speedway in part of the Viper Motorsports race promotion events including the Junior Eckert Memorial and the $12,000 to win Billy Vacek Memorial are at tracks currently unable to open up. Labor Day weekend is a three-day ULMS south region swing with the $7055 to win Labor Day 55 at Bedford Speedway, followed by the $5333 to win Butch Renninger Memorial at Port Royal and concluding at Selinsgrove. All three of those tracks are currently unable to race due to Pennsylvania government restrictions.
“With the uncertainty of everything right now, it will be financially impossible to do what we originally set out to do over this past winter with the two regions and the point fund money we were planning to pay out. We will go back to one point fund, one big region as we have for the past 19 years if we can get 2020 going sometime this summer,” stated Zuver. “We have events scheduled all the way up to Halloween weekend, so I am hopeful that we will salvage our 20th anniversary season somehow as long as the state governments in our region allow our partnering tracks to open up. New York state looks like a disaster for any form of racing currently as is central Pennsylvania and I know the Greater Cumberland Raceway in Maryland and Georgetown Speedway in Delaware have not opened up yet. The only ULMS partner track that is scheduled to open is Bradford Speedway and ULMS is scheduled there in mid-July.”
ULMS understands that some teams were planning on running for either the North or South region Chew on this Jerky Rookie of the Year programs, and the series will still plan on a Rookie of the Year program if there appears to be enough events scheduled. Teams that have indicated they were planning on running either schedule can contact ULMS owner and race director, Chris Zuver, if they still plan on running the entire series or they can waive their intentions until 2021 when the series plans to go back to two regions. The series point fund will be re-adjusted and announced at a later date when it is clearer what the racing scene picture looks like later this summer.
2020 ULMS SCHEDULE
All Events are Tentative due to Covid 19
March-20 Williams Grove Speedway $3,000 Covid
March-20 Port Royal Speedway $3,000 PPD to Sunday October 18th.
March-20 Port Royal Speedway $3,000 Covid
April-20 Williams Grove Speedway $3,000 Covid
April-20 Selinsgrove Speedway $3,000 Covid
May-20 Thunder Mountian Speedway $3,000 Covid
May-20 Freedom Motorsports Park $3,000 Ron Baker Memorial Covid
May-20 Hidden Valley Speedway $2,500 Covid
June-20 Woodhull Raceway $3,000 Late Model Reunion in the Boonies
July-3 Freedom Motorsports Park $3,000 USMC Corporal Jason Dunham Memorial
July-4 Stateline Speedway $4,000
July-5 Eriez Speedway $4,100 Mike Farr Memorial
July-19 Bradford Speedway $3,000
July-24 Trail-Way Speedway $6,000 Junior Eckert Memorial – Presented by Viper Motorsports
August-8 Genesee Speedway $3,000
August-9 Eriez Speedway $2,900 Dick Litz Memorial
August-14 Thunder Mountian Speedway $5,000 Connor Bobik Memorial
August-22 Lincoln Speedway $12,000 Billy Vacek Memorial – Presented by Viper Motorsports
September-4 Bedford Speedway $7,055 Labor Day 55
September-5 Port Royal Speedway $5,333 Butch Renninger Memorial
September-6 Selinsgrove Speedway $3,000
September-11 Freedom Motorsports Park $3,000
September-12 Freedom Motorsports Park $3,000 Mike DuClon Memorial – Presented by Close Racing Supply
October-10 Greater Cumberland Raceway $3,000
October-18 Port Royal Speedway $3,000
October-30 Georgetown Speedway Qualifying – Mid Atlantic Championship Weekend
October-31 Georgetown Speedway $5-7,000 – Mid Atlantic Championship Weekend