ERA: Super Modifieds Kick Off Season Saturday at CNS

[Joe Starr]

New ERA Supermodified Season Opens Saturday At CNS

Keith Shampine

LITTLETON, Colo. (May 23, 2012) - The Englewood Racing Association is set to kick off its new season this Saturday at Colorado National Speedway, the first of eight appearances for the supermodifieds at the three-eighths-mile Dacono oval.

A competitive field of supers is expected for the ERA opener, which comes on the heels of a successful 2011 season that saw ageless veteran Harold Evans score four feature wins on his way to the series championship.

Evans will be back this year behind the wheel of the familiar purple No. 3 Castor Racing super, a McCarthy chassis that has seen its share of wins over the past decade with the Littleton, Colo., chauffeur at the helm.

This past Sunday, while at the shop preparing his No. 1 Molloy super for driver Stevie Gallegos, Evans put down the wrenches for a few minutes to speak about the upcoming season.

"The cars have been done and ready to go since February," Evans said, referring to the No. 2 and 3 Castor Racing machines driven by himself and Richie Castor. "We tested at CNS after last season, mainly to sort out Richie's car, and I'm sure we found something in the 2 that's going to make Richie very tough to beat.

"We have to do our diligence to stay ahead," Evans added. "I used to think I was one of the only garage rats left, but the Castors live for these racecars and always have them prepared. It's nice to slide into the seat and always know the car is ready to go."

In addition to his teammate, Evans pointed to past champions Joe Priselac and Johnny Pickard as racers he expected to be up front when competition opens Saturday night.

Prisalec believes he's made several improvements to his No. 51, and also purchased Ira Castor's former No. 22 that he's preparing for a driver yet to be determined.

An ERA board member and a reliable source for the goings-on in the Colorado supermodified community, Prisalec offered his thoughts on the upcoming season.

"We have new management at Colorado National this year, and everyone at the track continues to back the supers, which is a great thing," Prisalec said. "We're expecting 10 cars this Saturday, from what I can gather - the Castor team with Richie and Harold, Joe and Stevie Gallegos, Chris Sheil, Johnny Pickard, Kevin Day, Matt Gilbert, Ian Tolen and myself. I'm pretty sure all of us will be in attendance. Of course, there are other cars out there either not ready or sitting idle. Our team is working to have the former Ira Castor car together soon, which will put another car out there."

Richie Castor, another multi-time ERA champion, will again handle the No. 2 Castor Racing driving chores in 2012. The aforementioned progress from last fall's post-season test should make Castor a serious threat when the green flag waves Saturday. Castor scored two feature wins in 2011, both in the first half of the season.

Chris Sheil should be one to watch in 2012. The former Rocky Mountain Midget champion was strong behind the wheel of Skip Mikula's No. 33 last year. After early-season engine woes, Sheil rattled off a trio of second-place finishes in the season's last four races.

Sheil will be back racing Mikula's Mountain States Toyota-sponsored entry in 2012.

Johnny Pickard won three ERA main events in 2010 and visited Victory Lane once last year. Pickard, who has missed the opening races in each of the last couple seasons, is expected to have his home-built red No. 02 in attendance this Saturday.

Races start at 6 p.m. Saturday. The ERA supers will run a 25-lap main to open the new year.

For more information on this weekend's event, visit ColoradoSpeedway.com. View below for the 2012 ERA supermodified schedule.

2012 ERA Schedule

All races at Colorado National Speedway

- Sat. May 26
- Sat. June 9
- Sat. June 23
- Sat. June 30
- Sat. August 11
- Sat. September 1
- Sat. September 8
- Sat. September 22

[Earnhardt Jr.]

Good Luck to all the racers this year and have a safe race season!

[Nostalgic Mike]

It's going to be great to these machines flying around CNS again. Nice to see that the old #22 was purchased and will be back out under a new number and driver. Are any of the sprint cars going to be out again this season? I would truly enjoy seeing a field of 15 -20 cars for this division at some poimt. These folks always put a thrill show each time they run. Nice to hear Kevin Day will be back out. Hopefully over time more of these exotic cars will show up and add to the car count and the show.