Hoosier Tires, Group Qualifying & SpeedShift TV New For BOSS In 2019
3 min readThe 2019 race season is fast approaching. When the curtain is raised at Atomic Speedway on April 13th, some new changes will be in effect. For the first time in its 8 year history, BOSS will now have a tire rule in place. All competing cars will be required to be on all 4 Hoosier Racing Tires. There will be no compound requirement. Any commercially available Hoosier brand tire will be legal. In an attempt to help teams use up any other tires, there will be a 4 race burn off period where we willl allow other brands of tires to be used. Once we get to race #5, the rule will be in full effect.
BOSS owner, Aaron Fry, said “we were very proud of the eight year run we had without a tire rule. It was easy in 2011 to start that way because there were 3 competing brands of tires at that time. However, times have changed and so has the market.” He went on to say, “for several years, we thought other tracks and sanctions may follow our lead, but that day never came.” This move is hoped to also help even out the competition and stop teams from keeping multiple brands and compounds in their inventory.
By teaming with Hoosier Racing Tire, the BOSS 2019 points payout will increase by more than 30% with the top 15 in points being awarded at year’s end. In appreciation of this one year contract, Hoosier has lowered the retail price of their right rear tires on all compounds, capping them at $207 each. Neil Cowman and Tony Burghardt from Hoosier are open to discussion with race teams who will be new to their brand for tips on air pressure, grooving and siping. Tires will be available at every event through TCB Speed.
Also new for 2019 will be group qualifying in your heat race at every event. Drivers will be placed into groups by pill draw for heat races and you will hot lap with your heat. The top 4 cars in heats will be inverted. The top 2 finishers will go to the redraw for the main event while the balance will be lined up by heat race finishes. The B-Main will also line up by heat race finishes. During the recent banquet, Fry stated, “for 8 years, we have pressed our luck with pill draw starts, but it is time to stop putting cars way off the pace on the front row of heats.”
Finally, one other change for 2019 will be the addition of BOSS on the Speed Shift TV schedule. Every show will be filmed and available On Demand on the Speed Shift TV website just a few days following the event. Highlight segments, interviews and more will also be available on the BOSS YouTube channel, along with BOSS accounts on Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram.
Teams planning to run the full slate of events in 2019 are encouraged to send over driver / owner information for the drivers page on the tour website. Or if you have questions, you can e-mail sprinter14@hotmail.com or call 740-703-3768.