Fresh off the announcement of the all new Bernheisel Race Cars Weekly Championship Series presented by VP Racing Fuels and Lazer Chassis, the promoters of the NLMA are please to present the biggest, most exciting Vanderlaan Building Products NLMA Tour in the three-year history of the series.
Coming off record car counts and exciting racing in 2019, promoters were eager to book dates in 2020 which will see drivers compete in nine events at eight different tracks across Ontario and upstate New York including events at all three NLMA partner tracks; Fulton Speedway, Humberstone Speedway and Brighton Speedway.
“The goal of the NLMA has always been to create cooperation between the tracks that can show case Dirt Late Model racing here in the Northeast without putting too much financial stress on the race teams” states Promoter Mark Rinaldi, he continues “scheduling is important and being a partnership between the tracks the NLMA will never schedule a tour event that conflicts with weekly shows at one of our member tracks.“
The 2020 Vanderlaan Building Products NLMA Tour will kick off on the Canadian Victoria Day weekend, Monday, May 18th at the famed Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ontario. The series visited Merrittville in 2020 and was led pretty much start to finish by Kyle Sopaz who was fast all night long. Sopaz was challenged New York driver David Pangrazio and local Port Colborne driver Rob Peitz, however Sopaz would not be denied winning his first ever NLMA combined series feature event.
In June the series will travel to Port Colborne, Ontario for its drivers to take on the Humberstone Speedway. David Pangrazio would take home the win here in a hard fought battle over series champion Charlie Sandercock and local favorite Sam Pennachio who finished third. Pennachio is in a new car in 2020 and expected to be a contender all season long.
On the 17th of July, a Friday night show is in store for the drivers of the NLMA will hit the Ohsweken Speedway for the first time in series history. Now it is the first time for the NLMA at the famed track, it’s not the first time for Late Models and many of the NLMA drivers. Last July Kyle Sopaz picked up arguably the biggest win of his career with a last lap pass over Sam Pennachio. Drivers and fans of the NLMA are definitely excited to be racing at the “Big O” in 2020.
From Ohsweken it is to the east end of Ontario on Sunday, August 16th for the annual visit to the Cornwall Motor Speedway. Being a part of the series since its inception, drivers love racing this fast, high banked bullring that always draws a huge crowd on Sunday nights. Previous winners of this event include Charlie Sandercock in 2018 and Steve Baldwin picking up his first touring series win in 2019.
Friday, August 28th the series visits its second new track in series history at the Ransomville Speedway, in Ransomville, New York, however similar to Ohsweken, many of the NLMA drivers have raced at the large ½ mile New York Speed plant in the past. Ransomville Speedway has also hosted the World of Outlaw Late Models in the past and is a great facility for the drivers of the NLMA to show off their talents!
September 25th and 26th marks one of the biggest weekends on the NLMA schedule with Brighton Speedway’s Applefest Shootout Weekend. 2019 saw Chad Homan and Adam Turner top talented fields of 35 Dirt Late Models on Friday and Saturday night respectively picking up series wins. Expect the competition to get even tougher in 2020 with a new race format that will see Saturday nights feature pay a record $8,500.00 to win the Great Crate Race! More details will be released in the coming weeks in regards to Applefest Weekend.
The Outlaw 200 Weekend at Fulton Speedway remains a mainstay of the NLMA schedule on Friday, October 2nd. Last year Chad Homan won his second tour race of 2019 by six inches over Charlie Sandercock in one of the most exciting battles of the year. Sandercock looked to have the race won until a last lap turn four slider by Homan. Sandercock will undoubtedly be looking for revenge in 2020 as this was the closest he came to a win on the tour in 2019 after sweeping the series in 2018.
Closing out the 2019 Vanderlaan Building Supplies NLMA touring series for 2020 will be another new addition to the schedule with the Brockville Speedway Fall Nationals on Saturday, October 17th. The event is a late season not to miss event at the “Beast of the East” that should be on every race fans Calendar. Featuring Big Block Modifieds, Small Block Modifieds, Sportsman, Sprint Cars and now Late Models, the Fall Nationals will be a real show case of epic racing to finish out the season in style.
As in years past drivers that are serious about chasing the points championship will need to compete in two home track events. The two home track events are scheduled at each of the three partner tracks and are weekly shows but drivers collect full touring series points at those weekly shows, drivers do not need to travel for to other tracks for these events, they one need to compete in their home tracks events. Home track events are listed in the schedule as well.
The Promoters of Brighton Speedway, Fulton Speedway and Humberstone Speedway would like to thank to sponsors of the Vanderlaan Building Products NLMA touring series. Associate Sponsors include C. Smith Automotive Machine Shop, Deerhaven Farm and Garden, Bellevue Fabricating, Dibbits Landscape Supply and Excavating, Insta Panels, Bernheisel Race Cars, VP Fuels, Lazer Chassis and Willow Publishing for all their support in the past and the future.
Be sure to stay up to date with all the latest news from the Northeast Late Model Alliance Weekly Championship Series and Touring Series with the all new www.NLMAracing.com website and our face book page at https://www.facebook.com/northeastlatemodelalliance/
2020 Vanderlaan Building Products NLMA Touring Series
| Race | Date | Track | Location |
| 1 | Monday, May 18th | Merrittville Speedway | Thorold, Ontario |
| 2 | Sunday, June 28th | Humberstone Speedway | Port Colborne, Ontario |
| 3 | Friday, July 17th | Ohsweken Speedway | Ohsweken, Ontario |
| 4 | Sunday, August 16th | Cornwall Motor Speedway | Cornwall, Ontario |
| 5 | Friday, August 28th | Ransomville Speedway | Ransomville, New York |
| 6 | Friday, September 25th | Brighton Speedway | Brighton, Ontario |
| 7 | Saturday, September 26th | Brighton Speedway | Brighton, Ontario |
| 8 | Friday, October 2nd | Fulton Speedway | Fulton, New York |
| 9 | Saturday, October 17th | Brockville Ontario Speedway | Brockville, Ontario |
2020 Vanderlaan Building Products NLMA Touring Series HOME TRACK Events
(note: drivers do not have to travel to all these events, only their home track)
| Race | Date | Track | Location |
| 1 | Saturday, May 23rd | Brighton Speedway | Brighton, Ontario |
| 2 | Saturday, June 20th | Brighton Speedway | Brighton, Ontario |
| 1 | Saturday, May 9th | Fulton Speedway | Fulton, New York |
| 2 | Saturday, June 13th | Fulton Speedway | Fulton, New York |
| 1 | Sunday, June 7th | Humberstone Speedway | Port Colborne, Ontario |
| 2 | Sunday, June 21st | Humberstone Speedway | Port Colborne, Ontario |