NASCAR UNVEILS MODIFIED TOUR SILVER ANNIVERSARY LOGO
Logo Commemorates NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 25th Season

   To commemorate the 25th season of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the auto racing sanctioning body has unveiled a special Silver Anniversary logo that will become the official mark of the series for the 2009 season.
   Unveiled at the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Awards Banquet on Dec. 13, the specially-designed logo consists of the series’ base design with the Modified car sporting a silver paint scheme instead of the traditional red. Additionally, a header and footer have been added to the oval logo. The header reads “25 Years Running” while the footer lists the years the series has been in competition, “1985-2009.”
   The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Silver Anniversary logo will be used in all facets related to the series in 2009 including print materials, banners and on the race cars.
   “The 2009 season represents a significant milestone in the growth of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR managing director of racing operations. “The roots of Modified racing go back to the very first days of NASCAR and are a very important part of this sport’s heritage; and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour marks the latest chapter of great competition and racing. We are extremely pleased to be able to celebrate this Silver Anniversary, and look forward to the excitement the next 25 years will bring.”
   NASCAR began sanctioning races in 1948 with the Modified division. While the open-wheeled race cars have been around longer than any other division in NASCAR, the present-day NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was formed as a regional touring series in 1985. Whelen Engineering, the series’ title sponsor, took over series entitlement sponsorship in 2005. Last year, NASCAR and Whelen announced an extension of that sponsorship agreement through 2016.
   The 2009 Silver Anniversary season will be the third significant milestone year in the past two years for NASCAR’s oldest division. NASCAR’s “60 Years of Modified Champions” program celebrated each of the 31 titlists in the first six decades of the division at races during the 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 16-race schedule. The 500th race in the tour history also took place at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in September.
   “This year was a special celebration of 60 years of Modified racing, and we also enjoyed the 500th race in the Modified Tour,” said Whelen Vice President for Motorsports Phil Kurze. “Next year represents another important milestone in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as 2009 will be the Silver Anniversary, the 25th season of this series running under the NASCAR banner as an organized tour.”
   The annual postseason awards banquet brought the 2008 season to a close at Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Conn. The event honored NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Ted Christopher as well as the season’s top-finishing drivers and other special award winners.

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