Hermon’s Speedway 95 will be without Pro Stock cars after dropping the expensive class, but track co-owner Del Merritt will have a Pro Stocks/Limited class and faster inside groove.

The track’s first practice session will be held a week from Saturday with racing scheduled the following day at 2 p.m.

Parts of the track have been paved to “speed up the inside groove,” according to Merritt.

The outside groove has been faster for years and drivers have complained that it is very difficult to pass on the inside.

“We hot-topped 4-6 feet wide by 187 feet [long] in turns two and four,” explained Merritt. “That’s going to bring more side-by-side racing. There will be more grip on the inside groove in turns two and four.

“But we didn’t want to overdo it. If you make the inside groove the faster way around, you’re going to be in trouble,” Merritt said. “Guys racing real hard on the inside who try to pass people can end up taking out cars on the outside because they slide up into them. That’s when you have problems, that’s when you get some flared tempers.”

He said they spent $5,000 to $6,000 on the project last fall, and they may consider paving turns one and three if it is warranted.

“We didn’t want to do too much and make a mistake. It would be hard to take it back out,” Merritt said.

He knows he will lose “three or four drivers” from the Pro Stock class, “but my feeling is we didn’t have too many anyway.”

Low car counts led to the decision to drop the class.

“I loved the Pro Stocks, but I figured we’d get 15 to 18 and we never got that. We’d be lucky to get a dozen,” said Merritt.

Each race winner in the Pro Stock class would receive the track’s top payout of $850 to help defray the drivers’ costs of running a Pro Stock car.

That extra money will now be used to increase all of the purses, according to Merritt.

For example, the Limited Class winners earned $400 last season, but the Pro Stock/Limiteds winners will pocket $700 this season.

Merritt hopes to have 15 to 20 cars in that class this season and said, “I think it’s going to be real competitive.”

He said the drivers of Limited cars last year “won’t have to make hardly any changes” to conform to this year’s rules.

They will be racing on 9-inch tires this year instead of 8-inch. The Pro Stocks used 10-inch tires.

And there will be a new shock-absorber package mandated for that class.

The Super Street drivers will be racing on 8-inch tires instead of 7-inch tires and Merritt is hoping for better car counts in the Strictly Streets.

Better purses should help car counts, he said.

He will again look for 20 to 30 Sport Four cars every night, and he has moved the full-size Truck class over to Saturday night from the popular Wacky Wednesday midweek series.

“We had eight to 10 trucks last year and we’re hoping to get them back. But who knows,” said Merritt.

Speedway 95 will race every Sunday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. until switching over to Saturday nights at 7 on June 7.

The track will have just one Pro All-Stars Series date instead of the usual two. The four PASS classes will race on May 3.

Merritt said he was “a little disappointed” not to land a second PASS race date.

Wacky Wednesday racing for entry-level drivers will begin on June 4 at 7 p.m.

Merritt said they have added a “Cheaters Class” to their Wacky Wednesday card.

“It will be for fuel-injected, V6 cars with front-wheel drive. They must be stock-appearing and they will run on 7 1/4-inch tires,” said Merritt.

By stock-appearing, he explained, “If it’s a Chevy Lumina, it has to look like a Chevy Lumina.”

Other than that, drivers can do whatever they want to the cars.

“It’s to see who’s the best cheater,” he said.

Speedway 95 also will have the Big Enduros, Small Enduros and Ladies Division on Wednesday nights.

The track will bump the weekend admission prices for adults from $5 to $6 so “we can increase the purses,” Merritt said. The Wednesday night admission price will remain at $5.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

990-8231

Speedway 95

APRIL

19 – Practice all divisions, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

20 – Opening Day, all divisions, 2 p.m.

27 – All divisions, 2 p.m.

MAY

4 – All divisions, 2 p.m.

11 – All divisions, 2 p.m.

18 – All divisions, 2 p.m.

25 – All divisions, 2 p.m.

29 – Monster Truck Show, 7:30 p.m.

30 – Monster Truck Show, 7:30 p.m.

31 – Monster Truck Show, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

JUNE

1 – All divisions 2 p.m.; ride with favorite driver, 1:30 p.m.

4 – Wacky Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

7 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

11 – Wacky Wednesday, Little Enduro Series No.1, 7 p.m.

14 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

18 – Wacky Wednesday, Big Enduro Series No. 1, 6:30 p.m.

21 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

25 – Wacky Wednesday, Ladies Series No. 1, 7 p.m.

28 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

JULY

2 – Wacky Wednesday, Little Enduro Series No. 2, 7 p.m.

5 – All divisions 7 p.m.

9 – Wacky Wednesday, Big Enduro Series No. 2, 7 p.m.

12 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

16 – Wacky Wednesday, Ladies Series No. 2, 7 p.m.

19 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

23 – Wacky Wednesday, Little Enduro Series No. 3, 7 p.m.

26 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

30 – Wacky Wednesday, Big Enduro Series No. 3, 7 p.m.

AUGUST

2 – All divisions, 6 p.m.

6 – Wacky Wednesday, 7 p.m.

9 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

13 – Wacky Wednesday, 7 p.m.

16 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

20 – Wacky Wednesday, 7 p.m.

23 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

27 – Wacky Wednesday, 7 p.m.

30 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

SEPTEMBER

6 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

13 – All divisions, 7 p.m.

21 – Big Enduros, Little Enduros, Ladies Division, 2 p.m.

27 – All divisions, 7 p.m.