---

Tri-City and Merritt Crown Champions Plus Make Huge Announcements

33rd Annual WoodTic Paying $33,000 to Win and More!
This past Saturday night the Tri-City/Merritt Speedway’s awards banquet was held to celebrate the achievements made during the 2020 race season at both facilities. We would like to extend a huge “thank you” to everyone who attended this past Saturday and for your patience in navigating this event under Covid-19 restrictions. The banquet was a great success, all things considered. An immense thank you goes out to Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort for hosting our banquet and we look forward to utilizing them again for future events. Thank you to Trilogy, the live band who kept us entertained in-between our bites of food and drinks.
Many drivers’ hard work and dedication paid off and they received well-deserved awards. Among them, the Sportsman of the Year – Steven Hilliker (Tri-City) and Eric Spangler (Merritt). Racer of the Year – Travis Stemler. The Humanitarian Award – Jett Gohr (Tri-City) and Randy Hose (Merritt) adding members to each track’s “hall of fame”. The main portion of the program highlighted all the champions for the 2020 season which include:
For Tri-City: Dona Marcoulllier (Late Models), Nate Jones (IMCA Modifieds), Kendall Morrison (Pro Stocks), Jason Begeman (Factory Stocks), Don Frohm (4-6 Cylinders), Kyron DeShano (Unrestricted Mini-Wedges), and Jett Gohr (Restricted Mini-Wedges).
For Merritt: David Mielke (Late Models), Chad Bauer (UMP Modifieds), Gary Vandermark (B-Modifieds), Nate Murphy (Pro Stocks), Rick Spencer (Factory Stocks), Travis Skaggs (4-6 Cylinders), Hunter Evans (Un-restricted Mini-Wedges), and Leilynd Strehlke (Restricted Mini-Wedges).
The members of the Allstar Performance Late Model Challenge Series were also recognized with the inaugural champion Travis Stemler collecting his trophy and $10,000 points championship check for the standout performance for Anklam racing. The event also included awards for “Most Improved”, “Rookie of the year”, and “Best Appearing Car” for all divisions at both racetracks going to various drives colleting awards plaques.
The night concluded with Owner/Promoter Mike Blackmer making his annual announcements about the upcoming season. The biggest news of the night came with the discussion of the 33rd Annual WoodTic set for Friday August 6th and Saturday August 7th. The UMP Late Model feature event will pay an unprecedented $33,000 to win. “I want to put WoodTic on the map” Blackmer said from the podium. The payout will be historic for the annual Merritt Speedway event.
Blackmer also announced the details for the Allstar Performance Late Model Challenge series and the championship format. The season will again consist of 10 races held between Tri-City and Merritt Speedways. The season begins on April 30th (Tri-City) and May 1st (Merritt) Other dates include May 28th (Tri-City), May 29th-30th (Merritt), July 2nd (Tri-City), July 3rd-4th (Merritt), August 6th-7th (Merritt), September 3rd (Tri-City), September 4th-5th (Merritt), and September 17th-18th (Tri-City).
The 2021 championship will be a contest between nine drivers who will all be eligible to win the championship at the Battle by the Bay in September. The top nine will include any driver who wins a challenge series event during the season and rest of the field will include the top drivers in the point standings. (For example, if only 4 drivers win events during the summer, those four drivers, and the top five in points who did not win an event will all be eligible for the championship at Battle by the Bay giving us the field of nine drivers. The highest finisher of the nine at battle by the bay will be the 2021 challenge series champion.)
The Battle by the Bay will pay $10,000 to the race winner. Therefore, if one of the nine drivers competing for the championship wins the feature, they could potentially earn $30,000 at the end of the night with $10,000 from the race and $20,000 for the championship.
Stay Tuned to the Merritt Speedway / Tri-City Motor Speedway Social Media pages for all of the latest updates and announcements as opening night begins to get closer and closer.

---

Back to News