Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco Fifth Anniversary Season Gets Underway With Milestone 50th Series Race

Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco Fifth Anniversary Season Gets Underway With Milestone 50th Series Race

Story By: Brett Deyo/SSTS

Photos By: RacersGuide.com Photo Staff

MILLSBORO, DE – From an idea to an experiment. Then experiment to success.

The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco approaches its fifth anniversary season in 2018, which gets underway with the milestone 50th race in STSS history on Saturday, March 17 at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway.

The STSS was launched to provide big-block/small-block Modified teams with large purses, lucrative point funds and manageable travel schedules during the 2013-2014 off-season.

Five years later, mission accomplished.

On April 6, 2014, the first-ever STSS event took place on the ‘Hard Clay’ of Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., with Andy Bachetti earning the inaugural triumph.

Now, the series rides a wave of momentum into ’18 with an established Halmar International North Region offering $12,500 to the champion and Velocita-USA South Region paying $10,000 to the title winner.

Forty-nine STSS Modified races have been entered into the record books with 22 different drivers reaching Victory Lane.

Stewart Friesen leads the way with 10 career STSS victories, the most recent of which took place in October at Orange County as a kickoff to Eastern States Weekend.

Ryan Godown has six checkered flags to his credit, with Anthony Perrego and Danny Creeden taking four wins each. Ryan Watt, Bachetti and Matt Sheppard have each won on three occasions. Rick Laubach is a two-time winner.

Fourteen different drivers have scored one STSS victory: Rusty Smith, Duane Howard, Erick Rudolph, Jimmy Horton, Billy Pauch Jr., Chad Cook, Wade Hendrickson, Tommy Meier, Jordan Watson, David Van Horn, Brian Malcolm, Jackie Brown Jr., Shaun Walker and Danny Johnson.

Fourteen facilities in four states – New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware – have hosted the series since its inception.

New York’s Afton Motorsports Park has presented more STSS events than any other venue, with eight races in the books at the fairgrounds track. Georgetown Speedway and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, N.Y., have played host to six races apiece.

Orange County Fair Speedway has opened the gates to STSS on five occasions. Both Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway and Accord (N.Y.) Speedway have enjoyed four visits.

The series has made three stops each at Woodhull (N.Y.) Raceway, Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville, Pa., and Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Del.

New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway and BAPS Motor Speedway in Newberrytown, Pa., have been the site of two visits while Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, N.Y, and Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna, Pa., have been invaded once by the STSS.

STSS Modified season openers are set for Georgetown on March 17 (Velocita-USA South) with the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial and Orange County April 8 (Halmar International North) for the ‘Hard Clay Open’ fifth annual event.

The ’18 season is the most lucrative yet for the STSS due to its partnership with Sunoco Race Fuels and Insinger Performance. Should a driver win the affiliate ‘home-track’ American Racer Cup overall crown and the STSS North and South Series, that driver is in line for a $25,000 bonus. A driver winning the American Racer Cup and the STSS North or South Series will receive a $10,000 bonus. A ‘grand champion’ could pocket $57,500!

To learn more about the 2018 Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco, visit www.shorttracksuperseries.com, e-mail bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com, check out ‘Short Track Super Series’ on Facebook or @ShortTrackSS on Twitter or Instagram.

The Short Track Super Series is presented by American Racer/Lias Tire, Sunoco Race Fuel, Insinger Performance, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Halmar International, Allstar Performance, ATL Racing Fuel Cells, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Bicknell Racing Products, Dirt Track Digest, Fast Axle, Fox Racing Shocks, Hig Fab, Henry’s Exhaust, HyperCo, Keizer Wheels, Kirkey Racing Fabrication, K&N, QA1, Race Pro Weekly, Racing Optics, Teo-Pro Car, Velocita, Weld & Wilwood.