News Director 
Story By: JUSTIN ST. LOUIS / SPRINT CARS OF NEW ENGLAND – BRADFORD, VT – The McGee Automotive Family Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) tour is ready to roar back into action.
After a three-week break since Memorial Day weekend, Bradford, Vt.’s Bear Ridge Speedway welcomes the “winged, wild, and wicked fast” SCoNE cars on Saturday, June 24. The race, which is presented by Green Mountain Gear-Heads, is the fourth of 10 SCoNE events in 2023, and kicks off the summer grind.
The Bear Ridge event is the first of four races in a five-week span through mid-July and it will also be the first event with an all-new handicapping system to determine starting lineups. Essentially, drivers will be ranked based on their average finish for the season with no penalty for missing an event, leveling the playing field by starting drivers who have had less good luck near the front of the field and the more successful drivers near the back.
The system provides opportunities for more drivers to succeed, while the nature of Sprint Car racing will still allow the cream to rise to the top and create more on-track excitement through increased passing. The SCoNE tour has a healthy mix of both full-time and part-time teams, and the design of the new format will neither favor nor punish drivers based on their participation, instead ranking them by performance.
During the June break, while the handicap system was being implemented, SCoNE officials also confirmed the disbursement for a guaranteed year-end championship point fund. The recently announced title partnership with three McGee Automotive Family dealerships – McGee Mazda of Claremont, N.H.; McGee Toyota of Claremont, N.H.; and McGee Toyota of Epping, N.H. – gives SCoNE the opportunity to distribute $4,500 in point fund cash awards.
The point fund will be distributed through the top 10 finishers in the 2023 SCoNE trail. The champion will earn $1,500, the runner-up will grab $700, and third place will take home $500; even 10th place will earn $200. In addition to the cash award, the 2023 SCoNE champion will also receive a $500 certificate for a new chassis from Triple X Race Co. of Arlington, Washington.
“The new handicap system is exciting, and I expect to see some new winners with SCoNE this summer,” SCoNE president Justin St. Louis said. “We are so thankful that we can pay our teams back with a point fund this year. Our management structure changed very late in the off-season, and we went to the first race just six weeks ago with nothing to offer. The McGee Automotive Family and several contingency sponsors have made a major contribution with cash and certificates all year. We survive as a group because of their support, and we’re grateful for it.”
Seven-time SCoNE champion Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H., leads the point standings after the first three races, grabbing a feature race win at Bear Ridge on May 27. Donnelly leads two-time SCoNE champion Will Hull of Plainfield, Vt., by 25 points (157-132), with Stephentown, N.Y.’s Matt Tanner third, 40 points back. Tanner, who has won twice with SCoNE in 2023, campaigns full-time with the Empire Super Sprints tour and will not be at Bear Ridge on Saturday. Veteran racers Floyd Billington and Jake Williams round out the top five in the standings.
Bear Ridge Speedway is located on Kidder Road in Bradford, Vt., and racing starts at the famous “6:00-ish” post time on Saturday, June 24. Grandstand general admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (age 62+) and $2 for kids 11 and under. Pit passes are $35.
