ARMS To Field Pro Stock Class on Road Course in 2017

The circle track Pro Stock division is hitting the road – or that is the hope of Atlantic Region Motor Sports (ARMS).

ARMS has made an announcement that they will field a Pro Stock division within the GT class at Atlantic Motorsports Park outside of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia in 2017. The organization already has one Pro Stock car competing on a regular basis at Atlantic Motorsports Park with the Pettipas Racing out of Bedford fielding their #06 car. Aaron Pettipas competed in a number of oval Pro Stock races with the Pro All Stars Series and the Maritime Pro Stock Tour in 2004.

Here is the announcement made on the new class website on March 14th.

ARMS Pro Stock is a road racing class designed to re-purpose existing Pro Stock cars in the region. Rising cost to compete in the Tour series have priced many racers away, so we are offering a fun, safe and competitive environment to race this type of car. The rules are strongly based on the current MPST rulebook. Basically, square up the car, get a good 4 speed gearbox, make weight, and you are good to go road racing! Please click on the link above to view the RULES page.

For 2017, the idea is to build interest, and the rules are more of a BUILD Guideline then something that will be strictly enforced on race day. As the car count grows, more enforcement will be added. Simple items to police such as tire type and number of sets (will use the locally available tour Hoosier 1070’s, 1 sticker set per race weekend), carb type/size and weight will be strictly enforced once there are at lease 3 cars in the class.

The last time a stock car based division competed at Atlantic Motorsports Park was in 2015 when the Maritime League of Legends Tour made their last stop at the road course. Cole Butcher was the winner of the race, besting his brother Jarrett by 1.7 seconds. Both Butcher brothers compete full time on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, with Cole taking home the Series championship along with three wins in 2016.

It remains to be seen how many teams, if any at all, will convert their oval cars to compete at Atlantic Motorsports Park. Many Legend teams passed on the opportunity to compete on the course because of the time it took to make their cars race ready.

Four of the five race Atlantic Motorsports Park dates (June 25th, July 30th, August 27th and September 15th) conflict with Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour dates on the same weekend with the May 27th and May 28th opening weekend and the October 8th Jack Canfield Memorial Enduro falling on off-weekends for the biggest and most popular touring series in Eastern Canada.

Third year Pro Stock Tour driver and 2015 Rookie of the Year DJ Casey, who has run at the track with the Maritime League of Legends Tour at Atlantic Motorsports Park, can see the issue of time hindering current Pro Stock Tour teams from competing at the track.

“I agree it would be great to see the (Maritime Pro Stock) Tour there but it sucks it takes so much work,” said Casey when he heard of the announcement of the new class. “Every team would basically have to have a road course car and an oval car. Turning your oval car to be competitive on a road course then to flip it back to an oval track setup is a TON of work.”

Speedway 660 is currently the only other track in Atlantic Canada with a Pro Stock/Pro Late Model type division running on a regular basis. Petty International Raceway tried their hand at a Pro Stock class but numbers faded after a year and a half. Petty Raceway and the CENTRE For Speed host regular special events at the end of the racing season while Eastbound Park in Avondale, Newfoundland is rumored to be hosting at least one Pro Stock race in 2017.

For complete information on the ARMS Pro Stock Class, visit their website here.