OUR HISTORY

In the early 2000's, Jim Duke had the inspiration to bring an affordable and competitive class of stock car racing to Canada's East Coast. And so with the expertise of Jim and Dave Burnham of Burnham Custom Fabrication, the first Atlantic Open Wheel car came to life.

The affordability of the class instantly made it popular amongst drivers, and the large car counts and exciting racing action was a hit at track throughout the Maritime provinces.

Within no time the division had soared to car counts exceeding 25 cars, taking part in major weekend events including Speedweekend at what was New Brunswick International Speedway (now Speedway 660), the Atlantic Championships at the Centre for Speed, and the IWK 250 at Riverside International Speedway.

In 2011 a number of big changes were made as the next generation of the tour was unveiled, with new bodies and rules being ushered in to increase the level of competition and make the cars more modern and attractive. With these changes came the rebranding of the series to better reflect it's identity - and such became the Atlantic Modified Tour.

The new era of the tour would produce some important parts in tour history. The Atlantic Modified Tour was on the card for the grand-reopening events for both Petty International Raceway and Speedway Miramichi. The changes made also made the Atlantic Modified Tour more appealing as a stepping stone for drivers looking to climb the ranks of stock car racing, with young talent including Ryan Messer, Ashton Tucker, Brandon Skidmore, Justin Beers and Dana Hamm competing on the tour in the early days of their respective careers.

In 2017, an important new tradition commenced as the Modified class began having track champions crowned along with the overall tour champion. Mike "Sparky" Raeburn captured the inagural Modified championship at Petty International Raceway that season. That same year he would earn a record 5th Atlantic Modified Tour Championship. The following season, Speedway Miramichi would begin a tradition of crowning Modified champions as well, with Doug Matchett taking the inagural title.

2023 will mark the 21st consecutive season of action for the Atlantic Modified Tour, and it promises to be one of the best yet. With a diverse and healthy field of cars that includes everything from rising young talent to newcomers to oval racing to seasoned veterans, the Atlantic Modified Tour is a show you can't miss!