PREPARE YOURSELF for the 604 Nationals, an inaugural showcase with a $100,000 prize on the line. Taking place at the All-Tech Raceway near Lake City, Florida, this event will highlight the talents of Crate Late Model drivers from across the nation.
The format for the 604 Nationals will closely resemble the stunning success of the $100,001-to-win Big Deal event for Dirt Modifieds, incorporating improvements based on data analysis and driver feedback.
Qualifying Night (Wednesday, December 11)
The action kicks off on Wednesday with a dedicated Qualifying Night. Drivers will have two hours of practice time to shake down their cars and get familiar with the track before the official qualifying rounds begin. Teams will draw a pill during registration to determine qualifying groups, which will contain around 25 competitors each.
Points are awarded based on performance within a group. Quick time in a group will receive 400 points, 2nd will receive 398, 3rd will receive 396, and points will continue to descend by 2. If a driver does not attempt a qualifying lap, they will still receive points for being in attendance, but they will be behind the eight ball the rest of the weekend.
Odd-numbered groups will race on the first preliminary night, while even-numbered groups will compete on the second preliminary night.
Preliminary Nights (Thursday, December 12 and Friday, December 13)
Thursday and Friday will feature split field competition to finalize the qualifying process for Saturday’s events. Heat races will be lined up based on qualifying results with an invert of 6 cars in each race. A heat race win is worth 200 points, 2nd 197, 3rd 194, and continues to descend by 3. Racers will receive 2.5 points for every car they pass compared to their official starting position.
Heat race finishing and passing points will line up the preliminary mains. These points will also be added to the overall qualifying points total. The Top 20 in the nightly heat race points will be locked into the preliminary feature.
The preliminary A Main win will be worth 400 points. Each position after will descend by 2 points. For each pass in any of the mains, 1.5 points will be added to a driver’s points total.
The best strategy will always be to attempt to get the best finish in each race. However, with a field of hundreds of competitors, it is impossible to predict the strategies each team will attempt to collect the most points, much less execute.
The Top 20 in overall Qualifying Points from the Preliminary Nights will transfer directly into the $100,000-to-win Feature. The rest of the field will be split into Alphabet Soup based on their Qualifying Points totals.
Finale (Saturday, December 14)
The culmination of the event will feature a series of ascending Alphabet Soup mains. In each race, up to 24 cars will start and the Top 10 finishers will transfer into the next main. This will go all the way until the end, when the Top 10 finishers of the B Main transfer into the $100,000-to-win finale.
The 30 competitors with the best finishing position that do not transfer into the finale will compete in the non-qualifier feature. Finally, the 30 feature racers will line up 3-wide and take on the Golden Isles Speedway for 60 laps to determine the winner of the 604 Nationals.
Grandstand tickets are $20 per day on Thursday and Friday. Tickets for the big show on Saturday are $40. A 3-day grandstand pass can be purchased for $75. Pit passes are $50 per day including Wednesday. Kids 12 and under can get into the pits for $25 a night.