A January racing tradition returns this weekend at Dillon Motor Speedway. Street Stock racers from across the country will head to the South Carolina facility for the 2023 edition of the New Year’s Bash.
The 13th Annual New Year’s Bash on January 6-8 is headlined by the 100 lap Street Stock feature. Carolina Mini Stocks and Legends Cars will also be in action Sunday, with UCAR/Pure Stocks, Challengers and Legends racing on Saturday.
Sunday’s Street Stock main event will pay $2,500 to the winner.
The New Year’s Bash began in 2011, with Kevin Benton winning the inaugural running of the event. Other past winners include Gary Ledbetter, James Swan, Jeff Melton, Ricky Locklair, Jr., Bobbie Tumbleston and Kyle Lynch. Ledbetter is a five-time winner of the event, taking the checkered flag in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
The Street Stock portion of the event routinely draws more than 50 competitors from across the country. Whether it is local Mid-Atlantic Street Stock Championship racers ready to kick off the new season, or competitors from the north looking to get on track and escape the bitter cold, it is always an intense battle just to make the field for the New Year's Bash.
Friday is practice day for the New Year’s Bash, open to all teams from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pits will open at 8 a.m. Saturday, with a drivers’ meeting at 10 a.m. and practice beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Qualifying will begin at 3 p.m., setting fields for both Saturday and Sunday’s feature races. For the Street Stocks and Carolina Mini Stocks, the top 20 will lock in to Sunday’s features through Saturday’s qualifying. Saturday’s card concludes with a 30-lap UCAR feature, the 75-lap Challenger feature and a 30-lap feature for the Legends.
Competitors will get a final round of practice on Sunday at noon before Legends will qualify for their Sunday race and the Carolina Mini Stocks will have a second round of qualifying to round out their field. Racing begins at 2 p.m. with the B-Main for the Street Stocks, taking the top six finishers.
After that, the focus turns to feature racing on Saturday. The Carolina Mini Stocks will race for 60 laps, followed by the 100-lap Street Stock main event and the second 30-lap Legends race of the weekend. If there are enough cars who did not make the Carolina Mini Stock field through the second round of qualifying, there will be a non-qualifiers race to close out the evening.
Race fans who can’t make the trip to Dillon, South Carolina for the New Year’s Bash will be able to watch live on Racing America. Be sure to tune in on Saturday and Sunday to catch all of the action from the 13th Annual New Year’s Bash.
