September 29, 2006 Will Be First ISMA Delaware Appearance in Over 20 YearsDelaware, ON (November 30, 2005): The I.S.M.A. (International Super Modified Association) Super Modifieds will be returning to Delaware Speedway in 2006 for the first time in over 20 years. The event, set for Friday, September 29, 2006, will serve as a homecoming of sorts for local I.S.M.A. star, Mark Sammut of London.
“Everybody’s pumped right up, ourselves included,” said Sammut of the I.S.M.A. return to Delaware. “It’ll be great to have a show at home. Last time I ran at Delaware would have been in 1996 when I won with the Can-Am Midgets. Hopefully we can do that again and win one for the home crowd.”
Mark and his father, Tony, are not entirely sure the exact year that I.S.M.A. last ran at Delaware Speedway, though both guess, “Either 1983 or 1984. Over twenty years anyway.”
The return of I.S.M.A. to Delaware Speedway in 2006 seems fitting, as next season will mark the track’s 55th anniversary. At one time, Super Modifieds used to run weekly at Delaware, which is partly how the Sammuts became involved.
“I had a ‘Super’ for one season, and then went to a Late Model in ’68 or ’69,” said Tony. “I wasn’t very successful so I packed it in. Previously I had worked with John Norton’s Super Modified running Delaware, Flamboro and Nilestown. After I quit that I went to work with Harvey Lennox who ran the London Machinery Car.”
Following in the footsteps of his dad, Mark grew up around racing, specifically Super Modifieds: “When he was a few months old, we used to run Oswego and Delaware and we took him along,” Tony said.
Mark, who began his racing career with go karts and Can-Am Midgets before progressing to the Super Modifieds, will be entering his eighth season racing with I.S.M.A. It’s been at least that long that the Sammuts have been hoping for a Delaware date.
“I have been asking for seven years for I.S.M.A. to go back to Delaware,” said Tony. “I’m thrilled about it.”
The I.S.M.A. Super Modifieds travel around the Northeastern United States, including stops at tracks in New York, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. As of this writing, the Delaware Speedway show was the only Canadian date on the 2006 schedule.
“We couldn’t be more excited about being a part of the I.S.M.A. schedule,” said Delaware Speedway General Manager Kevin Bulmer. “All through this past year, we got asked – by fans, sponsors and racers – about when and if I.S.M.A. was coming back. We were asked about I.S.M.A. more than any of the other touring groups combined, and I can’t thank Mark and Tony Sammut enough for helping us get that date.”
Advanced tickets for the I.S.M.A. race will go on sale in early December and will be available both through the track and at the PartSource store at 618 Wharncliffe Road in London. A separate announcement will be made once tickets become available.
Delaware Speedway’s full 2006 tentative event schedule should be released within the next week.
More information about the I.S.M.A. Super Modifieds is available at www.ismasupers.com.
For more information contact: Kevin Bulmer, Delaware Speedway, (519) 652-5068 ext. 202 or kevin@delawarespeedway.com // Photos of Mark Sammut of London courtesy I.S.M.A. 2006
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