Mahoning Valley Speedway recently released its 2020 schedule during a meet and greet with new track promoter Keith Hoffman.

One of the highlights was the introduction of the Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series (MVSHoFS), which will be a special five-race series run amongst the Modifieds, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks.

For Modifieds, the MVSHoFS will all be extra distance/high dollar features, and are centered on a select group of track Hall of Fame drivers and their signature car numbers.

The first race of five will be Opening Night (April 4) and will honor Doug Hoffman and his No. 60. Thus, the feature will be 60 laps. Next will be a 77-lapper paying tribute to John ‘Peepers’ Yerger. That will be followed by an 81-lap affair, which belongs to the revered George Wambold. The next feature will be 85 laps, the number made famous by Marvin Bartholomew; and finally a 99-lapper that is associated with Hal Renninger, which closes out the series on Oct. 3.

While much excitement is being generated with the newly designed series, it was taken up a notch after revealing that the 99-lap Hal Renninger race will also be a Race of Champions (RoC) Tour event.

This will mark the first time since 2016 that the RoC will be returning to the paved Lehighton ¼-mile oval. Since this race will be held following the annual Modified 250 at Lake Erie Speedway, it now sets the stage for the championship finale with the Tour to take place at Mahoning Valley.

“Mahoning is a pillar in Modified racing and we are looking forward to it. It has been missed, and we all have to work together to unify what we are all doing. This is a great step in that direction,” stated Joe Skotnicki, Race of Champions owner.

“This race will differ a little from what we have been doing. Now the Series champion will be crowned at Mahoning, which puts the focus on the race at Lake Erie and a much different focus on Mahoning. It’s going to be exciting.”

The Race of Champions is a sanctioning body presenting Modified and Stock Car racing on asphalt and dirt surfaces throughout the Northeast, with events in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The 70th annual Race of Champions weekend will take place in 2020 at Lake Erie Speedway and is the second longest consecutive auto-racing event in North America, second only to the Indianapolis 500.