Next year, the Best Plumber BMF 604 Racing Series will make its traveling debut. This past year it raced solely at I-75 Raceway in Tennessee. In 2025, it plans to hold a 17-race schedule centered around Lenoir City, Tennessee. Its founder, Jon Ellison believes it fills a void.
Ellison grew up a fan of the sport. He just started racing this past year with a 604 late model. Ellison quickly found his options to race were limited.
“We started looking for a consistent, regional activity that we could chase … that didn’t require a tremendous amount of travel,” said Ellison. “Anything over a three-hour drive is kind of daunting for us. Get out of the shop at a decent time to get somewhere on a weekend, run, and get back home that following morning without having to stop, pay for hotels … that was sort of the max for us.”
The 2025 schedule does just that. Ellison centered the series around his hometown of Lenoir City, a hotbed for 604 late model racing. The farthest track so far scheduled is Ponderosa Speedway in Kentucky, 3 hours away. The next longest hauls are North Georgia Speedway and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Kentucky, both an hour and 50 minutes or so away.
Each race pays $2,000 to win, with $250 to take green in the 20-car starting field. That’s a $9,375 total purse for a track, making it enticing for local dirt ovals to take the series on. The points fund pays $10,000 for first, $5,000 for second, $2,500 for third, down to $500 to 10th.
The rules are similar to Crate Racin’ USA and the American All-Star Series. Open tire rule for the fronts, with the left rear being Hoosier Crate 21 or American Racer Pro 2 and Hoosier Crate 55 or American Racer Pro 4 on the right rear.
Seasoned personnel, Nick Perry and Robby Henry, will serve as the series’ race and technical directors.
Ellison also hopes to distinguish the Best Plumber BMF 604 Racing Series with its media production.
“We think we’re going to be able to stream all the races,” Ellison said. “But we also will have an additional film crew following the racers, producing Netflix Drive to Survive-level content. We will release six to eight episodes on YouTube, Facebook and all the social media platforms.”
Ultimately, why another series? Here’s Ellison’s pitch to racers: “If you run our series and commit to it, you’re going to be able to run 17 good-paying, competitive races with a consistent race director, consistent tech and a big budget for media production behind it. The series organizers don’t make money on this–it’s all outgoing money for us with a mission of getting more eyeballs on the sport and benefits the local racer who doesn’t have the budget to run a semi-national or national circuit.”
2025 Best Plumber BMF 604 Racing Series Schedule
January 11: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn. (non-points)
March 8: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
March 15: TBD
April 5: Smoky Mountain Speedway, Maryville, Tenn.
April 19: Wartburg Speedway, Wartburg, Tenn.
May 2: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
May 16: Ponderosa Speedway, Junction City, Ky.
June 28: North Georgia Speedway, Chatsworth, Ga.
July 5: Thunder Mountain Speedway, Corbin, Ky.
July 19: Wartburg Speedway, Wartburg, Tenn.
July 26: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
August 9: TBD
August 30: Smoky Mountain Speedway, Maryville, Tenn.
September 13: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
October 11: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
October 25: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
November 1: I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
