(CLEVELAND, OH) Following an exciting 2016 season that saw many new faces join the American Sim Racing Series, the future is bright as the 2017 season opener looms one week away.

Returning for 2017 is the Truck Series, Xfinity Series and the two short track racing series, the Skeeber Flob’s Kettle Corn Pro Series and the Super Late Model Tour.

ASRS worked during the offseason to improve the quality of racing, and introduced a few new regulations pertaining to restarts.  Work will continue throughout the 2017 season to raise the quality of races, while working to lower the number of laps run under caution.

The Truck Series, heading into it’s 13th year on the heels of a remarkable 2016 season that featured an exciting championship battle that was settled on the final lap of the final race when Jim Foose scored the championship by just four points,  saw 14 different winners in 25 races.  For the first time in series history, an elimination style championship chase format will be used, with eight drivers qualifying, before two drivers are eliminated after the first three races, another two drivers will be eliminated after another three races to set-up the Final Four Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  The Truck Series will run on Tuesday Nights, using iRacing fixed setups, 60% fuel loads, realistic weather and random track state for each event.

The Xfinity Series returns for the fifth consecutive year with slightly longer races, but the same format remains for the series.  Eight drivers visited Victory Lane during 12 races in 2016. New races have been added to the schedule at Phoenix, Bristol, Mid-Ohio,  Darlington and Chicagoland bringing the total number of races to 17.  The 2017 season will debut the “Dash 4 Cash” chase format, featuring a four race championship battle that ends with the “Final Four” that will run at Chicagoland Speedway.  The Xfinity Series will run on Tuesday Nights when the Truck Series doesn’t race, using iRacing fixed setups, 60% fuel loads, realistic weather and random track state for each event.

The Short Track Series will feature a new 12-week plan, running on Wednesday nights that will feature rotating schedules with the Skeeber Flob’s Kettle Corn Pro Series taking the January-March schedule, the Super Late Model Tour taking the March-June slot and the remaining schedule to be determined.  Both the Skeeber Flob’s Kettle Corn Pro Series and Super Late Model Tour will feature the doubleheader format used by the Super Late Models in 2016.

Which brings us to the dirty secret, ASRS has plans to run dirt races in 2017, while the schedule has yet to be determined and the format is still under consideration.

The 2017 season will feature the 20th Annual Online All American 400, the longest running online short track race.