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(South Boston, VA) After a weekend off the SMART Modified Tour resumes action this Saturday with the biggest race of the season at South Boston Speedway for the running of the 2nd annual ‘King Of The Modifieds’.
The best in southern modified racing along with some Northern invaders are expected to make the trip to Southern Virginia for the 125- lap event that pays the winner $ 20,000.
Headlining the group of contenders for the win will be 2024 Series Champ and defending King of the Modifieds race winner Luke Baldwin. Baldwin comes into this race on a roll after winning at Anderson SC and opening the season with a strong run at Florence until being involved in an incident late in the race with Jake Crum.
“Our race cars have been phenomenal this year. I just have to take advantage of my race cars being fast and balanced,” Baldwin said recently. “It makes my job easier and I just have to stay focused and not get in over my head.”
Quite a statement for the 18 year old racer who comes into this race with a ton of confidence after a recent test at South Boston.
“I think it will be similar (track) to what it has been in the past and I have a good idea where it will go,” Baldwin stated . “We’ve got to be perfect to beat the field we are going to have here and we have a good shot.”
“This is a really good racetrack for us,” he added. “It fits my style. I think I’m better at the higher grip, fast race tracks where I can kind of go all out the whole time.”
In last year’s event, Baldwin made a bold move in traffic to pass Matt Hirschman midway through the race and held off his challengers to pick up the win. Baldwin still brims with a sense of accomplishment in being able to outduel the Pennsylvania veteran.
“ It was a little surreal,” Baldwin remarked. “Hirschman is one of the best in Modified racing right now. I grew up watching him dominate the SMART Tour when he came down. So, to come beat him was pretty cool.”
Another young gun to watch is part-time modified campaigner in 2025 Carson Loftin who started on the pole in last year’s race before having mechanical troubles.
“We are really excited to get back to South Boston in the modified,” Loftin stated recently. I feel like we will have speed. This is a high grip race track so tire fall off will not be big at all.”
The ‘Rocketman’ Ryan Newman will be in the field on Saturday looking to score his first win of the season after getting off to a slow start
“We have struggled(so far),” admitted Newman. “We have found the problem with the car, so we will need to get recalibrated quickly. But Randy(his crew chief) and the team have been working hard. We seek redemption from getting stuffed in the wall at South Boston last year. It’s a race we want to win badly.”
Other notable drivers on the entry list from the South include Burt Myers, Joey Coulter, Brandon Ward and Jonathan Cash in the second car out of the Sadler Stanley Racing shop. Jack Baldwin, Luke’s brother, will be competing in the 7NY fielded by his father’s team Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Northern drivers making the long haul to South Boston include 2- time NASCAR Whelen Modified champ Ron Silk, Chris Pasteryak and Stephan Kopcik.
No doubt the feel good story on the entry list is Floridian Jeremy Gerstner who will be making his first start in SMART competition this season after a vicious crash at New Smyrna Speedway (Fl) in February 2024 that left him with injuries requiring months of rehab for him to recover and drive again
Gerstner picked up his first win since the accident last Saturday in an open modified race at Caraway Speedway(NC).
In a schedule change from last year’s event, practice and qualifying for the ‘King of The Modifieds’ will be held on Friday with the race scheduled to take the green flag on Saturday afternoon.
In addition to the modified race there will be twin 50-lap features for the NASCAR Late Models and a 50-lap race for the Stars Super Stock Tour. The first race rolls off at 2 pm on Saturday with the modified race last in the running order.
Advance Tickets are available by visiting the South Boston Speedway website or by calling the speedway. Tickets will be sold on race day at the gate. Admission for Friday’s practices and modified qualifying session is free of charge.
FloRacing will have live coverage from South Boston on Friday and Saturday.
