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By Michael Jaworecki
Photo: Tom Morris Racing Photography
With the cold and snowy weather, up and down the east coast the thought of time in Florida has race teams and fans looking forward to race day.
A new year, a new race director, a new tire, a first-time defending champion and promise of a great season.
When the 2025 Champion Austin Beers leads NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour south to New Smyrna Speedway on February 7th there will be many changes awaiting fans and drivers.
Entry list: New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway:
Missing off the list is Andy Jankowiak. After a rough Gamblers Classic in AC he has been in Connecticut trying to get the Modified ready for the race on Saturday night. No matter what the odds, Andy J always seems to be at the track ready to race
Series changes:
Long time series director Jimmy Wilson has moved on. The new series director will be Gary Putnam. Gary is originally from Connecticut but now resides in North Carolina. Gary has been around racing for over 20 years and is no stranger to Modifieds or NASCAR.
One of the biggest changes for the series is tires. After decades with Hoosier, 2026 will be the first season for American Racer.
As part of the agreement, American Racer has signed on to support multiple contingency awards through the 2026 season. They include the American Racer Pole Award, which will dish out $1,500 to each pole winner.
American Racer will also sponsor the Hard Charger Award, with the highest finishing eligible driver who advances the most positions from the start of the race to the end of the race earning an additional $1,000.
Additionally, American Racer will award three sets of tires to teams after each event. One set will go to a random team (determined via a post-race draw) that finishes between 10th and 25th. Another set will be awarded to the highest finishing new team.
The third set will go to the winner of the American Racer Hard Luck Award, which will be determined via a media vote.
Full-time drivers: After a year where only 11 drivers made all 16 starts that number will look to increase significantly to as many as 21 or more. Many more drivers have also announced their intentions to joining the tour at least part time.
One of the biggest driver announcements of the off season was the full time return of Ron Silk. Ron only ran part time, missed 5 races. Ron won 4 races and finished 11th in points.
Another big announcement was Matt Hirschman committing to the full season in the Pee Dee Motorsports #60. To focus on the WMT Matt will skip the full World Series for the first time in many years. Matt’s part time 2025 ride the Elite Motorsports renumbered #31 will run full time with Mike Christopher jr. behind the wheel.
Tracks/Schedule:
With the exception of New Smyrna Speedway in Florida and Martinsville Speedway the series is again mostly a Northeast series. Gone off the schedule are Richmond Raceway, North Wilkesboro Speedway and Lancaster Motorsports Park.
Returning to the schedule is Stafford Motor Speedway Friday August 28th with the Riverhead Building Supply 150. the Martinsville Speedway date has been moved from the season ending race to the spring with a March 27th event.
Also returning is the Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine Saturday May 2nd.
Riverhead Raceway will host 2 events capped off with the annual Eddie Partridge 256 August 28th.
The full NASCAR WMT 2026 Schedule:
https://www.nascar.com/nascar-whelen-modified-tour-schedule
Whelen Mid-Summer Championship– JDV Productions presents an in-season championship with the following dates.
July 1st- Seekonk Speedway
July 10th Claremont Speedway
25th – Monadnock Speedway
The final race of the year that could determine the 2026 championship returns to Thompson Motor Speedway. Seekonk Speedway will host the series twice including a mid-week show on July 1st.
Potential Full-time NASCAR WMT 2026 drivers:
- #1 Patrick Emerling
- #3 Tyler Rypkema
- #5 Teddy Hodgdon IV
- #8 John-Michael Shenette
- #16 Ron Silk
- #18 Ken Heagy
- #20 Max Zachem/Ryan Morgan
- #21 Stephen Kopcik
- #22 Kyle Bonsignore
- #29 Mike Marshal
- #31 Mike Christopher Jr.
- #46 Craig Lutz
- #51 Justin Bonsignore
- #54 Tommy Catalano
- #56 Trevor Catalano
- #58 Eric Goodale
- #60 Matt Hirschman
- #64 Austin Beers
- #73 Paulie Hartwig III (After New Smyrna)
- #79 Jon McKennedy
- #95 Cory Plummer.
Opening night Saturday February 7th.
New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway
Posted awards $150,806.
Broadcast on FloRacing
