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- Layne Riggs (NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series) and Austin Beers (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) each earned the pole position in their respective series for Doubleheader Saturday’s races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- Jordan Fornwalt took home the win in the Sprint Cars of New England Showdown to close out SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels at The Flat Track Friday night.
- Tickets for Doubleheader Saturday, featuring the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Team EJP 175 and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Mohegan Sun 100, and New England’s only NASCAR Cup Series race, the Dollar Tree 301, are available for purchase at NHMS.com.
LOUDON, N.H. – New England’s only NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) weekend roared to life Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) as drivers took “The Magic Mile” for a full day of practice and qualifying before the action shifted to The Flat Track for the annual SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels under the lights.
By the end of the day, Austin Beers and Layne Riggs had earned pole positions for two of Saturday’s biggest races, while seven feature winners celebrated victories on the dirt.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) opened the day on the 1.058-mile oval with practice and qualifying for Saturday’s Mohegan Sun 100, and Beers put the No. 64 KLM Motorsports Modified on the pole for a race he earlier described as the “DAYTONA 500 of Modified racing.”
Beers, who enters Saturday looking to add his name to the long list of Modified stars who have won at New Hampshire, expects another classic battle around “The Magic Mile.”
“I feel like we’re all going to be close,” Beers said. “I feel like it’s going to be the old New Hampshire-style race in a draft and then slide jobs and great racing, honestly. I saw some guys struggling with the setup, but everybody’s going to dial in for tomorrow and we’ll be good.”
The Mohegan Sun 100 has become known for drafting-style racing, creating dramatic finishes, including Tyler Rypkema’s victory last year after he crossed the finish line while crashing. Beers knows Saturday’s 100-lap race could produce more of the same.
“A lot of passing, a lot of hard-nosed racing,” Beers said. “Obviously, the slide jobs there, you don’t really see that in the Cup Series because I think they just don’t race like that, but it’s, like I said, the best race of the weekend. It’s so much fun.”
Later Friday afternoon, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) took center stage as the field prepared for Saturday’s Team EJP 175 regular season finale. Championship leader Riggs continued his strong 2026 season by putting the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the pole with a lap time of 29.346 seconds at 129.789 mph.
The pole is Riggs’ fourth of the season and eighth of his NCTS career, as well as his first in two starts at New Hampshire. He credited preparation in the Ford Racing simulator and lessons learned during his first trip to “The Magic Mile” last season for Friday’s speed.
“Just been working hard in the Ford Racing simulator and getting better here,” Riggs said. “Last year, just kind of came in blind, didn’t know what I needed. My only experience was Milwaukee, which is similar to this place, and IRP. Got here, it was drastically different. So we were kind of out to lunch last year.”
Riggs enters Saturday atop the standings with an opportunity to secure the number one seed before the championship battle begins. With track position expected to play an important role over 175 laps, starting from the front gives Riggs and Front Row Motorsports an early advantage.
“Track position is everything,” Riggs said. “You know, that’s all we race for, track position all day. When you keep it, it makes your day a whole lot easier, and that’s what we’re going to focus on doing.”
Once Friday’s action on “The Magic Mile” concluded, the racing moved to The Flat Track. The SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels provided a thrilling conclusion to Friday’s racing, highlighted by a dramatic finish in the 30-lap Xtreme Dirt Midget Association (XDMA) Midget Feature. Will Hull was running the high groove and challenging the lead when he spun coming to the white flag, setting up a one-lap dash to the finish. Justin Phillips took advantage, prevailing by just 0.21 second to earn his first career victory in a midget.
Friday’s SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels feature winners included:
- Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) Feature 1: Matt Hoyt
- SCoNE Feature 2: Scott Holcomb
- Granite State Micro Sprints (GSMS) 500cc Feature: Jake Wolf
- XDMA Midget Feature: Justin Phillips
- SCoNE Wingless Feature: Donald Ottati
- GSMS 600cc Feature: Teegan Denault
- SCoNE Showdown: Jordan Fornwalt
The action continues Saturday at “The Magic Mile” with NCS practice at 10:35 a.m. and qualifying at 11:40 a.m. before the NCTS takes the green flag for the Team EJP 175 at 1:30 p.m. The NWMT will cap the on-track action with their biggest race of the year – the Mohegan Sun 100 – at 4:30 p.m.
The Fan Zone opens at 10 a.m., grandstand gates open at 10:30 a.m. and entertainment continues into the evening with “The Magic Mile” Happy Hour Show, a Van Halen tribute concert from Everybody Wants Some and The Flying Ivories Dueling Pianos.
For the complete Doubleheader Saturday schedule, visit NHMS.com/Events/Doubleheader-
Tickets:
For tickets and camping for New England’s only NCS weekend, featuring the Dollar Tree 301 NCS race, Team EJP 175 NCTS race and Mohegan Sun 100 NWMT race, fans should visit NHMS.com or call 833-4LOUDON. Tickets for kids 12 and under are just $10 on Sunday, free on Doubleheader Saturday and start at $10 on Friday.
Follow Us:Keep track of all of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s events by following on Facebook (@NHMotorSpeedway), X (@NHMS) and Instagram (@NHMS). Keep up with all the latest information on the speedway website (NHMS.com) and mobile app.
