Matt Swanson Kicks Off Whelen Modified Tour Season With Fifth At Icebreaker 150 At Thompson

Matt Swanson

By Polly Reid & Shawn Courchesne

THOMPSON – With a part-time schedule planned for 2018, Matt Swanson kicked off his 2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour campaign Sunday in a positive way with a fifth place finish in the Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway.

Swanson skipped the season opening Whelen Modified Tour event at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway on March 17.

Picking his way through the field, Swanson took the green flag 21st, survived the melee of cautions, pitted just prior to the halfway mark before getting through some late race aggressive action to finish fifth.

“Missing the first race I wasn’t really sure what to expect here at Thompson but this Starrett Tools Ford was very good today,” Swanson said. “All the guys at SPAFCO, my father, my brothers, all the crew guys, prepared me a great race car and I was glad to prove it for them.”

“You always expect a little contact at the end of a Tour race here, today, there was a little extra contact. We were able to keep all four wheels on it, we’re rolling it through tech and we’re putting it in the trailer.”

Swanson used an early pit stop for adjustments and one tire that paid dividends.

“We felt we could gain putting a new tire on,” Swanson said. “We pitted early with a couple other cars. We had a back up plan if the cautions didn’t fall the right way, but they did. We were able to come in, put three tires on and the car held it self the rest of the race. It handled as well at the end of the race as it did when we bolted on three tires.”

Swanson’s team returns to action with the series in the NAPA Spring Sizzler April 29 at Stafford Motor Speedway.

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Comments

  1. darealgoodfella says

    Good run for the 89 SPAFCO. Surviving is good. Top 5 is even better.

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