Hot Shoe: Tommy Barrett Jr. Intent On Chasing Wins Quickly On The NASCAR Modified Tour

Tommy Barrett Jr., pictured in victory lane last year at Lee USA Speedway following a Modified Racing Series event, makes the move to the NASCAR Modified Tour for the 2014 season.

Tommy Barrett Jr., pictured in victory lane last year at Lee USA Speedway following a Modified Racing Series event, makes the move to the NASCAR Modified Tour for the 2014 season.

Tommy Barrett Jr. is succinct in rattling off the goals he has set for himself for his 2014 rookie season on the NASCAR Modified Tour.

“I just want to go out and win as many races as possible,” Barrett said. “It’s not really realistic to win all of them, but I just want to win as many races as I can.”

Just win has essentially been the mantra for Barrett since his stunning arrival in the SK Light Modified division at Stafford Motor Speedway two years ago.

A meteoric rise has taken the 18-year old Barrett from Stafford, through the Modified Racing Series to replacing a seven-time series champion on the NASCAR Modified Tour.

Though, to the seemingly unshakable Barrett, it’s all nothing but a thing when it comes to his arrival on the Modified Tour. Pressure, he says, is essentially a word he doesn’t know.

“I’m taking over the ride for [Mike] Stefanik and people are always asking me, ‘What’s the pressure like?’” Barrett said. “I don’t really feel the pressure. We’re focused on going out there and winning races and doing the best we can. It really doesn’t bug me. Some people look at that in a different way, as if I’m cocky or something. But it just doesn’t bother me, I don’t think about things like that. I just go out there and run my own races.”

When it comes to the big storylines going into Sunday’s Modified Tour season opening Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway, the Millis, Mass. teen ranks right up there.

During the offseason Barrett was tabbed by team owner Chris Our to replace Stefanik, the division’s all-time winningest driver.

Thanks to continued success often tinged with a bit of controversy at each stop, the buzz has seemingly always surrounded Barrett since his arrival on the local scene as a 15-year old in 2010. Barrett doesn’t mind at all being the one his competition or fans are talking about, good or bad.

“If people are talking about you that’s good,” Barrett said. “There’s no such thing as bad publicity I guess.”

Days after reaching the then minimum age requirement of 15 years old, Barrett became what was then the youngest driver ever to win a race at Stafford in 2010. And from there he just kept the roll going and going. He won 10 SK Light Modified features as a rookie in 2010 and then another four in 2011.

In 2012 his family owned team arrived on the Modified Racing Series where success continued to follow them. He got his first career Modified Racing Series victory at Stafford on Aug. 31, 2012 and  finished the 2012 season with three victories. He returned to the series in 2013 and rattled off three victories and 10 top-fives in 17 starts to finish second in the standings.

For 2014, Barrett doesn’t see contending for a Modified Tour title as a rookie as something out of the realm of possibility.

“If we can go out there and win some races and finish consistently, why not?” Barrett said.

In the team’s first Modified Tour event together, in the Feb. 18 Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway, Barrett finished sixth and said the team came together well in their debut together.

“Everyone gelled,” Barrett said. “We had a good time. We learned a lot getting all of the bugs out of the car and the team. I’ve got Brad LaFontaine behind me from NorthEast Race Cars. He’s the best with these Troyer cars. He knows everything. It’s going to be good.”

Beyond his Modified Tour efforts with Our’s team in 2014, Barrett said the plans right now are fluid. There had been plans to run regularly in an SK Modified at Stafford Motor Speedway, but now those plans are off the table. Barrett said his intentions are to run the three open Tour Type Modified shows that will make up the Tri-Track Series this year and he may be seen at some Modified Racing Series events.

“With the MRS stuff, that’s kind of up to my dad right now,” Barrett said. “He has talked about doing some of the Thompson and Stafford races. We’ll see what happens.

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Comments

  1. mike blair says

    My boy Tommy Barret is gonna kill it on Sunday lookin foward to it……Get em Tommy good luck from Mike and Mario @ #44 kick some butt buddy……

  2. It is nice to see some young guns coming in to the series

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