Matt Swanson Readies For Whelen Modified Tour Debut In Call Before You Dig 150 At Stafford

Matt Swanson in victory lane at Stafford Motor Speedway earlier this year (Photo: Stafford Speedway/Driscoll MotorSports Photography)

Matt Swanson in victory lane at Stafford Motor Speedway earlier this year (Photo: Stafford Speedway/Driscoll MotorSports Photography)

Earlier this year Matt Swanson got his first SK Light Modified victory on the half-mile oval at Stafford Motor Speedway.

In less than two weeks he’ll take another huge step in his progression up the Modified racing ladder.

The 15-year old from Acton, Mass. will make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in the Call Before You Dig 150 at Stafford on Aug. 7.

“We’ve been building this car for probably about a year,” Swanson’s father John said. “At the end of last year when we were running over at Star [Speedway in Epping, N.H.] we started really plugging away on it. It’s been something that’s been in the works all year long. The original game plan was to run the last [Whelen Modified] Tour show at Stafford [on Oct. 4] and the last [Whelen Modified] Tour show at Thompson [on Oct. 18]. So it’s kind of progressed a little bit faster.”

Swanson won the Modified division championship at Star last year and began this season running weekly in an SK Light Modified at Stafford. He got his first career victory in the division on May 29.

Swanson stepped away from the SK Light Modified in late June after the team blew a motor.

“And that deal was kind of because he’s not old enough to race anywhere else,” John Swanson said. “So that was kind of the only reason we did that. It really wasn’t something we were planning on doing for any extended period of time. It was really just to learn the racetracks a little bit and get some laps. So when we were lost the motor, we weren’t in any rush to get back. It’s fun, I love racing there on Friday nights and hopefully we can have a deal for next year to run [an SK Modified] every Friday night. I do absolutely love being there.”

Matt Swanson will run a SPAFCO Chassis car with a Billy The Kid motor under the family entry for the Aug. 7 event. Ken Barry of SPAFCO Racing will serve as the crew chief.

“He likes the Tour stuff better than what we were doing,” John Swanson said. “I went to [the Whelen Modified Tour event at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H.] Saturday night and you see how hard they run and everything else and you’re thinking ‘You’re sending your 15-year old kid out there.’ But he’s been out there with them. We went over to Seekonk [Speedway for the Open Tour Type event] on a deal we put together in a couple days and he was fine.

“He just has to keep all four wheels on it, finish the race, and be realistic that you’re not going to go run up front with them guys, you’re just going to get some laps.”

After running Quarter Midgets, Matt Swanson jumped to a Midget and Dirt Micro Sprint at 12 years old. At 13 he began running a Modified at Star. In 2014 he ran the Modified at Star while also running a Midget for Bobby Seymour.

Comments

  1. Let’s go Walt, I will be making this one. Good Luck!

  2. Good luck Matt! Would love to see this kid run SKs weekly!

  3. I’ll bring the food Walt! Happy for you and your pops

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