Troy Talman
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rookie Troy Talman began the 2015 season wondering if he and the Boehler Racing Enterprises team could make a run at competing full-time in the division.
Now Talman isn’t wondering about making it the full season, but rather how many more top-five runs he can get with the team running the full season.
Talman, of Oxford, Mass., rides the momentum of his first career top-five series finish into Stafford Motor Speedway Friday for the running of the Whelen Modified Tour Call Before You Dig 150.
Talman finished fifth in the division’s most recent event, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. on July 25.
Despite being involved in a wreck late in the Andy Blacksmith 100 on July 18 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Talman said he feels the team’s recent turnaround began in Loudon.
Talman had finishes from 14th to 22nd over the first seven events of the season. He was 25th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Monadnock was the eighth event of the 15-event schedule this year for the Whelen Modified Tour.
“I think things kind of started for us at Loudon where we weren’t very good in practice or qualifying,” Talman said. “And then in the race we just had a really good car and we were really really fast. We could really cut through the field. It was too bad we got involved in the accident. It was a learning experience for me and I think it was a really good experience for me. We had a great car for the first time all year.
“Then we went we went into Monadnock and it was kind of the same thing. It was a new track. I didn’t know anything about it. I had watched a few races there so I was a little bit familiar with it. And we went out for practice and it was kind of the same as Loudon. We were like 20th and then qualifying the same thing, about 20th. Then when the race started the car was just really really good. I could really move through the field. I got into the top-10 midway through the race and just kept going to the front.
“I think it’s just that [crew chief] Greg Fournier is just doing a really great job setting the car up.”
Talman sits right in the midst of a tight battle for Rookie of the Year on the Tour this year. Chase Dowling currently leads the rookie class, sitting 12th in the standings. Talman sits 17th in the standings, just 11 points behind Dowling.
“It’s been a lot of learning experiences, but I’m really excited going back to Stafford with the stuff that we’ve got going on right now,” Talman said. “We should be a lot better than when we were there before.”
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