Call it the Yahtzee move within the SK Modified division at Stafford Speedway.
From the double fin to the double deuce.
Matt Buckler of the Journal Inquirer reported that Teddy Hodgdon IV will make the move from his family owned No. 55 SK Modified ride to the Dan Avery owned No. 22 SK Modified for the 2022 season at Stafford.
Hodgdon, the 2019 SK Light Modified division champion at Stafford, replaces Chase Dowling in Avery’s ride. Dowling drove the car in 2020 and drove a partial season with the team in 2021.
Hodgdon’s family owned SK Modified will changed over to a Tour Type Modified to compete in Stafford’s seven Open Modified events at the track in 2022, including the 50th Spring Sizzler in April.
“This is a great opportunity for me,” Hodgdon told the Journal Inquirer. “We have been talking about this the last couple of years, but everything finally came together.”
With a 12th place finish in the standings in 2020, Hodgdon was the top rookie in the SK Modified division at Stafford with two top-five’s and five top-10’s in 14 starts. He started 19 of 20 SK Modified events at Stafford in 2021 ending up 14th in standings with two top-five’s and five top-10 finishes.
With the Avery team Hodgdon will be teamed with Stafford SK Modified division championship winning crew chief Mike O’Sullivan.
“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to have a great season,” Hodgdon told the JI. “This is a great situation for me.”
Technically he’s replacing Pitkat isn’t he the last driver in the seat?
We’re hoping this is one of those symbiotic deals aren’t we? The car mostly not up to snuff last year or at least not what’s needed to challenge for the win on a consistent basis. We never know what goes into these partnerships but hopefully it’s new power or whatever it take to make a jump up the food chain.
Narducci, Hines, Vassar and the 22 with a bit of driver and/or car roulette last year. Hopefully this team will last for the duration. Hodgdon is a grinder so I’d bet it does.
The SK’s lose a car but the open field gains one. Those Stafford SK guys do love to pull double duty for the open events. Seems like it hurts one or both of the efforts dividing focus but with 10 plus drivers doing it Stafford sure isn’t going to complain. It a third of a good field built into to any open race at Stafford. I should also credit Stafford for creating an atmosphere of such loyalty as well.
2021 was a watershed year where the elite cars changed dramatically with all kinds of drama. That automatically makes 2022 more interesting going in to see if the pecking order changes once again.
Wishing Hodgdon the best. He’s low drama not unlike Owen and perhaps this could be a break out year.