NASCAR Releases Entry List For Season Opening Whelen Modified Tour Event At New Smyrna Speedway



For the first time in the division’s history the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will hit the pavement at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Saturday to kick of the 2022 season for the series.

On Tuesday NASCAR released a 32-car entry for list for Saturday’s much anticipated event.

Comments

  1. Coach Driver says

    Who are these people? This is brutal. 14 of the people on this list wouldn’t be able to qualify for a Tri-Track Series race. This is bad.

  2. wmass01013 says

    COMING FROM A MODIFIED EXPERT

  3. wmass01013 says

    I SEE WMT, i see SMART drivers, i see Riverhead drivers, i see southern based teams, i see new teams, i see MRS teams, hmmmmmmmmmm ok maybe you should see a race or 2 COACH DRIVER

  4. Coach Driver says

    This is like taking a Major League Baseball team and filling 27 roster spots with 10 Single A minor league players and 4 high school players and then telling people it’s the best team out there. But keep trying to shine this turd and tell us it’s a diamond.

  5. Fast Eddie says

    I’m counting 25 drivers on that entry list that have run WMT races before, and one of the newbies is driving for an established WMT team. Looks like a pretty standard entry list to me plus some teams new to WMT.

  6. How about you list the 14 drivers and we’ll drill down tomorrow and see how correct you are or if it’s a matter of not being familiar with the drivers and teams.
    Sure looks like a strong field to me but we’ll see.

  7. Coach Driver says

    Let’s go with 13 that probably wouldn’t qualify for most Tri-Track races

    Melissa Fifield
    Joey Coulter III
    JR Bertuccio
    Ken Heagy
    Gary McDonald
    Paul Charette
    JB Fortin
    Chris Young
    Jeremy Gerstner
    Matt Kimball
    Dylan Slepian
    Austin Beers
    Edward McCarthy

  8. Coach Driver, Missy couldn’t qualify on the MRS back when it had decent car counts, so she moved over to the NWMT that had low car counts and she was in the show.

    She could end up in the top 10 in points this season by just showing up to all the races. Hope she likes to travel.

  9. Who is missing?

    Chase Dowling…

  10. CHRISTOPHER W HAWKINS says

    Austin Beers wins at Mahoning he’d have little trouble qualifying for tri trak. I may pass this race in favour of USAC midgets at Bubba. The 5 nights of tour types is plenty for me. 49 entries last count. How about posting that for the folks?? Looking forward to all of it.

  11. Kimball has qualified for 4 out of 5 Tri Track races he attempted with two P6 feature finishes. His one DNQ at star he was punted on last lap of heat. Also won MRS race last year. Extremely impressive kid

  12. I heard that the 77 may not make the trip

  13. JR Bertuccio-journeyman driver 36 starts in NWMT races with one pole and one top ten plus a long resume of other series starts. Won the World Series opener in 2017 and Matt Hirschman had this to say about it:
    “A good opening night considering we’ve got five ahead of us,” Hirschman said. “The No. 2 (Bertruccio) was just that good. He was on rails all night. He got better as the race went on, and I didn’t expect that.”

    Paul (Buddy) Cherette- known mostly for his SK Light success. Recently however he has taken down a second at the Thompson 300. The car owned by Bumper to Bumper Racing out of Cape Cod, MA is a newer LFR with spec power and first rate. I rate the 28 a sleeper to watch in this race.

    Dylan Slepian-veteran of Riverhead Raceway tour mods with multiple wins.

    Chris Young- younger driver but with at least one win at Riverhead.

    Austin Beers-still a teen but a up and comer. Four races last year with the Mike Murphy 64 with on top 10. Second to Hirschman last year in the ROC 2021 opener.

    Ed McCarthy- primarily out of Wall Stadium and a consistent front runner there.

    JB Fortin-out of Riverhead. First full time effort in the NWMT in 2021 with 3 top tens.

    Jeremy Gerstner- long time southern modified driver. 6th in points in the SMART modified tour with multiple wins. Veteran of New Smyrna World Series.

    Ken Heagy-veteran that dabbles in the NWMT. 6 races in 2021, only 1 in 2020. 13 races in 2019 with a 7th at Wall being the high mark

    Matt Kimball-New Hampshire Sportsman mod driver in the early stages of his tour mod career. Not only could he start a Tri Track event he started 2 in 2021. Not even a top ten but definitely has run up front at times and gotten noticed.

    Joey Coulter III-don’t sleep on this one. A member of a racing family with a NASCAR resume and a crew chief with a long resume as well.

  14. Now to the front.

    51-no introduction needed

    16- Haydt-Yannone Racing. Newer team getting experience the last couple years in opens with a proven winner in Silk. Have run at the front consistently with wins. Now after hiring Phil Moran the expectation has to be to compete for the championship.

    79-similar story to the 16. Newer team owned by Tim & Sheryll Lepine running opens the last couple years running up front with wins. McKennedy needs no introduction. May not be the LFR house car but is everything but with full Rob Fuller support. The 79 was on full display for the LFR race car setup seminar over the winter.

    60- it will be the Pee Dee car with the best modified driver in my opinion. They don’t waste their time unless they think they can win.

    3-under performed with Swanson in 2021. I have to believe Preece is bringing not only his considerable driving talent to the car but also whatever resources it takes to compete for the win.

    07- a banner year in 2021 and now Emerlings attentions will be turned to Xfinity for most of the year. With all that success and years of experience at New Smyrna the 07 has to be taken seriously.

    That’s my top tier. One that could turn out to be the best and most competitive in years.
    Add Goodale, a rejuvenated Sapienza with a top tier unit, Tommy Catalano’s rolling work of art, the new Lutz/Watts combo, Rypkema and who knows who else I don’t see how you can’t get excited for the opener.

  15. A huge story line for the NWMT is the number of teams dropping out and for good reason. Is there a flip side to that?
    The 16 and 79 were front runners in Tri Track events with big names and big money backing them. Competing with the 60 for wins and producing exiting racing. The two cars were also a big factor in the Thompson opens.
    If they concentrate mostly on the NWMT who’s the loser?
    Then there’s the elephant on the schedule. On paper four of the best cars in tour modified racing are the 51, 60, 79 and 16. So far the NWMT has them and the Sizzler doesn’t.
    We’ll see what teams decide to enter what events but it may very well be talent and money can go in all directions not just away from the NWMT.

  16. Missy Fifield could not qualify for an SK Lite feature.What have you been smokin.

  17. So what’s the deal commissioner? We doing a Pick-em for the opener?
    Bobf the big winner last year taking down 4 wins.
    Only seems fair that the rest of us should have a shot at his crown.

  18. Thanks Doug, you saved me allot of typing. Don’t know where coach was coaching. There were only a handful of names I didn’t recognize, but some showed up on doug’s list. Best of luck to all the drivers and teams that compete down there.
    My pics would be Hirshman, Silk, McKennedy, Preece, and Blewitt for top 5 in that order

  19. 🍸🍸🍸 Liz Cherokee 🍸🍸🍸 says

    I believe Melissa Fifield will definitely make this show. Go girl, go! 🍹🍸🥃🥂🍷🍺🍹🍸🍷

  20. PICK-EM POOL

    POINTS SYSTEM;
    3 – points for picking the Winner
    1- point for EACH car picked in top 5
    2- points for most cars picked in top 5
    5- points for Wild Card
    Tie breaker ; goes the the person who had the finishing ORDER most correct of the TOP 5…. such as they picked the winner, and had 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th in the correct positions , The most picks in the correct finishing position ,,, that should end any ties…

    Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07

  21. Suitcase Jake says

    TOP 5 PICK’EM New Smyrna Tour Race
    1. McKennedy
    2. Big Money Matt H.
    3. Preece
    4. Bonsignore
    5. Silk
    First time Winner
    Buddy Charette
    Wow I see Race Day Ct has their own Pick’em , It’s cool .

  22. Is nobody going to point out that the 01 of Fifeld gets lapped every 15 laps and side by racing we fans go to see gets interrupted- and one of the side by side racers gets hosed!

  23. Bob,
    This your first day here?

  24. Man o man.
    Gotta think about this one for a day or 2. There has to be a couple of good names left out of the top 5 for sure. Its nice, a good problem to have. All i know right now, is my first time winner, would be christopher. This is a tough one.

  25. Bob, you have joined the elite club of people who don’t like Melissa. I pose this question; if given the chance to hop into Melissa’s car, could you do better? At least she’s out there making an effort, and probably enjoying every minute. Although, personally I think she’d be better off in an SK, or S K Lite, she is part of the NWMT, and somewhere there’s a little girl watching, and waiting till the day she gets a chance to drive a modified. It’s 2022, I think it’s time we all agree Women are equal to men. Good Luck Melissa

  26. Rob p. wrote,

    “Bob, you have joined the elite club of people who don’t like Melissa. I pose this question; if given the chance to hop into Melissa’s car, could you do better? At least she’s out there making an effort, and probably enjoying every minute. Although, personally I think she’d be better off in an SK, or S K Lite, she is part of the NWMT, and somewhere there’s a little girl watching, and waiting till the day she gets a chance to drive a modified. It’s 2022, I think it’s time we all agree Women are equal to men. Good Luck Melissa”

    Rob, why do you ask such an asinine and absurd question? Why? Why do you do that? It doesn’t matter. First of all, I do think there are plenty out there that could hop into her car and do much better. She’s been at this for many, many, many years and she’s still terrible at it. She’d get destroyed in an SK, that is an incredibly competitive series with extremely close racing. She’d get destroyed. But still, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the SK cars in her own Tour car. She’s had her chance to drive a Tour modified and she proves over and over again that she’s no good at it. She’s making it look like girls can’t do it. Being out there and doing it is a far cry from being competitive. She is not competitive, and she got as good as she’s gonna get many years ago. She’s had every chassis and part, no difference. She’s in way over her head. She’s lucky car counts are so low.

  27. Earls picks

    16, 60, 51, 79, 3

    First time Mike Christopher Jr.

  28. “Bob,
    This your first day here?”

    Bingo!. A sparse 5 words but the meaning is crystal clear to the regulars here.

    Tell the new guy to go to the upper right hand of this page and type in Melissa Fifield in the search box. Scan the stories and look for some of the ones that have high comment numbers like 64, 105 and 49 and read the comments. Everything that could have been said over the better part of a decade has been said………ad nauseam.

    Tell you what is new is trying to pick this race. No cash, no prizes only the fun of making pics for the first race when everything is unknown.

    Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16……………..28
    Bobf……..Pending……………………….7ny

    The reigning champion gets no respect for the opener and for good reason I’m thinking. Buddy Cherette has more recent experience there.
    I don’t speak Cherokee that well so could someone tell Liz we need her. Took down two wins last year in the early going and is the NWMT whisperer. Her placement of Preece much anticipated. The 3 doesn’t qualify for the wild card obviously but in my view is THE biggest of wild cards. There’s nothing in last years record to think Ole Blue could compete for the win against a array of all stars with newer Fury and TFR units. Yet somehow based on reputation and gumption alone Preece is already in our heads competing for the win. Mine anyway.
    MAKE PICKS…….ENJOY RACING……BE HAPPY as the commissioner might say.

  29. csg pick 5
    ,
    60, 79, 16, 3, 51 long shot Mike Christopher JR

    looking forward to it. Enjoy the races.

  30. Coby needs a ride, Fifield needs a driver. Fifield should operate as an owner, get Coby to drive for her, even if he renumbers his car once in a while. The 01 has been all the right parts and equipment, needs a good tune and better driver. Fifield & Coby, a marriage made in the pits. 🏁 🙃 😛 😆 🤣 🤑 😝

  31. 3,60,51,79,07 1st time 7ny Christopher

  32. My picks: Silk, McKennedy, Preece, Hirschman, Emerling. 1st time Christopher.

  33. Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07……………..32
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16……………..28
    Bobf……..Pending……………………….7ny
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3………………..7ny
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51………………..7ny
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07……………….7ny
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 ……………….7ny

  34. Tough for sure, and had to bounce a couple of top 5 drivers out. So here is my total crapshoot shot at this:
    51, 60, 16, 22, 07, wild card, 7
    I know. Bounced some big names. Just a gut feel is all. Good luck everybody!

  35. Suitcase Jake says

    HAVE FUN = BE HAPPY TOP 5 PICK’EM OPEN TO ALL RDConn.. Readers ….
    let’s go Goodfella , Liz…. And all who would like to join ….. pick your Top 5 and
    First Time Winner for 5 Bonus Points …. Point System posted above in Doug’s
    comment’s above ….

  36. Thanks for running this guys!

  37. Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07………….32
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16………….. 28
    Bobf……..51, 60, 16, 22, 07…………7ny
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3…………7ny
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51…………7ny
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07…………7ny
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 …………7ny

    It’s never quite a Pick-em until Jake gives us a pep talk.
    Just to be clear those are Suitcase Jakes rules included above. We fumbled around at first last year but those stuck and worked out well. 15 Pick-ems last year with 7 different winners. Two ended in ties with no winner picked mainly because the turn out was so low.
    As was mentioned Bobf had the most wins and Liz Cherokee had the highest winning percentage.
    If the 3 wins the opener I’d guess everyone would be happy even the losers. Last year Ole Blue was picked to appear in the top five 12 times and rewarded those picking the car with points 6 times. Fast Eddie picked the 3 the most on 4 occasions, was rewarded by helping him score points on two occasions and the pick helped him win the Pick-em on 1 occasion.
    The Wild Card payed off on only one occasion and fittingly it was Jake that nailed it with Ronnie William in the 8/11 Thompson Open. That’s 1 success out of 15 Pick-ems and well over a 100 individual entries making the Wild Card designation appropriately accurate.

    On to 2022.
    Zoom, zoom!

  38. 🍸🍸🍸 Liz Cherokee 🍸🍸🍸 says

    🍹 Liz 🍹 …16, 60, 51, 3, 21 ….50 Have a great weekend and bottoms up boys!

  39. Doug

    I appreciate you running this. Having run an office pool before I know it can be somewhat of a nuisance at times. thanks

  40. Very nice of you to say that but it’s really not that big a deal. Not a chore I love it.
    Hopefully we can keep it going this year. We have a good base of support but hopefully more will decide to join in the fun.

  41. Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07………….32
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16………….. 28
    Bobf……..51, 60, 16, 22, 07…………7ny
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3…………7ny
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51…………7ny
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07…………7ny
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 …………7ny
    Liz…………16, 60, 51, 3, 21……………50

  42. Well, well, well… look who is does not have her favorite driver in her pick set.

    Shame on you.

    Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, …

  43. Going by the history of Doug doing this sort of thing, somebody needs to constantly check his arithmetic.

  44. Busting my chops on the math. That’s cool, the rules and point totals are all published and fully transparent for all to add up on their own. So far I’ve held up my end for the most part.
    I’ll tell you Darealgoodfella I hesitate to speak for everyone but I think most would probably agree. The Pick-ems good but would certainly be better if you participated. In the first one you nailed Preece in his win at NHMS on 7/17 last year losing to Liz but only on points. Then not so good in your second try for the SBM race at Star on 7/24. Then you retired.
    Would be nice to see you in the mix. Give it some thought.

  45. So what do you say Suitcase Jake. We’re all focused on tonight but Monday night is a big one as well.
    How about leading us off with the first pick for the Monday night opening sprint.

  46. Doug, you repeatedly demonstrated that you suck at arithmetic. It took you numerous revisions to reduce the number of errors. Participating in a pick-em you run is like voting in an election with election machines managed by the Trump clan. I’ll pass, thank you.

  47. Fair enough Darealgoodfellla you don’t trust my math I can respect that. All the more reason to check it carefully after you participate with picks and join in the fun.
    I’m just the bookkeeper here it’s Bobf that should be the guy folks are seeking to dethrown. At one point he won 2 in row and three of five. Here he’s the only one picking a car that by all rights should be appearing as the car to win by more then one person. That’s just disrespectful and perhaps unwise. Seeing as how New Smyrna is fast like Thompson with a tough to navigate lower groove and the 51 does well at Thompson.
    We need you Darealgoodfella. Bonsignor needs you. Give it some thought.

  48. For 2/12 Tour race: 60 51 22 3 16 … 50

  49. Rob p…..60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07………….32
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16………….. 28
    Bobf……..51, 60, 16, 22, 07…………7ny
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3…………7ny
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51…………7ny
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07…………7ny
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 …………7ny
    Liz…………16, 60, 51, 3, 21…………50
    Rfan……….60, 51, 22, 3, 16…………..50
    DGF………..Hopefully will enter
    Wmass……Knows the NWMT better then most
    KenL………Prior winner still not on the board

  50. Oh the pressure!
    I love it. Win or lose, its fun.
    Thanks for keeping track and updating Doug. You make it easy to see where everyone is in pretty much real time, as fast as these are posted. Now hopefully justin doesn’t get caught up in something stupid…….

  51. Come on dareal make some picks. All the cool kids are doing it

  52. hope not late
    58 3 16 82 51 7ny

  53. Rob p……60, 16, 79, 3, 21
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07………….32
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16………….. 28
    Bobf……..51, 60, 16, 22, 07…………7ny
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3…………7ny
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51…………7ny
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07…………7ny
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 …………7ny
    Liz…………16, 60, 51, 3, 21…………50
    Rfan……….60, 51, 22, 3, 16…………50
    Wmass…….58, 3, 16, 82, 51…………. 7ny

  54. New Smyrna-NWMT-2/12/22

    60,58,7ny,79,32

    First number 3 points for picking the winner
    Second number is the total cars in the top 5 you identified correctly
    Third number is the two points earned for picking the most cars in the top 5

    Rob p……60, 16, 79, 3, 21…….3+2+2=7
    Doug……79, 60, 16, 51, 07……0+2+
    Jake……..79,60,3, 51, 16………0+2+
    Bobf……..51, 60, 16, 22, 07…..0+1+
    Earl………16, 60, 51, 79, 3……0+2+
    CSG……..60, 79, 16, 3, 51…….3+2+2=7 WINNER!
    MBus…….3, 60, 51, 79, 07……..0+2+
    Eddie……16, 79, 3, 60, 07 ……..0+2+
    Liz…………16, 60, 51, 3, 21……0+1+
    Rfan……….60, 51, 22, 3, 16……3+1+
    Wmass…….58, 3, 16, 82, 51……0+1+

    In a razor tight finish CSG wins the opener. Both he and Rob p got the 60 and 79 in the right order but CSG wins picking the 79 one spot higher.
    Congratulation CSG!

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