Matt Swanson has been riding a wave of momentum of late behind the wheel of the Gary Casella owned No. 25 Tour Type Modified.
Swanson got his first Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series victory on June 28 at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway and was also victorious with the Milton Cat Modified Racing Series Saturday at Wiscasset (Me.). In between those wins he had a third place finish in an Open Modified event at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. on July 1.
This weekend Swanson will see if he can transfer the momentum he’s riding to an old familiar seat.
Swanson, who currently leads the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series standings after two of six events this year, will make his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start since 2021 in the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday.
The 23-year old of Acton, Mass. driver will be brining out his family owned No. 89 car for the event in Loudon. Of Swanson’s 79 career Whelen Modified Tour starts, the first 43 came driving for his family owned team from 2015 to 2018.
Swanson was 15 years old when he made his Whelen Modified Tour debut in the Call Before You Dig 150 at Stafford Speedway on Aug. 7, 2015 driving for his family owned team.
“I take more pride in my family car than most things,” Swanson said. “My family car is something that, when we first running with the family car I really wasn’t that involved. I wasn’t hands-on with the race car. We had people that worked on the car, set the car up, got it to the track. I was more or less just a driver.
“Now, with all the knowledge I’ve gained over the years working with [different teams], my family car kind of provides me a place to now to use that knowledge. A place to showcase what I’ve learned over the years. I think it makes my family proud to see all the things I’m able to do with the family car. It’s really been myself and my father in the shop the majority of the time. But a lot of our crew members that we’ve met over the years have come up to help us. You know it’s really special to take out the family car, especially when I’m doing a lot of the work to it. But without the help of the people we’ve had help us I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Swanson drove for his family owned team in five events in 2018 before replacing the injured Rowan Pennink in the Boehler Racing Enterprises No. 3 in Aug. of 2018. Swanson and the Boehler team parted ways following the 2021 season. Swanson’s last Whelen Modified Tour start came in the 2021 NAPA Fall Final 150 at Stafford.
In 11 Whelen Modified Tour starts at Loudon Swanson has two top-five finishes and five top-10’s. He was seventh or better in three of his last four starts at the track.
For Swanson, the focus on Saturday will be finding a way to occupy a spot in the top-five by the time the race hits lap 90.
“Every year you go to Loudon and it’s different,” Swanson said. “There’s never really a race that’s repeated trend-wise. It’s always been just who has a good pit stop, who can fight their way to the top-five with 10 [laps] to go.
“It’s just something that I’ve really learned the last couple weeks, everything has to go pretty dang close to perfect and just go your way. All you can do is keep fighting for track position out there whether through green flag racing or pit strategy. There’s a lot of things that go into. We’re going to Loudon with one thing in mind and that’s trying to win the race. If we have to throw a wrench into our strategy to be a little bit different and capitalize on track position we’re going to do it because we’re going there to win. It’s not like we’re going there to points race. So we’re going to do whatever we feel puts us in the best position to have the best finish.”
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