Pit Box: Seekonk Speedway Welcomes Whelen Modified Tour For J&R Precast 150 Saturday

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

For just the 12th time in the history of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the series on Saturday night will visit Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway for the running of the J&R Precast 150.

Seekonk first welcomed the Modified Tour in 1987, when the legendary Reggie Ruggiero outlasted Jimmy Spencer in a 200-lap battle. The Tour returned to Seekonk 13 years later in 2000, and when it did, Jerry Marquis drove to victory in a 150-lap feature.

In the 10 races run since the series returned to Seekonk, nine different drivers have secured trips to Victory Lane. The only repeat winner at Seekonk is Doug Coby, who scored wins at the 0.333-mile oval in 2017 and 2019. Other winners include Eric Beers, Timmy Solomito, Chris Kopec, Ed Flemke Jr., Chuck Hossfeld, Justin Bonsignore and, most recently, Matt Hirschman.

Below is everything you need to know about the sixth race on the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule.

J&R Precast 150 at Seekonk Speedway

Ron Silk is off to what is by far the best start of his Modified Tour career.

The defending champion has won three of the first five races — at New Smyrna Speedway, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and Riverhead Raceway — meaning he’s already more than halfway to his win total from the entire 2023 season. Last year, his five wins marked a career high.

With the J&R Precast 150 on the horizon, Silk will look to continue his momentum at a track where he’s never visited Victory Lane on the Modified Tour.

Silk’s biggest challenger Saturday could be Coby, the lone driver who has multiple Modified Tour wins at Seekonk. Rather than Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s No. 7, Coby will pilot the Tinio family No. 44 on Saturday evening.

Matt Hirschman returns to Seekonk as the defending Modified Tour race winner after leading every lap of the event last year. Hirschman is still looking for his first Tour win of 2024.

Two drivers will be making landmark starts this weekend at Seekonk. Patrick Emerling will make his 150th Modified Tour start, and 2022 series champion Jon McKennedy will make his 100th Tour start.

Also racing Saturuday is Justin Bonsignore, who continues his pursuit of history. The 2018 Seekonk victor remains one win behind Ted Christopher for third on the all-time Tour wins list. Seekonk is a good a place as any for Bonsignore to match Christopher.

Other notable entries include local favorite Jake Johnson, Kyle Ebersole, Anthony Sesely, Austin Beers, Matt Swanson, Craig Lutz, Andrew Krause and Kyle Bonsignore, among others.

The full entry list for Saturday’s J&R Precast 150 is available here.

RACE FACTS

Schedule: Saturday, June 1 … Final practice from 3:20 to 4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET … J&R Precast 150 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the J&R Pre-Cast Inc 150 is limited to 26 starters including Provisional Positions.

Redraw: The fastest qualifier will spin the wheel to determine the number of drivers that will redraw for their starting positions: 4, 6, 8 or 10 positions will redraw. Once the fastest qualifier spins the wheel, NASCAR will have the various buckets ready to immediately start the redraw procedure. Drivers will redraw in their qualifying order after qualifying has been completed (1 through 10, or however many are applicable). The pole position and/or any bonus point(s), if applicable, will be awarded to the fastest qualifier and will be the pole of record. If, due to adverse conditions, qualifying is canceled, the field will be set in accordance with the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rule Book. The redraw procedure will still take place regardless of how the field is set. However, pole awards and/or any bonus point(s), if applicable, will not be paid, if due to adverse conditions, the field is set in accordance with the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rule Book.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eight (8) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires, and/or emergency change tires during the event. If a tire is used as an emergency change tire, it cannot be a new/sticker tire. The tire change rule is zero (0) tires, any position.