Following a five race suspension, Sam Rameau will make his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start of the 2024 season in Saturday’s J&R Pre-Cast 150 at Seekonk Speedway.
It will mark Rameau’s first action behind the wheel in a racing event in New England since he was involved in an ugly physical confrontation on the infield at Thompson Speedway during a Modified race there on Oct. 8, 2023.
Rameau, the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year, had what was previously an indefinite suspension from NASCAR lifted on May 15. He will be on probation with NASCAR for the duration of the 2024 season. Rameau has made 36 Whelen Modified Tour starts since 2018.
Rameau, 21, will compete in 2024 as the owner of his own team. His team was previously owned by his father Randy, who will no longer be involved with the team.
“Over the offseason I restructured my team to a more professional standpoint to be able to go to the race track and focus on racing and winning and just getting good results at the end of the day,” Rameau said. I’m going to go to the race track, put my suit on, get in the race car and go try to win races and that’s it. That’s why I’m there. I’m sure that there’s going to be a lot of eyes on me. All I can do is try to prove people wrong that don’t believe in me and go win races.”
The newly restructured Rameau team is led by crew chief JR Boccanfuso.
“Me and JR work great together,” Rameau said. “He’s one of my good friends. We talk every day. We’re always trying to improve as much as we can. Trying to think of new things and new ways to work together and new ways to go faster on the race track and just have a better overall experience and win some races.”
Said Boccanfuso: “Our approach to everything is to get Sammy back racing, to put a good product on the track and represent the team in a different light than what has been portrayed by a lot of people. … We want to get Sammy back to the track and show that Sammy is really a good kid. Our ultimate goal is to get back full-time Whelen Modified Tour racing next year.”
Rameau ran his first event of the 2024 racing season last Friday in the SMART Modified Tour Kenny Minter Classic at Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Va. He finished 10th.
“Franklin County went OK,” Rameau said. We got a new Fury race car over the offseason. We’re still learning that car a little bit. We had to work some bugs out of it. That was really the first go round for us with that car. Cool track. That series does a great job. Good competition. We were just a little bit off all day. We were kind of struggling on tuning on the new car. We’ve got a new team, so putting the car, new team, new crew chief, new spotter all together, we’re just trying to work the best we can and learn together.”
Rameau has made one career Whelen Modified Tour start at Seekonk and six starts at the track in Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series events. He was 10th at the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Open Wheel Wednesday last June. His best finish at the track is a sixth place at Open Wheel Wednesday in 2018.
“One of the tracks that I think we’ve done well at in the Northeast and don’t really have the results to show for it is Seekonk,” Rameau said. “I feel like every time we go there we have a really good car. I’ve raced there a bunch. We’ve always had really good runs there. Last year we had a really good run there with [car owner] Bob Horn [with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series]. … What we’re going there with, what JR and I have discussed about putting in the car is something that I think will do really there on a 150-lap run with no change tires. It’s hit or miss there really with only a 40-minute practice session. Hopefully we go there and we’re close and we’re on and we can have a great day.”
After Seekonk, Rameau plans to make his next Whelen Modified Tour start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22.
Track operators at two venues left on the Whelen Modified Tour schedule in 2024 – Thompson Speedway and Monadnock Speedway – will not allow Rameau to compete in Whelen Modified Tour events they will host this year. Because of those track operator decisions, Rameau is restricted from competing in four of the 10 events remaining on the Whelen Modified Tour schedule following the Seekonk race. Rameau also remains indefinitely suspended from action with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series. He has been cleared to compete with the Milton Cat Modified Racing Series.
With his Dad not going to the races I would hope The 2 tracks will reconsider allowing this talented driver to compete there