RaceDayCT Live Updates Page: Monday At The New Smyrna World Series

Night four of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway will see the Tour Type Modified division hit the track for the first of five consecutive nights of features. The division opens the week with a 59-lap feature tonight.

Denise DuPont, Jim DuPont and Shawn Courchesne will oversee our Live Updates coverage all week at New Smyrna.

Opening First: Austin Beers Tops Tour Type Mod Feature At New Smyrna World Series 

Tour Type Modified Feature Results – Monday

VOTE NOW: RaceDayCT Poll: Who Will Win The Tour Type Modified Championship At New Smyrna

602 Modified Feature

Max Handley, a Riverhead Raceway regular, won the 25-lap 602 Modified at the New Smyrna World Series tonight.

It was the first career victory in the division at New Smyrna for Handley.

Stafford Speedway and Thompson Speedway regular Nickolas Hovey of Chaplin recovered from a mid-race spin and finished sixth. Hovey won the opening event for the division on Sunday.

Stafford Speedway Limited Late Model division regular RJ Surdell of Willington was 19th.

Tour Type Modified Practice One At New Smyrna

LISTEN: Whats Brewing: WHY ARE WE SCREAMING? 

LISTEN: Whats Brewing: WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?

Picture This: Jim DuPont Gallery From The NASCAR Mod Tour Season Opener At New Smyrna

Today’s Full Schedule at New Smyrna

Tour Type Modified Division Entry List

While most of the country was enthralled watching the Philadelphia Eagles annihilate the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, the World Series schedule rolled on at New Smyrna.

In the 602 Modified division it was Stafford Speedway and Thompson Speedway regular Nickolas Hovey topping the field on Sunday evening at New Smyrna.

Leftover Notes from Denise DuPont from the NASCAR Modified Tour New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 on Saturday

Frank Fleming

For several years, Frank Fleming of Mount Airy, NC, has vacationed in February in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Adding fun to the trip, the vacation included racing a Modified during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. But in 2021, Frank took a step back from racing to focus on his business, Frank Fleming Body Shop & Collision Center in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Fleming purchased and renovated a new building for his business.

Now that Fleming’s new location is up and running, he decided he wanted to have a little fun and go racing again. So, in 2025, with a new No. 40 Modified and Roush Yates Engine, Fleming decided to take the equipment to compete in the NASCAR Modified Tour New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 race at New Smyrna Speedway.

Once on track, Fleming rounded up his final practice 16th. He was 15^th in qualifying which earned him a mid-pack starting position in the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 race.  

“I am so glad to be back here again this year,” Fleming said. “I come here every year anyway to vacation. 2011 is the last year that I ran here. I believe that is about right. I built a new car and bought a new engine for the tour races. I am going down to North Wilkesboro, Richmond and Martinsville. Those 3 races and then some southern races are the plan. Thinking about it, I said: ‘Shucks, I got to go to New Smyrna to this race here. We are here at this race anyway.’ And we are running good here (at New Smyrna Speedway). You have to remember that I am 65 I qualified 15^th, less than 3/10ths off. I am happy with that.”

Pre-race Fleming exclaimed: “I hope that we get a top 10 finish and keep our nose clean. And I believe that we can.”

Fleming finished the race 28th after being involved in an incident on lap 70.

Chase Dowling

Chase Dowling has joined Tinio Motorsports team for a part time schedule on the NASCAR Modified Tour in 2025. Dowling joined the Lawney Tinio managed race team at New Smyrna Speedway to compete in the first event of 2025 in the No. 44 Modified. Dowling completed practice in a 9th place spot and went forward to end qualifying fifth. But lady luck was not on Dowling’s side as he was caught up in a race incident on lap 70. The No. 44 sustained too much damage to continue racing. 

“It is pretty cool being here. It is my first time [racing at New Smyrna Speedway],” Dowling said. “I have been here helping everyone for years but never raced. We unloaded and were pretty fast. This is definitely so different of a race track. I was trying to compare it to another track. It is pretty exciting coming to a new place.” 

Describing New Smyrna Speedway compared to other tracks, Dowling said:

“The track is good. Everyone says that it is like Thompson [Speedway]. But it kind of has a Bristol feel going into turn three. It is fast and has a lot of G-Force going into turn three. Turns one and two are completely different. I would say that it has its own character. If I were to say it is maybe closer to Thompson more than anything. But it is way different at the same time.” 

Patrick Emerling

Patrick Emerling came to New Smyrna Speedway for a win to start off his 2025 race season and he attained his goal. Emerling ran 10th in practice and scored a third place qualifying effort. He raced hard and managed to push his way to the leader spot to take home a win for the KPL Race team.

“It is really cool to be here,” Emerling said. “We always love to come down to New Smyrna Speedway. This is going to kick us off. We had a good run. The track was a little slick during the day and I would say it had more grip during qualifying. We had a little bit of a motor skip that we were kind of intermittently dealing with all day. It kind of got us pretty bad even during qualifying. But we recovered from it.”

Now that your race season has officially started, have you adjusted your plans at all?
“I believe that it is mostly figured out,” Emerling said. “There is some ongoing stuff such as national series stuff. That we are working on, but it kind of depends. So, we will see what we can do.”