Breaking News: Gary Putnam Named NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series Director 

On March 31, 1985 the first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event took place at Thompson Speedway. 

In the packed grandstands that day for the event was 15-year old Gary Putnam, a racing fan from Vernon who would ultimately carve out a successful career at the highest level of NASCAR. 

Now that fan who was in the grandstands for the division’s first ever event will come full circle and take over as the man in charge of the series. 

RaceDayCT learned exclusively Monday that NASCAR will name Gary Putnam as the fifth Whelen Modified Tour director in series history. Putnam replaces Jimmy Wilson, who has been in the role as series director since 2013. RaceDayCT reported exclusively on Oct. 24 that Putnam was likely the leading candidate for the position. 

The 55-year old Putnam moved south in 1996 to work full-time in motorsports and has worked in various high level crew positions with an assortment of some of the most recognizable teams in the top level NASCAR Cup Series. He most recently worked for Trackhouse Racing. Throughout his career he has also remained tied to Modified racing as a part-time driver, car builder and team owner. 

“Obviously it’s a huge change for me coming from the competition side going over to the administration side,” Putnam told RaceDayCT in an exclusive interview on Monday. “Modifieds have been a passion of mine for my whole life. When this opportunity arose, at first I didn’t take it seriously, but then it developed into everybody was pretty focused on that I could help the growth of the [Whelen Modified] Tour and me being a Modified guy, I really wanted to be a part of that.

“The biggest thing that excites me is to be a director of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, something that I grew up watching. I was in the grandstands for the first inaugural [Whelen Modified] Tour race, for the Icebreaker. And I was just such a huge fan of it. To be leading it is quite an honor.” 

Joey Dennewitz, managing director of NASCAR Regional, called Putnam’s hiring a victory for NASCAR and the Whelen Modified Tour. NASCAR had announced in April of this year that Wilson would be vacating the series director position to fill another role with NASCAR. 

“When I talked to other competitors and I talked to other officials, Gary Putnam’s name just kept coming up,” Dennewitz told RaceDayCT on Monday. “I reached out and asked him if he would be interested and he laughed at me. And then over the course of a little while we just kept kind of talking about and kept circling back at it. For someone to have the instant credibility in the garage of, ‘I have been in the other person’s shoes’ is very important.

“… Once Gary accepted and we got the particulars all sorted out, I felt as competitive as I have even when I was racing. I felt it in the office on that day. This is an incredible opportunity for Gary as a human being. From human to human, for him to take a step into something he is passionate about, that he can put his fingerprints on and be part of not only the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour legacy, but also Gary Putnam’s legacy, I felt was incredible. And then for myself and the organization to have an opportunity to have a guy like Gary, who has seen it from different angles and has such a passion for the [Whelen Modified] Tour was too good to pass up.” 

Before Wilson took over as series director in 2013 the position was previously held by Jerry Cook (1985–1992), Ed Cox (1993–2007) and Chad Little (2008–2012). Putnam is the first person named as series director who has also competed as a driver with the series since the inception of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 1985. 

After working as a crew member with the Pasteryak family in the early 1990’s on the Whelen Modified Tour, Putnam moved south to work with Larry Hedrick Motorsports with driver Ricky Craven in 1996. He later worked at Bill Elliott Racing and Petty Enterprises, where he served as a Cup Series crew chief for drivers Jerry Naduea, John Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi and Jeff Green. He joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007 and remained with the company as it transitioned to become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Putnam was the car chief on the organization’s No. 1 entry with driver Jamie McMurray when McMurray won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2010. He remained with the organization when it was bought by Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks. 

Putnam has made 34 starts as a driver on the Whelen Modified Tour since 2014. He competed in one event with the series as a driver in 2025. He also made 63 starts as a driver on the former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour from 2010 to 2016. In addition he’s field cars as a team owner some of the top names in racing over the last decade with both the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and with other Touring Modified divisions. He will suspend operations of his team effective immediately. 

“That was the biggest hurdle that I had to overcome in accepting the position,” Putnam said. “At my age I’m probably close to ending my driving career anyway, which wasn’t much of one to begin with. But, I enjoy working on the cars and have always enjoyed working on the cars throughout my whole life. And that was the biggest reason that I had one. And that’s going to be the one thing I do miss.”

Putnam said he will lean heavily on Wilson as he transitions from being on the competition to side to the officiating/administrative side with NASCAR. 

“I’m going to lean on Jimmy Wilson quite a bit,” Putnam said. “He has done a phenomenal job in increasing the exposure that the Whelen Modified Tour has gotten. He’s managed it through some difficult times, through COVID, and kept the events continuing to happen. I’m for sure going to lean on any former competitor that has made the transition over to NASCAR and the officiating side, like Tony Glover. I worked with [Glover] before at Ganassi [Racing] in a previous life. I’m going to lean on him heavily. Jerry Cook, I grew up admiring as a driver and he initially started the Modified Tour. I’m going to lean on him quite a bit too. And of course [NASCAR senior vice president of competition] Elton Sawyer, who is one of the premier managing directors.

NASCAR announced a 16-event schedule for the 2026 Whelen Modified Tour season last month. The series opens its 2026 season on Feb. 7 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway.