Eric Berndt To Run For Championship With Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series In 2026 

When it comes to SK Modified racing, Eric Berndt has been a cornerstone contender on the short tracks of Connecticut for the last 30 years. 

But it’s been quite a few years since the Cromwell veteran has chased a championship in Tour Type Modified racing. In 2026 the veteran racer will be back to chasing a Tour Type title. 

The 46-year old Berndt will run full-time on the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series in 2026 for the Ferguson Motorsports. 

“Over the past couple years we’ve been building our [Tour Type] Modified program kind of with the intention of doing this eventually,” Berndt told RaceDayCT. “And now seems like as good a time as any. I’m not getting any younger and running the weekly SK [Modified] stuff is tough. So overall it was a team decision. We all sat down and this was kind of where everybody wanted to go.” 

It will mark Berndt’s first full-time foray with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series. 

“In the last five to six years the competition level has exceeded so much from where it originally started out as with that series,” Berndt said. “For a long time it was everybody chasing Matt Hirschman there, but the last few years there’s been Jake Johnson and there’s been Ronnie Williams and so many other top guys racing week to week and you saw it starting to change. It’s no longer the place people just go to play, it’s really serious now. And the series puts back and they listen to the competitors and make changes where they’re needed to be. That’s a huge difference that makes a lot of people excited to go run the series.” 

Berndt will kick off that chase for a Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series title in the division’s season opening event, the Propane Plus Heating & Cooling 75, at Thompson Speedway on April 11. 

Berndt, who has 18 career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series starts, is looking for his first victory with series. 

“It’s a huge goal of mine, I’m still looking for that first bigger Modified series win,” Berndt said. “That’s a huge goal for the whole team. And we’re just looking to be competitive every week. We’re definitely really excited about the adventure this year.” 

Berndt, who has been competing locally in various levels of Modified racing since he was a teenager, understands that the pressure is growing to achieve some of the goals he still has in the sport. 

“You see it in every sport, there’s only so long you can keep competing at a high level,” Berndt said. “I put the pressure on myself sometimes too much, which hurts me in the long run. Hopefully I can come with a different mindset this year and start putting some solid finishes together.” 

The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series announced recently that there be a $50,000 points fund for the division this season sponsored by USNEPower and Union Insurance Group. It will pay out the top-10 finishers in the standings with the series champion earning an $11,000 payday. 

“We had pretty much decided early in the offseason what our plans were going to be, then that came about it so that was nice to see,” Berndt said, “It definitely helps and it’s nice to see a series keep putting back in.” 

The April 11 event at Thompson kicks off a nine-race season for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series. The division will have two events each at Thompson, Stafford Speedway, the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway and one event at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. 

“It’s nine races and obviously you’re going to have your tracks that you might struggle at,” Berndt said. “But you look to build a notebook and get better at what tracks you might struggle at. And hopefully if you do struggle you can still make a good day out of a bad day.” 

It will be a busy weekend for the Ferguson Motorsports team. Berndt will also drive for the team in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 at Thompson on April 12. 

Ferguson Motorsports will field Berndt in all three Whelen Modified Tour events at Thompson, along with the division’s return to Stafford Speedway on Aug. 28. 

The Ferguson Motorsports team will continue to field Berndt in an SK Modified in select events. Berndt said the team will run the opening SK Modified event of the season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and also run events at the track in conjunction with the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series events there. Berndt said the team also plans to run the three special event SK Modified races at Stafford.