![\"Gary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-153927328-e1762874500135.jpg\")
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CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 11: Gary Putnam, driver of the #77 Stock Car Steel Chevrolet, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour UNOH Southern Slam 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by John Harrelson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will have new leadership in 2026 as Gary Putnam<\/a> takes over as series director. Putnam replaces Jimmy Wilson, who has been promoted to Senior Technical Director for NASCAR\u2019s Regional Operations.<\/p>\n Putnam brings nearly forty years of NASCAR<\/a> experience and is the first director to have competed in the Modified Tour as a driver. His connection to the series dates back to his childhood in Connecticut, where Modified racing sparked his passion for the sport. As the tour enters its 41st season, Putnam now leads the division he grew up admiring.<\/p>\n Gary Putnam takes over leadership of the tour<\/p>\n Putnam becomes the first director of the modern-era NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour who has also competed as a driver in the division. His experience goes further than just driving. Putnam has worked as a crew chief<\/a> and car chief for well-known NASCAR teams and has been involved in major race victories.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably my highlight,\u201d Putnam said. \u201c2010 was quite the year. We won three Cup races, and Bono (Manion) and I won three Modified races, both Loudon races and Bristol, with Ryan Newman driving.\u201d<\/p>\n Putnam now becomes only the fifth series director in the modern era. His hands-on experience gives him a unique understanding of how decisions made in the tower affect teams working in the pits and drivers on the track.<\/p>\n A lifetime shaped by Modified racing<\/p>\n Putnam grew up surrounded by Modified racing in Connecticut. He spent most of his early years at the track.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up in Connecticut, (Modifieds) were the premier division in the Northeast. So I was a huge fan,\u201d said the 55-year-old Putnam, who becomes the fifth series director in the history of the modern Tour. \u201cI grew up at Stafford, Thompson and Waterford spending every race night there. I remember getting my first autograph at 6 years old at Thompson when I walked up to Fred DeSarro. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n His involvement didn\u2019t stop at watching. \u201cI started sneaking into the pit area when I looked old enough,\u201d Putnam admitted. \u201cI helped out wiping down the car of Corky Cookman after races, and then I started working for Ed Spires, who was a local Danbury guy who raced at Stafford and Waterford weekly.\u201d<\/p>\n He kept moving forward. \u201cI helped Rod Spaulding on the Modified Tour in \u201987 and \u201988; then I got to know Charlie (Pasteryak) a little bit at Riverside Park. I helped Charlie at the races as a volunteer, and eventually the opportunity arose to actually go work for him and Carl in 1993.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Putnam reached a personal goal that started in childhood. \u201cIt was my lifelong dream to drive a Modified after growing up idolizing them,\u201d he said. \u201cThe opportunity arose to buy one of Bob Garbarino\u2019s old cars. I did that, put it together, put my seat in it, and went and tried it to make sure I could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis opportunity came at the right time in my life and career,\u201d Putnam said. \u201cI\u2019m super excited. This division has always been a passion of mine, from infancy, probably. I\u2019m looking forward to this a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Putnam takes the role previously held by Jimmy Wilson, who led the tour for 12 years. Wilson had been promoted to Senior Technical Director<\/a> for NASCAR Regional.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Image CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 11: Gary Putnam, driver of the #77 Stock Car Steel Chevrolet, sits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-276717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}