{"id":882173,"date":"2026-09-03T20:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/882173\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T20:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:12:10","slug":"nascar-modified-tour-oswego-preview-short-track-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/882173\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Modified Tour Oswego preview \u2013 Short Track Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

The battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship heads to Central New York this Saturday night as Oswego Speedway welcomes NASCAR\u2019s oldest division for the running of the Toyota Mod Classic 150 (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing<\/a>).<\/p>\n

With just three races left in the 2026 season, the championship lead belongs to Patrick Emerling after a top-five finish last Friday at Stafford Speedway. Defending series champion Austin Beers sits second, 10 points behind Emerling ahead of Saturday\u2019s 150-lap test of skill at the track known as \u201cThe Steel Palace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The historic 0.625-mile oval has hosted the Modified Tour 18 times dating back to 1988. The first two Modified Tour events held at Oswego were won by New York native Brian Ross. Other notable Oswego winners include Mike McLaughlin, Tony Hirschman, Mike Stefanik, Doug Coby, Ryan Preece, Matt Hirschman, Justin Bonsignore, Ron Silk and Emerling, among others.<\/p>\n

Tickets to Saturday\u2019s Toyota Mod Classic 150 are available here<\/a>. Below is everything you need to know about the 14th race of the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.<\/p>\n

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With only three races remaining in the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the championship chase remains incredibly tight.<\/p>\n

Patrick Emerling has reassumed sole possession of first in the series standings after entering last Friday\u2019s GAF 150 at Stafford Speedway tied at the top of the standings with Austin Beers. However, a fifth-place finish by Emerling has allowed him to regain command of the championship chase entering Saturday\u2019s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway.<\/p>\n

Emerling enters Saturday\u2019s Oswego event with statistical advantage on Beers at the 0.625-mile asphalt oval. Emerling is a previous Oswego Speedway winner, having conquered The Steel Palace during the 2024 season when he led a race-high 81 laps. Beers, who is now 10 points behind Emerling in the title hunt, has finished in the top five at Oswego in each of the last three seasons.<\/p>\n

Both drivers should be among the contenders Saturday night, but they\u2019ll be far from the only drivers to watch.<\/p>\n

Another will be Teddy Hodgdon, who stunned Modified Tour teams and fans by winning the Tour\u2019s return to Stafford Speedway one weekend ago. The driver he beat last Friday night, Matt Hirschman, is a previous Oswego victor and should be another driver to watch this weekend.<\/p>\n

Jon McKennedy and Stephen Kopcik are still in the hunt for the Modified Tour championship, but both need a win at Oswego to keep pace with Emerling and Beers. Tyler Rypkema, aboard the Ole Blue No. 3, will make his 100th Modified Tour start during Saturday\u2019s Oswego Speedway event.<\/p>\n

Additional entries for Saturday\u2019s event include Mike Christopher Jr., Tommy Catalano, Eric Goodale, Andrew Molleur and Trevor Catalano, among others.<\/p>\n

Procedures<\/p>\n

RaceToyota Mod Classic 150DateSaturday, Sept. 5, 2026TrackOswego SpeedwayLayout0.625-mile asphalt ovalLocationOswego, New YorkStart time8 p.m. ETLaps150Posted Awards$109,132TicketsHere<\/a>How to WatchFloRacing<\/a><\/p>\n

SCHEDULE: Saturday, Sept. 5: Practice from 3:05 to 3:45 p.m. ET \u2026 Final practice from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. ET \u2026 American Racer Pole Award qualifying at 5:40 p.m. ET \u2026 Start of the Toyota Mod Classic 150 (150 Laps \/ 93.75 Miles) at 8 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start\/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 is limited to 24 starters including Provisional Positions.<\/p>\n

TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by NASCAR Officials, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. The same four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and\/or change tires during the event. A maximum of three (3) tires of the allotment may be used for change tires. The tire change rule is two (2) tires per stop. This includes \u201cswapping\u201d tires front to back.<\/p>\n

Entry list<\/p>\n

Car No.DriverTeamCrew ChiefChassis Mfg.Sponsor1Patrick EmerlingUSNE MotorsportsDale HedquistLFRUSNE Power3Tyler RypkemaBRE RacingGreg FournierBoehler RacingNortheast Drilling; SYP4Tim ConnollyConnolly RacingTBAFURY Race CarsConnolly Racing; First General05Teddy Hodgdon IVTeddy Hodgdon RacingTed HodgdonFURY Race CarsBusiness Time Motorsports; Omaha Beef; The Landau Team of Re\/Max8John-Michael ShenetteEighty-Two AutosportGeorge Bessette Jr.LFRUSNE Power, Eighty-Two Services18Ken HeagyHeagy MotorsportsGreg GormanFURY Race CarsMerkel Racing Engines21Stephen KopcikWanick MotorsportsNick KopcikTroyerWanick Construction; Newtown Pools31Michael Christopher JrElite MotorsportsEugene OrlandoLFRElite Towing45Timmy CatalanoCatalano MotorsportsTyler CatalanoTroyerUSNE Power54Tommy CatalanoCatalano MotorsportsRick KluthTroyerFX Caprara; USNE Power56Trevor CatalanoCatalano MotorsportsDavid CatalanoTroyerUSNE Power58Eric GoodaleGoodie MotorsportsRob HyerFURY Race CarsGAF Roofing Riverhead Building Supply60Matt HirschmanPee Dee MotorsportsMike SteinTroyerBar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports64Austin BeersKLM MotorsportsRon YuhasTroyerLumiere Electrical, G&G Electrical Supply, Dell Electric, AP Marquadt, Andrew James Interiors, Hughes Motors73Paulie Hartwig IIIHartwig RacingBobby Geiger JrLFRProfessional Therapy LLC; Jersey Shore Contracting; Velocita USA79Jonathan McKennedyJonathan McKennedy RacingPatrick WalshFURY Race CarsStuarts Automotive, Christophers Towing, Levasseur HVAC, Boyle Electric, J Young Landscaping82Andrew MolleurDWR RacingMichael MolleurLFRHorton Avenue Materials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship heads to Central New York this Saturday night as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-882173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882173","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=882173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}