The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was back in action Wednesday Night for Race #7 of their 2026 season. It was the tour’s second visit to Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts, of the year
It was a hot day at the “Action Track of the East” as the Tour kicked off the Whelen Mid-Summer Championship, which is a three-race series that has extra payouts and a championship. Race #1 was Wednesday at Seekonk, Race #2 is Friday, July 10th at Claremont Motorsports Park, and the finale is Saturday, July 25th at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire.
The action on track was hot as Nineteen of the best modified drivers were ready to battle it out for 150 Laps. 6-time Whelen Modified Tour Champion Doug Coby returned to action as he continues his part-time schedule in the Jett Motorsports #28 and immediately played his hand when he topped the charts in Practice #1.
During the 2nd and final practice session, teams were trying to find the right setup as some teams battled a tight car while others battled a loose car. This session also set the qualifying order for single-car qualifying. The Defending Champion on the tour, Austin Beers, would put his KLM Motorsports #64 on the pole before a 10-car redraw was done on the frontstretch.
Teams really had to make sure they were saving their tires as best they could, since this was a no-change-tire race. The only thing teams could do was swap tires from the rear to the front or vice versa, but no new tires unless NASCAR Officials approved, which would be for a flat tire.
It was a strong start for the current points leader, Stephen Kopcik, in the Wannick Motorsports #21, who was in front early and managing a good gap between second-place runner Jon McKennedy, who won the May race at the track. Kopcik had to battle through a couple of early restarts to try and keep the lead.
On Lap 60, it was “Big Money” Matt Hirschman who moved his way through the top 10 and got the better of Kopcik to become your new race leader. Hirschman told FloRacing, “I’m not sure what was going on with the car, but I know it’s not right,” but hindsight is 20/20, and it looked like Hirschman may have figured the car out, as once he got out front, he was really tough to beat.
Hirschman, just like Kopcik, would have to battle through a few restarts after some single-car incidents, which really changed strategy each time for these teams, swapping tires back and forth, or staying out to get track position.
McKenney, who was running in the top 5 all race long to this point, would pit on lap 107 under caution and swap his left-side tires. Unfortunately for McKennedy, he wouldn’t be able to move his way back to the front of the pack, as he would end up finishing in the 9th spot.
Chase Dowling, who runs a part-time schedule in the #44ma, came to life in the later stages of the Firecracker 150, looking to be one of the only cars that could battle the 60 of Hirschman. Dowling, each time out, always has a fast car, and this would be no exception. The battle for 2nd-4th would consist of Dowling, Patrick Emerling, and Kopcik, as those three would be side by side for a better part of the final 40 laps of the event after the late-race restart.
Once the checkered flag flew on Lap 150, it was Matt Hirschman capturing his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory of 2026 at a track he’s almost been unbeatable at, as he’s now won 5 of the last 6 Whelen Tour events at Seekonk. That doesn’t include the wins Hirschman has at the track in other series.
We had the chance to talk to Hirschman in the pit area and he as asked what the difference in setups was between his 20th place finish at Seekonk in May to winning Wednesday and he said “ probably about a once of stagger, you can’t be that far off in stagger like we were and expect to compete so I’ll have to see where we were at tonight, just happy to get a win for this PeeDee Motorsports Group after what’s been a long season for us on the tour.”
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be back in action NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT when they visit Claremont Motorsports Park in Claremont, New Hampshire, for the first time in 4 years.
Full Results from Seekonk on 7/1/26
| POS | CAR | DRIVER |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 60 | Matt Hirschman |
| 2nd | 44 | Chase Dowling |
| 3rd | 1 | Patrick Emerling |
| 4th | 21 | Stephen Kopcik |
| 5th | 64 | Austin Beers |
| 6th | 58 | Erik Goodale |
| 7th | 05 | Teddy Hodgdon |
| 8th | 82 | Andrew Molleur |
| 9th | 79 | Jonathan McKennedy |
| 10th | 73 | Paulie Hartwig III |
| 11th | 31 | Michael Christopher Jr. |
| 12th | 89 | Matt Swanson |
| 13th | 3 | Tyler Rypkema |
| 14th | 28 | Doug Coby |
| 15th | 54 | Tommy Catalano |
| 16th | 56 | Trevor Catalano |
| 17th | 36 | Dave Sapienza |
| 18th | 18 | Ken Heagy |
| DNF | 8 | John-Michael Shanette |
Image via NASCAR Regional