The first entry list for the new NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season has finally been released, which can mean only one thing: That first race at New Smyrna Speedway is upon us. It’s this Saturday, to be exact, and the entry list for the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 is stacked from top to bottom.

It’s hard to even say “the entry list is headlined by” because there’s at least five drivers that are all considered headliners in their own right. But we will start off with the defending series champion and defending winner of this race. And that, of course, is Norwalk, Connecticut’s Ron Silk.

The now two-time NWMT champion returns to New Smyrna Speedway with his Haydt Yannone Racing team led by multi-time champion crew chief, Phil Moran. Last year Silk held off Justin Bonsignore in a thriller to win the season-opener, which proved to be a sign of things to come. Silk and Bonsignore went back-and-forth all season long before Silk ultimately held off Bonsignore to win his second championship and first since 2011.

And that leads us right to co-headliner number two, Justin Bonsignore. The three-time champion is still searching for that first victory at New Smyrna Speedway in NWMT competition (though to be fair, there’s only been two races at New Smyrna in series history). Bonsignore’s 2023 race at New Smyrna went much better than his 2022 race did as a mechanical failure sidelined the No. 51 Ken Massa Motorsports machine early. Last year he finished second after rallying from a spin with about 30 laps to go. Bonsignore held off the New Smyrna Speedway dominator, Matt Hirschman, to take the second spot.

Speaking of Hirschman, he is co-headliner number three. “Big Money” Matt Hirschman has been stinking up most of the Modified shows at New Smyrna Speedway the last handful of years. The Northampton, Pennsylvania driver won the inaugural NWMT 200 at New Smyrna Speedway in 2022 before finishing third in 2023. Hirschman is now a four-time World Series of Asphalt champion at New Smyrna Speedway. He hasn’t finished worse than second in WSOA points since 2014, and he has 17 victories dating back to 2009 with 13 of those wins coming since 2019. The path to victory lane at New Smyrna Speedway always goes through Matt Hirschman.

But last year it looked like the path to victory lane in this race was going to go through six-time NWMT champion (and co-headliner number four) Doug Coby. Coby and his Tommy Baldwin Racing team led 106 of the 200 laps in 2023 before finishing fifth. The Milford, Connecticut driver is back with Tommy Baldwin Racing this week with a checkered flag on their minds. 

Our fifth co-headliner is none other than NASCAR Cup Series driver, Ryan Preece. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver doesn’t get to race Modifieds very much anymore, but when he does, he’s usually contending for the victory. Like last year, at the season finale at Martinsville, when Preece showed up in a race car he built with his old SK Modified car number on the door and led 134 laps on his way to his second grandfather clock. 

In case anybody has forgotten, Preece is quite good at New Smyrna Speedway. His first Tour-type Modified victory came during the 2008 World Series of Asphalt. He won three WSOA championships in a row from 2015-2017 and has 12 victories dating back to 2008. 

As we said, the entry list for this festival of speed is stacked from top-to-bottom. Those five drivers are just the co-headliners, but the drivers in “direct support” are contenders for the win in their own right too. Eric Goodale, Austin Beers, Anthony Sesely, Ryan Newman, Tommy Catalano, Tyler Rypkema, and Patrick Emerling wouldn’t surprise anybody if they ended up in victory lane.

While it will be hard to pick a winner, one thing is for certain. The New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau on Saturday, February 10, is a race you do not want to miss. 

Saturday’s race will be broadcast live on FloRacing to FloRacing subscribers, as will the entire World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway and every single NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in 2024. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.

2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at New Smyrna Speedway Entry List