The SMART Beach Trip kicks off the second-half of the season for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic with a North Carolina double-header on Friday August 29 at Jacksonville, North Carolina’s Coastal Plains Raceway and Saturday, August 30 at Swansboro’s Carteret County Speedway. 

The pit area will look a little different this weekend as silly season has started early on the SMART Tour. 

Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year contender Bryce Bailey will be in a new seat for the Beach Trip double. 

The Waverly, New York driver makes the move over from the Shady Grady Racing No. 15 to the Phil Stefanelli owned PSR Racing Team where he will pilot a No. 17 Modified for the two races. 

“Obviously I’m absolutely stoked,” said Bailey. “Opportunies like this do not come very often and many don’t get chances like this. With Phil at reigns, everyone knows how good his cars are and what he can do. I am looking forward to the beach and getting to race both races. It’s cool that Phil believes in me but it’s also a load off of my shoulders. I think this will be the first time I’ve ever gone to the track and just been the driver. I’m super appreciative of everything Grady Jeffreys has done for me but am excited to see where this weekend leads.” 

Bailey told FloRacing that he will race the Beach Double in the PSR ride but has no plans solidified for the rest of the season. He scored three pole positions this season behind the wheel of the Grady Jeffreys owned No. 15 Shady Grady Racing car. His best finish is a third at the Hickory Hundred at Hickory Motor Speedway in April. 

PSR’s other car, the No. 40 that’s been piloted by rookie Carter McMurray, is not entered for the SMART Beach Trip. The son of 2010 Daytona 500 Champion Jamie McMurray will continue to race for the PSR team in the Crate Modified ranks and select SMART starts for the rest of the season. 

The Legends Car standout is looking to gain increased seat-time in his first season moving up into full-sized racecars. His SMART season started with an impressive fifth-place finish at the season opening “Zack Brewer Memorial” at Florence Motor Speedway. Carter has three top-10 finishes in seven-races on the Tour. McMurray has seen improvement during the summer season with seat time in a Crate Mod for PSR. Most recently, he captured Crate Mod victories last Friday night at North Carolina’s Ace Speedway and the next day at Caraway Speedway.

Phil Stefanelli tells FloRacing that McMurray is his driver and their next SMART Tour race together will be the Robert Jeffreys Memorial at Caraway Speedway on September 6.

With Bailey moving to PSR, this leaves a seat open with the Grady Jeffreys owned Shady Grady Racing No. 15 ride. As of now, the team has not announced a full-time driver but will reunite with a familiar face on the SMART Beach Trip. Wesley Chapel, Florida native Jeremy Gerstner will return behind the wheel of the potent ride for both races during the double-header weekend.

NOTES HEADING INTO THE SMART BEACH TRIP

• While Rookies are on the move, the youngest is on top of the Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year standings as 14-year-old Paulie Hartwig III leads the list heading into the beach trip. The New Jersey driver scored a win in the Hickory Hundred in April. He is up 13 points in the rookie standings on Long Island driver Joey Braun and the Hillbilly Motorsports No. 79. Jack Baldwin, Carter McMurray, Bryce Bailey and Slate Myers make up the rest of the rookie class.
• After seven races, Luke Baldwin leads the SMART Modified Tour Standings over Ryan Newman by a 28-point margin. The two drivers were also one-two finishers, with Ryan Newman besting Baldwin by inches in an exciting photo finish at Franklin County Speedway earlier this year.  Baldwin, the defending series champion, has one win on the season at Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina. It’s clear that Baldwin likes the South Carolina track as he recently took a win there in a Rick Ware Racing Pro Late Model on the zMAX CAR Tour. 
• Rookie Hartwig is third in SMART driver points followed by Jake Crum and Joey Braun.
• Long Island, New York driver Jack Handley Jr. returns to the SMART Modified Tour for the SMART Beach Trip after his debut, an 11th-place finish, at the Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway.
• Danny Bohn is back in the Mike “Andretti” Smith owned No. 25 car for the SMART Beach Trip. The combination started at the Kenny Minter Classic at Franklin County two races ago. Bohn scored a win in their second race together, at July’s Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway.
• Coastal Plains Raceway, the site of the first race of the SMART Beach Trip is under new management as Steve Zacharias recently teamed up with the track to operate the Jacksonville, NC track that was closed earlier this year. The track was formerly known, most recently, as New River All-American Speedway. Zacharias and his group also runs Florence Motor Speedway in South Carolina. 
• Mike Speeney, who stole much of the headlines in 2025 with an intense rivalry between he and Burt Myers, is entered into the Carteret Clash, race number-two of the double-header. The Pennsylvania native had four wins at Bowman Gray Stadium this season.
• 2024 was the first year for the double-header beach weekend.  Last season, weather forced both races to be contested in one-day. Teams competed in a morning race at Coastal (then New River-Valley All American) and then trailers caravaned to Carteret to complete a rare one-day, two-track doubleheader. 

The first race of the SMART Beach Trip is scheduled for Friday August 29 at Coastal Plains Raceway in Jacksonville, NC for the “Cardinal 99.” After that race, teams will make the 45-minute tow to the Emerald Coast of North Carolina to the unique Carteret County Speedway for a Saturday in Swansboro, NC and the traditional “Carteret Clash” 99-lapper. 

Both races of the SMART Beach Trip, and the entire season of the SMART Modified Tour are streamed live on FloRacing.