Even though much of the east coast is blanketed under snow and ice, racing season is finally here again. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will open their 2026 campaign in the shark bite capital of the world for the fifth year in a row this Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway. 

Nearly 40 teams and drivers have filed entries to compete for 200 laps around the high-banked Florida half-mile oval that sits just a few miles south of Daytona International Speedway.

Headlining the entry list is the defending champion of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Northampton, Pennsylvania’s Austin Beers. The reigning champion hasn’t had the most success at New Smyrna just yet in his career. In four previous starts, Beers’ best finish came one year ago when he finished fifth. That is his only top five finish in four starts, though he’s only finished outside the top 10 once when he finished 11th in the 2022 race.

To get the win, he’ll have to go through Patrick Emerling who thoroughly dominated the Modified portion of the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway in 2025. Emerling scored the victory in the NWMT event to kick off his Speedweeks with a last-to-first charge. He backed that up by scoring wins in three of the five World Series races.

Back again in 2026 is the Justin Bonsignore versus Ron Silk rivalry that sparked up between 2022 and 2024 as Silk returns to full-time competition after a season away from chasing a championship. 

Bonsignore, surprisingly, has yet to go to victory lane at New Smyrna Speedway. However, he’s finished on the podium in three of his four starts with two runner-up finishes. Who was the winner of both of those races though? That’s right, it’s Ron Silk. Silk scored two wins in a row to open the season in 2023 and 2024, which propelled him to finishing top two in points each of those seasons. 

Another driver to keep an eye on in Saturday’s race is NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece. Preece will be driving a car that he has prepared out of his own personal stables in North Carolina. The 2013 NWMT champion has a bunch of victories and championships during the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna, but he’s still searching for his first NWMT win at the track where he scored his first Modified victory. Preece will also be in action for a few nights in both the Modified and his Super Late Model during the World Series when he’s not tied up with day job duties at Daytona.

The entire 37-car entry list for Saturday’s New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 can be found below.

Race fans can watch Saturday’s season opener for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, as well as the entire NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, and the entire World Series of Asphalt from New Smyrna Speedway, live on FloRacing with a FloRacing subscription. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour At New Smyrna Speedway Entry List