J&R PRECAST 150 BRINGS NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR BACK TO SEEKONK SPEEDWAY MAY 16

SEEKONK, Mass. — The stars and cars of NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour will return to Seekonk Speedway for the first of two visits in 2026 on Saturday, May 16. The annual J&R Precast 150 moves up a few weeks, marked as the fourth race of the season for the Whelen Modified Tour. The event at Oxford Plains Speedway, originally set to be race four, was postponed to June 6.

This brings the Tour to the Action Track of the East with countless storylines, early in their 16-race season.

Seekonk Speedway is proud to partner with J&R Precast once again for this event J&R is a family-run precast concrete business that began operations in the late 1950s. Located in Berkley, they are proud to be a 4th generation business. Over the years, J&R Precast has grown consistently through a dedication to quality and a relentless commitment to customer service. As a result of this commitment to their customers, they are Southern New England's premier precast. J&R Precast provides quality precast concrete products including Redi-Rock retaining walls, gravity walls, and reinforced walls. They manufacture commercial and residential precast products for use in drainage, septic, stormwater, transportation, and other precast product applications. They even offer the opportunity to work with you on a custom project, if you give them a call at 508-822-3311.

Stephen Kopcik captured his first career Whelen Modified Tour win at Martinsville in March and followed it up with a second straight checkered flag at Thompson Speedway’s Icebreaker on April 12. Kopcik is certainly the hot hand when it comes to the NWMT early in the season, capturing two wins in three events, and jumping out front early in the championship standings. His best Tour finish so far in two starts at the Action Track of the East is second, with a fourth in the other event. Seekonk fans should keep a close eye on Kopcik, who is looking to join a rather short list of drivers in the history of the Tour who have won three consecutive events. 

Defending champion Austin Beers returns to Seekonk coming off a solid start to his season, with finishes of third, fifth and sixth. Like Kopcik, Beers has Tour success at Seekonk - he led 129 laps after starting from the outside pole in 2024 and finished second. He also is coming off a third place finish last May. Beers has qualified second in all three of his Seekonk starts driving for KLM Motorsports in the No. 64.

Another name for fans to watch?

Matt Hirschman. 

The veteran campaigner has won the last three Whelen Modified Tour stops at Seekonk in the No. 60, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Hirschman looks to add an elusive fourth straight Seekonk Tour win in the J&R Precast 150, looking to continue his stranglehold on the division at the Action Track of the East. Will the new American Racer tire in 2026 slow him down at Seekonk? Time will tell. 

Two-time series champion Ron Silk, who is coming off consecutive second-place finishes, returns to Seekonk looking to capture victory. Tyler Rypkema, driving the famed Ole Blue No. 3, invades Seekonk looking for success. Driving the USNEPower Motorsports No. 1, Patrick Emerling also returns to Seekonk hoping to capture the checkered flag. 

They will be joined by names like Eric Goodale, Craig Lutz, former Seekonk winner Doug Coby, Jon McKennedy, Mike Christopher Jr, Timmy Solomito, Teddy Hodgdon and many others.

Seekonk Speedway’s season continues on Saturday, May 16, when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns for the J&R Precast 150. The event will also include Seekonk’s NASCAR Local Racing Series Late Models, Sportsman and Sport Trucks. For tickets and more information, including the full race day schedule, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com, and be sure to follow the track on social media.