 A disqualification of winner Brian Robie gives second place finisher Teddy Hodgdon the victory in the Seekonk Speedway Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event on June 27. The victory earned Hodgdon and the team a $20,000 winning prize.
“Obviously I’d like beat him on track, but the tech officials have to keep the integrity of the sport,” Hodgdon said. “If that’s how it has to be, I’ll take that any day. Hodgdon went from earning a $6,000 second place payday to taking home $20,000 for the victory. Bonsignore will now earn $6,000 and Cipriano will collect $4,000. All other positions from Thursday’s finish will move up one spot in the finishing order. Hodgdon became the 21st different Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series winner since the series’ inception in 2014. He is the second first-time series winner in two events this year. Stepen Kopcik got his first series win in the division’s 2024 opener at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on May 26. Hodgon was making his 10th career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series start. His best finish before Thursday was a fourth place at Thunder Road on May 26. Hodgdon leads the series standings after two of eight events. “It’s definitely the biggest payday that I’ve won,” Hodgdon said. “It will go a long way for the next couple races. We’re leading the points no matter what for [the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series] so that will have a big momentum shift going into the next couple races. We’ve been able to close out races which has been our struggle with Tri-Track specifically. So being able to do that and have good points finishes going on is going to be crucial for the later part of the season.”
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 Photo: Tom Morris Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway kicked off its 2024 race season with the NAPA Auto Parts Duels as part of the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® Weekend. Feature races were held for Stafford’s weekly Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions along with two 40-lap NAPA Duel races that set the top-20 lineup for Sunday’s 100-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler® main event. Scoring wins in the two NAPA Duel races were Teddy Hodgdon and Ronnie Silk. Weekly feature wins were scored by Darrell Keane in the Late Model feature, Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature.
In the first 40-lap NAPA Duel Race, Matt Swanson took the early lead at the drop of the green flag with Teddy Hodgdon quickly moving into second. Michael Christopher, Jr. was third in line with Stephen Kopcik fourth and David Arute fifth. Ronnie Williams took fifth from Arute on lap-4 and that allowed Doug Coby to follow him through and take over sixth and drop Arute back to seventh. Hodgdon hounded Swanson until lap-15 when he was able to take over the lead with a pass going into turn 3. Williams was now in third behind Hodgdon and Swanson with Christopher fourth and Coby in fifth. Jon McKennedy was sixth followed by Eric Goodale, Justin Bonsignore, Woody Pitkat, and Arute. At the halfway point, Hodgdon was still in command with Swanson, Williams, Christopher, and Coby giving chase. McKennedy took fifth from Williams on lap-27 as Hodgdon continued to lead the race with Swanson, Christopher, and Coby behind him. Hodgdon led the field to the checkered flag to win the first NAPA Duel and earn pole position for tomorrow’s NAPA Spring Sizzler® 100-lap main event.. Swanson finished second with McKennedy, Christopher, and Coby rounding out the top-5.  With 7 top-5 finishes in only 11 starts over the last 2 seasons, Danbury native Teddy Hodgdon has quietly established himself as a serious contender any time Monaco Modifieds or Open Modifieds take to Stafford Speedway. The 2019 SK Light track champion and driver of the #55ct Montanari Fuel Troyer car comes into the Saturday, September 23rd NAPA Fall Final with a 4-race streak of finishing in the top-4.
“Honestly I think just having the experience of the last 4 seasons of SK Light and SK Modified® competition translated a lot to the open car,” said Hodgdon. “Getting a great engine from Mike Pettit has also been a key to our performance. We went to New Smyrna in 2022 and finished third in the points and then coming to Stafford and getting some top-5 finishes in 2022 along with the consistency we’ve shown this year is just an evolution of what we’ve learned and what we’ve put into our program. Big thanks to Montanari Fuel, Chris Garcia, Pete Matton, Business Time Motorsports, Creative Racing, Don Barker, Pettit Racing Engines, Williams Race Gears, the Benedict Family, Robert Todd, all the crew guys Max, Kyle, Ray Smith and Lou DiLisio from the #28 SK team, my spotter Lucas, and of course my father, he’s the backbone of this whole operation.” Hodgdon recorded a second place finish in the CBYD 81 back in May and he followed that performance up with a fourth place finish in the June Casella 80 and two third place finishes in the July GAF 80 and the August Lincoln Tech 80. Hodgdon is still looking for his first win behind the wheel of a full blown modified and thinks his chances of obtaining that first victory are very good come this Saturday, September 23rd for the NAPA Fall Final at Stafford. “Absolutely, I think we’ve got a real shot at getting our first win this weekend at the Fall Final,” said Hodgdon. “We’ve been consistent, we’ve led laps, and we’ve had good short run and long run speed so now we just need to put everything together. At the last open race the pit stops kind of hurt us but we’ve looked at the tape and we’ve gone over everything with everyone. We’ve had good segments of every part of the race throughout the season and if we can put together a complete day, I think we should be right there. The Sizzler and the Fall Final haven’t been the greatest of races for me so far but this one feels totally different for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been as prepared for a race as I am for the Fall Final. We have a huge notebook of things we’re going to work on and I think we’ll be right there as long as we can keep our nose clean and complete all the laps. To win at the Fall Final would be the biggest win of my career for sure. All the top modified drivers are going to be at this race and to be able to beat them would be surreal.” While Hodgdon may not have the experience that many of the drivers in the NAPA Fall Final field will have when it comes to racing a full blown modified car, he can lean on his years of SK Light and SK Modified® weekly competition to help give him and the #55 team a boost when they show up to race at Stafford. “I think my SK Light and SK Modified® experience helps because you can see in the SK car just how much the track evolves each week,” said Hodgdon. “You can see through the year how the track reacts and what the car will give you which helps you get a knowledge bank in the back of your mind on how to predict how the car will react to the track the following week. Except for the tire scuff session, the Fall Final race format will be very similar to the open races at Stafford so we’ll take the same approach and try to not do anything differently than we normally do. The last open race we made some adjustments to the car that really helped put us over the hump to be a legitimate contender and we’ve got 4 good races under our belt, so if we can go from there, we should be alright.” The NAPA Fall Final is set for Saturday, September 23rd and tickets are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets for the NAPA Fall Final are priced at $30.00 for adult general admission, $10.00 for kids ages 6-14, kids 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult, and reserved seating is priced at $35.00 for all ages. Pit passes are $45.00 with a valid 2023 Stafford Competition License and $50.00 without a Stafford license. If you are unable to attend the event, tune into the live stream on FloRacing, the official streaming partner of Stafford Speedway. For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.  Jason Reasin photography DANBURY, Conn. – After an offseason filled with preparation, Teddy Hodgdon and the No. 55 team are heading south to start the 2023 season this week. Teddy Hodgdon will compete in the Tour Modified division at the New Smyrna Speedway World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing for the second straight year – one of the most competitive divisions in all of the country.
Last year, in his Tour Modified and New Smyrna debut, Hodgdon had multiple top-10 finishes during the week and finished inside the top-five in the World Series point standings. This year, he’s hoping to park the No. 55 in Victory Lane – and come away with strong finishes to continue to learn the ropes of the Tour Modified class in preparation for 2023 in the Northeast. “I think I am the most excited I’ve ever felt about racing going into this year,” Hodgdon said. “We had a great run last year at New Smyrna, and with the strives we made over the summer and the offseason, I can't wait to put that to the test during the week at the World Series. The goal of the team is to contend for wins and if the points line up try for a championship – doing this would mean so much to me and my entire crew.” Hodgdon will compete at the World Series during the Tour Modified events from February 13-17. Each night includes at least a 50-lap race – with Wednesday, February 15 holding the special John Blewett Memorial 76-lapper and Friday, February 17 holding the Richie Evans Memorial 100. All of the events for the Modifieds during the week and all divisions will be aired live on FloRacing.TV. The week of World Series action includes over nine divisions and begins on February 10, lasting through the final night on February 18. For more information on rising Modified star Teddy Hodgdon, visit TeddyHodgdon.com and follow Teddy Hodgdon Racing on Facebook, where you can find updates from the track on race day.  Photo: MLB Racing Photography By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
Coming off top-10 finishes in five of his first six Tour-Type Modified races, Teddy Hodgdon is filled with confidence as the team heads for opening weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway this Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. Hodgdon, who finished seventh in the Icebreaker 125 at Thompson Speedway on April 9, also competed at the World Series at New Smyrna Speedway in February – finishing top-10 in all but one race of the five – and also finishing third in points for the prestigious week. Now, Hodgdon is hoping to collect a $15,000 winning prize in the 50th anniversary of the NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford. On top of racing for the big prize in the 100-lap Spring Sizzler – which will also award the winning driver a seat in the SRX (Superstar Racing Experience) event at Stafford on July 2 – Hodgdon will also compete in the SK Modified division with a new team. Hodgdon will be driving the No. 22 owned by Dan Avery and prepared by Mike O’Sullivan in Stafford’s top division for the 2022 season. This weekend, he will hit the track in competitive action for the first time with the group. It’s time for some double-duty. “I’m super excited to pull double-duty this weekend at Stafford,” Teddy Hodgdon said. “I feel like we have a good opportunity to start off the season strong with both of our teams. The Open Modified was pretty sporty in practice last weekend, so I think we can carry that momentum as a whole into the Spring Sizzler this weekend.” On Saturday, Hodgdon will compete in qualifying racing for the Spring Sizzler. Following a draw for heat races, teams will compete in 8-lap heats, then the field will be split-up into two, 40-lap NAPA Auto Parts Duel races, where the top-10 drivers in each will advance directly to the Spring Sizzler 100 on Sunday. For those who don’t make it, Last Chance Qualifying races will take place on Sunday. The SK Modified portion of the show – including heats and the 40-lap feature – will take place on Sunday, along with the 100-lap Spring Sizzler. Tickets are available online at StaffordMotorSpeedway.com and will also be available at the track on race day. For those who can’t make it to the track, the race will air live on FloRacing.TV as part of a subscription service. For more information on Teddy Hodgdon Racing, visit TeddyHodgdon.com and follow on Facebook at Teddy Hodgdon Racing.  Photo: Tom Morris By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
Teddy Hodgdon is ready to make the step to the big stage. For the first time in his racing career, Hodgdon will strap in behind the wheel of a Tour-Type Modified next week. And it comes at one of the biggest events in all of Modified racing. Hodgdon will compete as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, set for five consecutive nights of short-track racing in Florida. Driving the No. 55 for his family-owned team, Hodgdon is hoping to gain crucial experience down south, as part of what will be an exciting week in the sunshine. “I’m definitely excited to jump in the new car and experience new horsepower for the first time,” Hodgdon said. “It’s more of a dream come true rather than being nervous or anxious. I watched the legends of the sport race in these cars at that track and now to be able to drive the same machinery as them is something I never thought would be possible.” Hodgdon knows he’s going to need a few laps under his belt to get going, but is confident it won’t take long to get up to speed at one of the toughest events of the year. There is nothing like making your debut against the best in the country. “There will always be some bumps and challenges during trips like this but my team has overcome them in the past,” Hodgdon said. “It’s no different than any other Friday night at Stafford – just it’s 1,500 miles away. Whatever comes our way, we will be ready for it.” Hodgdon’s expectation for the week? He’s not exactly sure. He just wants to learn, learn and learn some more, while bringing the car home with the best finish possible. “The big thing for me is getting used to the new horsepower, longer-distance races and seeing who I will be competing against this year in the open shows at Stafford,” Hodgdon said. “A lot of the guys are going to be running New Smyrna and those open shows both – so it will be a good gauge for us. Racing all five nights will definitely shorten my learning curve come the Spring Sizzler at Stafford. I’ll just be that much more ready.” World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Driver: Teddy Hodgdon Race Dates: February 14-18, one race each night Race Time: 7:30 PM Race Track: New Smyrna Speedway, half-mile banked oval Location: New Smyrna, Florida Tickets: Available at track Watch Live: FloRacing.TV More Information: NewSmyrnaSpeedway.org During New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, follow the team’s Facebook page, Teddy Hodgdon Racing, for updates directly from the track. You can also visit the all-new TeddyHodgdon.com for more information on the team.  The video crew of Stafford Motor Speedway had the chance to catch up with Teddy Hodgdon to discuss his 2022 plans!
 Photo: Jim DuPont A Story By RaceDayCT.com
Call it the Yahtzee move within the SK Modified division at Stafford Speedway. From the double fin to the double deuce. Matt Buckler of the Journal Inquirer reported that Teddy Hodgdon IV will make the move from his family owned No. 55 SK Modified ride to the Dan Avery owned No. 22 SK Modified for the 2022 season at Stafford. Hodgdon, the 2019 SK Light Modified division champion at Stafford, replaces Chase Dowling in Avery’s ride. Dowling drove the car in 2020 and drove a partial season with the team in 2021. Hodgdon’s family owned SK Modified will changed over to a Tour Type Modified to compete in Stafford’s seven Open Modified events at the track in 2022, including the 50th Spring Sizzler in April. “This is a great opportunity for me,” Hodgdon told the Journal Inquirer. “We have been talking about this the last couple of years, but everything finally came together.” With a 12th place finish in the standings in 2020, Hodgdon was the top rookie in the SK Modified division at Stafford with two top-five’s and five top-10’s in 14 starts. He started 19 of 20 SK Modified events at Stafford in 2021 ending up 14th in standings with two top-five’s and five top-10 finishes. With the Avery team Hodgdon will be teamed with Stafford SK Modified division championship winning crew chief Mike O’Sullivan. “I’m pretty confident that we’re going to have a great season,” Hodgdon told the JI. “This is a great situation for me.”  Story by Stafford Speedway PR
Following a 5-win season that carried him to the 2019 SK Light championship at Stafford Speedway, Teddy Hodgdon made the move up to the track’s premier SK Modified® division for the 2020 season. Hodgdon and the #55 Montanari Fuel team endured a season filled with highs and lows that saw him post 2 top-5 and 5 top-10 finishes in 14 starts to claim NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year honors. “It’s a great feeling to be the Rookie of the Year, especially coming off a championship season last year,” said Hodgdon. “Going into the best weekly modified division in the country, there’s 15 guys who can win every week, and we had some struggles in the middle of the season with wrecks and a couple of untimely incidents, but we held our own throughout the season and I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish. I felt like we checked all the boxes for our rookie season. My guys are the best in the business and with all the hardships we went through this year I hope we can be pretty strong next season. I have a lot of people to thank for this season, Montanari Fuels, Pete Matton and Lori Brasher, Business Time Motorsports, A Pappa John Construction, Gator Sport Fishing, Keith Rocco Racing, Ness Auto, State Cutters, Jims Welding, Ultimate Restoration, Critical Signs, Economy Signs, Simpson Race Products, The Joie of Seating, SSR Suspension, Williams Race Gears, Pettit Race Engines, Waddell Communications, Dale and Connie Massey, Roby and Dawn Sadler, Tony Mottola and Family, Robert and Vicki Tod, Trent Markovitz, Brandon Wilkinson, Pixies Pop Shop, Lasco Roofing, Benedict Family, James R Paige Plumbing, Tally-Ho Aviation, Serio’s Pizzaria, New York Sports Show, and Fenceline Films.” In only a short period of time, Hodgdon has enjoyed a large amount of success racing at Stafford. He won races in the Legend Cars from 2015-2016 and then in the SK Lights from 2018-2019, including a championship last year. Hodgdon found out first hand just how tough and competitive the world of SK Modified® racing is at Stafford. “It was a pretty big reality check to see how you stack up against the best guys,” said Hodgdon. “I think it was facing a whole new level of competition. All the guys in the SK’s have been racing for so much longer than the guys in the Lights and they have a lot more experience and seat time and they know how the cars are going to react and what it’s going to do. You have to prepare for that, you have to be ready to face the best every single week and not let up for a second. You can’t miss your margin by any amount, you have to be perfect every week and that’s what it takes to be able to run with those guys up front in the SK Modified® division.” While Hodgdon and his team endured the hardships of being a rookie in one of the toughest weekly divisions anywhere in the country, the high point of his rookie campaign came on July 31st when he led for a portion of the 40-lap race and ended up with a season best finish of second place behind Cory DiMatteo. “That was the first race where we really showed our speed this season,” said Hodgdon. “We were able to start up front and we led I think the first quarter of that race. Being out front, there’s no rabbit to chase so I wasn’t sure where to hit my marks. Once I fell in behind Cory [DiMatteo] I was able to keep pace with him but he had just a little bit better drive off the corner and that’s how he was able to stay in front of us. I knew working with Keith Rocco and switching over to Troyer cars for this season that something good was going to happen. We just needed everything to go right for us and it did that night.” One area that Hodgdon was lacking during his rookie season was working short run speed into his #55 car. The car would be good on long runs, but where Hodgdon really felt the sting of not having short run speed was in qualifying heat races and at the start of the feature events. “This year was tough and I think we really needed to work on our short run speed,” said Hodgdon. Heat races killed us, we had to start in the back for probably more than two thirds of the time and that really set us back. Whenever we started up front we had really strong races. We had a second in the fourth race of the year and we got a fourth place finish battling up through the field and we had a bunch of strong top-10 runs in like 7th or 8th place. The car would always seem to take about 5 laps to come in and we tried everything this year so we’re going to start fresh for next season and hopefully we can get that remedied. We’ll use the off-season to regroup and get everything back to normal like it was last year. If we could change one thing on the car it would be the short run speed. We’d get long green flag runs of like 15 or 20 laps and we would start picking cars off, it was just starting in the back that was a real killer for us.” At this time Hodgdon is looking forward to returning to the SK Modified® division for the 2021 season and getting his first feature victory while he also has his eyes set on possibly making some open modified starts during the 2021 season. “We’re looking at coming back with the SK next year and I’m always looking for an open modified ride if someone wanted to partner up with me,” said Hodgdon. “I think we made a lot of progress this season and if things can go right during a night like they did for us when we finished second, maybe we can capitalize with a year’s worth of experience and hopefully we can get it done with a victory.”  Story by Stafford Speedway PR After winning the SK Light championship at Stafford Speedway in 2019, Teddy Hodgdon is set to climb the ranks into the SK Modified® division for the 2020 season. The Danbury, CT native and driver of the #55 Montanari Fuel Chevrolet drove to 5 wins last season along with 12 top-5 and 15 top-10 finishes. Hodgdon will look to carry that success into the SK Modified® division as he prepares to embark on his rookie campaign. “We won the championship last year and that was a great accomplishment and we had a great year,” said Hodgdon. “There’s a lot of guys moving up this year and the rookie class is going to be pretty stout, so winning NAPA Rookie of the Year would be awesome. I know we won a race in our first season of SK Lights but the competition is so much higher in the SK Modified® division that I’m not really shooting for a win. I think there’s probably going to be at least 15 different cars and probably more that can win a race on any given night. We just have to take steps to be consistent and then worry about getting up front and going for wins later on. There’s no better feeling than beating some of the best drivers in the Northeast and now we have the opportunity to try to do that in the SK Modified® division.” Hodgdon won’t be the only SK Light driver moving into the SK Modified® ranks for the first time in 2020. Hodgdon will be joined by Bryan Narducci and Mikey Flynn from the SK Light ranks and they will have to contend with fellow rookie drivers Lou Torres, Nick Giardina, and Pat Yuhas in the chase for NAPA Rookie of the Year honors. “The rookie battle this season is definitely going to be big,” said Hodgdon. “Bryan, Mikey, and I have all come up together through Karts, Legend Cars, and SK Lights and now to be coming up to the biggest stage in weekly racing in the Northeast, it’s going to put a big spotlight on us. There’s going to be some pressure but hopefully I can be the rookie driver who comes out on top at the end of the season. I’d really like to thank Montanari Fuel, Pete Matton has stepped up big time this season and he’s going to be my car owner, Jim & Mylene Dempsey, Ness Auto, State Cutters, the entire Benedict family, Gram and Papa, Lasco Roofing, Keith Rocco Racing, Jim’s Welding, Ultimate Restoration, and all my friends and family who have supported me over the years.” For his first 2 seasons of SK Light competition, Hodgdon drove a Chassis Dynamics car, but Hodgdon will be changing over to a new Troyer TA1 car for his rookie season in the SK Modified® division. Hodgdon made a start in a Troyer car at Thompson last season so he has an idea of what he will be working with when he hits the track for the first time on April 24-26 for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®. “We’ve got a new car for this season, we’re switching from Chassis Dynamics over to a Troyer TA1 car,” said Hodgdon. “Obviously the two cars are different so they’ll feel different but we did run one race at Thompson last year in a Troyer, so it won’t be totally new for us. We’re going to be running with Keith Rocco helping us out again and he’s a great guy, awesome driver and teacher. His help is going to make things much easier for us than if we were running the car on our own.” While Hodgdon has certainly shown that he is a quick study behind the wheel, he also realizes the level of competition that he is getting ready to face in the SK Modified® division and that he has to learn throttle control along with having a heightened sense of awareness. “One thing I noticed with the SK Light at Thompson, you can pretty much hammer down on the throttle and steer the car off the corners and it’ll be fine,” said Hodgdon. “With the SK, you have about 100 or so more horsepower and there’s a big difference when you come off the corners side by side with another car. The SK’s are about a half to ¾ of a second faster than the Lights so everything happens so much quicker, your reflexes need to be up there, and you have to have really good throttle control. It’s definitely going to be harder in the SK’s than the SK Lights.” |
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