LOUDON, NH :: The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway are at the top of the list for fans and drivers, but perhaps nobody looks forward to going to the Magic Mile more than Andy Seuss.
Seuss, 27, grew up just under an hour away from the race track in Hampstead, N.H. Even though he’s a regular on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour he comes back north to run at his home track every year.
“It’s a place I grew up as an eight-year-old kid loving watching the drafting and the bump-drafting that Modifieds have at Loudon and I just dreamt of racing there,” said Seuss. “I still get goosebumps going through that tunnel.”
Seuss leads the Southern Tour points standings in his Eddie Harvey-owned no. 11 with three wins on the season. But that won’t be the car he’ll be piloting around the one-mile oval in The Granite State. Instead he’ll be in his family-owned no. 70 car which he said makes the event even more special.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand that when they see our family number 70 car out there how little of a team and just family we are,” he said. “(But) we also thrive on it. It’s very rewarding to know that it’s just a group of guys that all love racing just volunteer after work and there’s something special there that makes it all happen.”
He’s never won at his home track. His best finish at NHMS is fourth in 12 career starts. That result came in this race one year ago. He had two chances to get it done this weekend as he is also entered into the Whelen All-Star Shootout invitational event on Friday afternoon in addition to the Sunoco 100 on Saturday.
Seuss said winning this race track in front of his family and many friends would mean the world to him.
“To me it’s the Daytona 500,” he said. “Before I even knew what the Daytona 500 was I knew that the guys were driving their hearts out in these open-wheeled cars right up the street from where I grew up. Before I ever dreamed of the Daytona 500 I dreamed of winning at Loudon.”
