Mike Christopher Jr ready for redemption at New Hampshire

Last September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Mike Christopher Jr. brought the legendary, black 13 NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified back into action, honoring his late uncle and former tour champion, Ted Christopher. 

In the closing laps of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race last year, Christopher Jr. was battling his way towards the lead in the top 3 when his motor expired, ending his day early. On that same day, Christopher Jr. made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut with Halmar Friesen Racing, going home with a solid 13th place finish. 

It has been a very busy 2026 season for the 27-year-old, racing at times, weekly SK Modifieds at Stafford Motor Speedway, full-time on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and a few races with Halmar Friesen Racing in the truck series. 

Christopher Jr. this past Friday Night returned to Stafford Speedway for the biggest SK Modified race of the year, leading all 100 laps, and fighting off multiple cautions throughout the early portions of the race to take home the win after being winless in SK Modified action through last week in 2026.

“It was not great in my mind. It was kind of weighing on me, to be honest. I haven’t raced the full season at Stafford, and that kind of puts me back with how their handicapping works. But this race, we didn’t use the usual handicap system, we used a plus/minus, so that put me up front to start, and I feel like we really showed what we had all year, in terms of speed, but, for one reason or another, it just didn’t pan out. Overall though, I feel like it came at the perfect time. I feel like momentum is everything in racing, I’ll be riding that high all the way to Loudon, New Hampshire,” a confident Christopher Jr. says.  

2026 brought changes for Christopher Jr. and teamed up with Alan Derling and the Elite Racing team, to tackle the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour fulltime. Christopher Jr. and the Elite Racing team are currently in the top 10 in the championship points in his first full season on the tour.

“It’s been an adventure, that is for sure. It came together really quickly and I feel like we have learned a lot together in the 1st half of the season and we still are. We’re still gelling as a team. Then just like the rest of the tour. We’re learning the tires too, so it’s not only the car, it’s been the people, tires, the setups that goes with the American Racer tires, but, I’ve had a lot of fun as of late,” a pleased Christopher Jr says.

Christopher and the Elite Racing team have been working on setups and bringing on additional help to try and get the Elite Racing 31 towards the front and have noticed the improvements.

“I brought on my buddy Joey Mooch to help out with adjustments and setups, and I feel like we’ve turned around the program for the better there. We haven’t gotten quite the results that we need or want,  and that goes for not only me, but for everybody, and the team owner,” explains Christopher Jr. “we’re basically a brand new team, and we’re all learning how to go through this tour process together, and it’s not easy, we’re doing our best at it.”

When joining Elite Racing, Christopher Jr. had one request for team owner Alan Derling, that was to race the Christopher family owned tour modified at New Hampshire, honoring the scheme made famous by Ted Christopher.

“My dad and I put together that car. I talked with Alan at the beginning of this conversation about going tour racing and said that my one condition on joining forces is for the race at Loudon, I have to race with my family owned car, so that’s what we’re doing this weekend. Been preparing that car for f***, a year.,” Christopher says with a little sarcasm. 

Christopher Jr. and his family left the NASCAR Whelen Tour modified race disappointed last year, a bit heartbreaker even, after going into the weekend last September with no expectations set, being in the top 5 in the final, when the motor expired with 2 laps to go.

“We didn’t know what to expect last year, we threw that car together the best we could and as quick we could. Kind of a ragtag team that we put together for pit crew and all that, it just worked out. The car was built immaculate. My dad really babied that thing and he did even better this time around,” Christopher Jr. says with appreciation for his dad.

“Now that we’ve seen how good it could run. Especially at the front of the field fighting for the win at the end. I think we have those expectations going into this weekend,” a confident Christopher Jr. explains, “we just need everything to stay together and tires don’t do anything stupid because we got different compounds and chemical makeups with the American Racers for New Hampshire this weekend. There’s variables and everything, but everybody’s going to be in the same sandbox. As long as we do our job. Hopefully we’re there at the end and can compete for a win because I think it was a high probability last year that we were going to win, so I want to back that up this year too.” 

Similar to last year, Christopher Jr. will once again be teaming up with Halmar Friesen Racing to tackle New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the truck series, making it his third start in 2026, and coming off a top 10 finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, finishing 10th.

This weekend will bring extra meaning for Christopher Jr. and his family, as the truck scheme will honor his uncle, Ted Christopher’s 1998 Whelen sponsored car, that was in the then NASCAR Busch Series. 

Christopher Jr. is really looking forward to this weekend and this throwback, and how honored it is to carry the Whelen name on his 72 Toyota Tundra at New Hampshire now.

“That’s the sweetest part. I’ve always been back and forth with Peter Tiezzi from Whelen, and I’ve talked to Jeff Marsh before, who runs the company. It pretty much just popped up in my head earlier in the year, and I got on the phone with Jeff Marsh and told him about it. Then, one thing led to another, and it worked out nicely because they’re working on their 30 years of  Whelen Engineering being involved in motorsports,” a very grateful Christopher Jr. says.

For the Connecticut native, it adds a little extra meaning having a company based in his state that will be onboard for the weekend.

“I’ve always been involved with motorsports in one way or another, especially with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and they have a strong presence in New England. So, I feel like it’s very fitting for us to team up for this event at New Hampshire and to make it a throwback paint scheme is even cooler. It sheds light on Teddy as well and the family heritage, all that stuff. I’m just hoping it’s going to be good,” a very grateful Christopher Jr. says.

With increased seattime with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2026, making starts at Rockingham and IRP, Christopher Jr. says the confidence is there, and he’s setting expectations high.

 “I’ve got more races under my belt, I think with IRP, I felt like we had a really strong truck there, and we got a top 10. So coming back to New Hampshire and if everything falls in place again like IRP, I think we can compete inside the top 10 and, and ultimately I think the goal of mine is to finish in the top 5. It might be a stretch, but the Halmar Friesen Racing guys really know what they’re doing and I think it’s a possibility,” a hopeful Christopher Jr. says. 

For Christopher Jr. he gained an additional teammate along with Stewart Freisen, and that’s NASCAR Cup Series and 2017 truck series champion, Christopher Bell. Christopher Jr. says he plans to pick Bell’s brain for the truck race.

“I’m going to take full advantage of that with practice and qualifying on Friday. We’ll obviously be next to each other, so that’s obviously a cool opportunity, working with a cup guy. At the end of the day, they are people just like you and I, but they’re really not. They’re knowledgeable and I’ll try and pick his brand as much as I can. The same goes with Stew too. They will both be good teammates to have for sure,” Christopher Jr. explains. 

At the end of the day, and with any race weekend, whether its weekly SK Racing at Stafford, or racing with the NASCAR series, Christopher Jr. is appreciative to have great people in his corner.

“My dad deserves a huge thank you, he’s been helping out with the SK program and staying focused on that, even though I’m bouncing around from here to Charlotte, to Indy, to Charlotte again and all over. We’ve been skipping SK racing for other opportunities, not only for truck stuff, but the tour stuff too. Just a huge, huge shout out to him for maintaining racecars that are capable of winning, and we’re going to see that on Saturday as well with the tour car obviously. Alan Derling with the Elite Racing Team and for giving me this opportunity to go tour racing as well, and then all the guys from HFR, especially Al Heinke from Mohawk Northeast, none of this stuff wouldn’t be possible without him. I owe it all to him for giving me these opportunities racing in the truck series and showcasing what I have,” a very grateful Christopher Jr. says.

“We’re all going to make the most of it. It’s all coming together. All parties are coming together for this one weekend in New Hampshire. At the end of the day, I just want to make the most of it, open up as many eyes as I can,” a hopeful Christopher Jr says. 

Catch Mike Christopher Jr. at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, this weekend August 22nd, racing double-duty with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at 12 p.m., followed by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at 4:30p.m.