‘7-year-old me would think you’re lying’ says Hodgdon after NWMT win

Teddy Hodgdon has been dreaming since he was a kid to be a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner.

That dream came true Friday night at Stafford Motor Speedway — outdueling some of the best in Tour Type Modified competition.

Just a week ago, Hodgdon said his seven-year-old self would have dreamed of finishing in the top-10 at New Hampshire.  Now Hodgdon said that kid wouldn’t believe what just happened at his hometown track. Every major achievement up the short track ladder came in Stafford Springs and his first win on the NASCAR Tour was no different.

“Seven-year-old me would think you’re lying to say that I would win, especially at Stafford,” Hodgdon told Short Track Scene on Saturday. “It’s truly a dream come true. It’s almost like we could do nothing wrong during the race. Started out pretty quick in practice and then had a really poor qualifying effort. It definitely put a damper on our mood.”

With practice earlier in the afternoon on Friday, Hodgdon and the team knew they had a good piece, but qualifying set them behind the eight-ball a little.

“We had good momentum through practice, Then the car just did not fire off for whatever reason during qualifying,” Hodgdon said. “I knew there was only one way forward during the race and just put my head down and started taking guys down and we were slowly reeling the front pack in until that first caution came out. Pitted, made some adjustments, including tires on the pit stop and it was still just as good as the beginning and I knew I wasn’t going to be denied.” 

After the pit stops at lap 60, Hodgdon was ready to go to work, as he began to move forward.

“We just nailed the adjustments right and started coming forward after the pit stop there,” Hodgdon said. “We started passing guys on the top and it seemed like the track as the race went on, got really racey. A bunch of different lines, if you could work the top and hold guys and pinch them because a lot of guys were fighting tight, especially center. You could hold them down and they wouldn’t get the launch off and you could just drive right by them. It was pretty much just wherever anybody else wasn’t going. I would put my nose in there and see if they would do it, and the car was fine wherever I put it. Just hats off to the whole crew, and all my sponsors who have helped me get to this point, it’s, it’s really amazing.” 

Hodgdon would catch Stephen Kopcik, the race leader, battling with him and rubbing rails for 10 laps, until finally taking the lead on Lap 91 and pulling away from those trailing him.

As the laps passed by, Hodgdon gained a sizable lead, but then a late race caution with 20 laps to go would bring the field back together. This was the last thing Hodgdon or his team wanted to see.

“I was praying that it would go green,” Hodgdon said. “I knew those guys wouldn’t catch me if there weren’t cautions, they would only catch me if the yellow came out. That was just what I didn’t need. I was a little frustrated, but having such a long green flag run like that. You gotta expect anything’s going to happen and I’ve had wins stripped away like that before. I was trying to tell myself that it would be different this time, but in the back of my mind, all right, you’ve lost so many this way before, but not trying to have that be one of those nights.” 

For Teddy Hodgdon’s father, Ted Hodgdon, the nerves were high, but was confident in his son. Even saying on the FloRacing broadcast, ‘He’s going to go win this race.’

“We definitely didn’t want to see that caution come out,” the elder Hodgdon said. “He had a big lead there and was just driving away and we didn’t want that caution, but I knew how good the car was and how good the car had been all day. I knew if he’d just get a good restart, then he would.”

Then came the next challenge for Hodgdon, the restart. On the restart, Hodgdon would spin his tires, nearly collecting others, but was able to keep under control.

“I honestly didn’t expect the tires to spin so much, especially on the bottom,” Hodgdon explained. “I know in the past when I restarted on the front row there, that the top always has more grip for whatever reason on the restart, so I knew Matt (Hirschman) would get a good launch, but I definitely didn’t hook up at all with the rear tires. As soon as I shift into the fourth. I got a big shove from Mikey, right in the left rear and that sends you the opposite way. He was pushing left, so it set me right, and luckily I had just enough steering input, to have, Matt Hirschman straighten me out a little bit, and like he kind of overcooked it in the one and put me way up in the marbles there, but I knew if I could get my foot down and drag him down the back stretch.”

Hodgdon didn’t waste any time getting back by Hirschman, taking the lead back from Hirschman with 11 laps to go. 

“Once I got by him, it was just all focused on those last couple of laps, and he was really, really tight out front,” Hodgdon said. “I knew when I caught him at the center exit, and just pulled up right to him, I had to take it. I couldn’t waste any time. I know some guys pitted for tires and were coming up through the field, so I just, I had to go.” 

Winning at Stafford Motor Speedway, the track he grew up going to and racing at with his dad by his side, brought a wave of emotions to the 25-year-old.

“From day one, it’s been just me and him in the shop working together,” an emotional Hodgdon said. “All the way from karts back when I was a little kid to now, it’s been us on the family program. It means a lot. It definitely means a lot more to have him in victory lane and to celebrate all of our hard work and the countless hours in the shop. Pulling all nighters trying to get cars ready and through all the lows that we’ve had the last couple years. Then all the wins that have been taken away or whatever. It was really meaningful to do it for him and my entire family. They sacrificed so much for me to be here and just to have the opportunity to run for them is special. I’m truly grateful for everything they have done.” 

For Ted Hodgdon, getting to see his son complete a lifelong dream at a place with so many memories, just feels unreal for their family.

“It’s really been a lifelong body of work for us,” Ted Hodgdon says. “We’ve just been there racing since he was seven-years-old and it’s just a culmination of all those years of hard work and struggle and to win NASCAR’s return back to Stafford at his home track was incredible, a fairy tale.” 

Heading into Stafford, Hodgdon had found consistency with the tour, finishing in the top ten in six of seven of the last races. Now they can add a win to his fulltime season on the tour.

Hodgdon has known they can compete, but knows they need to work on getting better at qualifying.

“I know the beginning of the year wasn’t as strong of a start as we wanted to, but we’ve kind of found our groove and how to set these cars up and for whatever reason, we’re late chargers all the time,” Hodgdon explained. “With places that you need track position. Obviously, we need to try and work on our qualifying, that’s kind of our big achilles heel right now, is just starting up front, but we just go through the races and pass people. That’s kind of been a struggle in the past for me with tour racing, open racing. Sometimes I qualify good and just couldn’t pass, but for this year, we can make spots up, it’s just how quickly and how clean, but there was no denying it tonight that I could put it pretty much anywhere and we were the fastest fastest going track.” 

“A huge shout out to all the crew and all the sponsors that have been with me throughout my entire career,” Hodgdon said. “I truly appreciate every single person and company that put time and money into this program. We’ve had an extremely bad stretch of luck the last couple years, and just keep trying to keep my nose on the grindstone and be consistent and show up every week. I keep telling myself that I can do it. I finally got one and just happened to be the biggest one. Like I keep saying, it’s the next morning and I still feel like I’m dreaming, I’m still like I woke up and it just isn’t reality still.”

Well, for Hodgdon, the dream is reality now, as he is now and forever, a winner on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.