Gary Putnam reflects on first year as Series Director

Last November, NASCAR announced Gary Putnam as Series Director of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, becoming the fifth director in division history.

Putnam, a New England native, as well a former driver and owner with the Modified Tour, now has a moment to reflect. The early part of the 2026 season, like for many tracks in New England, fought weekly weather woes, leading to multiple challenges in postponing races for the Modified Tour.

“I started out taking on water, literally, with a few of the weather hurdles I’ve had to venture through,” Putnam said to Short Track Scene. “I quickly got my feet underneath me, and, actually, toward the middle part of the year when we were racing just about every week, we got into a flow of things and got kind of the hang of it and just kept motoring on.”. 

With Putnam’s new role, it gave a different perspective when he headed to the track, with more responsibility and managing an entire organization. The new perspective gave new opportunities for Putnam to be more involved though, in which he enjoyed.

“Going to the racetrack the day before the event, getting the hauler set up and all the inspection equipment set up,” Putnam said. “Then talking things through with the promoters and racetrack owners. I really enjoyed that part. I obviously enjoyed the racing because everybody’s a fan. The races were really good this year and pretty competitive with a new tire and all. I enjoyed watching them and just enjoyed being part of the Whelen Modified Tour family.” 

Every new role comes with a learning curve, and Putnam experienced that firsthand during his first year as Series Director.

“Just not knowing what the job totally entailed was probably the biggest challenge,” Putnam said. “Everything’s new to me. It’s a totally different side of the room, obviously dealing with the promoters and making sure they get what they need is one of the primary concerns. Obviously the main concern is to put on a good show for the fans and all the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour fanbase, getting what they expect on the racetrack. Then, of course, the weather was definitely a challenge. Late spring through early summer we went through a couple of rain delays, and a couple of makeup dates, but we got through it, and I probably got  a lot more experience and better for it.” 

In December of 2025, it was announced that the Modified Tour would change its primary tire manufacturer to American Racer. This change would become the center of attention through much of the season, peaking at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in August, the biggest race of the season.

After the roller-coaster ride of emotions centered around American Racer and the tires being produced for the Modified Tour, Putnam said issues were resolved in the back half of the 2026 season.

“It was a learning experience for all of us. Not only for NASCAR, but for American Racer and all the competitors,” Putnam said “We got through it though. I think we made the product better by the end of the year for sure. The consistency and tire sizing issues that we started the year off with, they’ve been resolved. Going into the offseason, we’re aggressively pursuing some compound and construction changes and trying to make the product better and even more competitive than what it already is.” 

With the early season tire challenges among drivers and teams, two notable drivers and teams reduced their involvement with the Modified Tour. Multi-time champions Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore were noticeably absent for much of the season. Putnam hopes they can return to the tour as regular entries.

“We ultimately want to bring the best product to all the venues, and I feel like we’ve gotten to that point here over the course of the year, and it’s just a matter of  enticing them back with more positive results,” Putnam explained. 

With now a full off-season ahead for Putnam, plans have already started coming together to prepare and get ready for 2027.

“Everything, we’ve already started looking at payouts and trying to re-adjust and restructure that,” Putnam said. “Trying to increase the purse payout for sure, make it a little more rewarding for the Top-5, Top-10 finishers compared to what it currently is. Listening to the competitors and what they want, looking at the processes and some of the rules that we currently follow and how we can adjust that stuff to make it a better experience for everybody.” 

As a previous driver and car owner with the Modified Tour, Putnam knew there were changes he wanted, and wanted to continue to make things easier for competitors at each race.

“There’s certain things as a past competitor, that when I jumped into the role and knew what I didn’t like to start with,” Putnam explained. “Just some of the scheduling processes, and those are the couple things that I’ve focused on early, because I’ve wanted to change it. Whether that was good or bad. I have to ask the competitors, but I think we ended up in a really good spot and tried to keep things consistent week to week and event to event. With respect to just scheduling and the inspection process and how everything rolls. You go on to an event and you know what to expect, whether you’re at Riverhead or Thompson.” 

With high fuel costs in 2026 and uncertainty of the future in 2027 with regards to fuel costs, equipment, and traveling expenses, Putnam and NASCAR are looking at ways to help competitors and their teams.

“Obviously cost is paramount, it costs a lot to run these race cars, whether it’s this series or other ones,” Putnam said. “The cost is very similar, you’re always trying to either make the difference up in, either pay structure, rewards, or reducing cost. We’re looking through most of that.” 

It was a tight championship through much of the season, there were three new Modified Tour winners in 2026. With a field with a mix of veterans and young talent, the competition remains tough.

“I think it’s as strong as it’s ever been,” Putnam said. “We look at the practice times and qualifying times and the field is tighter in between first and the last car from week to week. I think Riverhead, there was three-tenths from first to 23rd in the 2nd riverhead race. It’s just a super tight field and everybody’s really trying to find the biggest needle to move the lap times.” 

Looking ahead to 2027, with the schedule release, the Modified Tour kicks off their season not in Florida, but at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, for the first time since 2016. Putnam said teams wanted to get back New Smyrna Speedway, but it wasn’t working out.

“We tried really hard to go back there,” Putnam said. “That was probably one of our more successful events this year. The national series brought back the Clash to Daytona Beach. Obviously we couldn’t run on that same Saturday, so it was looking like we would have to go start their World Series speed weeks. We thought we had something worked out where it was best for everybody, but in the end, it just didn’t work for them. Unfortunately, we had to move on. But I think we ended up in a really good spot here. Opening up at Thompson. It’s been 10 years or so since we’ve done that, but we used to always start and finish it at Thompson, and we’re going back to that. I’m super excited about that.” 

With the 15 race schedule in 2027, a majority of the races are in New England, with the exception being Martinsville Speedway, Lancaster Speedway, and Riverhead Raceway. Keeping the races more local to New England, is an effort to help reduce costs and mileage.

“The way the whole economy is nowadays and fuel prices are almost double of what they were last year at this time,” Putnam said. “Just trying to keep the cost of travel down a little bit to help the race teams. I think we’ve cut the distance of travel down probably almost 1300 miles, based on if you were based out of the northeast, and that’ll be a cost reduction for the race teams for sure.” 

After a full season now as director, Putnam has a better understanding of his role and the importance it carries for the Modified Tour.

“I’ve got different things to focus on now, compared to what I had coming into the position,” Putnam said. “Now that I’ve got my feet wet and learned the position, I can now focus on making the series stronger. The paramount thing is cutting costs and trying to make it a more enjoyable experience to come to the races.” 

When looking ahead to 2027, there are a few things at the top of the priority list for Putnam in his second year as the director. 

“Obviously,  increase the car count, and make the competitors happier than what they currently are, and the ultimate goal is to put on a great show and great event for the fans.” 

At the end of the day, Putnam is already looking forward to another season as Series Director.

“I’m really happy and super excited just to go back to some of these places that we ran this year. Claremont, we haven’t run there much and we’ll be able to go back there again and then Monadnock always puts on a great event, and Seekonk special, the Wednesday before the 4th of July. I’m excited.” 

The 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour banquet takes place in November in Charlotte, North Carolina, awarding and celebrating this year’s drivers and teams. The Modified Tour kicks off their season Sunday, April 4th at Thompson Speedway.