CONCORD, N.C. — Veteran NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Andy Seuss is uniting with team owner Danny Watts to compete in the Sept. 21 Musket 250 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Seuss, a two-time champion of the defunct NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour who has made a number of ARCA Menards Series starts in the last few years, will wheel Watts’ No. 82 modified during his third series start of the season. Seuss is from Hampstead, N.H., so the race will serve as a home game for the 32-year-old racer.
“I’m pretty excited that I got the call to drive the No. 82 at Loudon,” Seuss told SPEED SPORT Monday afternoon. “Danny’s got really good equipment and hopefully we can take my experience there and add on it.”
The opportunity for Seuss to drive the No. 82 arose after Watts parted ways with full-time driver Woody Pitkat in late August. Pitkat joined the team in 2017 after Watts’ previous driver Ted Christopher died in a plane crash.
Chase Dowling replaced Pitkat at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway Aug. 31 and Tom Rogers Jr. drove the No. 82 at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway last Saturday night, leading a race-high 113 laps before finishing ninth.
“I’ve known Andy for a little while. He kind of strikes me as a hard-working kid and he’s kind of done pretty good for what he has and I figured I’d use him for New Hampshire and see how we do,” Watts said. “I liked what he did in one of his ARCA races. I know that he does pretty good with the little bit that he’s got. I talked with my crew chief on it and he was all for it.”
Seuss has made sporadic starts across a number of different divisions in recent years, including making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut on July 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Rick Ware Racing. He finished 28th.
Watts’ team has a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory this year, which came with Pitkat at the wheel when the tour visited Wall (N.J.) Stadium Speedway in May. Knowing he’ll be driving a winning car has Seuss excited for the Musket 250.
“He’s always had really good stuff,” Seuss said of Watts’ operation. “They’ve won multiple tour races, they’ve won a race this year. That kind of speaks for itself. That itself is really exciting, to drive for a team that has won this year and also just to have this faith that I can get it done in his equipment.”
Both men say they expect to run in the top-five or top-10 during the Musket 250, which pays a whopping $25,000 to the winner.
“Hopefully we can adapt quickly as a team,” Seuss said. “I don’t see why we can’t come out with a top-five and compete for a win. The last few teams in our own family equipment we’ve been able to do that. That’s being a smaller, part-time team with a little bit dated equipment.
“I think hopefully we can take what my experience has got me and just capitalize on Danny’s first-rate team.”
Watts told SPEED SPORT that right now the agreement to put Seuss in the car is only a one-race deal. He noted he has another deal he’s working on to fill the seat of his modified for the remainder of the season.
“I have another deal in the works that we’re just trying to iron out the particulars and get done some commitments that were done before,” Watts said. “I don’t want to stand in anybody’s way. We’ll see what happens.”
Seuss said the only other event on his schedule for this year is the North-South Shootout at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, where he’s expecting to drive for Eddie Harvey, the same man who owned his championship-winning cars in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
“Tentatively, I’m going to run the North-South Shootout for Eddie Harvey, so that’ll be fun,” Seuss said. “I haven’t really been able to commit to a full-time team. Just trying to keep my options open for the stock car side of my career. Luckily that has paid off. I’d love to end up in a full-time, top-notch modified like this. If not, things are going good elsewise.”