Teddy Hodgdon is still soaking in his ‘career-defining moment’ in the Modified Tour’s return to Stafford Speedway

Teddy Hodgdon as a child attended races at Stafford Speedway with his family. He remembers watching drivers like Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy, Tony Hirschman and Donny Lia battle for supremacy anytime the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour came to town. Those days, those races, those drivers and those moments left an undeniable mark. As Hodgdon grew older, he hoped he one day would get to make his own mark with NASCAR's oldest division. "I remember before I started racing when the Tour was at the Sizzler and the Fall Final, I was that little 4- or 5-year-old kid in the stands looking on in awe when cars came on the race track," Hodgdon said. "That was my childhood dream, to race (Modifieds) and to eventually get to the (Modified Tour)." Hodgdon, now 25, can say he's living his dream after his stunning victory in last Friday's GAF 150 at Stafford. The triumph, which came in the Modified Tour's first race at Stafford in five seasons, was Hodgdon's first with the series during his rookie campaign. NEXT RACE: Saturday's Toyota Mod Classic 150 on FloRacing The win was a landmark moment for a family that has worked tirelessly to achieve success at the highest levels of Modified racing. "It's definitely been a long time coming for this team," Hodgdon said. "We've worked so hard, and we've put countless hours into making our race program better. We were never able to get right there. I knew coming in full time to the Tour this year was not going to be an easy feat, and I honestly didn't really expect to win this year." [caption id="attachment_524400" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Teddy Hodgdon stormed from 23rd to win the GAF 150 at Stafford Speedway. It was just the 35th time in recorded Modified Tour history a race winner has started from 20th or worse. (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)[/caption] Hodgdon was hardly a stranger to Stafford Speedway prior to last Friday's race. Not only did he spend his childhood watching races there, but he also turned his first competitive laps at the half-mile asphalt oval in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. The driver from nearby Danbury, Connecticut spent years sharpening his skills at Stafford, starting in Karts before eventually racing Modifieds. That culminated in Hodgdon capturing the 2019 SK Light Modified track championship at Stafford. That was one mission accomplished. Next on the list was his dream of racing with the Modified Tour. After competing in a handful of events last year, Hodgdon and his family made the leap to full-time status for 2026. The grind has been real, and the learning curve has been steep, but everything they did at the start of the season led them back to Stafford. "I was at Martinsville last year when they announced the schedule, and when they said Stafford is coming back to the schedule this year, that was the biggest red circle that I marked on the calendar," Hodgdon said. "I knew that was going to be the race to show up and do our best. "The atmosphere there is second to none. I love seeing the stands packed. The way the Arute family and everyone at the track and NASCAR come together to make an event like that happen again … I think the Tour and Stafford missed the racing and the atmosphere that they bring together." Hodgdon's No. 05 Modified was quick as soon as they unloaded it from the trailer at Stafford. He was fastest in the opening practice, but a poor qualifying forced him to start the 150-lap race 23rd. "Qualifying has been our struggle this year," Hodgdon said. "For some reason, we can't get this thing to fire off on stickers. We went into Turn 1 on the fast lap, and the thing didn't turn worth a crap. As soon I hit Turn 1 and we were in the third groove, I knew we were going to have a bad qualifying effort. "It was so tight in qualifying that I just went back to what I had when I unloaded the trailer. I just told myself that if we were still bad there would probably be an early caution and we could come in and work on it. That didn't really happen, but the thing took off like a rocket after that, anyway." Hodgdon quickly worked his way forward, reaching eighth by the time the second caution of the race waved on Lap 56. After pit stops, he restarted ninth and drove his way to the lead by Lap 91. He briefly lost the lead after a bad restart with fewer than 15 laps left, but Hodgdon quickly reclaimed the lead from Matt Hirschman and drove to his first Modified Tour victory. [caption id="attachment_524401" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Teddy Hodgdon's first Modified Tour victory came in his 18th start, which happened to come at his home track in Stafford Speedway. (Photo: Chris Dehney/NASCAR)[/caption] Hodgdon's incredible drive to victory marked just the 35th time in recorded Modified Tour history that a race winner has started 20th or worse. If there is such a thing as a statement victory, Hodgdon's triumph at Stafford certainly qualifies. "It's just a testament to never giving up," Hodgdon said. "You just keep your head down and keep moving. There were 150 laps. It's a long race. It can go by quickly, but you have opportunities to make your way to the front, and if you have a car like that versus the rest of the field, you get a lot of confidence when you start picking guys off really quickly. "That's kind of what happened. Head down, lock in, and we made it happen." NEXT RACE: See the entry list for Oswego When the season began in February, Hodgdon's main goal was to win the Heintz Rookie of the Year Award. A win, Hodgdon said, seemed out of reach. Now, as he prepares for Saturday's Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing), Hodgdon can say he's not just living his dream; he can say he's exceeded it. Of the more than 700 drivers who have competed with the series since 1985, only 84 can call themselves Modified Tour winners. That includes racers like Stefanik, Christopher, Szegedy, Hirschman, Lia and, now, Hodgdon. He grew up watching racers make Modified Tour history at Stafford. Now Hodgdon is part of that history. That's something to write home about. "That is my career-defining moment, winning that race," Hodgdon said. "That will always have a special place in my heart."