PIT BOX: Modified Tour championship battle heads to Riverhead Saturday for the Eddie Partridge 206

With only two races left in the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the race for the championship heads back to Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway this Saturday night for the running of the Eddie Partridge 206 (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

Held in honor of late Riverhead Raceway owner Eddie Partridge, Saturday’s event will be the 79th Modified Tour race at the quarter-mile bullring. Austin Beers is the defending winner of Saturday’s event, an achievement he’ll attempt to repeat as he continues his pursuit of championship leader Patrick Emerling as the season inches closer to its conclusion.

Justin Bonsignore, who will make his 250th Modified Tour start Saturday, leads all drivers with 12 victories at Riverhead Raceway. Other notable winners through the years at Riverhead include Mike Ewanitsko, Mike Stefanik, Donny Lia, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, Doug Coby and Timmy Solomito, just to name a few.

Tickets to Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 206 will be available trackside. Below is everything you need to know before Saturday’s race.

Eddie Partridge 206 at Riverhead Raceway

Riverhead Raceway and Modified racing have gone hand in hand for decades.

Not only is the quarter-mile asphalt oval one of the most traditional venues on the Modified Tour schedule, it is also one of the few tracks left in the United States with Modifieds as their premier weekly racing division.

As a result, some of the best and brightest Modified competitors have honed their skills at Riverhead Raceway. That includes local star Mark Stewart, who won the most recent Modified Tour race at Riverhead earlier this season.

Stewart will be back in the Modified Tour field for Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 206 as he looks to add a second victory with NASCAR’s oldest division to his résumé. In order to do that, he’ll have to outrun some of the best Modified competitors in the United States.

That includes Bonsignore, the winningest Modified Tour driver in Riverhead Raceway history. Bonsignore, who started his career as a local racer at Riverhead, will make his landmark 250th career start during Saturday’s race aboard the No. 51 for Ken Massa Motorsports.

Fresh off his fourth victory of the 2026 campaign two weeks ago at Oswego Speedway, Patrick Emerling heads to Riverhead with an 18-point advantage on Austin Beers in the Modified Tour standings. Emerling and Beers have both won races at Riverhead in the past, which means the battle for the series championship is far from over.

In addition to Stewart, a few more local competitors will join the field for Saturday’s race. They include Chris Rogers, Chase Grennan, Timmy Solomito, Roger Turbush, Joey Braun and Matt Brode. They’ll battle against Modified Tour regulars like Jon McKennedy, Matt Hirschman, Stephen Kopcik, Mike Christopher Jr., Teddy Hodgdon, Tyler Rypkema, Paulie Hartwig III and Andrew Molleur.

The full entry list for Saturday evening’s Eddie Partridge 206 will be available later this week.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Monadnock
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers at White Monadnock

SCHEDULE: Saturday, Sept. 19: Practice from 3:30 to 4:05 p.m. … Final practice from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. … American Racer Pole Award qualifying at 6:15 p.m. … Start of the Eddie Partridge 206 (206 Laps / 51.5 Miles) at 8 p.m. ET.

QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for The Eddie Partridge 206 presented by My Guy Auto Supply NAPA / Hoss Communications Inc. is limited to 26 starters including Provisional Positions.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eight (8) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by NASCAR Officials, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. The same four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice tires during the event. The tire change rule is zero (0) tires, any position for the event.

RE-DRAW PROCEDURE: The fastest qualifier will spin the wheel to determine the number of drivers that will re-draw for their starting positions: 4, 6, 8 or 10 positions will re-draw. Once the fastest qualifier spins the wheel, NASCAR will have the various buckets ready to immediately start the re-draw procedure. Driver will re-draw in their qualifying order after qualifying has been completed (1 through 10, or however many are applicable). The pole position and/or any bonus point(s), if applicable, will be awarded to the fastest qualifier and will be the pole of record. If, due to adverse conditions, qualifying is canceled, the field will be set in accordance with the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rule Book. The re-draw procedure will still take place regardless of how the field is set.