ON SITE: NASCAR presses 'pause' button on Modified Tour

Sylvania 300 weekend coverage presented by Mainely Motorsports

Jerry Gappens doesn’t just give lip service to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. He talks the talk – and he walks the walk, too.

During a lengthy red-flag delay with just 60 laps complete in the New Hampshire 100, with the window rapidly closing as New Hampshire Motor Speedway prepared to begin a Craftsman Truck Series race, Gappens addressed the fans in the grandstands over the track PA system.

"I don’t want to cheat anybody out of a single lap of Modified racing," said Gappens, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway general manager.

Gappens went on to explain that the Modifieds would be rolled back into the garage area – and would return to run the complete distance following the Truck race. When the race resumes, Jimmy Blewett will lead the field to the green flag.

Ryan Newman is sixth.

Last season, both Modified Tour races at New Hampshire were shortened – one to 75 laps and one to 85 laps – by time constraints.

This is the third race in the last four for the Modifieds at New Hampshire to be cut short because of television commitments for one of NASCAR’s national touring series. On each of the two previous occasions, however, the race was called official and cut short.

Not this time. Not for the midwest native Gappens, a self-proclaimed open-wheel lover.