Friday night’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Richmond Raceway is called the “Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 150” and that seems appropriate because Modified drivers love racing at Richmond.

Back when I first began covering Modifieds at Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway, I’d ask drivers, “If you could race a Modified at any track, which track would you choose?” Without fail, Virginia’s ¾-mile D-shaped oval was always the top choice.

So, with the Tour heading back to Richmond for the second year in a row following a nine-year hiatus, I figured now was a good time to ask these drivers why they love Richmond so much.

“I think Richmond is a great track because it has numerous different characteristics that create exciting racing,” said defending series champion, Justin Bonsignore. “Whether it’s a bit of drafting or tire fall-off. And, it’s just a perfectly sized race track.”

Richmond is the second-largest race track on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar at ¾-mile. New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the largest at one mile in length.

“It’s just a badass facility for badass race cars (like Modifieds),” said last year’s winner, Ryan Preece.

Multi-time championship winning crew chief, Phil Moran, explained that he’s a big fan of Richmond because of how unique it is to the series. Moran, who now works with Ron Silk, said that even though the track is a lot of fun, it’s also quite challenging.

“It’s not like any other track that we run on, so set up can be challenging to hit it right,” said Moran. “But that’s also what makes it fun.”

“It’s different from other tracks we race at,” agreed Eric Goodale. “Plus, racing at a top-notch facility is always fun. It’s a big tire-wear track, which makes for smart racing and even smarter strategy. It has two completely different corner entries and exits, which makes for a lot of potential for error. Not a lot of people have laps at Richmond on the Tour, so it levels the playing field a bit.”

Even though Goodale grew up racing on the small bullring of Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, he seems to excel at larger tracks in the South. Goodale has four career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories, and half of them have come in the South on the half-miles of Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016 and Martinsville Speedway in 2021. Adding a win at Richmond would be massive for Goodale, who finished 13^th there last season.

“Winning at Bristol and Martinsville was awesome,” said Goodale. “Adding a Richmond win would be cool. I seem to run well at the southern tracks. It’s all-in for wins this year, and Richmond is definitely at the top of the list. It would make the trip back north a lot more fun.”

Winning in the return to Richmond for the Modifieds was special for Preece at the time, but the win quickly started to mean even more as it will go down as Preece’s 14^th and final victory with car-owner Eddie Partridge. The 68-year-old Partridge tragically passed away that night, shortly after celebrating the victory with Preece at Richmond.

“It meant a lot when we did it,” explained Preece. “But it means even more now because it was the final Tour race I did with Eddie.”

For Bonsignore, a strong run in Friday’s race is desperately needed. Bonsignore had an equipment failure at the season-opener relegate him to a 31^st-place finish at New Smyrna Speedway in February. Bonsignore also had an equipment failure at Richmond last year after just 60 laps.

“Obviously we are in a bit of a hole and it will be crucial for us to have a really solid day,” Bonsignore said. “Hopefully we can contend for a win and just begin chipping away at the points and claw our way back into it.”

Race fans can watch Friday’s Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 150 from Richmond Raceway live on FloRacing at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET.