With the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heading down to the Jersey Shore to Wall Stadium this weekend for just the fifth time in the history of the Tour, few drivers are as excited for this trip as Andrew Krause. Yes, Wall Stadium is the home track of Jimmy Blewett, and it’s another track that Matt Hirschman is dominant at, but no driver is as close to Wall Stadium as Krause.

Krause is the most recent Modified champion at the 1/3-mile high-banked oval that sits just six miles inland from the Shore. But perhaps more importantly, Krause’s family is the management group in charge of operating the track that has been open since 1950.

“I think this is our 11^th year now managing the place,” said Krause. “It’s been our home track now since 2008. That’s when we first started racing there, and then a few years later we took over managing.”

Krause is originally from Holmdel, about 20 minutes to the north of Wall Stadium. His father, Cliff, is the man credited with bringing Wall Stadium back into racing after its doors were closed for a few years. Cliff Krause passed away in January of 2018. Krause’s mother, Diane is the track’s general manager and has been handling the day-to-day operations of the facility.

Krause said that because of how involved his mother and sister are, he’s able to just focus on putting the most competitive race car on the track as possible this weekend, instead of helping get the track ready to host the Tour.

“My mom and sister have been heading that up the last few years with the day-to-day operations and everything else that goes on there,” he said. “They’ve been all hands on deck all week.”

The last time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited Wall, Krause had one of the strongest cars in the field, leading 35 laps before ultimately getting caught up in one of the 10 cautions and finishing 17^th. To Krause, that race was like the big fish that got away.

But this weekend when the Tour returns for the first time since that race in 2019, he said he thinks he’ll have a chance at getting that elusive first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory.

“That would be phenomenal,” said Krause when asked how special it would be to get his first win at Wall Stadium. “Last time we were there in 2019 we had a really good car. We led a bunch of laps and were in a position to win before we got tangled up. That’s definitely the one we highlight and make sure we have everything ready to go for that one.”

Krause said the number of laps he has at the Jersey Shore oval should help him out, but the different tire that the Tour runs might be the wildcard. Tour-type Modifieds don’t race at Wall Stadium often outside of the year-ending Turkey Derby weekend in November.

“There’s a lot of elements to it. Having some familiarity with the track helps getting us up to speed a bit quicker. But we don’t typically run the Tour Modifieds there. It’s a little bit different. A different tire. But we’ve got the home-field advantage so to speak. That should help us a little bit here.”

The Jersey Shore 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour can be seen live on FloRacing this Saturday evening. If you don’t currently subscribe to FloRacing, you can do so here.