Gary Putnam has poured all the things he has into NASCAR.
A local of Vernon, Connecticut, he’s spent 30 years grinding away in storage areas throughout the nation working with a who’s who of drivers and staff house owners together with Richard Petty, John Andretti, Invoice Elliott and Jamie McMurray, amongst others.
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Nevertheless, Putnam has at all times maintained one real love: Modified racing.
He grew up attending occasions at Stafford Speedway, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and the New-London Waterford Speedbowl, the place he watched Modified drivers like Richie Evans, Fred DeSarro and Rod Spalding compete for supremacy on a weekly foundation.
Even whereas he labored on the prime ranges of NASCAR, Putnam’s coronary heart stayed with the Modifieds. That’s why he dabbled on the facet as a driver on the , making 34 begins between 2014 and 2025.
Now Putnam, who resides in Harmony, North Carolina, will be capable of focus all his consideration on the division he loves as the brand new Modified Tour sequence director.
SEEKONK, MA – JUNE 1: Gary Putnam, driver of the #77 Curb Information Chevrolet, throughout apply for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Seekonk 150 on June 1, 2019 at Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
“Rising up in Connecticut, (Modifieds) had been the premier division within the Northeast. So I used to be an enormous fan,” stated the 55-year-old Putnam, who turns into the fifth sequence director within the historical past of the fashionable Tour. “I grew up at Stafford, Thompson and Waterford spending each race evening there. I keep in mind getting my first autograph at 6 years previous at Thompson once I walked as much as Fred DeSarro. I assumed that was the best factor on this planet.”
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Putnam is a first-generation member of the motorsports business. He needed to persuade his father to deliver him to races, and as he grew, he discovered artistic methods to get into storage areas at tracks within the Northeast with the purpose of finally touchdown on a crew.
That dedication paid off when he landed a job engaged on the Modified Tour for Charlie and Carl Pasteryak.
“I began sneaking into the pit space once I regarded sufficiently old,” Putnam admitted. “I helped out wiping down the automotive of Corky Cookman after races, after which I began working for Ed Spires, who was a neighborhood Danbury man who raced at Stafford and Waterford weekly.
“I helped Rod Spaulding on the Modified Tour in ‘87 and ‘88; then I bought to know Charlie (Pasteryak) just a little bit at Riverside Park. I helped Charlie on the races as volunteer assist, and finally the chance arose to truly go work for him and Carl in 1993.”
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – MARCH 16: Gary Putnam, driver of the #77 Curb Information Chevrolet, poses for a headshot earlier than the NASCAR Whelen Modified Efficiency Plus 150 introduced by Security-Kleen on March 16, 2019 at Myrtle Seaside Speedway in Myrtle Seaside, South Carolina. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Putnam spent the following few years working for and studying from the Pasteryak household. He relocated to North Carolina in 1996, and with the assistance of Tommy Baldwin Jr. and Kevin “Bono” Manion, he landed his first job in NASCAR at Larry Hedrick Motorsports working with Ricky Craven.
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Within the years that adopted, Putnam labored for and with quite a lot of groups and drivers, together with Bahari Racing, Invoice Elliott Racing, PPI Motorsports, NEMCO Motorsports, Petty Enterprises, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
By the point Putnam landed at Petty Enterprises in 2002, he had labored his strategy to crew chief. In that place at Petty Enterprises, he labored with a powerful listing of drivers that included John Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi, Jerry Nadeau and Jeff Inexperienced.
Putnam departed Petty Enterprises for PPI Motorsports in 2006 to function crew chief on the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet pushed by Travis Kvapil. Nevertheless, his biggest success got here in the course of the 2010 season whereas working as automotive chief on the No. 1 Chevrolet pushed by Jamie McMurray.
The staff started that 12 months by profitable the largest race of all, the Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. To at the present time, Putnam considers it his favourite second from his greater than 20 years in NASCAR.
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“That’s in all probability my spotlight,” Putnam stated. “2010 was fairly the 12 months. We gained three Cup races, and Bono (Manion) and I gained three Modified races, each Loudon races and Bristol, with Ryan Newman driving.”
SEEKONK, MA – JUNE 1: Gary Putnam, driver of the #77 Curb Information Chevrolet, works on his automotive throughout apply for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Seekonk 150 on June 1, 2019 at Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
The success at NASCAR’s prime ranges didn’t scratch the itch, nonetheless, that was his want to contain himself in Modified racing. In his early 40s, he lastly tried his hand behind the wheel.
“It was my lifelong dream to drive a Modified after rising up idolizing them,” stated Putnam, who turns into the primary Modified Tour director who has additionally competed within the sequence as a driver. “The chance arose to purchase one in all Bob Garbarino’s previous vehicles. I did that, put it collectively, put my seat in it and went and tried it to ensure I might do it.”
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In 2010, Putnam made his debut on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. He went on to make 63 begins within the southern sequence, incomes a finest end of fifth.
4 years later, he made his debut on the NASCAR Whelen Whelen Modified Tour. In 34 begins unfold throughout 11 seasons, Putnam scored a pair of top-10 finishes.
Now, a long time after his infatuation with Modified racing started, Putnam will be capable of focus all his consideration on rising the division he’s liked since his youth.
It’s nothing wanting a dream job for Putnam, who’s suspending operations of his personal Modified staff to place one hundred pc of his effort behind rising the Modified Tour.
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“This chance got here on the proper time in my life and profession,” Putnam stated. “I’m tremendous excited. This division has at all times been a ardour of mine, from infancy in all probability. I’m trying ahead to this loads.”
