Jimmy Gallagher Claims First Career Modified Win at Bridgeport Motorsports Park

Jimmy Gallagher led from the green to checkered flag and posted his first career modified win in convincing fashion in a nonstop 30 lap feature to drive into the modified victory lane for the first time at his home track Bridgeport Motorsports Park.

In the heat race Jimmy’s night started off from the pole position with a green to checkered flag win by a 5 second margin of victory.

In the feature Jimmy Gallagher took a strong lead right off green and then stretched the lead to nearly 5 seconds by the 15-lap midpoint point of the feature. Lapped traffic slowed the pace in the final laps and Cole Stangle was able to close the lead down to about 1 second but Gallagher took the checkered flag and his first career modified win.

Back at the trailer Jimmy noted “This season we made a lot of changes, and we now have Ron Seltmann doing our shocks which was a big part of our changes.  It took us a couple weeks to get a decent feel for the car, and we had two good runs up front in the top five fall short due to flat tires and other things out of our control.”

“After Doug put the new surface down and it changed the track again and we had to adapt and adjust.  I worked together with crew chief Jim Dallett and we made a few changes.  We rolled the car out Saturday and I knew we had a great car right off in hot laps.  We went out in the heat and won by 5 seconds and right there I knew the feature would be our race to lose.”

“In the feature I just tried to jump out to the biggest lead possible with most of the big dogs starting mid pack.  I hit lapped traffic around lap 10 and just tried to play it smart and wait for them to make mistakes rather than forcing sliders, etc.  I knew the top was where I wanted to be, and the lapped cars were riding that line too.  I did know I was slowing down in traffic but wanted to save my tires and keep the engine cool.  I was waiting for someone to show me a nose, but fortunately I never saw one since I was able to maintain my lead and the feature ran green to checkered and without caution.”

“We have a great engine builder Kenny Staib, and he really has this thing hooked up. We have found the power that we had been missing. I do feel like I can hang with the best out there on any given week.  Jim Dallett and I talk every day about the car and how we can make it better. When the car was not handling well for the first couple of weeks of this season; I told Jim to make any changes he thinks it need.  Jim threw what he thought would work at the car and it’s now the best car we have ever had.  I really think we are a top contender right now and just have to see how we do with traffic.”

“Obviously, all of this is for my dad, and we are here because of my dad’s vision for Gallagher 31 Racing before he passed.  My dad never quit no matter what we were up against.  In 2020 we did the STSS Florida swing and crashed on lap 1 of the first heat of the first race and our Florida race trip was over on day 1. That same night he packed the car up and started driving home to repair the car for the start of the 2020 season.  It’s only the spirit of dad’s dedication and determination that has kept us going through all the adversity of last season.”

“In 2023 on opening day we destroyed a car a week after dad passed.  I was 90% out the door at that point, but some good friends and family convinced me to stay with racing.  We then had four engine failures last year in 8 races.  Everything was really stacked against us continuing racing after last season, but after my dad passed, he left me some funding to keep racing after he was gone.  So, I decided the only way to do this was like dad said and “go all in”.  We basically started the 2024 season with everything new other than the chassis.  We invested a lot of time and money into our program this winter and it’s already paying off.  It takes a long time to develop the right relationships and connections in the modified world.  The competition is so even, you have to find tiny details to separate yourself from everyone else.  I think my biggest obstacle is my limited seat time which makes it hard to get comfortable in the car.  We’ll continue our season with our planned limited schedule and hope to pick off a couple more wins along the way.  I think with a little bit of luck we will have a pretty good chance. Thanks to my wife for all her support and putting up with everything that comes along with racing.  It’s a tough balance raising two kids, full time jobs, plus racing but we’re making it work. Thanks to my crew, Jim Dallett, Mike Ward and Kevin Giordano for their dedication and hours of work.”

A big thank you to my sponsors who make all this possible:

Belmont’s Garage

Delsea Well Drilling

Keen Compressed Gas

All County Garage Door

Metal Fab.