Lowe's Ices Out Field at the Magic Mile

James Lowe's Tour Modified stock car.

It was the first time the YesterYear Tour Modifieds visited New Hampshire Motor Speedway since iRacing completed a refresh of the track earlier this year. It was also the first race in the Tour Modifieds since iRacing totally re-built the car earlier in June. But all this did not matter to James Lowe, known as the "Ice Man" among fellow drivers. Once the green flag dropped, Lowe did what he does best. Drives fast, limits mistakes, and wins races.

It took some time for many in the field to get used to a refreshed New Hampshire Motor Speedway, also known as the "Magic Mile." Many drivers discussed how the tire wear was more realistic and prevalent than in the previous car build. The 100-lap race saw 6 lead changes and 4 cautions for 12 laps.

Coming into the race, Lowe had a slim points lead over rookie Luke Logan Allen, known as "Kid Lemon Lime" among drivers in the paddock. The Kid was arguably the fastest car on the track much of the night and even dazzled the audience at times by running an almost impossible racing line down low in turns three and four utilizing a portion of the pit entry. How he got the tires to stick that low and at this track is one of life's great mysteries that many will be pondering until the Series returns to New Hampshire later in the year.

There were pockets of tight close racing throughout the field all night. From the very front, to the middle, and even in the back of the pack, the Magic Mile really lived up to its nickname.

As the laps were winding down, The Kid was out front, but in an unusual position. He had pitted on lap 17 and took his one set of Hoosier tires during that stop. Lowe, on the other hand, had pitted for fuel, but had saved his set of tires for later in the race. The Kid was leading the rest of the field by a margin that looked to be too much for any driver, even those of fresh tires, to overcome. So Luke was hoping for a green flag run until the checkered flag, while James Lowe, Todd Liston, Scott Negus, and others on fresher rubber were hoping for a caution. Unfortunately for The Kid, yellow happened to be the favorite color of "Lady Luck" Tuesday night and a caution flag flew late. This allowed the field to close back up for the restart. It took Lowe a couple of laps, but he worked his way up to the front and took the checkered flag capturing his second race win of the season. Luke Allen was able to fight off everyone else with fresher rubber and hold on to second, while Todd Liston came home third. When asked about the third place result, Liston said, "This isn't my favorite track on the schedule and we have had mixed results over the years here. We were probably a fifth place car tonight so getting a third place podium here is a positive result that we can carry away."

The YesterYear Tour Modified Series breaks for the summer and will return to the track on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Tennessee 150.