05/20/2026
Tuesday Driver
RYAN GODOWN, Ringoes, NJ
Ryan Godown’s start to the 2026 season says a lot about why he remains one of the most dangerous Modified drivers in the Northeast at 50 years old.
The easy thing would be to look only at the wins. Two victories already. Career win No. 161 last Saturday at Bridgeport. Twenty-eight victories at the Kingdom of Speed alone. Still the all-time winningest driver there.
But the more interesting part of the story is how those results happened.
This season hasn’t been smooth or dominant in the traditional sense. It has looked more like a veteran slowly sharpening a knife through chaos.
At Bridgeport’s season opener in April, Godown didn’t start as the fastest car. Neal Williams and Dillon Steuer controlled the early stages while Ryan waited. Then the race changed. The track slicked off, traffic became a factor, and suddenly the No. 26 started coming alive. Godown took the lead late and drove away for the win. That race looked less like raw speed and more like experience taking over.
A few weeks later at Georgetown, he ran second to Billy Pauch Jr. in the Mark “Coot” Williams Memorial. Again, not flashy early. Again, strong at the end.
Then came the rough stretch.
Grandview ended upside down after contact with Craig Von Dohren.
Bedford was messy and forgettable.
The Super DIRTcar Series race at Georgetown turned into a 21st-place finish against a stacked national field.
And that’s where this recent Bridgeport win becomes important.
Billy Osmun III looked like he had the race won. He led 27 laps. Godown stayed patient again, waited for the race to evolve, and struck late on Lap 28. Three laps later, career win No. 161 was in the books.
That’s becoming the theme of his 2026 season:
Ryan Godown may not unload as the fastest car every night anymore, but he still knows how to survive races better than almost anyone around him.
The other interesting part is the contrast developing between Godown and Dillon Steuer.
Steuer already has ten straight top-10 finishes at Bridgeport. The consistency is unbelievable for a younger driver. But Godown still has something that statistics don’t fully measure — race management. Tire conservation. Timing. Knowing when to attack and when not to destroy the car.
That difference matters over long seasons.
Right now, it feels like the Northeast Modified scene is entering an interesting transition period. Drivers like Steuer, Yankowski, Watt and others are getting faster every month, but veterans like Godown, Pauch Jr. and Friesen still know how to close races when conditions get difficult.
And Bridgeport especially still feels like Ryan Godown territory.
The scary part for the competition is this:
his season probably hasn’t fully “clicked” yet.
Two wins already, several rough nights survived, and he still looks like he’s searching for a more comfortable balance underneath him. If the No. 26 team starts unloading consistently fast instead of figuring things out during races, the second half of the season could become very difficult for everyone else.
Bridgeport Speedway Ryan Godown
