2007 Hot News and Results:


Nov 23-24 - Turkey Derby - Wall Speedway - Time 2 - Start 6 - Finish 10

Matt and the crew did a great job to rip off a wicked fast lap only to be bested by Burt Myers by 0.013 of a second, with the redraw Matt started the race in 6th. In one of the wierdest starts to a race, the leader, Ruggerio in the Barney #14, looked like he spun his cold tires coming out of turn four on the races green flag. When he did this, his car make a hard right turn and took out the 2nd place starter, Blewett and Pistol Pete Britian. So on the ensuing restart Matt was in thrid and for many laps in between numerous cautions, Matt and Pauch Jr had a great battle just behind leader Civali. Finally the 06 of pauch pushed up a little and Matt was able to get under for 2nd place. Matt again was was the show as he and Civiali battled with Matt on the outside on numerous occations. Matt would pull just a little ahead but had to back out of it as it looked like the battle for the lead would push high up the track and if Matt did not let up he would scrape the outside wall.

All the while there were numerous yellows which did not allow Matt a long green flag period to see where he could make his move - at this point it was a battle of the restarts. Just before half way - the 60 team made the decison to come to the pits for new tires. After Matt came back out his car was never the same as it was in the first half of the race, even though he ripped off his fastest lap of the race on Lap 90. Matt made it back up into the top five but with 5 to go it looked like he had something come loose and at the end he was just trying to keep the car on the track. Job accomplished and Matt was the last car on the lead lap to finish all 100 laps in 10th place.



Nov 2-3 - North South Shootout - Concord Speedway - Time 2 - Start 2 - Finish 1

From Speed51.com:
MUD LANE SHINES IN NORTH CAROLINA…

For young Matt Hirschman Saturday night was a pretty emotional night for him. He beat a star-studded field, had one of his mentors finish second to him and he won the ‘biggest’ race in Modified racing for the second straight year. Overall, it capped off Hirschman’s biggest year to date. “Yeah, this was pretty big tonight,” smiled Hirschman later in the evening, standing by his machine accepting congratulations from fellow competitors, fans, media and generally anyone that was just passing by. One of the big questions regarding Hirschman’s career and the career of any strong asphalt modified competitor is their status on NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour. Although Hirschman hasn’t won on ‘The Tour’ yet, he has established himself as a threat to win anywhere and his accomplishments speak for themselves. He’s won everywhere on the DART Race of Champions Tour, he’s been strong on the Tour, he’s won back-to-back North/South Shootouts, but is it okay to consider him in the elite class because he hasn’t won on ‘The Tour’?
“I think that’s up to everyone else, it’s just an opinion,” Hirschman paused and explained a little more. “I think people generally do because I see a lot of stuff that says people think I am in that class of drivers. From my standpoint we haven’t run badly on the tour, we just haven’t won. I know that day is coming at least I think it is. To be in this position you have to think you are going to win.” Hirschman continued regarding the question relating it to his past accomplishments. “We’re beating the same guys that race on the tour with some of the same equipment, so it’s just a different venue and sanctioning body in my mind,”
Hirschman offered. “I know some people out there might think differently, but there is a great sense of accomplishment when you in a race like this or one when you personally beat someone. When we won at All-Star Speedway in New Hampshire a couple weekends ago, we beat Teddy Christopher and there is great satisfaction in that, but people are entitled to their opinion. It’s a good question, but I’ll leave it up to the folks out there and let the chips fall where they may. I know what I’m capable of doing in a racecar and I’ve really enjoyed this season. The amount of attention from the media, the fans, the other competitors, the compliments, it speaks for itself. I really enjoy all of the different tours. It’s been my best year ever and I hope it keeps getting better.” Moving on in his career, Hirschman, as young as he is had to look ahead, but he is fairly grounded regarding his aspirations in racing when asked about the possibilities of moving on to one of NASCAR’s three national series.
“Sure I would like the opportunity,” he offered. “I know this is the time because of my age, but I don’t have to have that opportunity for me to be personally happy, because I love the modifieds. I could see myself racing modifieds for the rest of my career. If it is going to happen, I know it would present a new challenge and a great opportunity to further my career, but if it doesn’t I’m okay.” Hirschman spoke about other driver’s in the division (mainly Bobby Santos, III) and his chances of moving on to ‘the big-time’.
“If I had started a little bit younger, it might have increased my chances, but right now, I’d say Bobby (Santos III) is the one competitor in the modifieds that has the best shot. He’s got a taste of it. I have great respect for him and I think a lot of him as a driver, he can do it. Racing with him I don’t see any big difference in us, but he’s a little younger with a better chance.”
Hirschman, who much like has Father has the talent, knows his success comes from the efforts of his team and his family, and is okay with be the guy that didn’t leave town for a ‘better and brighter future’. In some eyes that makes the kid pretty cool.
“I do need to thank my Mom and Dad,” offered Hirschman. “The crew, they do a great job. Frankie for his efforts, just all of the guys and gals that help us. This is pretty cool. Ed Bennett came down, my Tour owner, he’s just a great guy. It was a great effort for all of us and the support is spectacular.

Finishing to Hirschman on Saturday evening was fellow competitor and Hirschman’s neighbor Eric Beers. What most people don’t know is that Hirschman’s start working in racing might have actually come working for Beers rather then his Father, Tony.
“Before, when my brother was still spotting for my Dad, I spotted for Eric and when there wasn’t a tour race I would go to Flemington and spot for Eric,”
related Hirschman with a laugh. “I couldn’t even get in the pits, but he has provided a great influence in my career just as my Dad as. We’ve known each other all of my life.”
Hirschman continued, “Eric might be the most competitive person I’ve ever met. I know him, it kills him to finish second, but I still do look up to him. Up until this year I was always finishing behind him. He’s hit a little bump in the road, but with that new team over there I think they’ve found something and that’s how this business goes. I might be in front of him now, but when the momentum changes he’ll be back in front of me, it’s just how the momentum swings, but when I started racing he was the guy, winning at Mountain, on the Race of Champions Series, the Race of Champions and on the track, I’ve probably learned more from him then anyone, then anyone I’ve ever raced against.” “We’ve just spent a lot of time around one another mostly running at Mountain, the Race of Champions stuff and now on the Tour. I enjoyed running behind him when I was getting started I would try to catch him and stay with him and never really could have cared less about passing him. It’s been quite a few years, I’m sure the shoe is going to be on the other foot as the momentum swings. We’re still good friends and we’re both very competitive, but he’s been there, he was at my first race.”
People are certainly entitled to their own opinions, but it has been a pleasure to watch Matt Hirschman grow up into one of the most talented short track racers in the business, not just modifieds. The possibilities are endless.

THE PREMIER ASPHALT MODIFIED RACE OF NOT…

In Canada every Saturday night during hockey season is ‘Hockey Night in Canada and this past Saturday may well go down as ‘Race Night in Charlotte…’
With a record crown being announced at the North/South Shooutout, we’ll estimate about 9,000 fans in attendance and well over 12,000 just down the road at the World of Outlaw event(s) at the dirt track at Lowe’s that should leave short track industry folks charged up about the future of the sport. On Saturday within less then 30-miles of one-another over 20,000 fans were watching short track racing and not all of the fans were from the Charlotte area. By the boat load, fans traveled from near and far to attend the weekend’s event. Encouraging for the sport, but one of the questions regarding the North/South Shootout is, has it established itself as ‘The Premier’ asphalt modified race in the nation? Lets, let the winner answer.
“I got more attention winning last year’s race then from anything else I’ve ever done and I’m sure it won’t be any different this year,” offered Hirschman.
“That is not meant as a knock on anyone else, the Tour, the Race of Champions, it’s just that the race has probably become the highest prestige race of the year with all of the hype and build up. It’s pretty incredible what Charles and Dale have accomplished.
The hardware (trophies) you receive, the helmet, the shot gun, the gift certificates, the lap money, overall it’s incredible. They do an incredible job.”
Hirschman finished. “I still want to win the Race of Champions really badly, because of the history and the prestige, but winning two-in-a-row down here has been really special. It’s just a great race and I can’t wait until we come back next year.”
Charles Kepley, Dale Wolbrink and their C&C Racing Souvenir staff along with Concord Motorsport Park, can poke their chests out a little bit right now. Even though the World Series ended a few weeks ago, the 5th Annual John Blewett III North/South Shootout presented by Town & Country Ford was definitely a homerun.

5th Annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout presented by Town & Country Ford (100 laps):
1. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA (100); 2. Eric Beers, Northampton, PA (100); 3. Bobby Santos, Franklin, MA (100); 4. Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, NC; (100); 5. Donny Lia, Jericho, NY (100); 6. Eric Rudolph, Ransomville, NY (100); 7. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, CT (100); 8. Dale Quarterley, Westfield, MA (100); 9. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT (100); 10. Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT (100); 11. Pete Brittain, Oakhurst, NJ (100); 12.
Brian Pack, Walkertown, NC (100); 13. Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, NY(100); 14. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT(100) 15. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ(100) 16. Jamie Tomaino, Howell, NJ(100) 17. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY(100) 18. Billy Pauch, Frenchtown,
NJ(100) 19. Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT(100) 20. Brian King, Gibsonville, NC(100) 21. Darren Scherer, Binghampton, NY99) 22. Gene Pack, Walkertown, NC(99) 23. Andy Suess, Hampstead, NH(99) 24. Ken Wooley, Jr.,Brick,NJ(99) 25. Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy,NC(98) 26. Randy Butner, Pfafftown, NC(94) 27. James Civali, Meriden, CT(83) 28. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, CT(76) 29. Rick Kluth, Brockport, NY(73) 30. Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, NC(68) 31. Bobby Grigas, Marshfield,
MA(58) 32. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT(58) 33.
Josh Nichols. Cleveland, NC(51)

Oct 20- All Star Speedway - Finish 1
From Speed51.com

Modified racecars from all over New England came to Epping, NH for the October 20th All-Star Nationals special event for the mighty modified cars. There were eighteen cars
The cars were a mixture of competitors from the True Value Modified Racing Series, SK Modifieds and Mod Tour Type cars.
During practice the fast cars on the track were no surprise: Jon McKennedy, Glenn Brehio, Matt Hirschman and Ted Christopher. In the race, on lap 19, Andy Seuss was involved in a spin during a caution. When the crew looked at the car, they found a bad front left shock that must have broken on the car during qualifying racing at Lee Speedway earlier during the day. It was a costly price to pay to run so few laps in a 100 lap race, but the team was glad to find the problem before competing in another race.Matt Hirschman took the race lead on lap 20 and dominated over the field from then on.
“We had a good night,” said Hirschman. “We came here today for the first time. It is the first time that I have ever raced here.”
Hirschman had been to the track before though – it was just a long time ago. “The last time that I was here was in 1992 with the Busch North Series,” said Hirschman [Matt’s father five-time NASCAR Modified Tour champion Tony Hirschman was a regular in Busch North during the early 1990’s]. I was here in 1990 when my dad won what was then a Winston Modified Tour race here. I knew that there were two races going on here this weekend and they were the only thing going and I wanted to race. So we decided to come here because we never raced here ever before.”
Did Matt do anything to prepare for his first race at All-Star Speedway?
“I just never raced here before, so we had fun with it. Thursday night before we came up, I had the video from when my dad won here in 1990 so we watched it. You kind of said “Oh what do you think?” I think I know what I have to do.
“I remembered the place after watching the video. But I did not remember too much about the track. Like the road was just a parking lot and all that but I did not remember too much about the cars and where they run on the track. Believe it or not it did not hurt to watch it. I did get an idea on some of the things about the track. We came here and put it to work and did it.”
Christopher challenged Hirschman high and low, but in the end Matt was able to hold on to the first spot.
With a short track like that you just have to work it inches at a time. He (Matt) has a good car and we had a good car,” said Christopher. “You just have to wait for a little mistake. I almost had him a little bit there but no quite enough. You just have to just get it right. I like Matt and I definitely am not going to take him out. I gave him one little shot, but that is about it. “
So in the end TC was the Bride’s Maid when it came toward the $4,000 purse to win.
Jon McKennedy jumped from a third place Big Block Super finish into his modified car where he lost his starting lead but managed to maintain a strong top five car the rest of the race. When the checked flags were thrown, Jon came in third for the second time of the night behind Hirschman and TC.
“At the end all three of us were way too even,” said McKennedy. “I think that all three of us were running the same time. We were too evenly matched to pass anyone. It was a good race. In the long run my car would be better. During the restarts and long runs we were good. We just did not have enough to get by Teddy or Hirschman. This is my home track and it was three times the money to win. So it made more sense to come here,” continued McKennedy when asked about his decision to at All-Star instead of in Sunday’s TVMRS race at nearby Lee USA Speedway.
McKennedy was injured in the Modified Tour Connecticut Classic 150 at Stafford on May 25th when his car spun as he got high up in the marbles on the track. His car hit the pit wall entrance flush hard on the driver’s side bringing his car to an abrupt stop. The crash side-lined McKennedy and his crew, but they did not give up.
“Since the crash at Stafford everything has turned around. We won five races this year and every where we go I think that we are a threat to win. We are always a top five usually. It has been a good year.”


Oct 13-14 - Thompson Speedway - Time 5th - Start 7th - Finish 3rd

by Richie Grods

The Feature event began with the #34 of Rusty Smith on the pole. As the race got underway, Smith was in the lead. On lap nine, the first yellow flag waved for the #79 of David Roys, who came to rest in turn four. Barry Fitzgerald in the #56 brought out the next caution flag on lap eleven for a spin out of turn two. Geary Rinehimer in the #39 turned his machine around in turn four bringing out the caution flag on lap fourteen. Fitzgerald would be the cause of the yellow flag waving again on lap 25 as he spins out in turn three. The final caution flag waved on lap 29 when the #30 of Richard Carman spun it around in turn two. Rusty Smith had the lead right from the start, led every lap, and wins the Modified Feature event.

Oct 6 - Mahoning Speedway - Super 7 Series - Time 3 - Start 3 - Finish 17

Mike Quinn Takes Season Finale 100 Over Eric Beers; Chip Santee is Mahoning Mod Champ

(LEHIGHTON, PA. 10-6-07) After watching Saturday night’s Season Finale Modified 100 at Mahoning Valley Speedway, no one could have guessed that Mike Quinn of Ashfield is in his rookie season of Modified racing. He simply handled the star-studded field like a seasoned veteran.

Driving the Ivan and Wanda Morgan owned mount, Quinn turned in a spectacular performance in which he held off the likes of some of the best asphalt Modified stars in the business including the undisputed king of the Super-7 Series races, Eric Beers.

Quinn started 12th and eclipsed Zane Zeiner for the lead with a smooth outside pass on lap 62. He then had to withstand the unrelenting pressure of Beers. He masterfully did so and went on to score the biggest win of his career.

“Unbelievable! I never thought that we could come out on top of this one especially after starting 12th. When you run against guys like Eric Beers, Zane Zeiner, Earl Paules and all these guys that have been doing this for so long and be able to beat them, it’s just unbelievable,” said Quinn, who also pocketed $3000 for his efforts.

Meanwhile Chip Santee of Slatington earned the 2007 Modified title.

It was Mahoning Valley’s final race of the year and seventh installment of the J Co Autobody Super-7 Series.

Time trials took place at the start of the night with the top-12 guaranteeing them into the grid. Zeiner was the fastest of the 24 cars on hand. A redraw saw the front row go to Don Wagner and Rusty Smith.

At the outset it was Wagner jumping to the early lead with Smith, Earl Paules and Bobby Jones in tow.

Wagner was looking very strong as he led the pack handily over the first 26 caution-free laps. Paules had moved into second by lap five and was keeping close tabs on the leader. Zeiner grabbed third five laps later.

After the first caution and several times thereafter, Paules would try everything he could to get by Wagner on each restart. But the outgoing champion remained solid with each repeated challenge.

Zeiner was staying right in the thick of the battle. Santee also emerged into the fray and actually snagged the third spot from Zeiner on lap 36. Zeiner then returned the favor three laps later. He then went into a torrid battle with Paules and Wagner and after a fierce three-wide clash for the lead, Zeiner come out on top as 45-laps were being completed.

At the same time a nasty crash took place when Rod Snyder, Jr., got KO’d from the event after a hard hit into the turn four wall. As the mid-way mark approached the yellow waved again and it came at the expense of runner-up Wagner who spun in turn three. In the process he collected Matt Hirschman.

On the restart Quinn was now second and as the race resumed he immediately began his pursuit of Zeiner. It was actually a four car battle as Beers and Paules were all part of the lead quartet.

Running the outside line, Quinn executed his race winning move at the 62nd circuit. Once getting the lead it was never easy staying there as Zeiner and Beers were motoring around side-by-side right behind the leader while Paules was also glued to their bumpers.

Beers grabbed second place on lap 65 and afterwards did all he could to unseat Quinn. However the leader was running a line that gave him just enough security to keep Beers from making any type of pass.

Quinn was also on top of his game after several every late race restarts too as he never allowed Beers the chance to overtake him.

“I saw him come under me a couple times and I was worried about the restarts. Eric (Beers) is one of the top competitors with these Modifieds. These restarts, that’s where it’s at,” said Quinn.

Victory lane was filled with emotion for Quinn, realizing that he had just scored such a huge win.

“I’ve only won two other times in this division and I want to thank everyone involved with this team. I can’t begin to say enough about the crew and everybody, especially the Morgan’s for this great opportunity to drive their car,” said Quinn.

The Super-7 Series has been quite a windfall for Beers as he notched three wins and three runner-ups. He noted that he had lost power steering after 10 laps and it was a struggle from there out although you never would have known from his keen run.

“We lost the power steering around lap 10 and it (car) made really hard to turn. It was tough trying to run the outside groove so I really had to pick my spots in order to get by everyone,” said Beers.

“I knew Mike (Quinn) had a really good car because he did a great job getting around Zane (Zeiner) on the outside and I knew he would be tough. He ran a good race.”

Zeiner, Paules and Smith completed the top five with John Markovic, Santee, Tom Flanagan, Jones and Brian DeFebo rounding out the top ten.

Sept 28-29 - Stafford Speedway - Time 8 - Start 5 - Finish 4

Story by Brian Danko:

It was a day for the old folks on the NASCAR Whelen modified tour and for Mike Stefanik, it was a long time coming. Stefanik, of Coventry, RI, the seven time modified tour champion and the defending champion notched his first win since winning the 2006 season opener Icebreaker last year.

Stefanik, in the # 16 owned by Eric Sanderson and sponsored by Diversified Metals took control of the lead on lap 92 and then held off the charges of fellow 'old guys' of Tony Hirschman and Ted Christopher to win the 35th annual Carquest Fall Final.

It was also the day that longtime modified car owner, Bob Garbarino realized his dream of capturing the championship when Donny Lia finished seventh to win the first title for both owner and driver.

"We've struggled. There is no doubt about it." Mike told the media after celebrating his 19th victory at the Stafford Motor Speedway and the 68th of his illustrious career. "It was so bad that several teams came over to us and offered to help us out. This win is great for the team, it keeps the moral up especially with the season that we've just had."

Stefanik started the race in 14th position and said before the race that he wasn't sure what the race might hold. A fan told Stefanik during the pit party, that he had him in the pool, Stefanik replied, "better hope for a lot of wrecks." When a driver like Stefanik, who is used to winning, the losing is hard and it has taken its toll on the seven-time modified champion and nine-time NASCAR champion. "I'm not a pessimist or an optimist, I'm a realist and this year has been tough. I am not used to being a field filler and that's what it felt like many times this year." Stefanik said smiling, thankful to get back into victory lane. When Stefanik was asked if he thought that maybe the last win would be your last win, he replied, "I will remember this one because of all we went through but your right, your last win might be your last win."

Stefanik pitted for tires on lap 60 but a few drivers including Tony and Matt Hirschman along with Donny Lia elected not to pit. Both Hirschmans showed just how good their cars were by finishing second and fourth with Tony right on Stefanik's rear bumper. "The car was real good." Tony said about his day. "The car was good so why pit. We didn't wear out our tires. I didn't think that anyone would pit when they did and then I thought that we were in trouble but we were just riding and the car felt good." Hirschman was happy to finish second and to see a fellow veteran get the win. "The old guys did good. I'm happy for Mike and me and Teddy, we kept all the kids behind us today." A few times he was right on the bumper of Stefanik but said, "I wasn't going to make a move to jeopardize Mike from winning, just like I know he wouldn't have done it to me."

Both Stefanik and Hirschman, who between them have 12 modified tour titles, were thrilled for both Lia and Garbarino. "Tony and I have won a lot of championships and to finally have a guy like Bob win the championship is great. Here is a guy who is dedicated to the modified tour and modified racing. Bob has probably spent four million dollars to get to where he is today but I am thrilled for him. He and his crew are great guys, they never cause any problems and are a first class team." Mike said as he congratulated Donny Lia.

The race started right on time and it was Todd Szegedy, the defending champion of the race, powering right out front on the opening green but a quick couple of cautions slowed the field. Szegedy, who entered the race second in points with an outside chance for the title looked to be in for another easy day despite being challenged by Matt Hirschman and Donny Lia. A caution on lap 35 slowed the field again but on the restart, Tony Hirschman moved past Donny Lia for third as he set his sights on his son, Matt, running in second as Szegedy continued to set a strong pace. Eric Berndt spun for the second time with a little help on lap 57 and that sent many of the leaders into the pits for tires with Matt Hirschman, his father and Lia remaining on the track. Teddy Christopher was the first car out of the cars that pitted and
lined up fourth on the track and many felt it would be short work before the guys who didn't take tires would fall by the wayside. Jerry Marquis nightmare season continued when the past champion hit the wall on lap 69 ending his day with Matt Hirschman still in control. On lap 75, father Tony went back past into second as Todd Szegedy also went past Lia dropping him to fifth. On lap 81, Tony made a couple of moves on his son, but Matt was up to the task holding off dad. All this time, Mike Stefanik was moving to the front. A caution on lap 84 involving Wade Cole and others would change the race as on lap 92; Mike Stefanik would get past Matt for the lead and never look back, despite charges from Tony Hirschman and Ted Christopher. On lap 97, Todd Szegedy spun all by himself in turn two and that would be the start of a tough rest of the day. At lap 100, it was Stefanik, Christopher, Matt Hirschman and Tony Hirschman followed by Donny Lia. On lap 103, Tony showed Matt the quick way around as he went past his son into third and on lap 112 moved under Ted Christopher for second while Stefanik had the car on cruise.

At the finish, Stefanik earned the popular win with Tony Hirschman second, TC in for third with Matt Hirschman fourth and Ronnie Silk, last weeks winner fifth. The rest of the top ten was James Civali, Donny Lia, Rick Fuller, Bobby Santos, III and Reggie Ruggiero.


1. (14) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 63.395 mph.
2. (3) Tony Hirschman, Jr., Northampton, Penn., Chevrolet, 150.
3. (9) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
4. (5) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 150.
5. (6) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
6. (10) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (2) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 150.
8. (16) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., Pontiac, 150.
9. (17) Bobby Santos, III, Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, 150.
10. (25) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (11) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
12. (19) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
13. (13) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (27) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
15. (1) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150.
16. (12) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150.
17. (20) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 150.
18. (8) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 150.
19. (7) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
20. (31) Joe Hartmann, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149.
21. (18) Anthony Sesely, Matawan, N.J., Chevrolet, 149.
22. (33) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 148.
23. (28) Eric Berndt, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 147.
24. (30) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 146.
25. (23) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 140.
26. (26) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 136, clutch.
27. (32) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 121.
28. (22) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, Conn., Pontiac, 108, suspension.
29. (24) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 106, accident.
30. (15) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 68, accident.
31. (4) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 18, accident.
32. (21) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Pontiac, 5, accident.
33. (29) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 2, engine.
Time of Race: 1 hour 10 minutes 59 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: Eric Beers (98.538 mph, 18.267 seconds)
Caution Flags: 8 for 42 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T.Szegedy 1-10; D.Lia 11; T.Szegedy 12-60; M.Hirschman 61-91; M.Stefanik 92-150.
Standings: 1. Lia, 2392; 2. Szegedy, 2209; 3. Civali, 2111; 4. Silk, 2102; 5. M. Hirschman, 2102; 6. Christopher, 2095; 7. Stefanik, 1935; 8. Blewett, 1795; 9. Tomaino, 1754; 10. Flemke Jr., 1745

Sept 23-Thompson-WMT - Finish 11

Silk's First Career Mod Tour Victory Comes at Thompson by Denise DuPont

The second annual Sunoco Thompson Modified Mania NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 150 lap event started their postponed race under quite different conditions from the original date. Two weeks ago, there was a late summer shower that washed out the original date of racing just before feature time. On Sunday, the first day of fall brought with it sunshine and great racing weather. Ronnie Silk had the fourth fastest car during time trials two weeks ago and his speed on the track continued on Sunday. Silk won the 150 lap NWMT race at Thompson International Speedway after passing Reggie Ruggiero for the lead on lap 137. “It came close quite a few times this year,” said Silk. “It is great to finally be here. I am really excited.”As the green flag was thrown, pole sitter Donny Lia led the field across the start line with Ron Yuhas on his outside. Lia maintained a lead until lap 58 when he pitted for fresh tires during a caution. The car was not as dominant after pitting and Lia managed to salvage only an eighth place finish in the end. “We had a shock go bad,” said Lia. “So we were just hanging on. The car was pretty much undrivable. It was just a matter of taking whatever we could get. We finished eighth which isn’t too bad considering the problem that we had. I am happy with that. We will go after it next week. We have a pretty good car for Stafford next week. ”Ted Christopher inherited the lead from Lia when he refused to pit with the rest of the pack. TC led the race until lap 100 when Silk passed him for the lead. TC drove behind Silk and held on to second position until lap 113 when he pitted and came back with a plan for a late race charge for the lead. Christopher would get back to the top five, but with only ten laps left in the race, TC was black flagged after cutting across the infield grass and making contact with Eddie Flemke. Flemke would hit the turn two wall.During the last 35 laps Silk, Ruggiero and Szegedy all raced one another for the win lap after lap. “We were gong really good but he was a little bit better. We were loose on restarts. It took probably 10 laps to get going. I hated to see the last two or three cautions. We were really going good. But on restarts I passed him on the restart because I was on the outside but he would get by me because I was loose in the corner. His car was better he deserved to win.”Then Silk passed Ruggiero with only 13 laps to go and the race was his from that lap on.
“A couple of times I really didn’t give him the room that he really deserved,” said Silk. “I just hope that he remembers what it was like when he was trying to win his first race.” This was Silk’s first NWMT win. He started competing in the NWMT in 2004 and has progressively moved his way to the front for a win.Ruggiero has raced many years at Thompson and calls it one of his best tracks. “I love Thompson. This is my favorite race track ever since I have been racing,” said Ruggiero. “Since they repaved it the track has two grooves. As long as the guys are gentlemen and race you clean [I enjoy racing here].”Szegedy coming off a big win at NHIS last week finished third behind Silk and Ruggiero. “It is great to see Ron win,” said Szegedy. “He is well overdue there. We had a good car. The track was very odd today. There was not a lot of bite. You really had your hands full. It was quite a work out today. I am really happy with the finish. Last week was a long wait to find out if we won. We won last week and today feels like a win too.”

1. (4) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 79.055 mph, $7,200.
2. (19) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $3,900.
3. (7) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150, $2,900.
4. (13) Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $2,850.
5. (27) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $7,300.
6. (25) Robert Grigas, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $2,050.
7. (15) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,950.
8. (1) Donnie Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 150, $2,450.
9. (6) Anthony Ferrante, New Hyde Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,250.
10. (14) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 150, $2,325.
11. (3) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,600.
12. (16) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,575.
13. (5) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,550.
14. (2) Ron Yuhas, Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,525.
15. (23) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,500.
16. (21) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,475.
17. (29) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Dodge, 150, $1,450.
18. (28) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,400.
19. (34) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,465.
20. (20) Rick Fuller, Corbin, Mass., Toyota, 150, $1,445.
21. (9) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $1,437.
22. (26) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 147, $1,300.
23. (22) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 146, $1,250.
24. (30) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 141, accident, $1,225.
25. (17) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 139, $1,200.
26. (10) Billy Pauch, Jr., Lawrenceville, N.J., Dodge, 137, $800.
27. (8) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 134, engine, $800.
28. (12) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Pontiac, 132, suspension, $800.
29. (18) Ryan Preece, Kensington, Conn., Chevrolet, 131, clutch, $800.
30. (33) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 117, transmission, $800.
31. (31) Robbie Summers, Vernon, Conn., Pontiac, 61, handling, $800.
32. (35) John Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 35, vibration, $800.
33. (32) Jonathan McKennedy, Somerset, Conn., Dodge, 23, overheating, $800.
34. (36) Roy Seidell, Easthampton, Mas., Chevrolet, 22, overheating, $800.
35. (11) Danny Sammons, Hamilton, N.J., Chevrolet, 0, dns, $800.
36. (24) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 0, dns, $800.

Time of Race: 1 hour 10 minutes 35 seconds Margin of Victory: .123
Fastest Qualifier: D.Lia (118.189 mph, 18.885 seconds)
Caution Flags: 8 for 35 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D.Lia 1-58; T.Christopher 59-99; R.Silk 100-130; R.Ruggiero 131-136; R.Silk 137-150


Sept 22 - RoC - Oswego - Time- Pole - Start 3 - Finish 2

Story from Speed 51

The 57th Sunoco Race of Champions took center stage at the Oswego Speedway (NY) on Saturday afternoon. 50 Modifieds jammed the pit area in anticipation of the event. The format, which was similar to last season’s event, featured time trials for all Modifieds teams with the top-12 from time trials advancing directly into the 200-lap feature. The remainder of the field was set by four qualifying races and two last chance B-Mains.
For Williamson, N.Y.’s, Jan Leaty, it was nearly a perfect day. He qualified well within the top-12, redrew the pole and the scored his second triumph in the annual classic. It was also his second consecutive victory at Oswego.
Jan Leaty in victory lane. (Paul Cooper Photos courtesy of GATER Racing News)
Leaty’s first win in the Sunoco Race of Champions came at Oswego in 1996 and he followed it up in 1997 with a car owner victory and he finished second to Tony Hirschman, who piloted Leaty’s second car to the victory.
On Saturday night, Leaty used a little different strategy to capture his second victory as a driver in the prestigious event. Leaty, who started on the pole, ultimately, had to hold off Matt Hirschman to capture the victory, but early on he chased Pete Brittain, who racked up over $13,000 in lap money leading the first 133 circuits.
“I wanted to have a good side by side start, but I think I played a little too nicely,” began Leaty. “We had a pretty quick yellow, but I was pressuring him before that yellow and may have got by him, but it didn’t work out that way. I wasn’t just riding behind him either, because of the lap money this event pays. I wanted to get by him, but he was pretty strong.”
Pit strategy is a key to victory in the 200-lap event at Oswego. In years past, it was a
survival of the fittest test and typically the last car to pit for tires made a dramatic drive to the front in the closing laps of the 200. For the past couple of years, pitting at or around the halfway point and utilizing a strong handling car has seemingly been the key and several drivers utilized different strategies on Saturday night, which Leaty used to his advantage.
“Our plan when we started the race was something around halfway, but that changed as strategies played out. Several cars pitted between the cautions on lap 72 and 80,” began Leaty recalling his race strategy. “Then there was another caution on lap 106, but that was too soon. I thought it would be better if they had another hard run on the tires and we got the caution when we needed it, so I started thinking that a caution on lap 140 would be ideal.”
The caution that Leaty was looking for came when young Erik Rudolph made an abrupt right turn and took out himself and Eric Beers as they slammed the outside of the turn two wall. The hit was so violent it actually shook the plywood down from the billboards hanging outside the race track. It was just past lap 130 when this happened.
“Yeah, we were blessed. The caution came out right as we needed it,” explained Leaty. “I was starting to fade a little and the guys that had pitted for tires had several hard runs on them, plus the field was thinned out to. I tried the same exact strategy a few years ago and I didn’t get a caution until too late in the race. This time the caution flew exactly when we needed it and it put me in a position to drive back to the front.”
Leaty’s biggest challenger of the night was Northampton, Pa.’s, Matt Hirschman. Hirschman, who finished second in this race last season, was seeking the big prize once again and he definitely had a fast car.
“If Matt came out of the pits in front of us, then the story would definitely be different,” explained Leaty. “He was fast, but our group, we’ve got such a great group of people, got us out first. It’s pretty incredible to think about, but that was definitely a major contribution to winning this race. We’re a team and we all work that way. I’m really fortunate in that aspect, I’m very thankful.”
Once the race went back to green, Leaty’s concerns were getting to the front, avoiding carnage and keeping Hirschman behind him. All of which were pretty big projects that offered scares at one point or another.
Leaty was able to keep Hirschman at bay, but when Jim Storace, Earl Paules and a lapped car came together, Leaty was looking at things from a different perspective. It was about lap 170.
“I saw it live and just prayed that they didn’t collect me,” Leaty recalled Paules’ move. “Paules tried to make a move to the bottom and push the lap car up into the car on the
outside. I could see the sparks and was off the gas, somehow I got through and if things would have gone differently I could have been in a pileup. When things are going your way, they go your way and that was one of those times.”
Avoiding that incident put Leaty on Wilbur Hebing’s tail. Hebing, who was racking up lap money to the tune of over $5,000, had been in control of the event since Leaty and Hirschman had pitted.
“I didn’t want to give Wilbur any confidence, so I went right to work on him,” Leaty began explaining his pass for the lead. “But he was slipping and sliding and I really didn’t want to hook wheels and crash, or anything of that sort, so I let him settle down and then I went back after him.”
As the duo started the 183rd circuit Hebing slipped his Kenny Troyer owned Chevrolet in turn two, allowing Leaty to put his machine to the outside entering turn three and complete the pass heading into turn one.
“He slipped just enough and it gave me enough room to get my left front to the outside of him in turn three,” explained Leaty. “That’s my deal, it stuck and we got the lead.”
Leaty brought Hirschman with him and the two battled it out over the final dozen laps.
“I saw him coming, but I knew my car was still pretty good,” Leaty offered. “I just kept it on the bottom, if he could go to the outside, then he could have it. He made a couple of cracks at it, but he didn’t have quite enough to get the job done.” Leaty led Hirschman to the checkers with Hebing coming home third. JR Kent and Chuck Hossfeld rounded out the top five. Before adding in the lap money, Leaty’s victory was worth $10,000.
“It’s pretty cool to have this place only abut 50 miles from home,” Leaty quipped from victory lane. “I need to thank Sunoco, the Toals, everyone associated with putting this race on. This is a big night for us. The team did a great job all day, all season. This is a pretty special victory for all of us.”
Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., captured the pole award. Paules, Rick Kluth of Hilton, N.Y., Tommy Ferrell of Neptune, N.J., and Woody Pitkat of Stafford Springs, Conn., captured the heat races. Chris Finocchario won the consolation event. Matt Hirschman, who finished third, will probably miss the final combination event, which is this weekend at Lancaster Speedway in New York, due to a conflict with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Still Hirschman has racked up an impressive record in this season’s DART Race of Champions Tour events and on Saturday night at Oswego, he finished second for the second straight season.
“Tonight, we just got beat,” offered Hirschman. “I know last year was aggravating to get beat, but this year, Jan just beat us. We might have been a tick quicker than Jan or equal to him, but we followed him all race and just couldn’t get around him. I got outside of him once, when we were running for second, but I got too wide and didn’t want to

Story from JR Kennerup
Oswego, NY - After winning back here on Labor Day weekend Jan Leaty of Williamson, NY made himself the favorite to win the 57th Sunoco Race of Champions on Saturday night at the Oswego Speedway. Leaty made the pre race odds makers look like geniuses as Jan’s game plan of how to win this race worked to perfection.

Leaty who started on the pole pitted for tires on lap 134 and used the late pit stop strategy to perfection as he took the lead from Wilbur Hebing with an outside turn three pass coming down to complete 183. Then Leaty had to hold off the relentless challenges of Matt Hirschman over the final eight laps to secure the $10,000 win. Hebing slipped back to third with JR Kent coming home in fourth and Chuck Hossfeld ending up in fifth.

"This is a nice little place to have 50 miles from home" said Jan who also won the first RoC race at Oswego in 1996 when it was moved to here from Flemington. "We’re really lucky as I have a good group around me, my team they gave me a great pit stop and that was the difference in the race. If Matt would have gotten out in front of me things would have been totally different. We’re a team as we all work hard together and I’m fortunate."
Jan started on the pole but never got the lead as outside pole sitter Pete Brittain got the jump on Jan and he followed Pete for the first 133 laps. "I was probably being too honest on the start as I wanted a good fair side by side start" said Jan. "He (Brittain) got a jump on me by a few feet and that was all it took. I ran him a little harder than I normally would run a guy because of all the lap money this race pays. I think if the race would have stayed green I would have wrestled the lead from him. But the yellow came out on lap one and he was just ahead of me at the line. That translated into about thirteen grand (in lap money) for him."
Jan followed Brittain for the lead for the first 133 laps and at times it seemed that Jan was using his strategy. "I tried him but not all the time. But there were times I was watching him and he looked a little more vulnerable. I would pull up and take a look to just keep the pressure on him. The cars were just too even and I had Matt sniffing my tailpipe so I had to be careful about making a bold outside move. So it kind of boiled down to an inside move and I couldn’t get him so I had to be a little careful not to wear out my stuff as I really didn’t know when I would be pitting."
Jan spoke about his race strategy going into the race. "Our race strategy going into the race was to pit at halfway. But what happened was that a whole big group of cars pitted on lap 72 and also on lap 80. There was another caution on lap 106 and we decided not to pit then because it was only 23 laps after they all pitted. My hope was that we could get another 20 to 25 hard laps out of the tires before I had to pit and the pit like at lap 140. That is where I was blessed as I got a caution right when I needed it. At that time I was starting to fade and the guys who already pitted had a significant running time on their tires that they pitted for. Plus the field was thinned out pretty good at that time too. I tried the same exact pit strategy a few years ago and we didn’t get a caution until very late in the race. This time we got a caution when we needed it and they guys put me in a position to get to the front."
When the race went back to green on lap 136 Leaty moved to the outside groove with Hirschman right on his back bumper. Jan moved into fifth on lap 165 and into fourth on the next lap with Hirschman in tow. " I moved right to the top after the pit stop " said Jan. "I knew Matt was right behind me so I didn’t want to leave any real openings for him and I zig zagged through there pretty good and I actually got away from him (Hirschman) for a little bit."
Jan almost had his race come to an end on lap 170 coming out of turn four. When right in front of Jan Jim Storace who was second and Earl Paules who was third got together with a lap car racing for the show position. The contact that Jan avoided placed him in second behind leader Wilbur Hebing.
"I saw it so live I can still see it" says Jan recalling the incident. "Paules tried making a move to the inside and pushing the lap car up and into the guy on the outside. Sure I could see the sparks and basically I was off the gas and then Paules went up and Storace came down and I said don’t collect me, don’t collect me. Sure enough I got through it, things could have gone totally different there and we could have been in a pileup. When things are going your way you got to have that too."
"First off in my mind I didn’t want to give him (Wilbur) any false confidence by riding behind him too long so I made an attempt and attacked him for the lead right away. He was kind of slipping and I was more afraid about hooking wheels and wrecking. So I let him settle down a little and then started working him again and the one time he slipped coming off of two there and I just committed myself to the outside and got the wheel up on him there in turn three, that’s my deal."
Jan had one last challenger for the win and that was the driver who was in his rear view mirror all night long. "I saw him (Matt) coming and I said my car is still good and I’m going to run the bottom and if he can get by on the outside I’ll give him that lane. He made a couple of cracks at it but we were still good then."
Jan finished up talking about winning his second RoC title and the kind of year he is having. "This has been a special year as we’ve been very, very good. We’ve been able to win RoC races at Spencer and two of them here. Very happy with the year as we’ve able to run good anywhere we’ve raced this year. I had one other year like this one and that was in 1989. This year just like the one in 89 I can do nothing wrong and I have had years where I can do nothing right."
For the second year in a row second generation driver Matt Hirschman ended up a disappointing second in the biggest race of the year. "Last year it was aggravating to finish second with the way it turned out. This year we just got beat" said the soft spoken driver.
Matt started third and stayed there until pitting for his tires. When the race resumed Matt was like glue on the back bumper of Leaty as they motored through the field to the front. Several times they would be even at some point on the track but Matt was never able to get clearly by Leaty.
"We were just as fast as Jan, maybe faster, or equal. But we followed him the whole race and I just couldn’t get by him" recalled Matt. "We pitted at the same time, he beat us out of the pits, and his crew did a good job getting him out in front of me. There were a couple of times where he went low and I went high and he went high and I went low. Every time I couldn’t quite fill the hole and I wasn’t going to jeopardize both of our cars. The difference of winning and losing was getting ahead of him."
Matt felt that a bobble on lap 180 that cost him a position was possibly the difference in the race. "I got outside of him (racing for second) and it ended up not working as I got too wide. I had to lift up out of it or I would have run her into the wall. Where I lost the ground is when Jan got by Wilbur (lap 183) as I needed to be there at that time to try and go maybe a different direction to get by him."
Matt summed up his evening by saying. "I just needed at some point during the feature to get by Jan and I didn’t do it. As I don’t come to this race to finish second."
"We’re happy with a third as that was two of the best who finished ahead of us" said third place finisher Wilbur Hebing who started sixth. " If that caution didn’t come out (lap 170) I think I had something for them. Because the car was tight enough where I could drive it hard and get away with it there."
Hebing who pitted on lap 72 for tires worked his way up to seventh when the yellow came out for Erick Rudolph and Eric Beers who both crashed hard into the turn two wall while racing for fifth. When the pits opened for pit stops during this yellow flag period the top four cars of Brittain, Leaty, Hirschman, and Lee Sherwood all pitted and this handed the lead to Hebing.
Following the resumption of the race on lap 144, Hebing took off like he acted like he wanted to run away from the field and hide. "My crew asked me how the car felt and I said it felt good so we decided to go ahead and try to run away from the field. We were doing that until the caution came out (lap 170). Then the car was too tight and it took too many laps to get going again. I didn’t want to screw up Jan or Matt so I let them go and we ended up third which we’re happy about."
Qualifying for the 47 Modifieds saw Matt Hirschman set quick time in time trials with a lap of 17. 738. Heat races were won by Paules, Rick Kluth, Tommy Farrell, III, and Woody Pitkat while Chris Finocchario won the consi.
RoC NOTES: After breaking his primary ride in hot laps Zane Zeiner jumped into his backup car which was slated to see John Wilbur behind the wheel. Bob Reis had driveline problems which saw him receive no hot laps due to repairs taking place. Jimmy Zacharias was in the former Dean DeMaree car that was just purchased by Zacharias Racing. Greg Furlong who just won the International Classic for the fourth time three weeks ago was in the second Rick Kluth entry. To get into the top 12 for time trials you had to have a lap quicker than 17. 926. Joe Gerber attended his first race in 13 years on this weekend and was the Grand Marshall of the race. Don Toal and Gerber gave the command to fire the engines. The drivers did a collection for the family of John Blewett, III which saw $3, 355 collected and that amount was matched by the Spalding Foundation for Injured Drivers, Inc. Marilyn Toal received a dozen roses along with recognition from RoC owner Andrew Harpell and the Modified drivers for all of her efforts throughout the years for raising lap money for the Modifieds as this year a record $23, 950 was raised. The entire Saturday racing program was completed at 8:50 Saturday night.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR COMBINATION RACE # 2 - 57TH SUNOCO RACE OF CHAMPIONS FINISH: Jan Leaty, Matt Hirschman, Wilbur Hebing, JR Kent, Chuck Hossfeld, Pete Brittain, Buck Catalano, Billy Putney, Daren Scherer, Lee Sherwood, John Markovic, Rick Zacharias, Phil Slater, Tommy Farrell, III, Eddie Hawkins, TJ Potrzebowski, Larry Fisher, Jimmy Zacharias, Bobby Holmes, Jim Storace, Earl Paules, Zane Zeiner, Eric Beers, Erick Rudolph, Chris Finocchario, John Bennett, Rick Kluth, Woody Pitkat, Tony Hirschman, Sege Fidanza, Patsy Catalano, Rusty Smith, Greg Furlong, Bill Mislin, Bob Reis, JR Swansbrough, Chris Zacharias, Tommy Kinsella, Mike Leaty, Doug Reaume.
DNQ: John Wilbur, Rich Kuiken, Jr., Mark Tychoniewicz, Ken Canestrari, Matt Clemens, Chris Risdale, Andy Szapacs

The Race of Champions- Oswego Speedway_September 22
Story from Jim Blacroc - Speed51.com
Heading into the 57th Annual Sunoco Race of Champions, it’s anyone’s guess who might take home the Silver Bowl at the end of the 200-lap feature around the challenging lakeside oval.
Last season T.J. Potrzebowski held off a charging Matt Hirschman to score the victory. The race, although a bit controversial in the closing laps, was as exciting. Eric Beers grabbed an obscene amount of lap money after leading well over 100 circuits. In 2007, Matt Hirschman has been one of the more dominant driver’s in DART Race of Champions Tour competition, finishing in the top three in nearly every RoC event he had the opportunity to participate in, including a victory at Oswego, but the Race of Champions is different and he knows it.
With the rain out of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Thompson last weekend, the original reschedule date was for Saturday, September 22nd, the date of the Race of Champions, following several conversations took place and on Monday, the Thompson race was moved to Sunday the 23rd. Several drivers can now attempt to make the best of both events.
“The Race of Champions at Oswego is the race that I look forward to most all year,” explained Hirschman. “When the initial make up date for Thompson was announced I was very discouraged. Before we left Thompson I spoke to both Ben Dodge & Donald Hoening, they were unaware at the time of the conflict that was created and told me they would look into changing in Monday morning. I can't thank them enough for changing the date and allowing us to compete in modified racing's longest running event, the 57th annual Race of Champions.”
In recent weeks, Hossfeld has stuck to racing closer to home, mixed in with a trip to Seekonk.
“Doing well at Oswego is something we’re looking ahead to,” explained Hossfeld. “We’ve had plenty of success there in the past and there is no reason we can’t find success again this season. It’s just a matter of everything coming together.”
Hirschman continued. “To some maybe the race has lost some of the luster it once had but to me it is the one race that I would like to win more than any other. In my lifetime the best years of the race was when it was held at Pocono, I can still remember when my father won the race in 1989 and what that meant to the entire Vecchio Racing team. I know the race fell on some hard times during the mid 90's and it has taken some time to recover but it is slowly returning to what it once was. Coming into this year’s race we should have as good of a chance to win as anyone. I'm confident in my team as a whole from the people to the equipment and I can't wait to get to Oswego next week.” The younger Hirschman will have to battle his Father, Tony, who will also be in competition. Hirschman has won the event at Pocono in 1989 and then at Oswego in 1997. Only Hirschman and George Kent have been able to win at both Pocono and Oswego. Sege Fidanza won the 53rd Annual event after an epic battle with Hirschman and Kent and those three driver’s plan on being in Saturday’s field.

“It’s nice when we get to race at the same place,” Tony Hirschman said of what it’s like to race with his son Matt when they have the opportunity. Not only do they have the chance, but this weekend, both Hirschman’s are top contenders for the title in the 57th Race of Champions at Oswego Speedway.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny Johnson talks with father and son RoC contenders Tony and Matt Hirschman.

Tony is a two time winner of the race. He first took the checkered flag at Pocono’s ¾ mile layout in 1989, and then backed up with the victory in Oswego’s version in 1997. Matt came close to the win in last year‘s RoC, chasing eventual winner TJ Potrzebowski in the closing laps, eventually settling for the runner up spot. Matt was also top time trialer in last year’s race with a lap of 17.694 to lead the list field of impressive modifieds at the 2006 event.

“This could be the toughest field at Oswego in a very long time,” Matt Hirschman said, as he looked forward to this weekend’s 200. “The 200 is always a tough race to win, that’s one of the things dad impressed on me,” he said of his father’s words of wisdom. “Even if you have the fastest car, it’s just a tough race to win. So many things go into the equation, let alone all the top teams that will be there.”

Matt, driving the Featherlight Trailers #60, is coming to town this weekend with a good recent track record at the lakeside oval. He finished second in the RoC last year, won on opening day, and had another podium finish earlier this year. “I just love coming to Oswego,” Matt said as his voice picked up. “The track means more to me than anywhere else. I basically grew up there. I still get goose bumps going through the gates. It’s a special feeling, having our biggest race of the year at Oswego. It’s one of those places I always wanted to win. I get pumped up running there. I really look forward to it. The year has gone by really fast, looking ahead to his one.”

“Oswego is the home of the supermodified, but the modifieds have a special place there too,” Matt said. Modifieds have been running at Oswego since the 1960’s, and having the biggest modified race of the year at Oswego proves how much modifieds are part of Oswego Speedway’s racing history. “The Race of Champions is like the Thompson World Series, Oswego Classic, and any other big short rack racing event. It’s a race where all the top guys are there, it’s a track steep in racing tradition, and fans come out to see good, short track open wheel racing. It’s special to be part of it.”

Last year, Matt wasn’t just a part of it, he was a major player in the outcome. He set fast time early in the day, and was racing for the win in the closing stages. Matt picks up the story from there, “Last year was a tough one to swallow,” he reflected. “It was the most disappointing second place finish I wil ever have. That was as close as I ever came to winning the biggest race of the year, it was disappointing. I did what I had to do, and I did it clean. I earned the line, and I got run up beyond a groove a few times. I tried everything I could do to win that race, and did it cleanly.”

Matt brings an impressive recent resume with him this weekend. He is defending race winner of the North-South Shootout in Concord, NC, won the RoC Central Region points, is third in Whelan Modified points this year, and has a legitimate shot at the overall RoC point title.

“It’s not easy pickins there,” Tony said looking ahead to the Race of Champions. “There are a lot of good guys coming in for the 200. Jan has that place figured out, Eric Beers will be there and he’s always fast, Wilbur goes good there, Putney always has a top five, and a lot of other good guys will be there. Matt has a good set up for there. You wont get the 70-80 cars, but 50 is a good count and many of those can win it.”

Looking for that little advantage was why Tony showed up for the Labor Day 125 lap show on Friday on Labor Day Weekend. “It’s been a while since we ran there,” he surmized. “:We came back once this year, but it’s a tough place. We needed to get better. We had to get some track time and look at a few things.”

It takes the entire package to come together for the win in the 200. Tony explains, “The luck of the draw, pit strategy, pit at the right time, luck, all of it plays a big part,” he added. “No matter what, you need a good car. All the cars are almost the same, but it’s the little things, that you have to take advantage of.”

Pit strategy is a major aspect of the RoC 200. When to pit, what to pit for, and timing are all key. “Pit stops, having the right tire strategy, pit early, pit late, pit too early, tire wear, and if you pit early, is your car good enough to go the rest of the way on that set? You have to go into the race with a ’see how the race plays out’ idea. You and your crew have to be ready from lap 50 on to pit. The first caution from lap 50, until 150, you have to be ready,” Tony added.

“The Race of Champions is still a big one,” he went on. “Oswego isn’t an easy place to get a win, and many good teams will be there. You’ll have to work for the win, that’s for sure.”

“I really have to thank my car owner,” Tony said gratefully. “They are behind us 100%. We decided to not go after the Tour 100%, as we had some issues with race formats, we weren’t happy with. We decided to kick back, have some fun and not chase points. We’ve done that. Now its about having fun, and picking races we want to do, kind of like the last Oswego one. We knew we had to get better there, so we ran there. We’ve been there twice with the #48, and haven’t led a lap yet. We have to get better there. Other years, we ran Martinsville, chasing points.”

“My crew has been great, and I would like to thank Kamco Supply as well. Thy have been great. This really is fun. I don’t like it when Matt’s racing in one place and I am in another, but it’s nice when we’re at the same track. This weekend will be a lot of fun.”

Matt echoed his dad’s sentiments. “I enjoy running with my dad. We ran at Oswego Memorial Day weekend there, for a while I was second and he was third. I like racing against him. We have fun and it’s great to run wheel to wheel with my dad. He‘s one of those guys that has a chance to win, and it’s cool to run a race with dad there.”

Pennsylvania has always been a hotbed of asphalt modified racing. Northampton sends two legitimate contenders this weekend, as the father and son duo of Tony and Matt Hirschman come to town, each carrying their own chance to take victory in the biggest modified race of the year. For Tony, it would be his third win in race. For Matt, it would be his first and would be redemption for the one he had such a good chance at last year. Both are looking forward to racing against each other this weekend, and would be that much better if that race was for the checkered flag

Sept 16 - Mountain Speedway - Heat Finish 4 - Start 9 - Finish 1
After coming off a tough day at New Hampshire Matt and the crew made the long haul home and Sunday morning loaded up the J&J Motorsport #59 and headed to Mountain Speedway. It has been 3 years since Matt's last start at this track. Matt finished 4th in his heat and started the feture in 9th. The car was good and Matt worked his way to the front, taking the 40 lap feature. It was a great day as this was the first win for J&J Motorsports as car owners.

Story from Mountain Website:
The second to last points feature for the Modified Division was set to begin. The #5 of Kyle Ebersole once again led the field to the start. Ebersole did lead several laps one of the feature, but the #27 of Donny Hartzell took the lead over on lap ten. Ebersole had his hands full trying to hold off Hartzell but just could not. As Hartzell got around him, he brought the #34 of Rusty Smith along with him. This sent Ebersole back to third. The first of three caution periods came on lap fourteen when the #7 of Rich Parker spun out of turn four into the dirt. On lap eighteen, Smith took over the lead from Hartzell. The second yellow flag waved for Ebersole as he was side by side with Hartzell and lost control on the back stretch. The last caution was for the #21 of Andy Walko who made slight contact with the #6R of Bobby Jones and came around in turn two. On lap 33, the leader Smith suddenly slowed down and dropped all the way to fifth. This turned the lead over to the #59 of Matt Hirschman. The #53 of Brian DeFebo worked his way up to second and was all over Hirschman as the race drew to an end. DeFebo was unable to get around Hirschman and settled for second. Matt Hirschman wins the Modified feature event.

1 - Matt Hirshman
2 - Brian DeFebo
3 - Donny Hartzell
4 - Rusty Smith
5 - Tommy Flanagan
6 - Barry Callavini
7 - Larry Fisher
8 - Tom Wanick III
9 - Andy Walko
10 - Kyle Ebersole
11 - Todd Baer
12 - Bobby Jones
13 - Rich Parker

Modified Heat #1:
1 - Donny Hartzell
2 - Brian DeFebo
3 - Kyle Ebersole
4 - Larry Fisher
5 - Barry Callavini
6 - Todd Baer
7 - Bobby Jones

Modified Heat #2:
1 - Rusty Smith
2 - Andy Walko
3 - Tommy Flanagan
4 - Mitt Hirshman
5 - Tom Wanick III
6 - Rich Parker

Sept 15 - NHIS - WMT - Start last due to engine failure - Finish 31
It was a tough weekend from begining to end for the 59 team. During practice the 59 car suffered a engine failure. After changining engines Matt started in the rear. While working his way trought the field was caught up in a wreck with several other cars. All in all a tough weekend.

(1) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 75 laps, 106.391 mph, $15,700.
2 (7) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $11,200.
3 (3) Donnie Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 75, $8,200.
4 (10) Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 75, $6,500.
5 (17) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 75, $4,700.
6 () James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $3,750.
7 (4) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 75, $3,350.
8 (21) Andrew Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 75, $3,100.
9 (22) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 75, $3,600.
10 (15) Robert Grigas, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 75, $2,850.
11 (26) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $3,250.
12 (11) Rick Fuller, Corbin, Mass., Chevrolet, 75, $2,550.
13 (6) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $2,050.
14 (9) Ryan Preece, Kensington, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $2,425.
15 (28) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 75, $2,400.
16 (18) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, NY, Chevrolet, 74, $2,375.
17 (30) Jonathan McKennedy, Somerset, Conn., Dodge, 74, $2,350.
18 (29) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 74, $2,325.
19 (31) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 74, $2,300.
20 (13) Billy Pauch, Jr., Lawrenceville, N.J., Dodge, 74, $2,291.
21 (34) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 73, $2,250.
22 (20) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 64, clutch, $2,225.
23 (40) Mike Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Dodge, 63, $1,800.
24 (19) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Pontiac, 61, $2,180.
25 (16) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 60, engine, $2,150.
26 (24) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 59, engine, $1,750.
27 (5) J.J. Yeley, Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet, 51, overheating, $1,750.
28 (23) Jeff Malave, Manchester, Conn., Chevrolet, 47, $1,750.
29 (39) John Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 43, oil line, $1,750.
30 (25) Alex Hoag, Corning, N.Y., Chevrolet, 23, accident, $1,750.
31 (38) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 22, accident, $1,750.
32 (27) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 22, accident, $1,750.
33 (33) Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg, Mass., Chevrolet, 22, accident, $1,750.
34 (35) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 22, accident, $1,750.
35 (2) Ron Yuhas, Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 22, accident, $1,750.
36 36) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Ford, 14, ignition, $1,750.
37 (14) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 4, accident, $1,750.
38 (12) Danny Sammons, Hamilton, N.J., Chevrolet, 3, accident, $1,750.
39 (32) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Dodge, 3, accident, $1,750.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 44 minutes 45 seconds
Margin of Victory: .202 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Szegedy (128.135 mph, 29.725 seconds)
Caution Flags: 4 for 32 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 2 drivers.
LapLeaders: T.Szegedy 1-21; R.Silk 22-38; T.Szegedy 39-41; R.Silk 42-43; T.Szegedy
44-45; R.Silk 46-50; T.Szegedy 51-65; R.Silk 66-68; T.Szegedy 69-75.

Sept 9 - Thompson - WMT - Rescheduled to September 23

Sept 9 - Thompson - RoC Tour - Time 1 Start 3 Finish - Win

Story from Bruce Boucher:

THOMPSON, CT- It was Modified Mania Weekend at Thompson International Speedway, featuring the three major Modified touring series in the Northeast. First on Sunday’s schedule was a 75-lap Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour Combo Region event. Twenty-two Modifieds started the race, with Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA dominating the field to take home the victory. Hirschman took the lead on lap 2 and was never seriously challenged as he sailed to Victory Lane.

"It helped that we had a good draw (third) for our starting position today," explained Hirschman after the race. "Several times this year I’ve picked twelve and it would have made it harder to get to the front, although I still think we could have won. I felt after qualifying yesterday we had the fastest car. I put a lot of emphasis on this race this year because last year here I only had three days to turn the car around for Oswego and it showed. We ended up finishing second here last year and think if I had had the time to do more and take more chances I could have won. Coming here this year I came to win, we did what was needed, and we got it done. Now we can go to Oswego for the 200 in two weeks, a race I would like to win even more than this one, with some momentum. "There is no doubt my experience here at Thompson paid off today. When you come here for the first or second time, you’re at a disadvantage compared to where I’m at now. But Ricky Kluth surprised me. He ran really good – I was running hard out front and he wasn’t far behind. That says a lot for what he did today. The guys I really thought I would have to beat would have been the guys with experience here, like Woody Pitkat, Carl Pasteryak and Eric Beers, but it ended up being two RoC guys (Kluth and Pete Brittain) right behind me so that says a lot for those two guys. That speaks highly of RoC drivers." In Saturday qualifying Hirschman won the pole with a fast lap of 18.760 seconds followed by Lee Sherwood, Eric Beers, Steven Reed and Pete Brittain. In the redraw for feature starting positions, veteran NASCAR Modified Tour racer Carl Pasteryak picked the pole position flanked by RoC regular Rick Kluth. Hirschman would line up third on the grid. At the drop of the green flag, Kluth took the lead but Hirschman powered past him on the second circuit with NASCAR Modified Tour driver Woody Pitkat following to second as Kluth settled into third. Hirschman would pull away by several car lengths but that margin would evaporate as True Value Modified Racing Series driver Bryan Shumway spun in turn four. Eric Beers was brought to pit road by RoC officials to check for a possible oil leak and pulled behind the wall to end his day early. On the restart Hirschman once again pulled away by a comfortable margin over Pitkat and Kluth with Billy Putney moving to fifth behind Pasteryak. On the 33rd lap Kluth would pass Pitkat as the Hillbilly Racing #79 began to fade back in the field. At the halfway mark Hirschman’s lead over Kluth had grown to twelve car lengths with Pasteryak, Putney and Sherwood filling out the top-five as Pitkat had slipped back to ninth. Brittain was up to fifth past a fading Sherwood on the 43rd circuit. Caution was displayed once again on lap 45 as Shumway stopped along the turn two wall. After a lap 50 caution for a spin by Butch Perry, Hirschman would once again pull away from Kluth on the restart. Pasteryak was fading quickly and was passed by Putney, Brittain and six-time NASCAR Modified Tour champion Mike Stefanik. Caution was back out for fluid on the track on lap 58 and Putney was the culprit, ending his race. Hirschman now led Kluth, Brittain, Stefanik and Pasteryak. Pasteryak continued to fade on the restart and tangled with John Markovic off turn four to bring out the caution once more. Sherwood was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Pasteryak and elected to pit, joined there by Pasteryak and Markovic. Under the caution Stefanik lost power and was pushed behind the wall. The race went back to green on lap 59 and Hirschman maintained his lead over Kluth as a resurgent Pitkat passed Brittain for third. With 15 laps to go Hirschman had pulled away by several car lengths as Pitkat battled with Kluth for second. On the 69th lap Brittain reclaimed third from Pitkat and closed in on Kluth. Hirschman was well out front as the battle for second was heating up. Brittain would complete the pass on lap 73. At the checkered flag it was Hirschman by a sizeable margin over Brittain, Kluth, Pitkat and a fast-closing Sherwood. Rounding out the top-ten were Daren Scherer, Phil Slater, Pasteryak, Gary McDonald and Sean Patterson. By virtue of his win, Hirschman moved into the RoC Combo Region point lead.

Thompson International Speedway Modified Mania Race of Champions 75-lap Combo Region Modified Feature Finish: 1. Matt Hirschman Northampton, PA; 2. Pete Brittain Oakhurst, NJ; 3. Rick Kluth Brockport, NY; 4. Woody Pitkat Stafford, CT; 5. Lee Sherwood Binghamton, NY; 6. Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY;7. Phil Slater Owego, NY; 8. Carl Pasteryak Lisbon, CT; 9. Gary Mc Donald Ronkonkoma, NY; 10. Sean Patterson Wading River, NY; 11. Doug Reaume Syracuse, NY; 12. Bryan Shumway Belchertown, MA;13. Butch Perry Asltaway, RI; 14. Mike Stefanik Coventry, RI; 15. John Markovic Bethlehem, PA; 16. Billy Putney East Aurora, NY; 17. Steven Reed Freehold, NJ; 18. Lenny Fisher Medford, NY; 19. Ken Bouchard Thompson, CT; 20. Kenny Barry Preston, CT; 21. Eric Beers Northampton, PA; 22. Matt Clemens Slatington, PA

Lap Leaders: Rick Kluth 1; Matt Hirschman 2-75 Hoosier Tire Hard Luck Award: Eric Beers
Hoosier Tire Hard Charger: Sean Patterson Rookie of the Race: Steven Reed

Mania Notes:

Pete Brittain never gave up and kept on plugging. That earned him a second place finish when he passed Rick Kluth with just two laps remaining. "Our race car was awesome today. We don’t have the laps around this place that Matt (Hirschman) has, but at the end of the race I think we were just as good as him – maybe a little better. I don’t know for sure because I never got to him. We started eighth and he started third and the race ended before we could catch up. Matt is going really good and getting a lot of laps in a lot of racecars at a lot of racetracks right now. It seems like wherever he goes he’s really good. Whenever we go to the race track, if he is there I know he’s one of the guys I have to beat to win.

"I didn’t try and beat up the car at all today. I just picked my spots when they came and didn’t over-drive the car because I knew I had to make it last and get there. It worked out well. We had a really good car at the end, just as good at the end as it was in the beginning.

"I love racing here. I just wish it was closer to home because I love this racetrack. I like the high speed tracks like Oswego and here. It’s also nice to get some added recognition by racing here. When you walk into the pit area there are a thousand Modifieds in there and you are loving it to death. You are right in the heart of Modified country and all the best Modified drivers ever came from this area. It’s a thrill to race here."

* * *

Rick Kluth has had a 2007 season to forget. He began the year missing races because of mechanical problems and has struggled most of the way to this point. But on Sunday he was all smiles after the race because of his third place finish.

"I’m really happy with today," he grinned. "This was a great day for us. It was a lot of fun running up front. This is the third time I’ve been here at Thompson and this is the first time we came here and were good. The motor was fresh, so that helped. The experience I gained here the first two times helped a lot as well. I couldn’t run with Matt (Hirschman) but that didn’t frustrate me. I haven’t been close enough in a long time to even see that, so it actually felt good. He had us covered and was doing what he had to do. His experience here really helped him, I think. "I lost second (to Pete Brittain) right at the end and it was frustrating but it wasn’t, too. At that point in time I’m happy just to be in that position, second or third. I had a left front that started bouncing with about 30 laps to go that hurt me. I tried to fight Pete but at the same time I wasn’t going to be stupid, either. Third is better than where we might have ended up. You have to be smart sometimes. "This is a great way to head into Oswego for the 200. In the Labor Day race there I was good but something broke on the car. I think we’re going to be good when we go back."

* * *Lee Sherwood made it back to fifth after pitting on lap 58. "Overall things didn’t go too bad. We’re leaving here in one piece with a top-five finish. I don’t know if pitting helped us at all but I don’t think it hurt us. We probably would have finished about where we did no matter what, so it didn’t have any effect on our day. "It’s hard to pass here at Thompson, especially when we RoC guys don’t really know the place, I’m sure it gets easier as you run here more. Obviously there is a way to pass here because there are people doing it, but we haven’t figured it out. There is certainly an advantage to the guys with local experience over us but it’s that way at any racetrack where we go. There are always some people who have more experience than we do and there are tracks where we have more experience than them. It’s just the nature of the game. It doesn’t bother me at all; in fact, I’m glad to have those guys running this race with us because they are good racers and we need more guys like them in this series."

* * *Weather was threatening all day at Thompson. When I arrived just before noon it was raining hard just a few miles away, but dry at the track. The skies remained threatening but the racing got underway. After the RoC feature the Sunoco Modifieds (SK-type racecar) took to the track for their feature. After that, the True Value Modifieds pulled out of the pit area for their 75-lap feature under a drizzle. The race was halted after two laps and when it began to pour the racing program was cancelled from that point. The make-up for the TVMRS 75 and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 150 is now Saturday, September 22, directly against the Race of Champions at Oswego. That will affect both events in terms of racecars and fans, but this late in the year the calendar starts to get crowded with winter looming not far enough in the distance. Sometimes tough choices have to be made.

Sept 1 -Martinsville - WMT - Time 9th - Finish 26
The 59 car was strong out of the box today. Matt timed 9th and ran in the top 5 for a period when the team decided to take advantage of a caution just prior to the mandatory half way caution period where you could do anything to the car except change tires. Well Matt and Fellow Mud lane resident Eric Beers came out of the pits and were just running there own race when the the the 28 car of Sevally got into the 16 car of Stefanik which caused the 16 to spin and caught the 59 car sending him into the wall. Kudos to the team to get the 59 car back out the car was running strong but the only problem was they were some 60 laps down.

1. (1) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 300 laps, 52.498 mph, $12,375.
2. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 300, $6,750.
3. (40) L.W. Miller, Mooresville, N.C., Pontiac, 300, $4,725.
4. (19) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 300, $4,650.
5. (21) Tim Brown, Cana, Va., Chevrolet, 300, $3,150.
6. (25) Brian King, Gibsonville, N.C., Chevrolet, 300, $2,325.
7. (16) Richard Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 300, $2,850.
8. (37) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Dodge, 300, $3,750.
9. (18) Jay Foley, Stuart, Va., Chevrolet, 300, $2,150.
10. (33) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 300, $2,675.
11. (41) George Brunnhoelzl, Mooresville, N.C., Dodge, 300, $3,000.
12. (24) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Chevrolet, 300, $1,925.
13. (34) Brandon Hire, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 300, $2,100.
14. (20) Robert Grigas, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 299, $2,225.
15. (30) Junior Miller, Danbury, N.C., Dodge, 299, $1,800.
16. (38) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 299, $2,025.
17. (31) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 296, $2,300.
18. (14) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 296, $2,425.
19. (36) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 293, $2,350.
20. (13) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 293, $2,475.
21. (26) Buddy Emory, Petersburg, Va., Chevrolet, 292, $1,650.
22. (22) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Chevrolet, 291, $1,600.
23. (15) Billy Pauch, Lawrenceville, N.J., Dodge, 276, $2,125.
24. (8) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 270, $2,200.
25. (2) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 269, $1,375.
26. (9) Matt Hirschmann, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 237, $2,318.
27. (7) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Pontiac, 235, brakes, $1,785.
28. (17) Ryan Preece, Kensington, Conn., Chevrolet, 204, accident, $1,700.
29. (42) Brian Pack, Walkertown, N.C., Chevrolet, 202, accident, $1,450.
30. (27) Frank Fleming, Mount Airy, Ford, 185, accident, $1,450.
31. (11) Reggie Ruggerio, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 177, power steering, $1,700.
32. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 175, accident, $1,300.
33. (6) Danny Sammons, Hamilton, N.J., Chevrolet, 165, clutch, $2,000.
34. (12) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 130, accident, $2,700.
35. (28) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Pontiac, 110, oil leak, $2,150.
36. (10) Brian Loftin, Lexington, N.C., Chevrolet, 80, accident, $1,875.
37. (5) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 80, accident, $2,000.
38. (29) Anthony Sesely, Matawan, N.J., Chevrolet, 80, radiator, $1,300.
39. (35) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 79, clutch, $1,700.
40. (43) Zach Brewer, Winston-Salem, Chevrolet, 63, accident, $1,450.
41. (32) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 63, accident, $1,700.
42. (39) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 32, suspension, $1,300.
43. (23) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 19, suspension, $2,100.

Time of Race: 3 hours 0 minutes 21 seconds Margin of Victory: .487 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: D.Lia (100.440 mph, 18.853 seconds)
Caution Flags: 15 for 88 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D.Lia 1-118; T.Christopher 119-159; R.Silk 160-162; T.Christopher 163-184; D.Lia 185-300

Aug 29-Seekonk- $10,000 to win Open Race - Start 24 - Finish 3

review of race:

The Modified Madness $10,000 to win show at Seekonk started off very similar to last years event by drawing a high number and having to start in the back of a talent stacked heat race. Matt wasn't able to make much happen in a 11 car heat that went without a caution to finish 9th. Where his day changed was the consi, where again it went without a caution but this year Matt was able to edge out 9 time NASCAR Champion Mike Stefanik to qualify for the final starting position in the main event. The feature was a very entertaining 100 lap race with Matt becoming the star of the show by moving from the last row on the grid to as high as 2nd and finally settling for a 3rd place finish.

Matt's thought's:

"Wow that was a heck of race tonight! I was just thrilled to be in the show after almost not qualifying for the second year in a row. To move from last all the way to 2nd and being in contention to win was a great run for us. At the end our stuff was pretty much used up and I had to settle for a 3rd but I can't complain cause I was really close to having to watch this one from the grandstands. I'm already looking forward to coming back again next year cause that was a fun race! A big thanks to John Gouldey and my dad for making the trip from from PA and all the Darling Racing team members that came out to help."

Race Story:

Local favorite Vinnie Annarummo of Swansea, MA scored the biggest victory of his storied 35-year career at the 1/3-mile Seekonk Speedway oval on Wednesday night, August 29, winning the 3rd annual Viveiros Insurance Modified Madness 100, worth $10,000. Thirty-three competitors from seven different states attempted to qualify for the 100 green flag lap open competition event which carried a total purse in excess of $31,000. Three qualifying heats and a consolation round set the 24-car starting field, with heavy hitters Mike Stefanik, Andy Seuss, and Tony Ricci among those who failed to qualify. Jon McKennedy led the initial go-around of the main event before Chuck Hossfield took over, bringing Chris Pasteryak with him into second.Pasteryak worked the outside groove to get around Hossfeld on lap 13, five circuits before a Woody Pitkat spin brought out the first of four cautions. Ted Christopher took third from McKennedy on the restart and was soon joined inside the top five by Richard Savary and Annarummo, who started tenth. Further back, second generation ace Matt Hirschman was on the move, coming from the 23rd starting spot to 10th in the first 27 laps. Annarummo took third from Christopher on lap 35 while Hirschman closed to eighth. Pasteryak navigated his way through heavy lapped traffic at the midway portion of the race while Annarummo, turning the fastest laps of the night, began to pressure Hossfeld for second. Christopher ran fourth, ahead of McKennedy, Savary, Hirschman, Dick Houlihan, Louie Mechalides, and Bobby Grigas III. Local entry Mike Brightman spun to bring out the second caution on lap 54. Two circuits later, Mechalides’ car came to a halt with a flat left front tire, necessitating the third stoppage. After a false start, Pasteryak and Hossfeld dueled side-by-side for the lead for several laps before Chris powered past. McKennedy roared back to life during this next green flag run, passing Annarummo and going to the outside of Hossfeld for second. After a torrid battle for position, Hossfeld and McKennedy made contact coming dsown the backstretch on lap 68, sending McKennedy into the concrete and Hossfeld into the pit area via the black flag. Hirschman, who had just nipped Annarummo for second, got loose in the outside lane on the restart, allowing Annarummo to slide back around on lap 70. Bobby Santos III spun after apparently locking up the brakes, bringing out the final caution on lap 77. Pasteryak, whose car tightened up in the inside lane, was unable to hold off Annarummo when the green was unfurled again, and surrendered the top spot to the six-time Seekonk champion on lap 79. In the final laps, Annarummo pulled away from Pasteryak and sailed under the checkers 0.682 seconds ahead to post his 44th career Seekonk win in the Francis Farm #12. “Ten thousand dollars- can you believe it?” the 58 year-old veteran asked from Victory Lane. “This is one hell of a division to drive in. All of the guys raced me clean. We struggled in warm ups this afternoon, but we took a spring rubber out and tonight the car was good.” “I got beaten by Vinnie Annarummo at Seekonk Speedway,” Pasteryak good-naturedly shrugged after posting a solid second place finish, worth $3,500. “We were tight on the bottom, too, and that hurt us at the end.” Matt Hirschman walked away with $2,500 for third, while Richard Savary pocketed $2,000 for finishing fourth. Ted Christopher finished fifth, followed by Bobby Santos III, Eric Beers, Dale Evonsion, who came on strong in the latter stages of the event, Louie Mechalides, and Dick Houlihan.

Modified Madness Heat 1 (12 laps)
1. #73-Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA
2. #15-Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT
3. #03-Kenny Spencer, Taunton, MA
4. #12-Vinnie Annarummo, Swansea, MA
5. #35-Dale Evonsion, East Hartland, CT
6. #9-Eric Beers, Northampton, PA

Modified Madness Heat 2 (12 laps)
1. #22-Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY
2. #27-Richard Savary, Canton, MA
3. #71-Buck Akley, Millbury, MA
4. #79-Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT
5. #55-Joe Doucette, Framingham, MA
6. #10x-Mike Brightman, Acushnet, MA

Modified Madness Heat 3 (12 laps)
1. #09-Bobby Grigas III, Marshfield, MA
2. #80-Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT
3. #75-Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT
4. #31-Tommy Cravenho, Raynham, MA
5. #46-Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, MA
6. #3-Bobby Santos III, Franklin, MA

Modified Madness Consi (15 laps)
1. #40-Louie Mechalides, Tynsboro, MA
2. #72-Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, MA
3. #13-Rob Summers, Vernon, CT
4. #08-Joe Lemay, Millville, MA
5. #32-Tom Abele, Jr., Norwich, CT
6. #60-Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA
7. #66-Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI (DNQ)
8. #70-Andy Seuss, Hampstead, NH (DNQ)
9. #01-Todd Patnode, Swanzey, NH (DNQ)
10. #4-Tony Ricci, Westbrook, ME (DNQ)
11. #5-Bryan Shumway, Belchertown, MA (DNQ)
12. #68-Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, NY (DNQ)
13. #76-Shelly Perry, Ashaway, RI (DNQ)
14. #39-Elmer Wing III, Lakeville, MA (DNQ)

Viveiros Insurance Modified Madness (100 laps)

1. #12-Vinnie Annarummo, Swansea, MA
2. #15-Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT
3. #60-Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA
4. #27-Richard Savary, Canton, MA
5. #80-Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT
6. #3-Bobby Santos III, Franklin, MA
7. #9-Eric Beers, Northampton, PA
8. #35-Dale Evonsion, East Hartland, CT
9. #40-Louie Mechalides, Tynsboro, MA
10. #46-Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, MA
11. #75-Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT
12. #08-Joe Lemay, Millville, MA
13. #32-Tom Abele, Jr., Norwich, CT
14. #03-Kenny Spencer, Taunton, MA
15. #55-Joe Doucette, Framingham, MA
16. #71-Buck Akley, Millbury, MA
17. #79-Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT
18. #73-Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA
19. #22-Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY
20. #13-Rob Summers, Vernon, CT
21. #09-Bobby Grigas III, Marshfield, MA
22. #31-Tommy Cravenho, Raynham, MA
23. #10x-Mike Brightman, Acushnet, MA
24. #72-Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, MA

August 25 - Mansfield Speedway - Start 4 - Finish 7

James Civali can thank his older brother for his third victory of the season.
With Joey Civali serving as spotter and tracking the weather on his cell phone, James Civali elected not to pit with the leaders and was out front when NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour officials called the rain-shortened Mansfield 150 Saturday at Mansfield Motorsports Park. “He knew it was going to rain – he just didn’t know how much or when,” said James Civali of his brother. The race was called after 108 laps following several attempts to dry the track. Doug Coby finished second and rookie Woody Pitkat was third. Point leader and Budweiser Pole Award winner Donny Lia was fourth and Eric Beers fifth. Ronnie Silk, Matt Hirschman, Ted Christopher, Todd Szegedy and Bobby Grigas III rounded out the top 10. Coby led the first 13 laps before Civali passed him for the lead. Silk moved to the front seven laps later and led until a lap 54 caution. Silk elected to pit along with the fifth-place car of Szegedy and 11 others. “We were leading and the car was really good,” Civali said. “When Ronnie got by me, the car got free. But it stayed the same. It had 90 hard laps on it, too. But it never changed that whole run.” Following the restart, Civali and Coby built a straightaway lead over third-place Pitkat on the half-mile banked oval. The field was bunched briefly following a lap 96 caution. Rain brought out the caution at lap 104 and the red at lap 108.

1. (10) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 108 laps, 81.544 mph, $8,100.
2. (2) Doug Coby, III, Milford, Conn., Pontiac, 108, $3,000.
3. (18) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, Conn., Pontiac, 108, $3,800.
4. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 108, $3,600.
5. (16) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 108, $2,450.
6. (8) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 108, $2,350.
7. (4) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 108, $2,400.
8. (12) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 108, $2,275.
9. (3) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 108, $2,125.
10. (7) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, MA, Chevrolet, 108, $1,550.
11. (11) Tony Hirschman, Jr., Northampton, Penn., Chevrolet, 108, $1,675.
12. (22) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 108, $2,475.
13. (17) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 108, $1,750.
14. (21) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 108, $1,995.
15. (14) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 108, $1,740.
16. (13) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 108, $1,880.
17. (9) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 108, $1,825.
18. (5) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 108, $1,900.
19. (24) Joe Hartmann, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 108, $1,325.
20. (15) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 107, $1,600.
21. (23) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 106, $1,575.
22. (25) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 106, $1,550.
23. (19) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 95, $1,225.
24. (20) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 22, oil pump, $950.
25. (1) Danny Sammons, Trenton, N.J., Chevrolet, 4, engine, $1,490.
26. (26) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 3, oil leak, $750.
27. (27) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 2, ignition, $1,250.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 39 minutes 44 seconds
Margin of Victory: under caution Fastest Qualifier: D.Lia (117.847 mph, 15.274 seconds) Caution Flags: 4 for 21 laps. Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers. Lap Leaders: D.Coby,III 1-13; J.Civali 14-19; R.Silk 20-57; J.Civali 58; D.Lia 59; J.Civali 60-100; D.Coby,III 101; J.Civali 102-108.


Aug 18 - Mahoning- 100 Lap Super 7 - 17th & 75 lap RoC tour Race - 7th

Matt Clinches the Central Region RoC Championship

By pulling into the pits on Saturday night at the Mahoning Valley Speedway. 2005 Overall Race of Champions Modified Tour Champion Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. clinched the 2007 Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour Central Region Championship. Matt had a solid season in the Central Region with a win at Oswego on May 13th and second place finishes at Wall on June 23rd and at Oswego on June 21st. On Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Matt finished seventh and Matt received 20 bonus points for either winning a heat race or being one of the four fastest time trailers in a time trial show during Central Region events. Matt's other finish in the Central Region was a disappointing 24th at Mahoning Valley on June 9th. In accordance with the RoC Dart Rulebook the driver's worst finish from all the races he competed in is dropped from the final Regional point standings. With Matt's 24th place finish being dropped his final point tally was 232, which was 40 points more than fellow Northampton, Pa. Eric Beers who ended up second with 192. “ Good finishes reward you with points and it shows with this Championship as we had it wrapped up before we raced tonight “ said the second generation driver. “ This car been really good and it is a fast car that finishes races. “ Matt spoke about the preparation on this car that took him to the Central Region Championship this year. “ Basically it is myself and Frank, we do the majority of the work on the car. Of course my dad he's around to help oversee things as well. I also have other help at the tracks and that helps a lot too. “ Matt who runs the Whelen Tour full time also said. “ When the initial schedules came out I knew I cold make all of the Central Region races as long as the weather didn't mess things up. So that was our goal from the beginning was to run all of the RoC races and it ended up that we had no conflicts with the Central Region. We had the car in both regions to score a lot of points this year. “ “ Anytime you can associate yourself with the word champion, it means a lot. Doesn't matter if it's Little League or anything in racing, it's always an honor to be a champion. We'll take this and see where we stack up when the final three combination races come around and contend for the overall championship “ said Matt.

FINAL RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR CENTRAL REGION POINT STANDINGS ( TOP 12 )

Matt Hirschman 232
Eric Beers 192
Lee Sherwood 176
Pete Brittain 167
Zane Zeiner 156
John Markovic 152
Phil Slater 125
Rusty Smith 119
Daren Scherer 110
Earl Paules 106
Andy Szapacs 82
Matt Clemens 69

JR KENNERUP / RoC DART Modified Asphalt Series PR

Stories below: to recap: In the 100 lap race Matt started in the rear and had worked his way up to the front and was running in the top five when he got got into a incident and bent the left tire tire of the 59 car pretty good - ending his race early.

For the RoC Race Matt clicked off the 3rd fastest time and redrew 12th. Matt worked his way up to the front and was actully going for the third postion when the caos insured and Mattt held onto a 7th place finish. In spite of all that kudos to Matt for clinching the Central Region RoC Championship.

STORY on 100 lap race by Dino Oberto

In the past decade since becoming a member of the NASCAR Mod Tour, Beers had a close relationship with Blewett and his family. When he crossed the finish line in first he did a tribute to his fallen friend with a Polish victory lap and burnout.“The win was just awesome and I just love racing here (Mahoning). I had my mind set to win a race for Johnny (Blewett) and it was nice that it worked out that way for us tonight,” said Beers.“Earl (Paules) got next to me a few times and raced hard and clean and there was no giving up. I was just going as hard as I could every lap just so I could keep the lead. I needed to win this for the Blewett family. I was very close to John and feel horrible about what happened.“It was very emotional. I never do victory laps or burnouts but the backwards lap was for him. He was a super guy and he’s going to be missed.”The race was originally scheduled for July 4 but had been postponed twice due to rain.A redraw of the 12 fastest from time trials saw Rusty Smith and Todd Baer on the front row with Baer jumping out to the early lead.Beers started fourth and immediately moved behind the leader. He was able to make his way into the top spot with an inside pass off turn four at the completion of lap eight. Sixth starter Paules was working the top side of the track and advanced to third just prior to the first caution period on lap 17. After the race resumed he pulled in behind Beers and for the next 72 laps they waged an outstanding duel. While working the high groove, Paules was repeatedly racing alongside Beers and trying every lap to make a pass. Several times he did inch ahead but when it came time for an official scored lap Beers always had the advantage. Paules actually did lead one lap which was on the 37th circuit. During the later stages Beers had trouble holding his mount through the corners as he developed a push. Still he was able to fight that issue as well as the relentless efforts of Paules. “On lap 25 we picked up huge chunk of rubber and I was trying to get it off and it wouldn’t come off so the left front was bouncing like a basketball and that made the car real tight,” said Beers. “I was able to keep it on the bottom and if Earl’s car would have stuck a little better he may have been able to go by us and we would have wound up second. Luckily our car was just fast enough to keep the lead.” To makes matters even tougher on the front pair there were several other fast cars right in line including Kory Rabenold , Matt Hirschman , Chip Santee and Don Wagner. With ten laps to go the action was intensifying. Santee was able to snag second from Paules and with four to go Brian DeFebo suddenly came into the picture. Santee pulled right behind Beers but could not find the power to overtake him. For Beers it was his third straight Super-7 Series win, this one worth over $3000 thanks to added cash collected from lap sponsors. “Earl is just so good at this track. To see him lined up next to you on a restart, you know you’re going to have to drive hard to keep him behind you, he’s that good here,” stated Beers. “We ran a bunch of laps side-by-side and never touched. I kept my car in my lane and he kept his in his lane and he made it a good clean race. I went as hard as I could and really had nothing left at the end.” Officially it was Santee , DeFebo, Wager and Bobby Jones completing the top five. Paules slipped to sixth with John Markovic, Scott Lesher , CJ Jones and Rod Snyder, Jr., rounding out the top ten.

(7/4 make-up 100): 1.Eric Beers 2.Chip Santee 3.Brian DeFebo 4.Don Wagner 5.Bobby Jones 6.Earl Paules 7.John Markovic 8.Scott Lesher 9.CJ Jones 10.Rod Snyder, Jr. 11.Dave Wallace 12.Kory Rabenold 13.Todd Baer 14.Rodney Gruber 15.Rusty Smith 16.Zane Zeiner 17.Matt Hirschman 18.Mike Quinn 19.Troy Bollinger 20.John Bennett 21.Matt Clemens

Roc Story from JR Kennerup

Lehighton, PA – August 18 - The old saying goes " The race is never over until the checker flag falls " and that is always the saying at the Mahoning Valley Speedway. Once again at this exciting race track on Saturday night many in attendance thought Eric Beers had the win in his back pocket. With a double file restart taking place with six laps to go Rod Synder, Jr. somehow snookered Beers on the restart to grab the lead.With another double file restart taking place with five laps to go in the 76 lap feature. Beers tried every move in the book to get around Synder for the lead. Meanwhile third place runner Zane Zeiner hung around patiently in the bottom groove and when the Synder car started to slip up the race track. Zeiner was ready to strike and he did as he drove under Synder and Beers coming out of turn two to take the lead with two laps to go.Zeiner then held off the final last lap charge of Beers to claim the $2,800 victory. Synder slipped back to third with Kory Rabenold driving the second Gruber Racing entry coming out of wild turn four scramble to the checkers to finish fourth. Brian DeFebo who got loose while in fourth coming out of turn four on the last lap settled for fifth. The normal race distance of 75 laps was extended by one lap to 76 in honor of fellow Modified driver John Blewett, III who passed away on Thursday night at the Thompson Speedway."Without a doubt a break finally went our way" said race winner Zane Zeiner. "I told my crew after the race that John was watching down on us tonight. We shared that number (76) for a long time, we weren’t real close but we were good friends. Heck of a guy as he always raced me clean and I raced him clean. Always learned a lot from John down at Flemington." This was the second time this year that Zane has felt that someone who just recently passed away helped him to a feature win. "Opening day at Mountain this year. My grandfather passed away and I felt that he was in that car that day" recalled Zane. "I felt the same way today as you get a chill, it’s a weird feeling that you get in the car. This win is for John." Zane started second in the field of 26 and he dropped back to as low as fourth on lap 36. But on the next lap Zane got by Don Wagner for third and he stayed there until the fireworks erupted in front on him with six laps to go. "I said to myself that my car was a hair tight but they (Synder & Beers) were getting a little racy up front there and maybe if they just move up enough for me I could get a good run on the bottom at Rod. I tried getting under Rod earlier in the race but he just kept holding me down. With two to go we were just beating and banging, hard racing it was and he gave me just enough room to get under him. I thought that Eric might try and go three wide but he used his head, it was just a good, fun race." Earlier in the evening Zeiner got the front end wrecked in the 100 lap feature. Instead of going to the backup car Zane decided to fix his primary car. "We broke a spindle, bent a tie rod end and the crew wanted to me to go out for the last round of hot laps before time trials" recalled Zane. "I said no as we’re going to win it here in the pits. As we’re going to take our time to get the front end all straight and square. We know what we had to do and we did it by timing second quick and drawing outside pole for the feature and then all we did was tweak it a little bit. I owe my crew a lot along with Jayco my sponsor, Joe & Kay Martinelli, Morgantini Race Engines. Without all of them I wouldn’t be standing here having a good time." Zane spoke about the importance of this win as it gets the momentum going for the Martinelli Motorsports Team heading into the big season ending races. "Without a doubt it will help the momentum, it’s been a long time since I won a RoC race. We had a good car here the last couple of races but could never seal the deal and tonight we sealed the deal. We’ve been having some good strong runs locally and all of that just builds momentum, just gets the confidence with me as a driver and the crew.""Yes it was disappointing to finish second as we had the best car tonight" said second place finisher Eric Beers who earlier won the 100 lap feature. "The first race we were a hair off but in the second race we were pretty close." Eric after getting into second on a lap 19 restart hounded leader Synder for the lead. The duo ran side by side for the next 12 consecutive laps before Eric pulled ahead for the lead on lap 33.Eric spoke about running the extreme high line as leader Synder was pushing him up the track. "Yea Rod ran me high and hard but you also have to be patient to run the outside here. You can only take a little bit at a time and be patient. We were knocking the dust off the right side tires. It was tough as we just kept working, working, and working to go by him. We ended up getting by him; it’s just disappointing as we try to race everyone clean. I guess guys get sick of you winning and they run you a little different after that." Eric who started third spoke about the pivotal lap 70 restart. "He (Synder) just got a better restart than we did. He got down far enough that I couldn’t pick up the throttle. He just kept running into us on the right front to keep us down and I couldn’t pick the throttle up and that was the name of the game. I probably could have gotten him back, but he came down across the turn to pinch us. I got into him a little bit and Zane got into the back of us and knocked me out of gear. So when I got it back into gear we were second.: Eric had one last shot to get by Synder for the lead on the lap 71 restart. "We had one last shot to get by him on the restart and Joe my spotter said Zane’s coming on the bottom and he’s going to get him. So there was no chance going around three wide trying to beat both of them so we backed out of it. Got down to the bottom went underneath to get back to second and I think two or three more laps I could have gotten back by Zane because the car was that good." "It’s disappointing not to win both as I wanted to win both for John. I dedicate my first and second place finishes to the memory of John Blewett, III" said Eric. "We were fast" said third place finisher Rod Synder, Jr. "But to keep it fast we were just a little bit too tight to run the bottom. I knew when I got the lead with five to go that Eric was going to try and drive around me on the top and Zane was going to try and drive under me on the bottom. But the car just got too tight and I couldn’t hold it on the bottom." Rod who started on the pole spoke on his surprising restart pass of Beers on lap 70. "Yes I was surprised but he (Eric) said that he got bumped from behind and the car got knocked out of gear and that is how I got by him. Then after we got together again (lap 71 to bring out the final yellow) by the flaggers stand my car got even worse than it was. I’m just glad to finish third and we didn’t wreck." Qualifying for the 28 Modifieds in attendance saw the field set from time trials due to time constraints. As there was a twice postponed 100 lap Modified Super Seven Series race run first on the program. The top 12 in time trials redrew for the top 12 feature starting spots. CJ Jones set quick time with a lap of 9. 573 with the top 12 being separated by only .175 seconds.
MAHONING NOTES: All of the race teams sported newly minted John Blewett, III memorial stickers on their cars. Emotions were quite evident as the Modified racing family lost one of their own with all drivers paying respect to John and his family in their own special way. RoC owner and promoter Andy Harpell got emotional during the drivers meeting when talking about what had just happened two days prior. Four cars were done for the night after the earlier 100 lap feature with Matt Hirschman and Rusty Smith going to their second cars. Meanwhile Mike Quinn and John Bennett had no second car and were done for the night. Twenty – three out of the 26 cars who took time broke into the nine second barrier. Fast timer Jones was only .007 of a second off the track record set by Zeiner of 9. 566. Don Wagner and Bobby Jones both deserved better finishes as both were in the top five during the final exciting six laps of the feature. Wagner was fourth on lap 70 when his front end got wrecked in a racing incident in turn two. Jones was in fifth on lap 71 and spun into turn one after the leaders bunched up in front of him and everyone behind him played bumper tag. Just by entering the event Matt Hirschman became the 2007 Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour Central Region champion.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR JOHN BLEWETT, III MEMORIAL 76 FINAL CENTRAL REGION POINT RACE FINISH: Zane Zeiner, Eric Beers, Rod Synder, Jr., Kory Rabenold, Brian DeFebo, Lee Sherwood, Matt Hirschman, Earl Paules, Pete Brittain, John Markovic, Kevin Brown, Bobby Jones, Dave Wallace, Daren Scherer, Todd Baer, Rodney Gruber, CJ Jones, Scott Lesher, Phil Slater, Andy Szapacs, Don Wagner, Chip Santee, Troy Bollinger, Thomas Wanick, III, Rusty Smith, Matt ClemensDNS: John Bennett, Mike Quinn.LAP LEADERS: Synder (1 – 32), Beers (33 – 70), Synder (71 – 73), Zeiner (74 – 76)

Aug 16 - Thompson - WMT- 12
The day was a long one as after practice the team decided to change the motor.


1 8 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk/Snuggle Ford 107 180 5 $8,250 Running
2 7 48 Tony Hirschman Jr. Kamco Supply Corporation Chevrolet 107 170 3,300 Running
3 18 6 Ron Yuhas A. P. Marquadt, Inc./VP Racing Fuels Chevrolet 107 165 2,400 Running
4 1 4 Donny Lia Dodge 107 160 3,000 Running
5 10 10 Eddie Flemke Ron Bouchard Auto/Red Line Oil Chevrolet 107 155 2,950 Running
6 17 06 Billy Pauch, Jr. * Greenfield Dodge Dodge 107 150 2,250 Running
7 27 99 Jamie Tomaino Ford 107 146 2,250 Running
8 5 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 107 142 2,275 Running
9 29 70 Andy Seuss Land & Sea Dyno/Stewart's Automotive 107 138 1,175 Running
10 19 40 Ryan Preece * Mizzy Construction Chevrolet 107 134 1,550 Running
11 36 64 Eric Berndt North End Auto Parts/Co's Central Auto Pontiac 107 130 1,725 Running
12 23 59 Matt Hirschman Bennett Properties Dodge 107 127 2,025 Running
13 21 94 Eric Beers Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet 107 124 1,900 Running
14 32 33 Wade Cole Performance Engine/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil 107 121 1,740 Running
15 4 12 Jimmy Blewett Monroe Shocks/5-7 Motorsports Chevrolet 106 118 1,986 Accident
16 6 66 John Blewett, III Mastrobattisto Contractors/Sunoco Chevrolet 106 115 1,000 Accident
17 15 79 Woody Pitkat Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 106 112 1,425 Accident
18 33 05 Joe Hartmann WMS Construction Chevrolet 106 109 1,350 Running
19 22 77 Doug Coby, III Racing Against Cancer Foxwoods/Subway 105 106 1,375 Running
20 37 38 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Chevrolet 105 103 900 Running
21 12 21 Richard Savary * Superior Oil Chevrolet 100 100 875 Accident
22 3 14 Reggie Ruggiero Atlantic Sprinklers Chevrolet 99 97 1,250 Accident
23 26 46 Dick Houlihan Crossroads RV Center/Viveiros Insurance 99 94 1,525 Accident
24 31 93 Rowan Pennink * Monk Mechanic Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 99 91 1,500 Accident
25 13 19 Ronnie Silk Major Motion /Silk Pumbing & Heating Chevrolet 97 88 1,590 Running
26 2 28 James Civali Ramar-Hall/Liberty Limousine Chevrolet 93 85 1,750 Accident
27 20 00 Jerry Marquis Reynolds Auto/Chute Gates Steakhouse 85 82 1,700 Running
28 16 11 Anthony Sesely A-1 Collision Center Chevrolet 83 79 750 Power Steering
29 9 09 Bobby Grigas * Triple G Scaffolding/Amsoil Racing Chevrolet 82 76 1,150 Accident
30 25 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals Pontiac 80 73 2,300 Running
31 30 8 Glenn Tyler Sypher Construction/1-800-CONCRETE 62 70 1,150 Rear End
32 35 1 Rob Summers Frasco Fuel Chevrolet 62 67 750 Suspension
33 11 0 Danny Sammons Area Auto Racing News Chevrolet 57 64 1,450 Accident
34 24 58 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 57 61 1,450 Accident
35 14 3 Bobby Santos, III * Roby's Propane/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 53 58 750 Accident
36 28 90 Renee Dupuis RH&A/Cottrifeld Trailers Chevrolet 27 55 750 Accident
37 34 9 Jake Marosz Middlesex Auto Center Chevrolet 17 52 750 Accident

Time of Race:1 hrs., 0 mins, 59 secs Average Speed: 65.797 mph Margin of Victory: Race ended under caution BUD POLE AWARD: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk/Snuggle Ford FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Eddie Flemke, 10 Ron Bouchard Auto/Red Line Oil Chevrolet POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Eric Berndt, 64 North End Auto Parts/Co's Central Auto Pontiac
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Billy Pauch, Jr. *, 06 Greenfield Dodge Dodge
WHELEN ENGINEERING WINNER OF THE RACE: Todd Szegedy, 2 Wisk/Snuggle Ford
Caution Flags: Laps 20-25; 47-51; 58-62; 67-71; 73-75; 85-88; 93-97; 100-106; 107. 9 for 41 laps.
Lap Leaders: Donny Lia 1, James Civali 2-10, Donny Lia 11-25, James Civali 26-92, John Blewett III 93-106, Todd Szegedy 107.

Aug 11 - Chemung Speedway - RoC - Unable to attend due to conflict with Stafford

August 11 - Stafford Speedway - WMT- Start 6 Finish 6

With a motor that overpowered clutch problems, Ted Christopher broke a year-long winless streak on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour by holding off Todd Szegedy to win the the New England Dodge Dealers 150 Saturday night at Stafford Motor Speedway. It was Christopher’s seventh win at the track where he is the all-time winningest driver and the points leader in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series’ SK Modified Division. But it was his first trip to Victory Lane on the Whelen Modified Tour since Aug. 17, 2006 at Thompson (Conn.). Christopher (No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet) battled runner-up Szegedy (No. 2 Wisk/Snuggle Ford) and third-place finisher Mike Stefanik (No. 16 Diversity Metals Pontiac) during several restarts over the final 38 laps. Christopher said that his clutch was slipping on each restart. “I had to start in fourth (gear),” Christopher said. “I figured if I stayed on the bottom, if (Szegedy’s) going to go to the outside, he can go outside.” Christopher led 58 laps before pitting on lap 76. He quickly worked his way back up front and retook the lead on lap 114. “It was fun,” Christopher said. “I passed a lot of cars and had a lot of fun.” Doug Coby, making his first start of the season for the No. 77 Race Against Cancer Foxwoods/Subway Pontiac, finished fourth. Donny Lia (No. 4 Dodge), who won the first two Whelen Modified Tour stops of the season at Stafford, was fifth. Matt Hirschman, Jerry Marquis, Eric Beers, Jimmy Blewett and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top 10. Pitkat, the national leader in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series standings, won his fourth straight SK Modified feature at Stafford earlier in the night and was the Whelen Modified Tour’s Sunoco Rookie of the Race. Szegedy took the lead briefly on restarts on lap 126 and 138, and each time Christopher was able power back in front. “I was really strong on every restart,” Szegedy said. “But Teddy, the motor he’s got in that thing – he’s got power. I could have blocked him, but there was no sense. He would have gotten by eventually.

1. (8) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 51.311 mph, $7,300.
2. (2) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150, $4,000.
3. (21) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 150, $4,850.
4. (20) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Pontiac, 150, $2,600.
5. (4) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 150, $2,850.
6. (6) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 150, $2,500.
7. (25) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $2,150.
8. (12) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,050.
9. (16) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $2,250.
10. (19) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,850.
11. (10) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $2,400.
12. (5) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,175.
13. (29) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 150, $1,500.
14. (26) Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill, Conn., Pontiac, 150, $1,075.
15. (27) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 150, $2,000.
16. (13) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,025.
17. (3) Danny Sammons, Trenton, N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,850.
18. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,675.
19. (28) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,800.
20. (7) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,875.
21. (23) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 138, accident, $900.
22. (11) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 134, $1,575.
23. (1) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, MA, Chevrolet, 132, electrical, $1,250.
24. (30) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 130, accident, $1,225.
25. (17) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 129, $1,950.
26. (15) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 117, accident, $1,164.
27. (22) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY, Chevrolet, 115, accident, $1,450.
28. (14) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 114, $1,550.
29. (32) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 114, $750.
30. (18) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 84, $1,450.
31. (31) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 72, radiator, $1,150.
32. (9) Bobby Santos, III, Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, 6, accident, $750.

Time of Race: 1 hour 27 minutes 42 seconds Margin of Victory: .430 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Hirschman (98.966 mph, 18.188 seconds)
Caution Flags: 13 for 73 laps.Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers.Lap Leaders: B.Grigas 0; T.Szegedy 1-14; D.Lia 15-18; T.Christopher 19-76; D.Lia 77-85; B.Grigas 86-111; M.Stefanik 112-113; T.Christopher 114-125; T.Szegedy 126; T.Christopher 127-137; T.Szegedy 138-140; T.Christopher 141-150

August 4 - Riverhead Raceway - WMT - Start 6 Finish 7

Racing Courtesy and Late Lap Conflict Give Lia Fifth Win of Season by Amie Campbell

Riverhead Mod Tour Battle Comes Down to Who Wrecked and Who Didn't
The Whelen Modified Tour made their lone stop to this tight track for the final of three flash-format races, and it was Ted Christopher scoring the pole through the time trial portion of the event, narrowly edging out Riverhead locals, Bill Park and Howie Brode. After a pair of 25 lap heat races set the remainder of 28 car field, the race would finally begin about an hour behind schedule due to a problem with the lighting in turn one.
Mike Stefanik, the reigning tour Champion, led the first 114 laps of the race, a stretch marked by lots of nose-to-tail racing and caution flags for single car spins. It was one of those spins, one that didn’t draw a caution, that turned the lead over to Christopher on lap 115 when smoke filled the frontstretch.
Stefanik and Christopher battled hard and often side by side over the next 20 laps, with Christopher ghosting against the wall at one point and Stefanik kicking up dust from the infield. When lap traffic started to bottle things up in front of them, Stefanik and Christopher got together again, damaging both of their vehicles out of contention.
Donny Lia would move from third to first and he never looked back, taking the win on lap 144 after the race extended into overtime for a green-white-checker finish. Park finished second, with Ronnie Silk, Justin Bonsignore and James Civali rounding out the top five. Bonsignore, another Riverhead local, had only recently returned behind the wheel after breaking his wrist earlier in the season.

“I had a little something for Donny at the end, but he ran me good a couple of weeks ago here (Riverhead) for the 77 lapper,” said Park after the race. “I’m leading the points here. He was behind me with five laps to go, he never bumped me and I owed him the same courtesy. If I could have gotten him, I would have but I was not going to bump him out of the way to do it.”
Riverhead Raceway (NY) is a quarter-mile bullring, a tricky little track where you’re not just racing but also trying to survive the mayhem. Bumping, banging, and lots of caution periods are common, as are cars with their front nerf bars completely vertical after a race.
Lia remembered the race Park spoke of, the 77 lap feature held annually in memory of some of Riverhead’s legendary drivers who have passed away. “We were going for fifth or something like that,” recalled Lia. “ I probably could have driven him a little bit harder and forced the issue but like I told my guys, the guy is here racing all year long, he’s going for a championship, we’re here for one race. I wouldn’t want to be going for a championship and have someone take me out. I guess tonight was a little bit of payback. I want to thank him for that, for remembering. It’s funny how things work.”

While Lia stood in victory lane, he mused that to finish first, first you must finish. It was a lesson that Christopher and Stefanik seem to forget this race, but one that Lia did not.

“We had some give and take there and the 16 (Stefanik) and 36 (Christopher) had no give and take and I guess they didn’t end up making out too well,” said Lia. “They had the two best cars tonight. We did not have a car to win; I’m not ashamed to admit it. Sometimes you’ve just got to hang in there and get whatever you can get. Tonight, we were able to get a win.”

The victory extended Lia’s point lead over Matt Hirschman to 92 points

1. (3) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Dodge, 144
2. (7) Bill Park, Manorville N.Y., Chevrolet, 144
3. (15) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk Conn., Chevrolet, 144
4. (11) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville N.Y., Chevrolet, 144
5. (9) James Civali, Meriden Conn., Chevrolet, 144
6. (21) Danny Sammons, Hamilton N.J., Chevrolet, 144
7. (24) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Penn., Dodge, 144
8. (5) Howie Brode, East Islap N.Y., Chevrolet, 144
9. (26) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 144
10. (19) Ryan Preece, Kensington Conn., Chevrolet, 144
11. (1) Michael Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Pontiac, 144
12. (8) Jimmy Blewett, Calverton N.Y., Chevrolet, 143
13. (20) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley Penn., Chevrolet, 143
14. (17) Ed Flemke, Jr, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 143
15. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 143
16. (25) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield Conn., Ford, 140
17. (23) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 140
18. (13) J.R. Bertuccio, Jr, Centereach N.Y., Chevrolet, 138, Nerf bar
19. (14) Eric Beers, Northampton Penn., Chevrolet, 138
20. (10) Dan Jivanelli, Hampton Bays N.Y., Chevrolet, 133, Bumper
21. (6) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 103, Accident
22. (22) Richard Savary, Canton Mass., Chevrolet, 94, Accident
23. (12) Chuck Steuer, Bohemia N.Y., Chevrolet, 89, Bumper
24. (28) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays N.Y., Chevrolet, 84, Accident
25. (2) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, New Hyde Park N.Y., Chevrolet, 83, Accident
26. (16) Wayne Anderson, Yaphink N.Y., Chevrolet, 82, Accident
27. (18) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 69, Accident
28. (27) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 58, Accident

Caution Flags: 7 for 66 laps.
Lap Leaders: Stefanik 1-114, Christopher 115-136, Stefanik 137-138, Lia 139-144.
Total Laps Led: Stefanik 116, Christopher 22, Lia 6. 3 changes involving 3 drivers

July 29 - Mahoning Speedway - Super 7 Series
The J&J team returned to Mahoning Sunday afternoon after finish ing 12th the night before. Because this was a rained out event and neither Matt or the tream was not in attendance during the July 4th originally scheduled event, they had to attempt to qualify througth the consi. Time trials and heats were completed on the 4th but the consi and feature remained. Since Matt was not in attendance on the 4th he would have to start last in the consi and race his way in to the show. Using the notes from the night before Matt in the J&J #59 Modified finished 2nd...in the final transfer spot. Unfortunately rain would begin to fall before the modified 100 would take the green canceling the event for a second time. A make up date is TBA.



July 28 - Mahoning Speedway - Super 7 Series - J&J #59 Modified - Time 3 - Start 3 - Finish 12
Saturday night at Mahoning started out very good as Matt turned the 3rd fastest lap in J&J #59 Modified during time trails. Special guest at Mahoning this nights was Miss Motorsports, Chelsea Miller, she graciauous agreed to pick Matt's starting position...she drew the #3 position! The car was strong early during this 100 lap event as would run among the top 4 cars during the first half of the race. After half way the J&J #59 began to fade a bit and the team went on to finish in the 12th postion. This was inportant because this is only the second time that Matt was in this car and the during the first event in the car, motor troubles sidelined the car early in the RoC event at Mahoning in June. "Sometimes you just need to shake a car down and see how she is going to work over the course of the race. We took alot of notes tonight and will apply them for the next time we race the J&J #59 Modified. Overall is was great learning experience for the team.

Story from Dino "The Voice" Oberto
Eric Beers of Northampton showed why he is among the current day elite of northeast asphalt Modified drivers as he won a grueling 100-lapper, which was his second straight J Co Autobody Super-7 Series win, Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Beers had a number of combatants who tried to run with him but each time he withstood the challenges including a late race surge by Don Wagner who made a valiant attempt at stealing away the win. Beers is one of the masters of Mahoning and was not to be denied as the he reaped another $3000 victory. Chip Santee, Earl Paules and Lee Sherwood completed the top five. “Every time we got a caution there were guys like Chip Santee, Zane Zeiner, Don Wagner and Scott Lesher lined up next to us on a restart and you encounter the slightest mistake and that’s it. Those guys are so good here,” said Beers. “We just had good restarts and just tried to run everybody clean, as clean as they run us. It was such a fun race and the track was in great condition.” After inverting the top 12 from time trials Beers started the event from sixth. Kory Rabenold and Scott Lesher had the front row with Lesher taking the early lead. Beers then moved in on both of them by lap eight and his admission in to the top spot came after a great 3-wide battle. After taking the helm Beers was displaying plenty of horsepower and was able to keep a few car lengths distance on the rest of the field. Behind him was some very aggressive action as Lesher and Rabenold were joined by Matt Hirschman who all raced alongside one another. At lap 25 Hirschman broke free from the tussle while Lesher and Rabenold continued their strife until lap 28. Lesher, at that juncture, was nipped from behind and went spinning, putting the race under caution.When the action resumed Beers held off Hirschman’s attempts and was able to again put a short distance on the pack.On the move was top qualifier Zane Zeiner who drove into third on lap 34. After a few laps of racing alongside Hirschman, he made the move into second on the 41st circuit. On lap 45 the race was halted for a spinning incident and once resumed Beers had a bumper full of Zeiner. Both ran nose-to-tail as well as side-by-side in a battle that lasted through lap 76 at which time a yellow waved when Rabenold spun in turn two. Under the caution Zeiner suddenly darted into the pits with unfortunate mechanical woes. That handed second over to Wagner who had zipped his way through traffic and into the lead pack at lap 59. The final 24 laps were exceedingly competitive. Beers still led but in his path was a battle among the likes of Wagner, Santee and Paules. All three exchanged the runner-up spot and all three also took solid cracks at Beers.With ten laps left Wagner took full control of second. With five remaining a caution flew and on that restart he went from broke in trying to pass the leader, however, the best he could do was pull to within a half car length as Beers had the power needed to get the job done. “There was a lot of grip out there. I was running a real different line the I normally run here. I was going real high into (turn) one and getting a real good run off of two. It was just great and the crew did an awesome job. I’m just happy to get this one and we’ll try again tomorrow,” said Beers. His reference to tomorrow was in regards the following night’s postponed July 4 Super-7 Series race. “This is like home and family not me when I come to Mahoning,” added Beers. “I have a great time racing here. If we would have gotten 19th (place) I wouldn’t have been as happy but it still feels like home.” It was a great run by Wagner despite coming up a tad short at the finish.“Eric (Beers) is tough and he knows how to hold everybody back and he was fast tonight. I had one shot at the end and it just wasn’t enough. There just weren’t enough laps. We needed about a 110 lapper,” said the reigning track champ. Santee was a close third. Paules did an amazing job in garnering fourth. He started from 21st and had made several pit stops during the first half of the race without loosing a lap. Likewise for Sherwood how turned in a solid ran after coming from 15th on the grid.
MODIFIEDS (100): 1.Eric Beers 2.Don Wagner 3.Chip Santee 4.Eral Paules 5.Lee Sherwood 6.Brian DeFebo 7.Rusty Smith 8.Rod Snyder, Jr. 9.John Markovic 10.Mike Quinn 11.Todd Baer 12.Matt Hirschman 13.CJ Jones 14.Bobby Jones 15.Jason Arthofer 16.Zane Zeiner 17.Kory Rabenold 18.Scott Lesher 19.Rodney Gruber 20.Pete Brittain 21.john Bennett 22.Lou Strohl DNS: Troy Bollinger DNQ: Gary Wentz, Matt Clemens, Stacey Brown

July 21 - Oswego Speedway - RoC - Heat Win - Start 5 - Finish 2
RoC Story by JR Kennerup
On Saturday night at the Oswego Speedway another signature moment in the career of a driver and owner happened with their first ever Oswego feature win. On this night Wilbur Hebing of Ontario, NY driving the car owned by the legendary Kenny Troyer led all 75 laps to win the Parts Plus Autostores / State Farm Insurance / Garafolo’s sponsored feature. Hebing redrew the pole position for the feature but had to hold off the relentless challenges of current RoC Dart point leader Matt Hirschman who was second. Chuck Hossfeld in only his third race after moving back from North Carolina a few weeks ago finished third. Billy Putney with another solid Oswego run finishing fourth after starting tenth and second generation driver Mike Leaty came home in fifth. "Yes this is my biggest win by far by winning here at Oswego." said the soft spoken $2, 800 winner. "Drawing the pole helps a lot but I’m scared of being the rabbit. I like chasing but with the guys you have to race with here and the quality of drivers it’s definitely a benefit to start up front." Wilbur in the last Oswego race back on May 26th was the fastest car at the end of the race. Tonight Wilbur had the fastest car throughout the entire the race. "That is where we have been struggling the most with up here is with me trying to find the setup that makes me fast in the beginning of the race and also fast at the end. I’m so use to the 30 lap races that it is hard for me to decide how tight is tight. We seem to hit the setup tonight and to race with those guys and to be able to beat them is a dream come true."

Wilbur spoke about the two times during the race in which Matt Hirschman pulled even with him while racing for the lead. "I saw him ( Matt ) poke the car in there ( lap 35 ) and my radio man Greg said keep calm" recalled Wilbur. "I ran my line and didn’t do anything stupid and we were all right. The car was fast and to race with Matt and the other guys with all that experience of running two and three times a week, it’s tough to beat those guys. I’ll take it." Two years ago at the 2005 Sunoco Race of Champions Wilbur was walking the pits on Saturday without a ride. Kenny Troyer was set down for a rule infraction and he came looking for Wilbur to drive his car for the remainder of that show. Ever since that rainy day back in 2005 Wilbur has driven for Kenny Troyer.

"Actually this is a pretty good marriage for us as Kenny has been wanting to win a race here for 30 years" said the smiling Wilbur. "To finally get him a win here, I’m glad for the whole team. All the guys really work hard on the car and now we have something to joke around with Maynard ( Kenny’s famous brother ) about, because Maynard rubs on us pretty hard now and then. We’ve been pretty fortunate to win some races at Spencer and Lancaster. To win here, there’s a lot of history here. I’ve been coming here since the Race of Champions has been here, I’ve been second a bunch of times, led a lot of laps, and have never been able to pull it off. Tonight it is a dream come true." Sitting peacefully behind the celebration in the pit area was car owner Kenny Troyer with a cold liquid beverage in his hand. Kenny commented on his first career Oswego win. "All I can tell you is that I’m going to die a happy man now. I run my first race here in 1978 so it’s been pretty much 30 years of trying. I’ve always supported Oswego, it’s my favorite race track ever since I saw the Modifieds race for the first time ever here in 1969. It’s a dream come true." Kenny continued on about his car and driver on this night. "The car was super. Wilbur Hebing did one hell of a job and I can’t think of anyone who I would rather have drive my car than Wilbur Hebing."

"We’ve been there all year" said second place finisher Matt Hirschman when talking about his consistent finishes. "This is quite a few top threes in a row going back to Wall. We got quite a streak here together and we’re leading both regions and unfortunately we’re looking at missing a race here on Classic Weekend due to my schedule. We still got a chance at the points and we’ll see how it shakes out, I’m just racing every night to get the best finish possible." Matt who started fifth spoke about his race strategy on this night. "I set it up at the start and ran as hard as I could at the start of the race to try and get as close to the lead as possible. Wilbur got a good draw as he got the pole and he was fast enough that it would have taken a mistake or slipup by him for me to get past him." Matt quickly moved from fifth to third by the end of three laps and by lap five was in second. Matt was able to close right in on the back bumper of the leading Hebing machine and it was only a matter of time before a battle for the lead was going to take place. That battle came in lap traffic on lap 35 going down the back straight as Hirschman pulled even with Hebing. But as the duo entered turn three Hebing was able to box Hirschman in behind a slower lap car that was on the inside of the track. " I took a shot as he had a slower lap car in front of him " recalled Matt when talking about what happened. "It was worth a shot, it didn’t work." Matt had one final shot at passing Hebing for the lead as he pulled even at the start/finish line as the duo completed lap 47. But Matt didn’t have enough bite on the outside to hold it entering turn one. "That was my good shot as he got loose in the middle of the corner and I wasn’t able to get up and alongside of him. I just couldn’t finish the pass; I didn’t know what kind of passing was going on behind me. I felt that my car has been better here to pass on the outside. I don’t know if it was the track or just wasn’t quite as good on the outside as I would like to be here. I just couldn’t quite cut it enough on the top tonight."

"Those guys could get away from us on the long runs" said third place finisher Chuck Hossfeld. "What happened was I figured there was going to be a caution so why keep chasing them. Then it looked liked there wasn’t going to be a caution so I picked up the pace. Maybe what I should have done was chilled out a little more and saved the tires a little more." Chuck who started seventh moved into fourth by lap two and quickly motored into third three laps later. Chuck stayed there for the remainder of the race and at the end of the race had to hold off a hard charging Billy Putney for third. Chuck spoke about this race only being his third time in the car since returning from North Carolina just about one month ago. "I’m pretty happy with the car as it has just been sitting in my shop idle" said Chuck. "Each time we’ve run we have improved on it and that is all you can ask for and hopefully not long we’ll be in victory lane."

Qualifying for the 27 Modifieds on hand saw heat wins captured by Rick Kluth, Hirschman, and Hossfeld.

STEEL PALACE NOTES: Instead of sending one car home without making the field track management opted to run every car who entered. This decision was very popular with the drivers who all had a chance to race and get some laps. For the first time in over 20 years veteran Jim Lameroux found himself behind the wheel of a Modified as he ran the former Ed Conoran owned car. Dan Chimera failed to make the heat race as his car failed to fire but he got it repaired in time for the feature. Rick Kluth saw a strong run go by the way side when the rear end broke on lap 14 and he was in fourth. Many insiders were hoping for a late race yellow, which never came, to see just how much Erick Rudolph had left. Because he pitted for a new right rear tire on lap 50 and made up nearly a half a track under green flag conditions when the checker fell as he ended up sixth right on the heels of the fifth place finisher. Erick’s teammate Bobby Holmes hit the turn three outside wall a ton on lap 50, he was taken to the hospital for a checkup after the races. RoC Dart officials would like to clarify an error that was reported in the story from Wyoming County last Sunday afternoon. Erick Rudolph was the youngest driver to win a RoC Dart Modified feature in the history of the Tour. However he was not the only teenager as Kory Rabenold won at Mahoning Valley last year. RoC / Dart would like to apologize to Kory for the error. The next Oswego show will be the final North Region point event on Saturday September 1st with a 125 lap $5,000 to win feature with time trials being run for this show to set the top 12 starting spots.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR CENTRAL REGION RACE # 4 FINISH: Wilbur Hebing, Matt Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld, Billy Putney, Mike Leaty, Erick Rudolph, Pete Brittain, Lee Sherwood, Rusty Smith, Tommy Kinsella, John Markovic, Danny Knoll, Jr., Alex Hoag, Andy Szapacs, Doug Reaume, Vern LaFave, Daren Scherer, Ken Canestrari, Chris Finocchario, Phil Slater, Bobby Holmes, Eric Beers, Dan Chimera, Jim Lameroux, Rick Kluth, Sean O’Neill, Matt Clemens LAP LEADERS: Hebing ( 1 – 75 )

From Matt:
"We will be racing the J&J #59 at Mahoning for sure on Saturday. Going back for Sunday's race postponed from July 4th will be determined after Saturday night if we will try to go through the consi to get in."

July 18 - Seekonk - Open 10K to win - Postponed to September 22
The race was rained out and postponed to September 22 and for the healt of Modified Racing maybe Seekeonk can reconsider that date as the Race of CHampions at Oswego had been set for that date since the beginning of the season> Kudos to Seekonk for changing the date from Sept 22 to Aug 29

July 15 - Wyoming County - RoC - Start 11 - Finish 2

By JR Kennerup - Perry, NY - In the storied history of the Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour there has never been a teenage asphalt Modified winner. All of that came to an end on Sunday afternoon at the Wyoming County International Raceway. As 16 year old third generation racer Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, NY led all 75 laps with ease to claim not only his first RoC Dart win but also his first ever asphalt Modified win.

Matt Hirschman continued his fine run of not pitting and finishing in the top three as he ended up second. Daren Scherer like the first two drivers didn’t pit for a new tire drove the wheels of his car to end up third. Bobby Holmes who is a teammate to Rudolph made it a good day for the DeLange Racing Team with a solid fourth place finish. Pete Brittain came on strong after his pit stop to finish in fifth aboard the Terry Zacharias prepared machine.

“Yes this is my biggest win” said the soft spoken $2,800 winner. “Wyoming County has been a very good place for me as I won my first SST Sportsman feature here and now I won my first Modified feature here.”

Erick redrew the pole starting spot and when the green flag dropped to start the 75 lap feature Erick jumped out to the lead over Brian DeFebo. With the first 34 laps going caution free Rudolph navigated lap traffic like a cool veteran does after ten plus years of racing.

Still many thought that the rookie asphalt Modified racer would stumble when the race would get near the end. But every time there was an opportunity for nerves to play a role in the outcome Rudolph drove like he had ice water in his veins. This was proved every time after each restart Rudolph would open up a very comfortable lead. Basically he was never seriously challenged throughout the feature as he drove a perfect race.

“I really wanted this one today” said Erick. “Because of starting on the pole with a good car that the DeLange’s gave me to run along with the great crew I have working on the car.”

“It’s been a fun year racing around the different tracks with RoC and gaining the experience” said Erick about his learning curve season on the road. “It definitely means something to me to be the youngest RoC winner ever, there’s a lot of history and I’m glad to be a part of the history.”

When Erick was named to this potent ride replacing Dave Wollaber many people questioned the move. With his performances this year Erick has silenced his critics and proved that he belongs in this car. “I don’t listen to my critics at all, as this was a big win, a RoC win, first Modified win, a really big win.”

Erick was very calm, cool, and collected after the feature win kind of like he was still in shock. But his dad Charlie was all smiles as he was receiving handshakes from the many well wishers in the pit area.

“I’m very proud of him and he definitely has some talent” said Charlie. “It was a lot easier for me to drive than it was to watch, believe me. I’m very proud of him as he turned 14. 14 the last two laps and that is moving at this place. What can you ask of a kid at that age.”“I would like to thank my dad, my grandpa, all of the crew, and all of the sponsors, because I couldn’t do any of this without them” said Erick.“I didn’t know that going with the no pit strategy was the thing to do but it worked out as the tires held up really good and the risk paid off” said Erick. “I know the paving job helped my back out as I’m not as sore as I was following the last race here as the car didn’t go all over the place like it did last time.”

“People copied our strategy from last weekend so I came up with something else” said second place finisher Matt Hirschman. Last weekend Matt rode around at the back on both nights and only pitted on Friday to finish third and didn’t pit and won on Saturday night. Today Hirschman raced hard in his heat race and re drew 11th for the feature.“Every race like I told you last week you have to come up with something different or what ever works best for that day” said Matt. “I’m kind of the benchmark right now because we are running competitive and people are looking at what we’re doing. It might have worked for me once and we can do it different ways to get good results.”Matt after the original green took his time to save his tires and never entered the top five until lap 48. With the second place car of Brian DeFebo really struggling while holding on to second. Matt went from fifth to second with an inside backstretch pass on lap 71.Despite having one final restart on lap 74 Matt didn’t have anything for the high flying teenager.

“Erick was up front all day and he had a really good car, he did a really good job running out there. I think we would have been equal if I had gotten more laps at the end of the race. I probably wasn’t going to pass him today because the track wasn’t as racy enough for me as it has been in the past. The outside groove wasn’t as good for me as it has been in the past.”

Matt summed up his day in a positive way. “A second, another top three finish for us here, I’m not sure how many in a row that is for us here. Congratulations to Erick on his first win, probably first of many, but they’re hard to come by. We go to Oswego next week and that is my favorite track, my strongest track and we’ll give it our best shot this week.”

“I didn’t notice that much difference with the track with the exception of a little bump in turns three and four” said third place finisher Daren Scherer, who started 3rd when talking about the track surface. “I took a different strategy this time and we weren’t going to pit unlike last time when we pitted. We’ll take a third and the different strategy paid off for us.”

Qualifying for the 21 cars in attendance saw heat wins captured by Billy Putney, Brittain, and DeFebo.

BULL RING NOTES: Many drivers are taking notice of fellow drivers race strategy and it was proven on this day. With everyone qualifying Eric Beers, Lee Sherwood, Rick Kluth, and Rusty Smith all rode around at the back of their respective heat race saving their tires. Unlike the previous visits to the track pitting for a new right rear tire didn’t pay off with a feature win. Many drivers afterwards said the outside groove was slippery and it was more than likely the oil coming out of the fresh patches of blacktop that was done two weeks ago, the patches held up perfectly. Four drivers never pitted and they were the top three along with Brian DeFebo. DeFebo deserved a better finish as he was second until the mad scramble began with less than 10 laps to go and he got shuffled back. Eric Beers was driving the Zacharias Racing car that formerly belonged to Bobby Osgood. Beers had an overheating problem which brought a yellow out on lap 47, the problem was fixed but as he re- entered the track an oil line broke. While the track cleanup was taking place the oil line was repaired and Eric returned without losing a lap. Also during this yellow Billy Putney who was sixth had to pit to change a left front brake rotor assembly. Rusty Smith also deserved a better finish as he was as high as fourth until a last lap mad scramble took place in turn two which saw Rusty spend time in the infield grass.

RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR NORTH REGION RACE # 3 FINISH: Erick Rudolph, Matt Hirschman, Daren Scherer, Bobby Holmes, Pete Brittain, Rick Kluth, Billy Putney, Lee Sherwood, Todd Smith, Brian DeFebo, Rusty Smith, Danny Knoll, Jr., Phil Slater, Eric Beers, Chris Zacharias, Mark Tychoniewicz, Dan Chimera, John Markovic, Matt Clemens, Bill Mislin, Tony Hanbury.LAP LEADERS: Rudolph (1 – 75)DART MACHINERY SET OF HEADS $1,200 VALUE: Clemens GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500: Knoll HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD: Kluth (18th to 6th) HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD: Markovic (8th to 18th) & Tychoniewicz (6th to 16th)

July 8 - Twin State Speedway - NASCAR - Time 3 - Finish 2

From Speed 51. . . This Mod Show Was Predicted to Be a Bust, But Instead Showcased Some Great Racing. Tour competitors weren’t happy about the reduced purse as part of NASCAR’s flash race experiment. Weekly racers at the track complained about losing their pit spots for one event. Some members of the media battled with the track over access. Even Mother Nature cursed the event with a poor weather forecast and nagging low and dark clouds thoughout the day of the race. All of that was a shame because what fans ended up witnessing was a fun show at a racy little track in New Hampshire – a hidden jewel on a Tour schedule heavy with repeated visits to the same facilities seemingly week-in and week-out (Nine of the sixteen scheduled races during the 2007 season are at either Thompson or Stafford, both in Connecticut).
Before the race began, the buzz in the pits was not really centered around the 26 teams who were at the track, but instead who did not show. Three competitors who had been to every race this season so far – John Blewett, III; Ron Yuhas and the #79 Hillbilly Racing team with new driver Woody Pitkat skipped the race. Tony Hirschman, who
In the days leading up to Sunday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Twin State Speedway (NH), it didn’t seem like anybody was happy.
boycotted the flash race at Wall earlier this season, was also a no-show. Rob Summers, Anthony Sesley, Renee Dupuis and Rick Fuller were all nowhere to be found. While those guys and girls were all missed, it only takes two tough competitors to put on a great race. At Twin State, those two racers were named James Civali and Matt Hirschman. The two ran side-by-side for dozens of laps before Civali held off Hirschman at the finish to take the victory.
Both drivers were still in diapers the last time that the Tour visited Twin State and had no history at all of the track other than what they heard second hand. “I’ve never been here and I don’t even know anyone who had raced here,” said Civali.
“The locals told us that sometimes you can run the identical lap times here and be a groove or two up the track,” said Hirschman. “They were right. It was true.” Very true in fact. at bay for most fo the race. But every so often, Hirschman would poke his nose through to lead. Behind both of them though was a patient Civali, who started fourth and was content to maintain a position in the middle of the top five until he looked in his mirror and saw a fierce battle behind him between Donny Lia and Ted Christopher. “When Teddy and the #4 [Lia] moved up to third and fourth, I knew that they were going to be fast,” said Civali. “That is when I started putting the pressure on Ronnie to try and get around him." Civali dove under Silk on lap 27 to take the lead. At that point, Hirschman had slipped back to fifth and it appeared that Lia and TC would be Civali’s closest competitors. Instead, they might have raced a little bit too hard though. They both got close to the lead, but never took it. “I don’t know what happened to those two guys,” said Civali. “I think that they might have burned their tires up. I could see that they were racing hard.” Just before halfway, Hirschman got back into the runner-up slot. From there forward, he would not be far away from Civali for the rest of the night – even poking his nose past to officially lead lap 72.
Typically, the formation for Civali and Hirschman was the same for each of those laps. Civali had his #28 King Racing Mod down low on the track and Hirschman was a lane above him. Usually, the nose of Civali’s car was an inch or two ahead of Hirschman’s. But neither driver had much breathing room. They didn’t beat. They didn’t bang. They just raced hard. “At the end, Matt and I were side-by-side,” said Civali. “We were running away from the rest of the field. There were a few times when he got a really good run on me and I thought that he would get me. I was trying as hard as I could.”
“It was a good race,” said Hirschman. “Side-by-side racing is fun and that is why sometimes I enjoy racing more in other series. Sometimes, this Tour lacks that. James and I had a great race, Teddy was in there at times and we had some good battles. But neither driver had much breathing room. They didn’t beat. They didn’t bang. They just raced hard. “At the end, Matt and I were side-by-side,” said Civali. “We were running away from the rest of the field. There were a few times when he got a really good run on me and I thought that he would get me. I was trying as hard as I could.” “It was a good race,” said Hirschman. “Side-by-side racing is fun and that is why sometimes I enjoy racing more in other series. Sometimes, this Tour lacks that. James and I had a great race, Teddy was in there at times and we had some good battles. The victory was Civali’s second of the season – which now means that only one event has been won by anyone other than himself or Donny Lia. Civali has been quick in recent races, but lacked any kind of good luck. The victory now moves him up to third in the standings – giving him a fighting shot at chasing Lia in the points race and boosting his morale. “That #4 car [of Lia] is going to be hard to beat,” said Civali. “When you win three in a row, you’re hard to beat. I was a little frustrated at Thompson. We had a flat tire leading and couldn’t get back through before the rain came. We were coming through in a hurry at Loudon when we broke a driveshaft. That really crushed me. Then to see Lia win again, it was hard. When we came here, I just wanted to run in front of Lia for the points. You can’t win the points by wrecking, but you have to finish in front of the guys who are ahead of you. You don’t have to win races, but you have to finish ahead of your competition.“When you are chasing points, a seventh is disappointing. So when you can’t finish a race, it is really disappointing. That is crushing. I don’t know if that took me out of the points or not.” Most drivers publicly claim not to worry about points, but Civali doesn’t hide the fact that where he ranks in the championship chase is something that is on his mind. “Oh yeah, I’m thinking about it,” said Civali. “I’m hoping that the other guys have some bad luck. I guess everyone has bad luck and I hope that I’ve had mine with flat tires and broken driveshafts. Maybe this gets me back into the game. We’ll see.”As for the race format at Twin State – with time trials, a pair of 25-lap heat races and a 100-lap feature event, there was plenty of talk from competitors after the race. “I got a nose ahead a few times and we were close. We were side-by-side and both pulling away. That’s rare. We go to Stafford or Thompson and we can’t run side-by-side and be as fast or faster than anyone else." Right before the end of the race, Hirschman tucked in behind Civali and that’s the way that they finished ahead of Silk, Lia and Christopher.“We got strung out with 10 to go and we were a little bit quicker on the long runs,” said Civali. “He was better on a short run, but the race stayed green at the end and that worked out well for us.” “I couldn’t surge ahead,” said Hirschman. “Eventually, my car started to get a little slick and I didn’t want to throw away a second-place finish. I figured that when there was another restart, I could go back at it, but it went green the rest of the way. Once that we were nose-to-tail, I couldn’t make a pass. We were both running the same speed.”

1. (4) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 117 laps, 62.644 mph, $4,100.
2. (1) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 117, $2,600.
3. (2) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 117, $2,750.
4. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 117, $2,100.
5. (7) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 117, $2,000.
6. (11) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 117, $1,900.
7. (3) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 117, $2,450.
8. (13) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 117, $1,800.
9. (8) Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass., Chevrolet, 117, $975.
10. (25) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 117, $2,350.
11. (24) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 117, $1,425.
12. (15) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY, Chevrolet, 117, $1,500.
13. (10) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 117, $1,200.
14. (5) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 117, $950.
15. (20) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 117, $600.
16. (9) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 117, $1,275.
17. (23) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 117, $925.
18. (19) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 117, $1,200.
19. (22) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 115, $875.
20. (18) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 113, $425.
21. (26) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 113, $400.
22. (14) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, Conn., Pontiac, 98, $1,050.
23. (21) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, MA, Chevrolet, 72, accident, $327.
24. (12) Danny Sammons, Trenton, N.J., Chevrolet, 69, power steering, $800.
25. (16) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 65, rear end, $800.
26. (17) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 58, nerf bar, $800.

Time of Race:0 hrs., 37 mins, 19 secs Average Speed: 62.644 mph Margin of Victory:.47 Seconds

BUD POLE AWARD: Ronnie Silk, 19 Major Motion /Silk Plumbing & Heating Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: James Civali, 28 Ramar-Hall/Liberty Limousine Chevrolet
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Jimmy Blewett, 12 T.S. Haulers/ United Crane Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Ryan Preece *, 40 F.J. Hubery, Inc. Chevrolet
WHELEN ENGINEERING WINNER OF THE RACE: James Civali, 28 Ramar-Hall/Liberty Limousine Chevrolet

Caution Flags: Laps 37-43; 47-51; 55-59; 68-71; 74-78; 84-88. 6 for 31 laps.
Lap Leaders: Matt Hirschman 1-15, Ronnie Silk 16-26, James Civali 27-91, Matt Hirschman 92, James Civali 93-117.
Total Laps Led: James Civali 90, Matt Hirschman 16, Ronnie Silk 11. 4 changes involving 3 drivers.

July 7 - Lancaster Raceway - RoC - Start 17 - Finish WIN
HIRSCHMAN’S NO PIT STRATEGY PAYS OFF IN LANCASTER RoC DART WIN
BY JR KENNERUP ( RoC MEDIA )
Clarence, NY... On Saturday night at the Lancaster Motorsports Park second generation driver and 2005 Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour champion Matt Hirschman went against the odds with his race strategy. For the past few years every race run at Lancaster saw the winner pitting for a fresh right rear tire and many thought tonight would be no different.
As the majority of the field pitted under yellow on lap 33 of the 75 lap feature, Hirschman along with four other drivers decided to gamble and stay on the track. The gamble paid off in huge dividends for Hirschman as he motored into the lead on lap 39. Once in the lead Hirschman had to hold off the relentless challenges of Jan Leaty over the final 26 laps to claim the $2,800 victory.
Leaty who was looking for the weekend sweep of RoC Dart race action finished up second after starting 12th. Tom McGrath blew a rear end in heat one, got the car repaired just in time to make the feature, came on strong after his pit stop to finish a strong third. Teenager Erick Rudolph once again showing his ever increasing driver maturity as he finished fourth after starting 21st. Lancaster veteran driver Sege Fidanza made a late race charge to finish a fast closing fifth.
“ Every race and every race track takes a different strategy and it can be different at the same race track from one event to the next. You just try and do your best to come up with the best strategy possible to give you a chance to win. Sometimes that will get you a win, sometimes it will get you a second, and sometimes that will get you wrecked “ said the very happy race winner.
Matt’s strategy started at the beginning of the night as he had to start last in his heat because he wasn’t here last week when the rains came. Matt rode around in the back of the heat race saving his four tires that he knew he was going to be using in the feature. When the feature started and Matt in 17th he once again used strategy as he dropped back to near the end of the field. Matt was waiting to see how the race unfolded which was going to determine which part of his strategy was going to come into play.
“ Tonight I felt that was the strategy that I wanted to go with. Regardless of where we ran at the beginning or how hard we ran, we still did something that was almost impossible. You have to use your head and come up with the best strategy possible. “
Thinking race strategy is something that Matt has worked very hard at over the past few years. “ I helped win two NASCAR Modified championships in the last couple of years “ said Matt when talking about his experience as a crew chief for his father Tony, Jr. “ By coming up with ideas on how to win races and finish up front, it’s my specialty I guess. “
Matt was asked if he bounced his race strategy idea off his father Tony who was spotting for him on this night. “ I told him what my strategy was and he just kind of shrugged his shoulders. He knew what I was planning on and if it didn’t work out we could pit as I still had a fresh tire that we could put on. “
Matt found himself in fifth after the pit stops on lap 33 and over the next six laps Matt took to the fast outside groove at Lancaster to take the lead on lap 39. “ It wasn’t a set guarantee that I wasn’t going to pit “ said Matt. “ I just wanted to see how the cautions played out and it played the way I wanted it to go. From that point on I made a charge for the lead and I didn’t intend to charge into the lead that quick, but it came to me. The car felt good and I drove it to the lead and I didn’t know if I was going to make it at the end. Jan Leaty, he threw everything at me, his tire was fresh, and then we sorted evened out towards the end, but he was there. I knew that I was going to get pressure from somebody and it just happened to be Jan Leaty. “
Matt, who grew up watching his dad and Jan race all over battling for NASCAR Modified championships in the 1980’s and 1990’s spoke about those battles, “ Jan’s been strong lately and I realize now what those battles he and my dad had back in the 1980’s and 90’s. They were tough competition for each other and I’m learning first hand on why they say Jan Leaty and Tony Hirschman battles in the 1980’s at Shangri – La, Oswego, and here were still some of the best Modified racing ever. He’s proving that he still has it just like my dad still has it. “
Matt then spoke about the key point on lap 59 when Jan was alongside him going down the backstretch. “ We were having radio communication troubles “ admitted Matt. “ I couldn’t hear every word that the crew was saying and I wasn’t getting all of the information that I would have liked to been getting. I sort of got a bit of it that he had a wheel in there. I didn’t see him or hear him but I kind of heard that and I just drove it down into the corner as hard as I could. We were able to get back in front of him and that was our one close call besides having the radio communication problem. “
The final 20 laps of the race featured five yellow flag periods as drivers with fresh rubber were having a tough time passing drivers who were on used rubber. Those yellows which included two in the final four laps had many people thinking that they played right into the strategy of Hirschman, but Matt didn’t think so. “ I really didn’t want the cautions, I didn’t like the cautions, maybe it was to my benefit, I don’t know. I’d just rather run it green and you win, you win, and if you lose, you lose as it’s a fair game for everybody. “
The win was Matt first career Lancaster win. “ I always wanted to win a feature here, just like I did at Oswego this year “ said Matt. “ I came here and back in the 80’s my dad won a US Open here and I can remember it like it was a year or two ago. I always wanted to win one here, win one at Oswego, I try to win every race but to win at some places are real special and this is definitely one of them. “
“ I didn’t tell anybody but I wanted that win tonight to make it a double on the weekend “ said second place finisher Jan Leaty. “ I’ve only done that a couple of times in my career and it would have been neat to do that this weekend. But I had a great weekend. “
Jan started 12th and took his time early in the race and in typical Leaty style started to turn the wick up at the 25 lap mark. From lap 25 to lap 33 Leaty impressively moved from tenth to fifth in a crowd pleasing driving performance. Leaty then pitted on lap 33 under yellow for a fresh right rear tire.
After the pit stop Leaty was now seventh on the track and on lap 42 he let everyone know that he was going to the front. Jan pulled off a three wide up the middle pass of Chuck Hossfeld and Brett Scherer to move into fifth and the Leaty charge was on. Jan was fourth on lap 46 and two laps later moved quickly into third and one lap later he grabbed second and now the race for the win was on.
“ The second tire we put on the right rear when we pitted I don’t think sized up as good as the one we had on the car “ said Jan. “ The car is never quite as good on another tire as the first tire you have on and that is what happened tonight. Last night the second tire we put on was just as good as the first tire we had on. But that is how it goes sometimes and you have to give Matt plenty of credit as his strategy worked. With his strategy he never had to pass many cars so he didn’t use a lot of rubber. “
When Jan tracked down Hirschman many thought that the winning pass was coming. Jan had one good shot at passing Hirschman and he was under him at the mid point of the backstretch on lap 59. But as the side by side racing duo entered turn three Leaty backed out giving Hirschman the opportunity to keep the lead that he would never give up.
Jan spoke about that pivotal moment of the race. “ Yes I backed out as we were on iffy tires at that point of the race and you don’t have a ton of confidence in everything at that point of the race. I thought maybe I could have stayed in there that time, but I’m not going to wreck a guy on purpose to win a race. “
“ I had already started to pack up the trailer and the guys were the ones who actually didn’t want to quit “ said third place finisher Tom McGrath who blew a rear end leading heat one. “ One crew member searched the pits and didn’t find the parts we needed so he said I’m going back to the shop to get the parts we need to fix the problem. The shop is a half hour away, so he got back an hour later and it was during the Late Model feature we he arrived with the parts. We had just about ten minutes to get it together and finished just as they called us to the line. “
McGrath who started 19th played his cards just like a majority of everyone else pitted on lap 33 for a new right rear tire. When the racing resumed McGrath drove his way to the front as he entered fifth on lap 50. Just three laps later McGrath had impressively moved into third and it seemed that he was going to give the front two cars a run for their money. But the run never materialized over the final 22 laps and Tom settled for a hard working third place finish.
“ I think I pushed it a little too hard getting to the front “ summarized Tom. “ As once I got to the front it seemed that I didn’t have enough left. Plus when you have Jan and Matt in front of you they’re going to be tough to pass. You have to give Matt plenty of credit as he didn’t pit and won. “
Qualifying for the 29 cars in attendance saw heat wins captured by Bill Hebing, Leaty, and Fidanza. No B Main was run due to only 26 cars able to run the feature after hot laps.
LANCASTER NOTES; The one week delay saw 22 of the original 24 cars return with Mike Leaty and Kirk Rutherford not here this week. Eric Beers replaced Rutherford in the Zacharias Racing 99 while Hirschman, Larry Jackson, Buck Catalano, and Jimmy Zacharias being new cars this week, Zacharias scratched before the racing program began. Twenty – one teams made the little over one hour trip from Spencer the night before and those 21 teams all received a free Hoosier Racing Tire from RoC Dart for their support on the weekend. Track management in a blind drawing after the feature awarded a free Hoosier Racing Tire to Danny Knoll, Jr. For the second night in a row the infield track was used as a pit area much to the fans delight. Lee Sherwood gambled like Hirschman without a pit stop and looked liked he was going to have a solid top ten until getting spun out with four laps to go.
RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR LANCASTER MOTORSPORTS PARK NORTH REGION RACE # 2

FINISH; Matt Hirschman, Jan Leaty, Tom McGrath, Erick Rudolph, Sege Fidanza, Chuck Hossfeld, Buck Catalano, Danny Knoll, Jr., Bill Hebing, Eric Beers, Phil Slater, Bobby Holmes, Pete Brittain, Rick Kluth, Lee Sherwood, Mark Tychoniewicz, John Markovic, Dan Chimera, Sean O’Neill, Billy Putney, Doug Reaume, Todd Smith, Daren Scherer, Brett Scherer, Larry Jackson, Matt Clemens.
DNS; Jimmy Zacharias, Mike Leaty, Kirk Rutherford.
LAP LEADERS; Hebing ( 1 – 5 ), Holmes ( 6- 38 ), Hirschman ( 39 – 75 )
DART MACHINERY AWARD SET OF HEADS $1,100 VALUE; Tychoniewicz
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500; O’Neill
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Rudolph ( 21st to 4th )
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; D. Scherer ( 6th to 23rd )



July 6 - Spencer Speedway - RoC- Start 28 - Finish 3
As Matt put it - this is one tough little race track. It is a tricky place. After having to qualify through the consi, Matt started 28th. During his way througth the pack to the front Matt brushed the wall no less than two times to bring the #60 home in 3rd place. "It felt like a win to finish 3rd after everything we went through to get in the race and then hit the wall twice during the race. This is a neat place to race but for my first time here and hitting the wall twice during the race to finish 3rd felt like a win for our team. We will be ready for this place next time we come here. Its fun but it has some great features that make it unique." Matt explained Saturday morning. After spending the morning going over the car and straightenting anything that was bent the team was on its way over to Lancaster for the second half of the double header of the RoC Tour weekend in upsate New York.

BY JR KENNERUP ( RoC MEDIA )
Williamson, NY... Making a return to racing at his hometown race track on Friday night Jan Leaty of Williamson, NY got the place a rocking in the Lyons National Bank sponsored 100. After pitting for a fresh right rear tire on lap 68 the elder statesman of the racing Leaty Family roared back up through the field. The new rubber enabled Leaty to get under leader Lee Sherwood, who hadn’t pitted going into turn one just after the duo crossed the line to complete lap 79.
After getting the lead Jan just turned up the wick during the final 20 laps and walked away from the star studded field to claim Combination Race # 2 of the Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour at the Spencer Speedway.
Eric Beers in his new ride, the Zacharias Racing owned former Reyerse Racing car finished second with Matt Hirschman in first ever appearance at the track coming home in third. Bill Hebing finished fourth with Chuck Hossfeld making three trips from the rear to wind up fifth.
“ This is a special win for us as I grew up racing here “ said the $3,500 winner. “ Even today with my son Mike running here weekly I’m down here each week. Sometimes its makes me to want to be in a car and at other times I’m glad I’m not in the car. To win it in front of my hometown crowd and every win at this point in my career is an extra one, I’m happy. “
Jan started the feature in sixth position and the veteran driver took his time getting into the top five as he accomplished that on lap 27. With a long green flag period taking place from lap 6 until lap 66. Coupled with the blistering pace leader Buck Catalano was setting Jan was forced to turn up the wick a little sooner than he would have liked to. Jan moved into fourth on lap 38 and then dropped back to fifth as he was pacing his equipment. Then at lap 50 Jan turned it up once again and moved into fourth on lap 58 and was closing in on the leaders until pitting on lap 68.
After pitting the Leaty car seemed to gain momentum and he motored his way to the front. “ I was taking it easy on the car all throughout the race up until money time “ said Jan. “ The guys did a great stop and Chucky beat me off pit road because I stalled the car when the crew dropped the car off the jack telling me to go. We were able to get back by Chuck and the rest of the guys out there we had to pass were a little wounded I think. You never know how it’s going to work out. Look at Mike and what happened to him as he dominated the race and should have had a better shot than me to win the race. Something happened radio wise and he didn’t get the signal that the pits were open, Buck too as I see he didn’t pit either. Good win for the team, we’re happy. “
When the race went back to green on lap 71 Jan was in third behind Lee Sherwood and Chuck Hossfeld. Two laps later Hossfeld and Tim McMullen who was now third got together and spun out in turn four, this moved Jan into second. The green came back out on lap 76 and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Leaty would get by Sherwood for the lead and that happened going into turn one on lap 79. Once in the lead many thought that Eric Beers who followed Jan through the field and was now in second would be challenging Jan for the win. But the challenge never materialized as Jan picked up the pace that no one else was able to match for the remaining 20 laps of the feature.
“ Worn tires do take two to three laps after a yellow to warm and clean up and start working good again “ said Jan. “ You have to be careful and protect the bottom for that time period. Then I wanted to see if Eric had anything for me so I took it careful for a few laps and then I could tell I had more than him so I opened it up a little bit. I was still saving something just in case the caution came out and somebody was flying through the field. I didn’t know if Matty was back there and he got two tires, if he was real fast. But then with ten to go I said to myself that this car is so good I’m just going to start driving it and so I did. “
Following the very popular win Jan capped the winning evening by his signature facing the outside wall burnout as he tries to knock the wall down. This Leaty race winning tradition started with the Tioga Motorsports Park final show in 2004 and continues each time after Jan wins a feature. “ I get a little excited I guess “ said the smiling and laughing driver. “ It’s something I didn’t invent, but it works well. You don’t want to go through the infield spinning and throw stuff up into the stands, so a little smoke never hurts. “
Jan ended up the evening by speaking about having RoC Dart back at his home track after a ten year absence. “ It good to see the old girl have some cars and the crowds weekly haven’t been bad here this year at all “ summarized Jan. “ The weekly car counts have been a little low but they are improving and I think as a group at the speedway we are learning. John White and his team, they started off a little green, had some rough spots, but we are all starting to get along and gel. This was a good event for him, successful and I think we’ll have a few more shows here some time. “
“ We decided that we could run as good as we could without hurting any of the tires “ said second place finisher Eric Beers on his race strategy. “ I didn’t want to slip the left rear or push off the right front because we were only getting one tire. I knew that it was going to be a disadvantage getting only one tire while some guys got two. I drove as easy as I could and at the end of that long run the crew said I was a half a lap behind the leaders. But as long as I stayed on the lead lap I was going to be ok. “
Eric started fourth and hung around the top five for a few laps before he backed off his pace and settled into the lower portion of the top ten. When he pitted along with the majority of the other cars on lap 68 Eric gained some valuable spots. “ We came in tenth and came out in fourth and when we went back to green we drove by some guys. “
Eric followed Jan Leaty up through the field after the pit stop and once Jan got into the lead Eric who before thought he had something for him, all of the sudden didn’t have anything for Jan. “ We followed Jan up through the field and we were on him until he passed Lee for the lead. Then it seemed that Jan’s car started to roll through the center of the corners better than ours. We were a little bit too tight but to come here for the first time in ten years and to get second, that’s awesome. “
Eric, who normally runs the Horwith Freightliner car on the RoC Dart Asphalt Modified Tour. Has encountered some motor problems with that ride and for this weekend has found himself in the potent Reyerse Racing mount that Terry Zacharias Racing purchased before the start of the season. “ Terry and the guys gave us a great car “ said Eric. “ We’re going to have to see what is going on but probably for the next month I’m going to drive Terry’s car, or maybe longer. The way it looks now he’s got a great car, a little tweaking here and there. I can’t complain with a second for the first time in this car and if I win tomorrow I might be in the car a little bit longer. “
“ This is a very, very difficult race track “ said winded third place finisher Matt Hirschman. “ You look at it, Jan won at his home track, and he’s got the experience and knowledge of the track here. Eric was second and he’s good everywhere and he was only here once and got second. For me getting a third here in my first ever appearance is like a win to me. This was the most physically demanding race I’ve run all year and I have raced at a lot of different tracks so far this year. "
Matt who seemed to struggle early on in the racing program kept fine tuning his car throughout the racing program. This saw Matt qualify through the B Main and start 23rd on the field. Most racing railbirds figured that Matt would hang around at the back until he could pit for two fresh tires. “ That was sort of the plan until Buck got the lead and he was a coming, lapping cars and I was going as fast as I could at that time “ recalled Matt. “ I couldn’t go anywhere as this is a tough place to pass. “
The key point of the race came on lap 68 when everyone except three cars pitted for either one or two fresh tires. This is where a great two tire pit stop enabled Matt to go from 15th on the field to seventh in the running order. “ Our guys did a great job on the pit stop as anytime you can pick up that many spots on a pit stop. It’s good to know that I have a good crew. “
Qualifying for a season high 31 cars saw heat wins captured by Jan Leaty, Hossfeld, Sherwood, and Hebing with Pete Brittain winning the B Main.
SPENCER NOTES; Tonight was the first RoC Dart sanctioned race at the historic facility owned by John White in ten years. Judging by the car and crowd count along with the exciting racing taking place it’s a good bet that RoC Dart will be here in years to come. Track management had the Modifieds pit in the infield pit area and the fans loved seeing this. For the first time this season the tire rule came into play with heat race qualifiers getting only one additional tire while B Main transfers and provisional buy – ins received two additional tires. During the feature yellow flag laps counted between laps 26 and 75. Chris Finocchario missed his heat race due to the battery being dead in the car. Chris had one heck of a B Main run coming from last to fifth in just eight laps to gain entrance to the feature. Buck Catalano was definitely the class of the field early on and his blistering pace burned off his sticker right rear tire. After he pitted the tire in the heat race had to be used and he wasn’t a factor after that. Mike Leaty was the class of the field in the middle stages of the race and just took the lead when the yellow came out. Mike and his crew missed the communication that the pits were open and Mike along with Buck Catalano pitted the next lap. This mistake ended up costing what many believe was the race for Mike. Good to see some good luck go the way of Todd Smith. Todd ended up an impressive seventh as he was in the thick of the battle all night long. The eighth by John Markovic ended a difficult day for the quiet racer from Bethlehem, Pa. John got in the wrong lane on the PA Turnpike and tied traffic up as he backed his rig up out of the E – Z Pass lane. On the way to the track he had a blown tire on the trailer and at the track while pulling the rig out of the infield he drove over his generator.
RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR COMBINATION RACE # 2 SPENCER SPEEDWAY
FINISH; Jan Leaty, Eric Beers, Matt Hirschman, Bill Hebing, Chuck Hossfeld, Lee Sherwood, Todd Smith, John Markovic, Buck Catalano, Sege Fidanza, Mike Leaty, Daren Scherer, Pete Brittain, Billy Putney, Danny Knoll, Jr., Eddie Hawkins, Chris Finocchario, Mark Tychoniewicz, Rick Kluth, Dean DeMarree, Phil Slater, Tim McMullen, Doug Reaume, Rusty Smith, Tommy Kinsella, Patsy Catalano, Terry Cheetham, TJ Potrzebowski.
DNQ’S; Matt Clemens, Jimmy Zacharias, Chris Risdale.
LAP LEADERS; Hossfeld ( 1 – 26 ), B. Catalano ( 27 – 62 ), M. Leaty ( 63 – 68 ), Sherwood ( 69 – 79 ), J. Leaty ( 80 – 100 )
DART MACHINERY AWARD SET OF HEADS $1,100 VALUE; Finocchario
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500; Finocchario
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Hirschman ( 23rd to 3rd )
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; P. Catalano ( 10th to 26th )
PROVISIONAL BUY – INS; Kluth, Reaume

June 30 - New Hampshire International Speedway - TIme 4th - Finish 4th
Just because Matt finished where he started does not mean he had to work for it during the shorten 85 lap race. The car looked good from the time they unloaded. During practice they made several changes to get the car running better and had a strong car in practice and was working hard on the bump draft and qualifying runs.
When the race started Matt was up in the front and then as the cars behind him were bump drafting they were able to catch at at certain times pass him. But as in at New Hampshire just because you lose a spot in one corner does not mean you don't get it back in another. It was great watching Matt and Tony trading spots leading the Hirschman draft as they went back and forth as the race allowed. Tony eventually dropped off the track to pit as Matt stayed on to keep track position. That proved to be one of the moves of the race as Matt was able to stay near the front and hold his position and finish a strong 4th.

1. (2) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 85 laps, 67.140 mph, $15,400.
2. (1) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $11,950.
3. (5) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $8,200.
4. (4) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 85, $6,500.
5. (12) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 85, $4,500.
6. (9) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $3,850.
7. (13) Bobby Santos, III, Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, 85, $3,150.
8. (10) Ron Yuhas, Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $3,300.
9. (7) Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $2,500.
10. (38) John Blewett, III, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 85, $3,950.
11. (17) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 85, $2,950.
12. (23) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $2,550.
13. (26) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 85, $3,450.
14. (31) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, Conn., Pontiac, 85, $2,325.
15. (11) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, Conn., Pontiac, 85, $2,700.
16. (6) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 85, $2,375.
17. (14) Nevin George, Kunkletown, Pa., Pontiac, 85, $1,950.
18. (20) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 85, $1,925.
19. (40) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 85, $1,900.
20. (29) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 85, $2,591.
21. (33) Jeff Malave, Manchester, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $1,850.
22. (21) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 85, $2,525.
23. (32) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 85, $2,300.
24. (34) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 85, $2,180.
25. (15) Danny Sammons, Trenton, N.J., Chevrolet, 85, $2,450.
26. (30) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY, Chevrolet, 85, $2,450.
27. (36) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 85, $2,150.
28. (22) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 83, $2,550.
29. (18) Alex Hoag, Bath, N.Y., Chevrolet, 73, accident, $1,750.
30. (3) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 73, accident, $2,550.
31. (24) Rob Summers, Manchester, Conn., Pontiac, 69, suspension, $1,750.
32. (39) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 65, suspension, $1,750.
33. (25) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 64, engine, $2,450.
34. (35) Mike Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Dodge, 57, engine, $1,750.
35. (16) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 35, drive shaft, $2,550.
36. (19) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 34, accident, $1,750.
37. (27) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., Chevrolet, 34, accident, $1,750.
38. (28) Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg, Mass., Chevrolet, 34, accident, $1,750.
39. (8) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, Mass, Chevrolet, 34, accident, $2,450.
40. (37) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 2, engine, $1,750.

Time of Race:1 hrs., 20 mins, 22 secs Average Speed: 67.140 mph Margin of Victory:.273 seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: Ted Christopher, 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: John Blewett, III, 66 Blewett Motorsports Chevrolet
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: John Blewett, III, 66 Blewett Motorsports Chevrolet
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Bobby Santos, III *, 3 Roby's Propane/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet
WHELEN ENGINEERING WINNER OF THE RACE: Donny Lia, 4 Mystic Missile Dodge

Caution Flags: Laps 2-7; 18-21; 24-28; 31-34; 35-38; 63-67; 70-73; 74-79. 8 for 38 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ted Christopher 1-7, Donny Lia 8-20, Ted Christopher 21, Donny Lia 22-27, Ted Christopher 28, Donny Lia 29-80, Eddie Flemke 81-82, Donny Lia 83-85.
Total Laps Led: Donny Lia 76, Ted Christopher 9, Eddie Flemek 2 7 changes involving 3 drivers

June 23 - Wall Stadium - Belmar, NJ - RoC - Time Trial - Pole _ Start 5 _Finish 2

Matt Hirschman has probably had the strongest car in the last two DART Race of Champions events, but he has been relegated to second place finishes in both events.
“We were close again tonight,” related Hirschman with a shrug. “A little better draw or a break or two and we could have won, but Kenny did a good job. I drove it as hard I could without crashing but I couldn’t get around him. You can’t complain about it. Things are going well and we’ll just keep trying to get back into victory lane.”

From Speed 51
Ken Woolley, Jr., of Howell, N.J., time trialed fourth, drew the pole in the redraw and led every lap en-route to his first DART Race of Champions Tour victory and his 17th career victory at Wall Township Speedway. It was only Woolley’s second race of the season aboard the Aliceann McGann United Crane Rentals Raceworks Chevrolet.
Victory lane was an emotional scene for Woolley as were his remarks on the Public Address system.“This win tonight is pretty big for all of us,” offered Woolley. “Especially Aliceann. She has put a lot of faith in me and here we are. Our keys to winning tonight were obviously time trialing in the top six and then the redraw, that really helped us out.” Woolley continued reflecting on the clean racing throughout the event. “Matt (Hirschman) ran me very clean. I was trying to regulate my corner speed a little and not burn up my tires. I’ve been down that road at Wall many times and it wasn’t going to happen during that race. I’m just happy for all of the guys, Aliceann and all of our sponsors that we won tonight. This win is pretty big for everyone.” Hirschman finished second after starting fifth and chased Woolley for the final 55 circuits but was unable to complete the pass.
“Another strong second for us,” grinned Hirschman. “We’ve got a good car, so we’ll be in victory lane. I know that much, but Kenny drove a great race tonight and deserved to win. He did what he had to do. We’ll take second and go on from here.”
Tony Ferrante, Jr., making a rare Race of Champions appearance aboard his Father’s familiar blue 31 finished third after time trialing second behind Hirschman. In the early stages of the event Ferrante chased Woolley but in the end the car went away and Ferrante had to settle for third.
“It was definitely better then the Tour race they ran here at the beginning of the season,” explained Ferrante. “The racing was a lot cleaner and people were patient. We had a decent car, but in the end we just got a little too loose and Matt (Hirschman) got by. Everything is in one piece and we had fun tonight, so we’ll take it.”
Rowan Pennick, who is currently making a run at the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour showed his talents as he finished fourth with Tommy Farrell, III, coming home fifth.
Matt Hirschman set the fast time during time trials, while Lee Sherwood and Mike Bohn won the heat races.

Belmar, NJ - June 23 - Running in only his second race of the year after retiring from full time racing two years ago. Kenny Woolley, Jr. of Howell, NJ used his home track advantage and knowledge of racing at the Wall Township Speedway on Saturday night.

Kenny took full advantage of his pole starting position to led all 100 laps in the Scott Motorcoach Sales sponsored Race of Champions (RoC) Dart Asphalt Modified Tour event.

Matt Hirschman for the final 55 laps tried every clean racing move in his arsenal to pass Woolley but came up one car length short at the line. Tony Ferrante, Jr. ran second for the first 45 laps then fought a loose condition in his racecar to finish third. Rowan Pennick proved that you can pass clean at Wall Township as he finished fourth after starting 12th with tenth place starter Tommy Farrell, III ending up fifth.

"Yes, this was a big win for us as this was my second race this year " said the happy but winded $3,000 winner. " We came here and ran the Whelen Tour the first time this year went from 24th to seventh and got wrecked with 20 to go. We put it back together and I’m glad for the lady ( Aliceann McGann ) who owns the car as we’ll run maybe five times this year. "

Kenny spoke about the keys to his victory. " Of course the draw was the key but getting into the top six in time trials was a bigger key. Track position means a lot here and my car was loose in time trials and I had set up to run at night. "

Another distinct advantage during the entire feature was the unbelievable bite that Kenny had coming out of the corners. " I had a good bite; I was sort of keeping down corner speed so I didn’t tear my tires up. When you’re leading you can do stuff like regulating your corner speed so you don’t burn the tires off the car. If they ( who ever are behind him ) want to push they can push but Matt and Tony who were behind me were good all race long. "

When the green dropped to start the feature Kenny jumped out to the lead that he would never give up. Despite turning laps in the low 12 second bracket the front brake rotors on the Woolley machine never glowed cherry red like everyone’s did. " I sort of balanced the brakes early in the race " said Kenny. " I really didn’t need the brakes because I had nobody in front of me. Those guys behind me had to use their brakes and I made them use their car up too. I’ve been here a long time and you have to use your head a lot especially with these kids I’m running against. Matt’s probably 25 years younger than me and I’m feeling it right now. "

About the only veteran driver gamesmanship that Kenny used during the feature a different point on where he fired for restarts. But Kenny also knows that you can’t play games on these types of starts too. " Not a lot of change on where I was starting, just a little bit here and there. I didn’t want to start playing that game because that is where you can get into trouble and start messing everyone else up too. I’ve seen it happen here many times before. "

Kenny commented about the clean racing on this night. " They ( Matt and Tony ) are good guys and I’m not out here to mess anybody up. If Matt could have gotten outside of me, I would have let him go. I’m not here to wreck and if your car is faster than mine I’m going to let you go. That’s the way I’ve always been. "

"I’m not sure when our next race will be because we don’t have a sponsorship deal " answered Kenny when asked where his next race will be at. " I sort of retired two years ago and ran once last year. Aliceann is a nice woman; I drove for them a few years ago. I really do it for her because she is such a great car owner. "

" Another solid second for us " said second place finisher Matt Hirschman. " Kenny knows the track as good as anyone and coming here as a non – regular to race and try to win is tough. Because you have the Blewett’s and the Woolley’s that you know they’re going to be tough to beat. The Blewett’s didn’t run but Kenny did and he got a good draw, if I was in front of him he wouldn’t have passed me. But passing Kenny was going to be tough because he knows the place so well and it’s tough to pass here and it can be done. We’ve heard that you can race clean here and not wreck a whole bunch of cars, I’m actually proud of everybody as we had a good clean race. Me, Kenny, and Ferrante we all had a good race as we raced each other clean, it was fun racing with those guys. "

Matt who started fifth moved into fourth on lap three and moved into third on a lap 11 restart. On a lap 38 restart Matt almost had the move of the race award as he almost vaulted from third to first but the yellow came out, nullifying his great move. On a lap 45 restart Matt finally out dragged Ferrante for second and set his sights on Woolley.

During the final 55 laps of the feature Matt tried everything to get a run on Woolley but it seemed that Kenny had the edge as he was pulling Matt exiting the corners. " We were actually a little bit better all the way around " summed up the 2005 RoC champion. " You have to be a lot better than somebody or use the bumper to pass here a lot of times. We weren’t that much better than Kenny and that is not my style to use the bumper to pass. Kenny and I have always raced clean together, he’s actually one of my favorite guys to race with. Because you can trust him and he races you clean and I’ll do the same to him and he’ll do the same with me. "

" The brakes’ getting hot was no problem for me " said Tony, who finished third when talking about his cherry red front brakes. " You go into the corners so hard here and I had a loose condition so I had to dial a little more front brake into the car. Plus with my right rear tire wearing away I had to put more front brake into the car too and I had to slow my entry speed into the corners also. "

Tony who started second summed up his fun night of racing. " Starting on the outside for any start here is tough. I had a ball today, a lot of fun as me, Kenny, and Matty all raced each other with respect, and it was a respectful race, along with a nice clean race. "

Qualifying for the 19 cars in attendance saw Hirschman set quick time in time trials with a fast lap of 12. 166 and the two heat wins were captured by Sherwood, and Michael Bohn

1.) Kenny Woolley, Jr.
2.) Matt Hirschman
3.) Tony Ferrante, Jr.
4.) Rowan Pennick
5.) Tommy Farrell, III
6.) Michael Bohn
7.) Lee Sherwood
8.) Rick Kluth
9.) Phil Slater
10.) John Markovic
11.) Pete Brittain
12.) Andy Szapacs
13.) Danny Bohn
14.) Eric Beers
15.) Daren Scherer
16.) Zane Zeiner
17.) Steven Whitt
18.) Steven Reed
19.) Matt Clemens

June 21 - Thompson Speedway-NASCAR Whelen Tour - Time 23 - Finish 13

The rain came at the wrong time for Matt as the #59 team had made a pit stop for tires and as he was working his way through the field it started to rain and the race was shortened in distance leaving his team disappointed with a 13th place finish.

1. (4) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 100 laps, 60.403 mph, $7,400.
2. (9) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $4,000.
3. (7) Bobby Santos, III, Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $2,700.
4. (5) Tony Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $2,050.
5. (27) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 100, $3,150.
6. (8) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,250.
7. (2) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,250.
8. (15) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $2,025.
9. (21) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, NY, Chevrolet, 100, $1,475.
10. (32) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, Conn., Pontiac, 100, $1,850.
11. (31) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Ford, 100, $1,525.
12. (30) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $1,075.
13. (23) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Dodge, 100, $1,450.
14. (24) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $1,740.
15. (13) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 100, $2,436.
16. (12) Danny Sammons, Trenton, N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $1,400.
17. (18) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Pontiac, 100, $975.
18. (25) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater, Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $1,650.
19. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,325.
20. (3) Eddie Flemke, Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,400.
21. (29) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $875.
22. (17) Anthony Sesely, Matawan, N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $1,250.
23. (22) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $1,225.
23. (37) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,225.
24. (6) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 99, $1,550.
25. (20) Ron Yuhas, Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 98, $1,190.
26. (34) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 98, $750.
27. (35) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 98, $750.
28. (11) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 97, $1,550.
29. (28) Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill, Conn., Chevrolet, 80, accident, $750.
30. (19) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 80, accident, $1,150.
31. (1) Ryan Preece, Kensington, CT, Chevrolet, 64, $750.
32. (14) Bobby Grigas, Marshfield, MA, Chevrolet, 64, $1,450.
33. (16) John Blewett, III, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 50, accident, $1,450.
34. (26) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 49, accident, $1,550.
35. (10) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, Conn., Pontiac, 38, rear end, $1,450.
Failed to Qualify: (3) Charlie Pasteryak (#5), Ken Bouchard (#55), and Jon McKennedy (#73


June 17 - Wyoming County, Perry NY - RoC Series - Start 12 - Finish 2
Eleven Years of Effort Ends in Victory Lane for Rusty Smith by Jim Blacroch

Rusty Smith of Oxford, N.Y., has been a fixture with the DART Race of Champions Modified Tour for many years. He has always been competitive, brought good looking machines to the race track, but until this past Sunday afternoon he struggled to find his way to victory lane.After 11 years of trying, the 29-year old pilot finally broke the ice holding off a charging Matt Hirschman to capture his first ever RoC victory on a tricky Wyoming County International Raceway (NY) surface this past Sunday afternoon.“This feels good,” offered Smith from victory lane. “We’ve been trying to a long time, I started racing with the Race of Champions Tour when I was 18 and I’m 29 now, so it’s been 11 years and we finally got the breaks we needed to win one. It really does feel good.”John Markovic of Bethlehem, Penn., beat Mike Leaty to the point and led the first 43 circuits before young Erik Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y., took over in the one of the DeLange Racing Pizza Log entries. It was also 43 laps before the first yellow flag of the day flew when Phil Slater and Pete Brittain got together exiting turn two to bring out the yellow and expose one of the challenges of the day, which was the track breaking apart, primarily in turn four. Another quick caution, just four laps later on lap 47 saw several cars head to the pits for tire changes and adjustments including Smith and Hirschman, who each changed a right rear tire. On lap 53, the wildest incident of the day occurred when T.J. Potrzebowski made a move to the inside of Ricky Kluth entering turn three, while both were running inside the top ten. Potrzebowski’s machine jumped a wheel on Kluth’s and shot him into the air and eventually into the wall as he leap frogged Kluth’s machine. Early race leader, Markovic was also collected in this incident. With the track’s condition constantly changing throughout the late stages of the event, Smith and Hirschman darted through the field, eventually to claim the top two spots with just 14 laps remaining as Rudolph, who led until lap 61 began to fade. Hirschman went to work on the high side of the speedway as Daren Scherer worked his way to third, but couldn’t really close on the lead duo. Hirschman worked his way to the outside of Smith, inch-by-inch on lap 70 and then got side-by-side with Smith exiting turn two on lap 71, but the caution flew eliminating Hirschman’s bid for victory when Chris Zacharias spun in turn one.Hirschman made one final bid coming to the checkered flag but it was to no avail. Smith held on for the victory with Hirschman second and Scherer third, his best ever RoC finish. Brittain recovered for fourth and Billy Putney survived to finish fifth. Putney, Phil Slater and Mike Leaty won the qualifying races.

HIRSCHMAN SECOND AT WYOMING
Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Penn., has a bright future ahead of him in the motorsports industry. The sky is the limit for the youngest son of multi-time NASCAR Modified Champion, Tony Hirschman, and when the Matt races on the Race of Champions Tour, you can see the pride in his Father’s face. Sunday one untimely caution kept the young Hirschman from reaching his ultimate goal of victory lane, but after the race he was still smiling.

“I like racing here,” offered Hirschman from victory lane. “I just wish they could come up with a solution that would keep the track together, I know they are trying and keep working at it and I’m sure they’ll get it, but the track is great for racing on. There are definitely two grooves and you can pass.”

Hirschman had to start 12th after the redraw and it dictated his strategy and approach to the race.

“Sometimes a pitstop doesn’t really help you because you need track position and other times, like today, that one tire can make a big difference,” explained Hirschman. “Here it makes a big difference and you can see it. It was just the way the cautions fell that kept us from reaching victory lane. We tried, that’s for sure. When I got up next to Rusty coming off of turn two, I need we had a chance, but then the caution flag flew and it just broke our momentum and there just wasn’t enough time to get to build the momentum we needed to complete the pass. We’ll just have to take second and go to Wall next week and see what happens there.” Before the Wall race, Hirschman will compete on Thursday night in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut where he is currently third - just five points out of the lead.

RACE REPORT RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR NORTH REGION RACE #1

WYOMING COUNTY SPEEDWAY
FINISHING ORDER
1.) Rusty Smith
2.) Matt Hirschman
3.) Daren Scherer
4.) Pete Brittain
5.) Billy Putney
6.) Rick Kluth
7.) Erick Rudolph
8.) Mike Leaty
9.) John Markovic
10.) Todd Smith
11.) Chris Zacharias
12.) Matt Clemens
13.) Doug Reaume
14.) Bobby Holmes
15.) Phil Slater
16.) JR Swansbrough
17.) TJ Potrzebowski
18.) Lee Sherwood
19.) Ron Smith.
LAP LEADERS; Markovic ( 1 – 43 ), Rudolph ( 44 – 61 ), Ru. Smith ( 62 – 75 )
DART MACHINERY AWARD $1,100 VALUE SET OF HEADS; Potrzebowski
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $500; Slater
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Ru. Smith ( 17th to 1st )
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; Potrzebowski ( 5th to 17th )

June 9, Mahoning Speedway - RoC - TT-4th - Start 2nd - Finish 24
What started as a good night quickly went bad after leading the opening laps the motor blew in the J&J Motorsports #59 ending the night early in this cars debut with Matt at the controls.

May26 - Oswego Speedway - RoC -

May13 - Oswego Speedway - RoC - Win
Matt led from Green to Checker for his first win of 2007
Second generation driver Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pennsylvania finally got his first career Oswego Speedway feature win on Sunday afternoon. Hirschman who drew the pole in the pre – feature lottery drawing led all 75 laps in the Coca – Cola / Parts Plus sponsored event.

Hirschman was never seriously challenged throughout the entire feature as he was on a Sunday afternoon drive to the $2,800 win. Billy Putney chased Hirschman for all 75 laps from his third place starting position but didn’t have enough and settled for second. Defending race winner Lee Sherwood who started second drove another consistent Oswego race to finish third. Fifth place starter Zane Zeiner ended up fourth while defending Race of Champions overall champion from last year Earl Paules ended up fifth after starting fourth.

“ It’s a good feeling to be here on the victory podium as a race winner at Oswego “ said the happy winner. “ I came here a lot in the late 1980’s and saw my dad win a bunch of big races here. So there are a bunch of good memories for our family here and I’m glad that I could get my first here today. This place I consider my favorite track as its fun to race on. You really want to do well here and if you don’t you’re disappointed. “

Matt spoke about the most important part of the day. “ The luck of the draw is what it is. A lot of times luck is overused in racing but when it comes to just drawing numbers I don’t know what else you could call it. Luck helped today with the way the track was and the short distance of the race. Next time it will be a whole different situation here as we’ll be racing at night and there will be more rubber on the track than there was today. “

Matt each time when a start occurred brought the field down at a slow pace despite being asked by RoC officials to pick the pace up. “ Probably why I bring them down slow is because on the Whelen Modified Tour where I race the restarts are so different than what they want here. I’m use to that kind of start and restart now and I’m not trying to do anything not to please the officials. I think I’m just use to that and here they want you to roll into the start and on the last one I think I did a better job of that. You want to accelerate as hard as you can when the green comes out and get a couple of car lengths which really helps you out with a single file start. “

Matt spoke about the performance of his car on this afternoon. “ This car and I have a pretty good understanding of what I need and it’s working well. Last year I had two seconds with it here and a win today in the first time out this year. If we had to start further back today I don’t think we could have won it. It looked liked we were probably more than what we actually were. Because nobody could just get any free space and a clean race track and like I said it will be a different place in two weeks. “

“ It was unfortunate that it wasn’t very exciting for the fans to watch and that’s the luck of a draw. If you have a good car and draw upfront you have to take advantage of it, as next time here you could draw 12th. It’s such a short race that pit stops didn’t come into play today. When we come here in two weeks with a 100 lapper hopefully it will be a much better show for the fans. “

“ Laps and starting position is what dictates your strategy “ answered Matt when asked about the race distance. “ You never really know what type of race it is going to be until you find out where you’re going to start. Usually pit stops are an advantage here as last year the top two cars both pitted late for tires. But today I don’t think anyone ( one driver did ) pit during the race for tires. Today the track was totally different from last year, I know it’s early in the season and next time the racing will be better here. “

“ We’re happy with a clean second place finish “ said the East Aurora, NY driver. “ Matt Hirschman had us all covered today as he had a great car and he was a little overdue for his first win here at Oswego. “

Billy started to reel in Hirschman just past the three quarters mark of the race to which Billy remarked. “ With 20 to go we started to close in on him and when he saw me he just turned up the wick and opened the lead back up to where it was before. I think he was sitting pretty with a great handling racecar and he had us covered tonight. “

Putney had one final shot at Hirschman with a restart taking place with seven laps to go. “ It seemed like I could hang with Matt for a couple of laps on the previous restart. I thought if I could stay close and Matt made a rare mistake I might have a chance to get by him. But on that start his tires stuck and mine lit up and I was all over the place, we’re happy we didn’t wad up a while bunch of cars when that happened. “

“ I was hoping to be a couple of spots farther forward than where we finished “ said Lee Sherwood of Hillcrest, NY. “ Matt got a pretty good start on the original start and Billy got under me before we got into turn one and I just dropped in line because it was pretty hard passing out there today as the outside was pretty slick. “

Sherwood continued his success of top three finishes at Oswego. “ The race track was pretty tough today as there was no outside because it was the first race of the year here. “

Lee spoke about the most important part of the race. “ If you didn’t get a good start or didn’t draw a good number you were pretty much in trouble today. “

Qualifying for the 22 Modifieds in attendance saw heat races won by Daren Scherer, Putney, and Rusty Smith.

STEEL PALACE NOTES; Despite the sunshine a cold wind from the north kept it chilly all afternoon. Andy Szapacs clipped the outside turn three wall in hot laps and he and his crew got the car repaired in time for the heats. Rusty Smith missed the first session of hot laps due to having a shim taken out of the clutch. Rick Zacharias drove the former Ryerse Racing car that saw Chuck Hossfeld drive it last year at Spencer, the car was recently purchased by Zacharias Racing. Matt Clemens drove the second John Markovic owned car on this day. Former dirt Modified, Sportsman and asphalt Super Modified and Limited Super driver Vern LaFave made his Modified debut on this day. Tom Kinsella practiced the day before at the track but failed to show on this day. Tour regular Rick Kluth had engine problems at home while loading the car and didn’t make the trip. Erick Rudolph and Brian DeFebo were both disqualified from their respective heat races for not running an approved RoC Hoosier tire on the left front.

RACE REPORT

DART RACE OF CHAMPIONS ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR CENTRAL REGION RACE # 1

FINISH; Matt Hirschman, Billy Putney, Lee Sherwood, Zane Zeiner, Earl Paules, Eric Beers, Rick Zacharias, Bill Hebing, Phil Slater, John Markovic, Pete Brittain, Erick Rudolph, Rusty Smith, Daren Scherer, Bobby Holmes, Vern LaFave, Doug Reaume, Andy Szapacs, Chris Zacharias, Brian DeFebo, Ken Canestrari, Matt Clemens.

LAP LEADERS; Hirschman ( 1 – 75 )

HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; Rudolph ( 21st to 12th )

HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; LaFave ( 7th to 16th )

GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW $ 500; Beers

DART MACHINERY SET OF HEADS $ 1,100 VALUE; Reaume

NEXT DART RoC ASPHALT RACE; Saturday May 26th Richie Evans Memorial 100 @ Oswego Combined Race #1

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