2023

MATT HIRSCHMAN WINS 35TH US OPEN AT LANCASTER ON SEPTEMBER 23
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LANCASTER, N.Y. (September 24, 2023) – For the seventh time in his career, “Big Money” Matt Hirschman from Northampton, PA won the US Open 125 for the Race of Champions Modified Series on Sunday evening at Lancaster Motorplex. Mark Hoch from West Seneca, NY won his second straight US Open event in the Budget RV Outlet of Buffalo Street Stocks. Jeff Brown from Hamburg, NY won his third US Open Late Model event. Jeff Szafraniec from Akron, NY won his first US Open in the Rusty Diamond Cores 4 Cylinders. Tony Hanbury and Matt Swanson were on the front row for the 35th US Open 125 for the Race of Champions Modified Series, with Andy Jankowiak going three wide for the lead with Swanson and Hanbury, with Jankowiak taking over the lead on the opening circuit. Hanbury would regain second from Jake Lutz on lap four, with Jack Ely and Austin Beers racing in the top five. Lutz and Hanbury would battle for several laps in the early stages, with Lutz reclaiming second on lap six, and would waste no time to go after Jankowiak. The field would get into a long green flag run, with 2023 Race of Champions Modified Series Champion Zane Zeiner worked his way into the top ten on lap 25. The battle for fifth took place on lap 28, as Matt Hirschman and Patrick Emerling were both able to race their way past Austin Beers. Paul Townsend would spin on the back straightaway to bring out the race’s first caution on lap 37. The restart would see Jankowiak, Lutz, Matt Hirschman, Ely, and Emerling race in the top five. The caution would fly on lap 56 as Austin Beers got loose and slid through the back straightaway grass. The restart would see a “Wavin’ Woody” from starter Larry Woodruff, indicating the lap 63 restart, with Andy Jankowiak leading Zane Zeiner, Paulie Hartwig III, Lutz, and Hanbury. Lutz would apply the pressure to Hartwig on lap 81 for third place and would complete the pass on lap 82. Zane Zeiner would pressure Jankowiak for the lead and would take over the lead on 88. Tony Hanbury and Daren Scherer got together in turn two to bring out the caution on lap 95. With Jankowiak, Lutz, and Hartwig going into the pits, that would move Matt Hirschman into second place behind Zeiner. The lap 100 restart would see Hirschman use the outside groove to take over the lead, with Emerling moving into second on lap 102. Jankowiak would work his way back through the field to enter the top five on lap 105. Jankowiak would take over third from Zeiner on lap 107, with Lutz moving into fourth place. Jack Ely spun while running inside the top 10 to bring out the caution on lap 116. Hirschman would pull away on the restart and would go on to earn his seventh US Open title, and 13th career win, tying him with Tony Jankowiak and Bill Carey for 18th on the Lancaster all-time wins list.

RACE RESULTS – US OPEN DAY 2
Race of Champions Modified Series: MATT HIRSCHMAN, Patrick Emerling, Andy Jankowiak, Jake Lutz, Tony Hanbury, Zane Zeiner, Austin Beers, Jack Ely, Paulie Hartwig III, Sean Verwys, Tim Connolly, Gunnar Zeiner, Danny Knoll Jr, Tommy Rought, Daren Scherer, Matt Swanson, Evan Rygielski, Daryl Lewis Jr, Paul Townsend, George Skora III, Scott Wylie, Timmy Lewis Jr, Andy Lewis Jr
Qualifying Heats: Jake Lutz, Matt Hirschman, Andy Jankowiak
Fast Time: Jake Lutz (17.160 seconds)


EMERLING SCORES FIRST-EVER RACE OF CHAMPIONS 250 VICTORY IN 73RD ANNUAL LUCAS OIL RACE OF CHAMPIONS SEPTEMBER 17 AS ZANE ZEINER INCHES CLOSER TO SERIES CROWN -
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Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y., raced his way to his first-ever Race of Champions victory this past Sunday at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pa., in the 73rd Annual Race of Champions 250. The race was telecast on live on MAVTV. Emerling fended off the challenges of eight time race winner Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., to earn the victory.Andy Jankowiak of Tonawanda, N.Y., who was the last winner of the “250” finished third.George Skora, III of Eden, N.Y., and Paulie Hartwig, III of Galloway, N.J., rounded out the top-five.

Justin Bonsignore reaches another career milestone with his latest Modified Tour win at Thompson on August 16

Wednesday evening saw three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore reach an important milestone at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.By dominating the second half of the Thompson 150 presented by FloSports.com, Bonsignore earned an impressive 13th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at the facility. This puts him in a tie with Tour legend Ted Christopher on the series’ all-time list for Thompson victories.As has been the case in many races this year, Bonsignore had to battle 2011 champion Ron Silk all the way to the checkered flag to bring home the historic win.“It feels amazing to tie Ted Christopher on the all-time wins list [at Thompson],” Bonsignore said. “It’s something we had been wanting to do for a couple of years now. I was just trying to mind the gap with Ron [Silk], and I didn’t know how much he had left in the tank.“On that last restart, he gave me a lot of respect.”Bonsignore admitted matching Christopher’s Thompson win total was a moment that was long overdue During the late 2010s, Bonsignore was an unstoppable force at Thompson back when the track was featured four times on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. From 2018-19, Bonsignore won seven of eight races, including six in a row.The turn of the decade featured diminishing returns for Bonsignore around Thompson. He gradually fell down the running order with each appearance, which culminated into an abysmal showing last October that saw him finish two laps down in 14th.Bonsignore was initially unsure if he would shake off a streak of inconsistency at the start of Wednesday’s Thompson 150 after struggling to gain track position in the opening stint. Once he got fresh tires and clean air, nothing could stop Bonsignore from adding another accomplishment to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour record book.“For a place where we had so many wins, we really lost our confidence in the last year and a half,” Bonsignore said. “We got lapped a bunch of times in October, but [Ryan] Stone went to work on this car and tried something really different today. We missed it a little bit on the first set [of tires], but it was really good on the second set.”Silk tried everything to keep pace with Bonsignore in the closing stages of the Thompson 150 and even found a couple of good looks underneath him for the lead. A late-race caution failed to provide Silk another opening, and he was forced to watch Bonsignore take the checkered flag.“I don’t think I could have gotten [Bonsignore] anyway,” Silk said. “He was a little bit better than we were. He could roll the center better, but it was still a good effort. I was loose during the first run and made some aggressive changes to tighten us up for the second. We just got it a tiny bit too tight.” Although Wednesday’s outcome means he will lose some of his advantage in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings, Silk was proud of the hard work his team put in to improve his car and minimize the damage from a Bonsignore win.For Bonsignore, who now has 38 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to his name, Wednesday carried more significance than just tying Christopher’s record at Thompson. As Bonsignore embarked on a Polish victory lap around Thompson, he took an extra moment in Turn 1 to honor the late John Blewett III, who earned one of his 10 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories at the facility before tragically passing away in a crash at the track in 2007.“I left the [checkered] flag up in Turn 1,” Bonsignore said. “That’s where John Blewett III was killed. I saw Doug Coby do that years ago, and I had always wanted to do that. [Wednesday] was the day we lost John all those years ago, and he was the biggest badass there was.“If we could do anything to honor him, that’s pretty cool.”With one more visit to Thompson scheduled on the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar in October, Bonsignore has an opportunity to inch closer to another late series legend in Mike Stefanik, who holds the record for most Thompson wins with 15.Regardless of whether he is able to eclipse Stefanik’s total, Bonsignore’s triumph on Wednesday further cemented him as one of the greatest to ever race at Thompson alongside the many he idolized growing up.Following Silk in the finish order was the most recent Thompson winner in Eric Goodale, with Austin Beers and Craig Lutz completing the top five. Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Bobby Santos III, Patrick Emerling, Doug Coby, Anthony Sesely and Tyler Rypkema.

1    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    150    –
2    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    150    0.299
3    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    150    1.655
4    64    Austin Beers    Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors    150    2.05
5    82    Craig Lutz    Danny’s Cesspool Service    150    2.392
6    44    Bobby Santos III    Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market    150    2.85
7    07    Patrick Emerling    Bonesteel Aerospace    150    4.286
8    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    150    4.453
9    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction Inc.    150    5.332
10    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    150    5.97
11    6    Woody Pitkat    Koopman Lumbar    150    7.176
12    3    Jake Johnson*    Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks    150    7.544
13    26    Max Zachem    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    150    8.959
14    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    150    9.181
15    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    144    6 Laps
16    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feeds    130    20 Laps
17    46    Anthony Nocella    Riverhead Building Supply    112    38 Laps
18    24    Andrew Krause    Supreme Manufacturing Co.    90    60 Laps
19    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    90    60 Laps
20    60    Matt Hirschman    Elite Towing/Baker Racing    90    60 Laps
21    1    Eric Berndt    Ferguson Motorsports    90    60 Laps
22    21    Anthony Bello*    Bello Motorsports/SKM/JB Mgmt    48    102 Laps
23    89    Matt Swanson    Cervado Auto    3    147 Laps


Matt gets a $18,000 win at Waterford with ​win on Monoco Tri Track Series August 12

1    6    Matt Hirschman    Northampton, PA    #60
2    8    Bryan Narducci    Colchester, CT    #3
3    19    Michael Christopher JR    Wolcott, CT    #7NY
4    3    Kyle Bonsignore    Bay Shore, NY    #07
5    18    Richard Savary    Holbrook, MA    #99
6    5    Dana DiMatteo    Canton, CT    #76CT
7    16    Woody Pitkat    Bellingham, MA    #88
8    1    Joey Cipriano    Plymouth, CT    #51CT
9    4    Ronnie Williams    Lebanon, CT    #50
10    12    Ron Silk    Norwalk, CT    #16
11    7    Matt Swanson    Harvard, MA    #25
12    20    Chase Dowling    Bethlehem, CT    #9
13    13    Kirk Alexander    West Swanzey, NH    #76
14    27    David Arute    Stafford Springs, CT    #75
15    21    Keith Rocco    Berlin, CT    #13
16    2    Jake Johnson    Rehoboth, MA    #15MA
17    9    Teddy Hodgdon    Danbury, CT    #55CT
18    15    Andrew Molleur    Shelton, CT    #35
19    17    Cory DiMatteo    Farmington, CT    #11
20    10    Chris Pasteryak    Moosup, CT    #5CT
21    28    Eric Berndt    Cromwell, CT    #11CT
22    24    Joey Mucciacciaro    Wolcott, CT    #47
23    11    Jeff Rocco    Wallingford, CT    #10A
24    25    Anthony Flannery    East Hampton, CT    #25CT
25    30    Les Hinckley    Windsor Locks, CT    #06
26    22    Anthony Bello    Newtown, CT    #85
27    26    Mikey Flynn    Hampden, MA    #24MA
28    29    Rob Janovic Jr    Waterford, CT    #51
29    14    Sam Rameau    Westminster, MA    #50R
30    23    Ryan Doucette    Framingham, MA    #55​

Austin Beers fends off Matt Hirschman at Lancaster for second career Modified Tour victory at Lancaster Speedway August 5

By defeating Hirschman on Saturday evening, Beers continued a stellar sophomore campaign on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.  The son of former competitor Eric Beers, who won two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events between 2005-06, the younger Beers impressed many in the garage area by leading 102 of 150 laps from the pole at Richmond Raceway in March to score his maiden victory. Since then, Beers has tallied two more poles (Riverhead Raceway and Wall Stadium) with both races seeing him lead more than 50 laps apiece. A 17th in the first Riverhead event is Beers’ only finish outside the top 10 in a year that has seen him complete all but one lap. Beers carried that efficiency into his first Lancaster appearance on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. A time of 17.317 seconds in qualifying put him third on the starting grid behind Hirschman and three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore. After dispatching Bonsignore on the first green flag run of the evening, Beers took advantage of a long pit stop from Hirschman to slot into the lead. Hirschman methodically worked his way back through the field to chase down Beers but ran out of time to claim his third win on the season. A late caution for Anthony Sesely’s crash gave Hirschman one last chance to chase down Beers, but he saw his chances evaporate with every lap Beers led under green. “We were just making up for lost ground on the pit stop there,” Hirschman said. “To make a better race, we needed a caution. We just gave up a little bit more than I would have liked to have seen. With every lap, [Beers] was inching away and [the pass] would needed to have come on the restart. “I just didn’t get it done tonight.” The start of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 had the makings of another dominant Hirschman victory after he passed the pole-sitter in Bonsignore. Hirschman’s other two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins in 2023 saw him lead 323 of 325 possible laps. Although he was disappointed to come home second, Hirschman enjoyed the challenges provided by Lancaster’s unique layout. He hopes the speed and hard work shown on Saturday carries over into his next NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour appearance. “I enjoy coming to Lancaster,” Hirschman said. I’ve always said this place is made for Modifieds. With that [late] caution, we made a race out of it. I would have liked to come out on top, but we’ll have to try again next time.” With his victory, Beers joined Patrick Emerling as the only other driver to take home a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour checkered flag at Lancaster. Emerling’s triumph in the inaugural event came in 2021. Trying to fight off Hirschman to become the second Lancaster winner was far from an easy task for Beers. Although he was flawless on track during the final laps, Beers said the crucial turning point was his crew perfectly executing their lone pit stop to get him the lead, which he did not surrender for the rest of the evening.“This means a lot, especially with everything that has happened the last month,” Beers said. “Since we switched [tire] compounds, we’ve been struggling a little bit, but we’ve been trying to get back on track. This team did a hell of a job and had a hell of a pit stop. “They won me this race.” Beers still has plenty of ground to make up to get back in contention for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title, but his confidence is high as he looks to add to his win total over the final eight races of the year. Ron Silk maintained control of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead with a third-place run over Bonsignore in fourth. Chuck Hossfeld completed the top-five finishers. Tommy Catalano, Doug Coby, Bryan Narducci, Kyle Bonsignore and Kyle Ebersole rounded out the top 10.


1    64    Austin Beers    Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors    150    
2    60    Matt Hirschman    Pee Dee Motorsports    150    0.287
3    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    150    2.129
4    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    150    3.659
5    14    Chuck Hossfeld    Advantage Trucks/Anastasi Trucking    150    4.346
6    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprera    150    4.493
7    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    150    4.976
8    3    Bryan Narducci*    Florida Connection    150    6.681
9    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    150    7.923
10    5    Kyle Ebersole    Ebersole Excavating, Inc.    150    10.229
11    77    Max McLaughlin    Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast    149    1 Lap
12    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    148    2 Laps
13    46    Anthony Nocella    Riverhead Building Supply    146    4 Laps
14    9    Tommy Wanick*    Wanick Construction Inc.    144    6 Laps
15    26    Gary McDonald    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    142    8 Laps
16    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    134    16 Laps
17    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction Inc.    128    22 Laps
18    4    Tim Connolly*    Connolly Companies LLC    125    25 Laps
19    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    115    35 Laps
20    25    Mike Leaty    Northeast Industrial Technologies    112    38 Laps​


Matt and Team get a 11th place finish at Star  on July 22

1 12 15MA Johnson, Jake Rehoboth, MA 11
2 14 88 Pitkat, Woody Bellingham, MA 12
3 18 24 Patnode, Todd Swanzey, NH 15
4 6 1 Kopcik, Stephen Newtown, CT 2
5 24 25NH Robie, Brian Sunapee, NH 19
6 5 99 Savary, Richard Holbrook, MA -1
7 7 50 Williams, Ronnie Lebanon, CT 0
8 15 06 Hinckley, Les Windsor Locks, CT 7
9 11 04 Jarvis, Joey Windsor, VT 2
10 13 13 Beers, Austin Northampton, PA 3
11 2 60 Hirschman, Matt Northampton, PA -9
12 4 07 Bonsignore, Kyle Bay Shore, NY -8
13 21 76 Alexander, Kirk West Swanzey , NH 8
14 1 5CT Pasteryak, Chris Moosup, CT -13
15 16 9 Dowling, Chase Bethlehem, CT 1
16 25 02 Collins, Mike Strafford, NH 9
17 8 25 Swanson, Matt Harvard, MA -9
18 17 3 Narducci, Bryan Colchester, CT -1
19 3 50R Rameau, Sam Westminster, MA -16
20 22 24MA Flynn, Mikey Hampden, MA 2
21 23 55 Doucette, Ryan Framingham, MA 2
22 19 75 Arute, David Stafford Springs, CT -3
23 10 55CT Hodgdon, Teddy Danbury, CT -13
24 20 27 Robbie, Derek Bellingham, MA -4
25 9 76CT DiMatteo, Dana Canton, CT -16


Mahoning Valley Speedway loses feature to rains on July 15

(Lehighton, PA 7-15-23) Mahoning Valley Speedway made a valid attempt to present the Paul Koehler Sr., Modified Hall of Fame Tribute and was rolling along nicely until just after intermission when a rain and lightning storm swept over the area and put an abrupt end to the rest of the evening. All heats had been completed.  The only main event able to get in was the Pro 4 feature and in what has become commonplace Cody Kohler picked up his fifth straight win of the season and extended his division win streak to eight in a row dating back to last season.  And not only did he extend the wins in a row streak but also pushed his all-time class record to 47.  Back in action after a hiatus was past division champion Bobby Kibler Sr., who tailed Kohler to the checkers with Colton Breiner next in line.
All remaining features will be added into the upcoming dates as appropriately as possible.


Ron Silk bumps his way past Justin Bonsignore to win Jersey Shore 150 at Wall Stadium Speedway on July 8
By Adam Fenwick  - NASCAR.com

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Modifieds have front bumpers for a reason, and Ron Silk put his to good use Saturday night at Wall Stadium Speedway. The 40-year-old racing veteran used the chrome horn to move friend and rival Justin Bonsignore out of his way with fewer than five laps to go in the Jersey Shore 150 to earn his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory of the season.“I think we were all pretty much sliding around there at the end,” Silk said in Victory Lane after his 20th career Modified Tour victory. “It seemed like I had maybe a little bit better car than Justin, but he fought hard on the restart before that. Luckily I was able to get him back there at the end.” The day didn’t start off on the right foot for Silk, who qualified 11th in the 23-car field. That meant he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to race for the victory at the third-mile oval, but he was up to the task. Silk was in the top five before Lap 50 and took the lead for the first time on Lap 90 from pole-sitter Austin Beers. 
Six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby appeared to have a faster car than that of Silk and nearly got by him with 42 laps to go, but contact with the slower car of Anthony Nocella took Coby out of contention just as he was making the pass for the lead.With Coby out of the picture, it was down to Silk and Bonsignore, the latter of whom was making his 200th Modified Tour start. Bonsignore was able to get around Silk on a restart with 21 laps left, but the race was slowed multiple times by cautions, one of which took out Beers and Eric Goodale on the backstretch. The final caution of the evening waved with 10 laps left with Bonsignore still leading Silk, setting up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Bonsignore was able to pull clear of Silk through Turns 1-2, but Silk used his bumper to move Silk out of the way entering Turn 3 to regain the race lead. Silk led the remainder of the race, though Bonsignore did everything in his power to return the favor. He gave Silk a big shot to the bumper with three laps left in Turn 3, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead.“We were throwing haymakers at each other,” Bonsignore said. “It’s been like that all year. We’ve been really putting on a lot of good battles. Nobody has crashed; it’s about as aggressive as you can get without crashing each other.
“I used him up down in [Turn] 1, and I thought I got him maybe far enough back. He just lined my bumper up getting into [Turn] 3, and that was it. He just drove me up the hill, and I couldn’t get back to him.”Silk’s victory allows him to further pad his advantage at the top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings as he continues his pursuit of his second series championship.“It’s always good to be on a little bit of a win streak, and while you’re leading the points, it’s good,” Silk said. “It’s really early for points. We just want to keep trying to get some wins.”Eddie McCarthy earned a career-best finish in third, with Anthony Sesely and Andrew Krause completing the top five. Coby finished sixth, followed by Matt Hirschman, Blake Barney, Beers and Dave Sapienza.

1     Ron Silk
2     Justin Bonsignore
3     Eddie McCarthy
4     Anthony Sesely
5     Andrew Krause
6     Doug Coby
7     Matt Hirschman
8     Blake Barney
9     Austin Beers
10     Dave Sapienza
11     Kyle Bonsignore
12     Anthony Nocella
13     Ken Heagy
14     Tyler Rypkema
15     Tommy Wanick *
16     Melissa Fifield
17     Tom Martino, Jr. *
18     Jake Johnson *
19     J.B. Fortin
20     Max Zachem
21     Eric Goodale
22     Jimmy Blewett
23     Craig Lutz

Matt Battles back to a 2nd place finish at Open 100 July 1 at Star Speedway

1 Todd Patnode
2 Matt Hirschman 
3 Matt Swanson
4 Teddy Hodgdon
5 Ryan Doucette
6 Joey Jarvis
7 Kirk Alexander
8 Kevin Iannerelli
9 Jeff Battle
10 Dereck Robbie
11 Mike Collins
12 Terry Berry
13 Jake Johnson
14 Andrew Martell
15 Brian Robie
16 Devin O'Connel
17 Matt Kimball
18 Jake Perry
19 Donnie Lashua
20 Richard Savary
21 Mark Bakaj
22 Anthony Bello
23 Ed Bagot
24 Brad Zahensky
25 Max Zachem
​26 Gabe Brown
  




Matt grabs a 3rd place finish at Open Wheel Wednesday June 28 at Seekonk

1 8 25 Swanson, Matt Harvard, MA 
2 1 13 Beers, Austin Northampton, PA 
3 6 60 Hirschman, Matt Northampton, PA 
4 4 99 Savary, Richard Holbrook, MA 
5 9 10 Coby, Doug Marion, CT 
6 11 55 Doucette, Ryan Framingham, MA 
7 21 06 Hinckley, Les Windsor Locks, CT 
8 3 15MA Johnson, Jake Rehoboth, MA 
9 17 51 Cipriano, Joey Plymouth, CT
10 7 50R Rameau, Sam Westminster, MA 
11 13 75CT Pasteryak, Chris Moosup, CT
12 20 82 Murphy, Robert ROCHESTER, MA 
13 25 1 Wenzel, Nathan Granby, MA 
14 26 24MA Flynn, Mikey Hampden, MA 
15 19 02 LaPlante, Paul North Attleboro, MA 
16 24 2 L'Etoile, Frank Jr Wethersfield, CT 
17 16 88 Pitkat, Woody Bellingham, MA 
18 23 75 Arute, David Stafford Springs, CT 
19 22 3 Narducci, Bryan Colchester, CT 
20 15 47 Mucciacciaro, Joey Wolcott, CT 
21 14 50MA Medeiros, Carl Westport, MA 
22 2 07 Bonsignore, Kyle Bay Shore, NY 
23 5 16 Silk, Ron Norwalk, CT 
24 10 50 Williams, Ronnie Lebanon, CT 
25 18 76 Alexander, Kirk West Swanzey , NH
26 28 36RI Cooper, Michael Pawtucket, RI
DNS DNS 9 Dowling, Chase Bethlehem, CT 
DNS DNS 58 Zachem, Max Preston, CT 



After nearly two decades of trying, Ron Silk finally wins at Riverhead Raceway on June 24 - Matt brings it home in 16th

In nearly two decades of competition with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Riverhead Raceway, Ron Silk had never taken home a checkered flag from the Long Island quarter-mile. The current series points leader finally added that milestone to his resume Saturday evening with a dominant victory in the Miller Lite Salutes Mike Ewanitsko 200, which also served as his second victory of the 2023 season. Silk had come close to Victory Lane many times at Riverhead, including the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s most recent outing there in May, which is why he was relieved to put together a full race at a track that has meant so much to him during his career.“I felt like we had the car to beat [at Riverhead] last time, but I got beat on those last restarts” Silk said. “Luckily, we didn’t have to face that again and my guys brought a great car. This is Eddie Partridge’s track and obviously we all wish he was still around, so it’s really cool to [win here].”A staple of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for many years, Partridge balanced out being a team owner in the series with overseeing the day-to-day operations at Riverhead up until his sudden passing on Sept. 10, 2021. Silk drove for Partridge when he won his lone NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in 2011, making Saturday’s victory that much more special. Since last year, Silk has never finished a Riverhead race worse than third, but was not able to claim that elusive win until Saturday evening. Silk patiently bided his time behind polesitter Austin Beers before a mid-race restart provided him the perfect opportunity to take control and lead the entire second half of Saturday’s feature.The only driver who could keep pace with Silk was Justin Bonsignore, who wrestled the lead away from Silk in May to earn his 10th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Riverhead. A win on Saturday would have tied Bonsignore with his childhood hero Ewanitsko for most Tour victories at Riverhead with 11.A different tire compound and the nighttime conditions made it difficult for Bonsignore to fight his way through the field. He managed to get to Silk’s rear bumper, but gradually lost ground as the laps clicked off.“We were able to run a harder pace than we had in the past,” Bonsignore said. “I tried the bottom groove at around Lap 130 and I lost about six car-lengths. You’re just glued to the top, which is unfortunate. I would have loved to win with Mike [Ewanitsko] here tonight and I appreciate [Riverhead] for everything they did to honor Mike. He’s well deserving of it.”Bonsignore commended Silk and his team for the work they put in to make his silver No. 16 so efficient in both trips to Riverhead this season, adding that Silk would have won in May if not for a late caution.Bonsignore will have one more opportunity to match Ewanitsko’s win record at Riverhead this year in September, but he knows Silk will be the one to beat if he carries over the speed from the first two Riverhead events.
“Ron has been the best car here both times so far,” Bonsignore said. “We snuck away with one last time and even if there was a late caution, I don’t think I could have done anything with him. Maybe if we had track position, he might have had a tough time getting by us.”Silk enjoyed the chance to celebrate with Ewanitsko in Victory Lane, who he considers to be one of the best to ever make a lap around Riverhead.While Silk does not envision beating Ewanitsko’s Riverhead win record, he knows another championship is feasible with Haydt Yannone Racing and is confident he can further extend his advantage over Bonsignore during the summer.“I’m so lucky to have such great owners,” Silk said. “I also lucked out to have a great crew chief like Phil Moran. These guys spend a lot of time on these cars and we work on them a lot together, so it’s a lot of fun.”Doug Coby finished third in Saturday’s Miller Lite Salutes Mike Ewanitsko 200, where he was followed by Kyle Bonsignore and Riverhead regular Jack Handley Jr. Rounding out the top-10 were Roger Turbush, Tyler Rypkema, John Beatty Jr., Timmy Solomito and Beers.The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action on July 8 for the Jersey Shore 150 at Wall Stadium. The green flag will fly at 8 p.m. ET with FloRacing providing the coverage.

1    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    200    --
2    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    200    1.245
3    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    200    1.654
4    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    200    2.071
5    45    Jack Handley, Jr.*    Hydro-Action/Suffolk Precast    200    11.089
6    88    Roger Turbush    Rheem    200    11.381
7    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    200    11.752
8    5    John Beatty, Jr.    Elite Sound Studios, Inc.    200    12.477
9    66    Timmy Solomito    Natural Designs/USNE Power/Kennedy Realty    200    12.651
10    64    Austin Beers    AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors    200    12.957
11    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    199    1 Lap
12    34    J.B. Fortin    A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete    199    1 Lap
13    81    Mark Stewart*    Mike Smith/Cromers Market    199    1 Lap
14    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Ave Materials    199    1 Lap
15    60    Matt Hirschman    Pee Dee Motorsports    199    1 Lap
16    26    Max Zachem    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    199    1 Lap
17    49    Chris Young*    Sendlewski Architects    198    2 Laps
18    46    Justin Brown*    Riverhead Building Supply    197    3 Laps
19    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises    196    4 Laps
20    3    Bryan Narducci*    Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks    194    6 Laps
21    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    193    7 Laps
22    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    183    17 Laps
23    2    J.R. Bertuccio    Gershow Recycling    59    141 Laps

MATT HIRSCHMAN AND BLAKE BARNEY SPLIT EVERGREEN RACEWAY TOUR TYPE MODIFIED TWIN 25s on JUNE 18
BY DINO OBERTO

The Tour Type Modifieds headlined the Father’s Day action at Evergreen Raceway with twin 25’s and for the most part it was no surprise when Matt Hirschman scored the first feature. But for the second race a rarity took place when Hirschman was sidelined on an opening lap incident. Blake Barney, although being caught in the same melee, was able to continue and would not only do so but go on to win as well. In the first feature Earl Paules and defending track champion Roger Coss would share the front row and as the race began both would run a close one-two with Barney also in tow. The trio remained in that order while fifth row starters Brian DeFebo and Hirschman and made haste in working their way towards the lead group. On lap nine the only caution waved when Daren Scherer, who was running fourth, lost his air cleaner. After things got sorted out the front three of Paules, Coss and Barney picked up their battle but into fourth and fifth respectively were DeFebo and Hirschman. And, from there the man on the move would be Hirschman as be began picking off one after another. DeFebo was first, then it was Barney on lap 17 for third. The next time around the same fate befell to Coss but things didn’t go as quick when he was behind Paules. Paules was maintaining a good defensive line over Hirschman but the No. 60 was not going to lay down for sure. With five laps to go he would come off the second corner and begin to make his pass on Paules. By the time they reached the latter two turns he was planted well inside and took the lead for good as they completed the circuit and he was headed to his second straight Evergreen win from there. “We didn’t have a lot of time to fool around that’s for sure,” said Hirschman. “A few laps got wasted with the first caution but after that we just put it all together and from that point on there really wasn’t any time to spare and we all raced clean and here we are. We made a lot of good moves.” Paules held on for second with Coss, Barney and DeFebo rounding out the top five.

Hirschman pulled the number 12 pill for the invert for the second feature which put Tommy Flanagan and Tommy Catanzaro on the front row. However, the field just about made it to Turn 1 when suddenly they began to stack up and as many as eight cars where collected in the jumble. Of those where Hirschman who pitted but never returned due to front end damage. Barney was in the mix but was the first to drive away and would tag the back of the pack for the restart. As things got back underway Flanagan led the first few laps before Jacob Kerstetter took control on lap three. Barney had used the early tours to work into third and then second by lap four. He then stayed on the tail of Kerstetter and turning up the pressure he got his nose inside of the leader on the back straight during the fifth go-around. His race winning pass was then completed at the conclusion of the same lap and from then on he put his No. 14 into cruise control for his first Tour Type Modified win at Evergreen and second here since a Sport Mod victory in 2016. “That was more of an attrition race then anything with that big wreck on the start. I just tried to keep patient and let the guys come to me and they did,” said Barney. “I was giving my dad hell in the first race for the car but this was amazing in the second feature and to do this for him on Father’s Day means the world to me.” Aside from Barney’s win in 2016, the last time the No. 14 was a winning car at Evergreen in a Tour Type Modified came 30 years ago with Hall of Fame driver Tony Siscone behind the wheel for owner Dick Barney.

1st Modified feature finish (25 laps): 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Roger Coss, 4. Blake Barney, 5. Brian DeFebo, 6. Nick Baer, 7. Paul Hartwig Jr., 8. Joey Merlino, 9. Jacob Kerstetter, 10. Wayne Szerencsits, 11. Tommy Catanzaro, 12. Tommy Flanagan, 13. Darren Scherer

2nd Modified feature finish (25 laps): 1. Barney, 2. Hartwig Jr., 3. Coss, 4. DeFebo, 5. Baer, 6. Merlino, 7. Kerstetter, 8. Catanzaro, 9. Szerencsits, 10. Flanagan, 11. Paules, 12. Hirschman, 13. Scherer

Matt Hirschman dominates at Seekonk Speedway on June 10, becomes Whelen Modified Tour’s first multi-race winner of 2023 

SEEKONK, Mass. — Matt Hirschman sports his “Big Money” nickname in part because of the success he’s experienced racing Modifieds at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway. Yet entering the 2023 Seekonk 150, the 40-year-old had never won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in five such starts at the third-mile bullring.
That changed emphatically Saturday night. Hirschman led all 150 laps at Seekonk and left just five cars on the lead lap en route to the victory. Having also won the Granite State Derby at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway a couple weeks prior, Hirschman’s win at Seekonk made him the Modified Tour’s first multi-time victor this season. Hirschman earned the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award with the best lap in qualifying Saturday. He left no doubt in the main event, driving away from outside pole-sitter Austin Beers at the drop of the green flag and proceeding to lap, at one point, all but two cars. “Pretty dominant performance, doing it from the pole,” Hirschman said. “It’s not a pit-stop race, so as long as you have a car that’s going to handle and stay with you, you can keep it out front.“I believe this [race] was a big unknown for a lot of teams because of the [new] pavement and the characteristics of the track changed. I think I’m going to like it. This has always been a good track for me, not a great track. But now winning a Whelen Tour race here — we’ve kind of won it all here.”Six-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby was the only driver who could keep Hirschman in his sights Saturday, but even Coby finished more than a second behind the race winner.Ron Silk finished third behind Hirschman and Coby. Justin Bonsignore and Anthony Sesely rounded out the top five, the only five drivers who finished on the lead lap.J.B. Fortin, Jon McKennedy, Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore and Anthony Nocella completed the top 10.
Saturday’s Seekonk 150 featured three cautions, two of which were the products of Jake Johnson spins. The third and final caution of the race came when Nocella spun with just 16 laps remaining.

A replay of the Seekonk 150 will broadcast on CNBC on Sunday, June 18 starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modifed Tour will return to action on Saturday, June 24, for its second visit to New York’s Riverhead Raceway this season. The Miller Lite Salutes Mike Ewanitsko 200 will be shown live on FloRacing starting at 8 p.m. ET.

1    60    Matt Hirschman    Pee Dee Motorsports    150    –
2    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    150    1.262
3    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    150    1.765
4    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    150    2.347
5    19    Anthony Sesely*    Wanick Construction, Inc.    150    7.063
6    34    J.B. Fortin    A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete    149    1 Lap
7    79    Jon McKennedy    Middlesex Industries    149    1 Lap
8    64    Austin Beers    AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors    149    1 Lap
9    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    149    1 Lap
10    92    Anthony Nocella    Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas    149    1 Lap
11    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Ave Materials    148    2 Laps
12    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises    148    2 Laps
13    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    148    2 Laps
14    46    Justin Brown*    Riverhead Building Supply    148    2 Laps
15    25    Brian Robie*    Maurice Enterprises    148    2 Laps
16    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    147    3 Laps
17    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    144    6 Laps
18    26    Max Zachem    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    141    9 Laps
19    3    Jake Johnson*    Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks    114    36 Laps
20    6    Woody Pitkat    Koopman Lumbar    59    91 Laps


MATT HIRSCHMAN EARNS “MR. MODIFIED 75” VICTORY IN FIRST RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES VISIT TO LORAIN RACEWAY PARK ON JUNE 3 - AUSTIN BATTLES FOR 7th Place Finish

Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., scored his first victory in Race of Champions Modified Series competition this past Saturday night at Lorain Raceway Park in South Amherst, Ohio in the “Mr. Modified 75”, the Series first visit to the track. In Hirschman’s career, it was the 35th different track for him to record a win at and the 11th different state where he’s visited victory lane. Hirschman had to earn the victory after starting 8th and tracking down Jack Ely. Hirschman and Ely of Wall Township, N.J., battled for the top spot for many laps until Hirschman finally slipped by on a late race restart with less than 15 laps to go. “That was an exciting race for the fans,” offered Hirschman from victory lane, reflecting on his battle with Ely. “We had to work to get there. It is very competitive, as competitive as it’s ever been at the front and I didn’t know if we’d have a chance to get by Jack (Ely), he was running great. We had our chance and made it work. I need to thank all of my guys on this team and everyone for coming out tonight, this was a great day for many of us.”  Ely started 2nd and quickly jumped into the lead after the start out-dueling Zane Zeiner of Bath, Pa. Ely and Zeiner paced the field until after the lap 50 mark when Hirschman slipped past Zeiner into 2nd. A late race caution on lap 61 setup one last double-file restart which provided Hirschman the ability to restart outside Ely. The duo battled for a few laps before Hirschman cleared Ely for the top spot.Ely finished 2nd with Zeiner coming home 3rd after repairing the shifter during pace laps.Earl Paules of Palmerton, Pa., ran a steady race to finish 4th and Andy Jankowiak of Tonawanda, N.Y., recorded his top-five of the season.Ely, Hirschman and Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., won the qualifying races. Hirschman posted the fastest lap in green-white-checker qualifying.

1    8    60    Matt Hirschman     Northampton, PA    
2    2    81    Jack Ely    Northampton, PA    
3    4    76    Zane Zeiner    Bath, PA    
4    3    8P    Earl Paules    Palmertown, PA    
5    5    73    Andy Jankowiak    Tonawanda, NY    
6    1    54    Tommy Catalano    Ontario, NY    
7    12    9    Austin Beers    Northampton, PA    
8    6    55    Trevor Catalano    Ontario, NY    
9    11    99    Paulie Hartwig III Galloway,NJ    
10    14    17K    Danny Knoll Jr    Amherst, NY    
11    10    3    Daren Scherer    Binghamton, NY    
12    15    45    Timmy Catalano    Ontario, NY    
13    18    65NY    George Skora III Eden, NY
14    9    64    Tyler Catalano    Ontario, NY    
15    13    8F    Chris Finocchario Macedon, NY    
16    7    10    Daryl Lewis Jr    Ontario, NY    
17    19    0    Randall Richard            
18    17    88    Sean Verwys    East Stroudsburg, PA    
19    22    14    Dan Majchrzak    Perry, NY
20    16    72    T.J. Potrzebowski Elmira, NY    
21    20    57X    Bobby Hanel    Cheektowaga, NY    
22    21    17C    Roger Coss    Lafayette, NJ


Ronnie Williams Scores Thunder Road Win On May 28- Matt has early spin that ruins the day
 by Shawn Courchesne




Matt Hirschman wins hands down in Granite State Derby at Lee USA Speedway on May 27
A schedule conflict around last week’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 at Riverhead Raceway forced Matt Hirschman to miss his first race of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. But on Saturday in the Granite State Derby at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway, Hirschman quickly established himself as the lead horse in his return to the series. After passing pole-sitter Doug Coby on Lap 3, Hirschman easily pulled away from the field to score his sixth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win. One of the most accomplished Modified competitors of the past decade, Hirschman has endured struggles trying to find Victory Lane on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, which is why he was elated to have such an efficient performance at Lee USA.“We finally closed one,” Hirschman said. “These races are tough to win, and I feel like we should have had five or six of them in recent years. When the car was good enough to win, we either didn’t have a good pit stop, or maybe the driver wasn’t good enough to win.“We finally put it all together, and it was a complete performance right from the drop of the green.”Prior to Saturday evening, the 2023 season in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour had been inconsistent by Hirschman’s standards.After finishing inside the top five in all seven of his starts last year while also leading 384 total laps, the only lap Hirschman had led entering the Granite State Derby came at New Smyrna Speedway, which was also the site of his lone top-five finish in the first three races.Hirschman assembled a vintage performance Saturday by methodically conserving his equipment while simultaneously minding a healthy gap between him and second place. Yet he nearly received a late challenge in the form of defending Modified Tour champion Jon McKennedy. Lapped traffic briefly stalled Hirschman’s momentum and allowed McKennedy to erase the sizable gap he had accumulated over the field. Once Hirschman found clean air, there was nothing McKennedy could do to mount a successful charge toward the lead.
1    60    Matt Hirschman    Elite Towing/Baker Racing    175    –
2    79    Jon McKennedy    Middlesex Industries    175    1.12
3    64    Austin Beers    Hughes Motors/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric    175    6.669
4    6    Sam Rameau    Quality Fleet Services/Dennison Lubricants    175    6.826
5    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    175    8.129
6    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    175    9.754
7    3    Jake Johnson*    Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks    175    13.721
8    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Bonsignore Performance Tools/Chalew Performance    175    14.931
9    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    174    1 Lap
10    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprera    174    1 Lap
11    25    Brian Robie*    Maurice Enterprises    173    2 Laps
12    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Ave Materials    173    2 Laps
13    46    Justin Brown*    Riverhead Building Supply    173    2 Laps
14    34    J.B. Fortin    A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete    173    2 Laps
15    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    173    2 Laps
16    43    Matt Kimball*    Naughton & Sons Recycling/Chucky’s Fight    172    3 Laps
17    6    Woody Pitkat    Koopman Lumbar    172    3 Laps
18    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    172    3 Laps
19    26    Max Zachem    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    170    5 Laps
20    1    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    155    20 Laps
21    92    Anthony Nocella    Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas    76    99 Laps



Matt Hirschman scores second straight Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial 150 worth $7000 on May 21 at Mahoning Valley Speedway
By DINO OBERTO

(Lehighton, PA 5-21-23) The second Annual Modified Spring Zing “Tom Wanick Jr. Memorial 150” held Sunday afternoon at Mahoning Valley Speedway brought together a solid field of cars with an impressively solid field of competitors to boot, all of whom could have been able to take home the $7000 to prize. But despite the level of talent, none could match up to the one driver who has made winning the high stakes affairs his calling card as Matt Hirschman of Northampton turned it into a race for second after he won for the second time in the event. Hirschman took the lead for good on lap 105 and from there made it his to lose by keeping all of his opponents at bay. Even though there would be several cautions that kept the field close over the final 40 laps, there was no denying the superiority of Hirschman who was perfect on each restart and then stayed just enough ahead of the rest to secure the win.
Even on a pair of restarts with two laps remaining and Anthony Sesely lined up next to him, it was still Hirschman in control. Matter of fact Sesely wound up battling with Zane Zeiner on the final lap and gave up the runner-up spot at the line. “It was a stout performance. We were here in April for the RoC opener and we were no good and that doesn’t really happen often especially close to home and I feel we’ve had as many hits as we’ve had misses this year,” said Hirschman. “We got wins but we also got, at least by my standards, some poor performances so it’s good to get a big win and close to home.”At the outset Bobby Jones grabbed the early lead and kept it until lap 11 when Don Wagner took over. Wagner’s stay out front would be short lived as Andrew Krause, who was making his first start at Mahoning since 2014, made an impressive charge to the front and soon after had fellow Garden State racers Blake Barney and Jimmy Blewett in tow while Hirschman and Austin Kochenash ran fourth and fifth respectively. Blewett and Hirschman had taken over second and third after 25 laps while keeping a close check on Krause. As Krause remained fixed on the race lead Blewett and Hirschman raced hard against each other for the runner-up slot and on lap 37 it would go to the No. 60. Once in second Hirschman began to put all of his home track experience to work on Krause but the No. 24NJ stayed the course nicely. Then on a lap 47 restart Hirschman worked the top line to get around Krause and assume the lead for the first time. Now in third was Kochenash and he would then begin applying pressure over the next 20 tours and his persistency finally paid off, moving into the tire tracks of Hirschman. By this point Zeiner was catching the eye of e veryone as the 17th place starter was vying for third, which he got on lap 66 and three laps later used a lap 71 restart to motor to second. Right after that, however, Zeiner would begin a rollercoaster ride of bouncing in and out of the pits and would not become a factor again until late in the going.With 88 laps complete a caution waved when Cody Kohler and Nick Baer got together. Under the yellow several cars used that time to make pit stops including Hirschman, Krause and Blewett who all gave up there top five spots. After cycling through pit stops Kochenash and Blake Barney, who stayed out, ran one-two with Earl Paules, Stephen Kopcik and Brian DeFebo in the top five. When the action resumed Barney was all over Kochenash and eventually would take over the lead, but it was not to be as officials called him out for passing to far below the inside line and made him give the spot back. As he did there was a jumble that suddenly occurred and several cars near the front went scattering. There was now 50 laps to go and after sorting things out Kochenash was back in front over Hirschman. And in a span on the next five laps Hirschman simply bided his time while using the outside lane and took back the lead for good. And as he never wavered from then on second place remained hotly contested. Krause and Kochenash would go side-by-side for several laps. Then it was Barney going after Krause after Kochenash made his intended pit stop. And once again a heated battle ensued for second and not only was it between Barney and Krause but Blewett, Sesely and Zeiner were part of the action as well. As the laps were winding down Sesely showed the best strength and powered his way to second followed by Zeiner. Although there would be several cautions that pulled the field together, it was no problem for Hirschman as he had the upper hand on Sesely each time. When the white flag waved Hirschman had a car length lead that he held to the checkers. “This is great to get a big win close to home and they won’t have a bigger race then this. I appreciate having Harry’s-U-Pull-It, a local sponsor that supports us and we have this obligation to fulfill with them being close to home and all of our sponsors and my team who gives a great effort just like they always do,” said Hirschman. “We were on our game today and as I said it was a really good performance. I do totally disagree with the new rule with the line they put down and that got me early in the race and it also caused a wreck on the back stretch,” he continued. “I don’t like to complain because we need these race tracks and I like to support them but I do disagree with that rule. It kind of forced my hand in pitting when we did because late in the race that’s when you make moves and make passes off the corner and you have to finish them in the corner without driving into the guy next to you. I’d rather run the apron then drive over someone and put my right front in their window. Today it all worked out.” Sesely meanwhile went toe-to-toe with Zeiner and was passed at the line for the position. For Zeiner, he passed the most cars throughout the day but at the end never had the shot he would have liked to challenge Hirschman. “It seems like I’m Mr. Second this year because every race I’ve been in thus far that was the result but a win is coming and we just have to keep digging and everything will work out,” said Zeiner. “We put tires on and kind of made a mistake and came in and readjusted the car and was able to bring it back to second.” Third place finisher Sesely had many feeling with the late race restarts that he was the person with the best chance to unseat Hirschman but it was to no avail and not only that but then came the last lap duel with Zeiner. “Let’s be honest it’s tough to beat him (Hirschman). It was the first time out with this car and it was an excellent run for us and for the Wanick family and to finish on the podium were I don’t race here fulltime anymore, I’m happy with that,” said Sesely, who drives for owner Tom Wanick III. “Zane (Zeiner) was just a little better than me at the end and the best car finished first.”

Modified feature finish (150 laps): 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Zane Zeiner, 3. Anthony Sesely, 4. Brian DeFebo, 5. Earl Paules, 6. Don Wagner, 7. Stephen Kopcik, 8. Nick Baer, 9. Blake Barney, 10. Paulie Hartwig III, 11. Jacob Kerstetter, 12. Cody Kohler, 13. Andrew Krause, 14. Rod Snyder Jr., 15. Johnny Bennett, 16. Bobby Jones, 17. Kyle Strohl, 18. Terry Markovic, 19. Chris Risdale, 20. Lou Strohl, 21. Nevin George, 22. Jaden Brown DNQ: Carsten DiGiantomasso, Tommy Rought, Vinny Morone DQ: Austin Kochenash, Jimmy Blewett



Cashing In: Ron Silk Earns Whopping Payday For Winning NAPA Spring Sizzler 100 At Stafford - Matt Gets hard fought 4th
May 13, 2023 by Shawn Courchesne 
Spring Sizzler
Finish    Name    Car Number    Start        
1    Ronnie Silk    16    2        
2    Woody Pitkat    88    3        
3    Doug Coby    7ny    12        
4    Matt Hirschman    60    1        
5    Eric Goodale    58    103        
6    Jon McKennedy    79    28        
7    Anthony Bello    179    9        
8    Noah Korner    31    7        
9    Stephen Kopcik    1    6        
10    Christopher, Jr    17    16        
11    Andrew Krause    24nj    4        
12    Chase Dowling    9ct    32        
13    Ronnie Williams    50    31        
14    Chris Pasteryak    75ct    20        
15    Glen Reen    10a    19        
16    Teddy Hodgdon    55ct    26        
17    Matt Swanson    25    21        
18    Nick Anglace    10    23        
19    Spencer Davis    29ga    30        
20    Ryan Doucette    55    11        
21    David Arute    75    27        
22    Matt Galko    3    8        
23    Max McLaughlin    77    25        
24    Bryan Narducci    3ma    13        
25    Buddy Charette    28    15        
26    Ed Flemke, Jr.    11    29        
27    Jimmy Blewett    02    17        
28    Bobby Santos    44ma    18        
29    Marcello Rufrano    48    5        
30    Jake Johnson    15ma    22        
31    Austin Bessette    33ct    24


Starting Defense: Matt Hirschman Wins First NAPA Spring Sizzler Duel At Stafford
 May 12, 2023 by Shawn Courchesne



Matt Hirschman opens Evergreen Raceway season with 50-lap Tour Type Modified win 
By DINO OBERTO

(Butler Township, Pa. 5-7-23) Evergreen Raceway got its 2023 season underway on Sunday afternoon with a full slate of racing, a full pit area of race cars and it was also a return to victory for a driver who is known for doing so on a regular basis but had been going through a rough patch of late.Matt Hirschman of Northampton, started out the year like gangbusters with a successful stint at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in February and then followed up with a victory at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, SC at the SMART Tour opener on March 4 but his next four starts did not fare in typical Hirschman fashion as he was shutout from Victory Lane.But a trip back to where it all began, Evergreen Raceway, was just what the doctor ordered as he parlayed his outside front row starting spot with a return to his winning ways as he cruised out front for all 50 laps and earned his 50th career Tour Type Modified win here.“This is my home track and where I started my career and hopefully a home win here helps propel us to get back on track and get some more wins,” said Hirschman, who collected $2000 for his afternoon efforts.“We’ve been on a little bit of a dry spell, a little slump and it’s been two months since we won a race and we’ve had some disappointments in-between there so it’s really good to come back home here for Opening Day and to see a full pit area for all the classes and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season here and it’s nice to see a local track do well.”Heat finishers dictated the starting grid of the 50-lapper which gave Eddie McCarthy and Hirschman the front row with Brian DeFebo and Earl Paules lined up behind them. When the race got underway there left little doubt as to who had the upper hand as Hirschman out-jumped McCarthy for the lead and was never headed from there on. While Hirschman would continue to show the way McCarthy was doing a great job of holding second spot over DeFebo. However late into the event he began to fall off the pace, making things quite interesting for the runner-up spot.“The 20 (McCarthy) was running really well and I think his handling was probably falling off some because he couldn’t maintain his position there late,” said Hirschman. DeFebo was now runner-up but in heavy company with, Roger Coss, Blake Barney, Jimmy Blewett and 19th place starter Austin Beers. All ran extremely close while Hirschman was able to keep a safe distance from them.“We were able to get a gap and I was about o navigate some lapped traffic if needed and didn’t have to thanks to the way the cautions fell,” said Hirschman.  In the final few laps there was no denying Hirschman’s dominance on this day, even despite a caution with three laps to go. However, it was a thrilling battle for second as Barney and Blewett went at it back and forth with the No. 14 getting the spot as the took the checkers.“It was a great run and starting where we did and getting up to second I was really happy with that. At the beginning I got by a couple cars and then I kind of conserved a little bit and the cautions also fell the right way so I could get on the inside for restarts,” said Barney.“I did get past Blewett at one point and then I let him get back by. He then made the whole a little bit bigger and bigger for me to get in and I had a good car near the end.”Joey Merlino ran smooth and steady all race long and notched fourth while Beers settled for fifth.For Barney he admitted that trying to catch and pass Hirschman was tough on this day.“It’s difficult especially when you start straight up and he got to start on the outside pole and I was in his heat and its difficult in any circumstance when he’s at the race track and when you give him a good starting spot it’s damn near impossible I feel like at times and I got to work harder next time.”

Modified feature finish (50 laps): 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Blake Barney, 3. Jimmy Blewett, 4. Joey Merlino, 5. Austin Beers, 6. Brian DeFebo, 7. Bobby Jones, 8. Roger Coss, 9. Jacob Kerstetter, 10. Eddie McCarthy, 11. James Pritchard Jr., 12. Nick Baer, 13. Kurt Vigent, 14. Daren Scherer, 15. Earl Paules, 16. Brian Sones, 17. Don Wagner, 18. Randall Richard, 19. Chris Risdale, 20. Lou Strohl


Bullish Bounce Back: Doug Coby Scores Whelen Mod Tour Duel At The Dog 200 Victory At MonadnockMay 6, 2023 by Shawn Courchesne

1    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    200
2    79    Jon McKennedy    Middlesex Interiors    200
3    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes    200
4    64    Austin Beers    Dell Elect/Lumierre Elect/Andrew James Interior    200
5    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    200
6    06    Sam Rameau    Quality Fleet Services/Dennison Lubricants    200
7    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    200
8    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chateau Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto    200
9    60    Matt Hirschman    Pee Dee Motorsports    200
10    07    Patrick Emerling    Bonesteel Automotive    200
11    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Drilling/MUSCO Lighting    200
12    34    J.B. Fortin    A&R Materials/John’s Fuel Oil/Rapid Recovery    200
13    25    Brian Roble *    Maurice Enterprises    200
14    3    Jake Johnson *    Propane Plus/Lins Propane Trucks    200
15    6    Woody Pitkat    Koopman Lumber    199
16    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Ave Materials    199
17    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprara/Catalano Motorsports    199
18    46    Justin Brown *    Riverhead Building Supply    199
19    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood and Restaurant    198
20    43    Matt Kimball *    J&M Towing/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt/Post & Beam    197
21    5    Kyle Ebersole    Ebersole Excavating Inc.    197
22    24    Andrew Krause    Supreme Manufacturing    197
23    26    Gary McDonald    Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric    193
24    4    Tim Connelly *    Connelly Companies LLC    187
25    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction Inc.    142
26    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    121
27    92    Anthony Nocella    Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas    94
28    47    Jacob Perry *    Jacks Competition Engine/Rick Rak    20
29    1    Cory Plummer *    Apex Racing/Gene’s Auto Service    11
30    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprise/Eastport Feeds    4



Jack Ely bags $4000 Race of Champions Series 75-lapper at Mahoning Valley Speedway season opener, April 8 -
Matt has incident mid race receivers to finish 8th
By DINO OBERTO

Jack Ely of Wall, NJ made an inside pass on Zane Zeiner for the lead during a lap 57 restart and once there was able to remain in control en route to the Opening Night win at Mahoning Valley Speedway in the 75-lap Spring Meltdown for the Race of Champions (RoC) Modified Series. It was Ely’s first win on the RoC and first at Mahoning since September of 2017. “It’s absolutely amazing and we’ve been running on this Tour for five years now and to pick up my first win at this race track is something special to me. This is where I cut my teeth and where I started my full size stock car career and to have the Race of Champions come here and be able to park it in Victory Lane it’s nothing short of amazing,” relayed a very happy Ely after his $4000 win.“This is our first time here with this car so coming into the day I knew we were going to be close but I didn’t think it was going to be that good for the feature and overall I’m so happy for this entire team and I can’t thank them enough and I also want to thank Joe Skotnicki and the entire Race of Champions family for coming back to this race track and putting on a great Series for us to race in.”When the action began Zeiner jumped out front over Daren Scherer, Roger Coss, Austin Kochenash and Lou Strohl. Strohl, who has a record four Opening Night wins at Mahoning, soon began a charge to the front as by lap 10 he worked into second and in that offensive drive brought Ely with him.It was then a torrid three car battle that ensued as Zeiner had plenty to deal with against the latter two. Strohl then flexed his muscle even more when he powered his way to the outside of Zeiner on lap 20 and three laps later took over as the leader. And while that was taking place Austin Kochenash came into the hunt grabbing third spot from Ely.With the race moving along at a steady pace Strohl continued to lead although Zeiner and Kochenash stayed very close and likewise with Ely and Scherer hovering.There then came a thrilling moment on lap 43 when Strohl got slightly loose on the back straight and saw Zeiner and Ely go three wide for the lead. The heart stopping moment played out with Zeiner getting back the lead and Ely falling into second.From there Ely was persistently putting the pressure on Zeiner. Time and again as the laps clicked of Ely tried to get by and the successful opportunity finally presented itself on the lap 57 restart.“Lou (Strohl) got real loose and that opened the door for that three wide move. And then I knew we were better than Zane and I just didn’t have quite enough drive to make the move work but on that restart he just slipped up enough in turn two that I was able to get my nose in there and I wasn’t giving it up after that,” said Ely.When Ely got the lead he clearly showed that his car was performing at its peak as he was able to pull away from Zeiner and the rest of the pack, crossing the finish line by a solid two car lengths. Zeiner would hold onto second as in the waning laps Kochenash was making numerous attempts to take the spot from him.“We just struggled a bit after the restarts and I don’t know if the right front (tire) went away on us and got super tight and it’s a shame because we worked real hard to get this car out here and we haven’t raced it since 2017 but we’ll take it. It was a nice hard fought second place and congrats to Jack (Ely) on his win, he deserves it and was a better car then us tonight,” said Zeiner.
Kochenash was indeed dialed in over the second half of the race as he was in constant sight of the leaders and his third place tally was well-earned. Likewise with Strohl who was a strong runner all race long and settled for fourth. Rounding out the top five was Blake Barney.Earl Paules, Scherer, Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers and Brian DeFebo completed the top five in the 26 car field. Timmy Catalano, Hirschman, Ely and Beers annexed heat wins.

Modified Feature Finish (75 laps): 1. Jack Ely, 2. Zane Zeiner, 3. Austin Kochenash, 4. Lou Strohl, 5. Blake Barney, 6. Earl Paules, 7. Daren Scherer, 8. Matt Hirschman, 9. Austin Beers, 10. Brian DeFebo, 11. Jacob Kerstetter, 12. Paulie Hartwig III, 13. Rod Snyder Jr., 14. Roger Coss, 15. TJ Potrzebowski, 16. Tyler Catalano, 17. Andrew Lewis Jr., 18. Timmy Catalano, 19. Don Wagner, 20. Frank Parastino, 21. James Pritchard Jr., 22. Danny Knoll Jr., 23. Andy Jankowiak, 24. Kyle Strohl, 25. Sean Verwys, 26. Nick Baer


Virginia Weekend Recap - April 1 - Richmond and South Boston
Well, the racin' gods giveth....and the racin' gods taketh away...Matt raced at Richmond, VA NASCAR Whelen race on Saturday afternoon after a rainout on Friday. He and some of the crew made the two hour voyage over to South Boston Speedway for the SMART Tour race afterwards. . Because we missed practice and qualifying due to the NASCAR conflict, Matt started shotgun on the field in the 100 lap event. Slowly worked his way through the field and was in position to challenge for the win with just a few laps to go. Running second and pressuring for the top spot, the fuel pump on the PeeDee 60 decided it was time for a vacation. The engine unexpectedly quit running and Matt dove to the apron to get out of the way. Unfortunately, he got run over on the apron by someone who followed him low. Minor damage to car. Fuel pump has already been changed and car is running. First DNF in quite awhile...this sport can humble You but we will roll up our sleeves and get back to it soon....Stay Tuned!

April 1 - South Boston Speedway - 15th
 Brian Loftin sped past defending series champion Caleb Heady with 31 laps to go and held off Tom Buzze by 1.3 seconds to win Saturday night’s Flying VA Classic 99-lap race for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic at South Boston Speedway.  The race was the feature event of the URW Credit Union Fools Rush 262 racing program. “Every win at my age is a big win,” said Loftin, 50, a two-time winner last season. “Every year you start out on zero, and you have to start getting some wins. To get a win this early in the season, especially with the way we struggled the first two races of the season is big. We had a good car both races, but it just didn’t pan out.” On this night, it did. Track position proved to be key in Loftin’s win. “I knew we had a really good racecar,” the Lexington, North Carolina resident pointed out. “We just didn’t qualify very well. I knew my car was really good if I could get out front. I knew it was going to be tough to pass, and we had a car that could win the race.” Loftin started 16th in the 27-car field, pitted for a fresh right rear tire on lap 30 during the event’s stage break, and began his climb to the front. It took only four laps after the pit stop for Loftin to work his way into the top five. By lap 54, he was up to third place, and at lap 65 he was up to second place. He surged in front of Heady on lap 69 right after a restart following a caution period and never relinquished the lead. Buzze, from Statesville, North Carolina, worked his way up to second place with nine laps to go, but was unable to run down Loftin at the end. “I had a great car,” Buzze remarked. “I messed up in the race and got into the fence and had to pit early. My guys got the car fixed and we came back. To run second is almost like a win. It’s pretty special.” Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, North Carolina finished third, about a tenth of a second behind Buzze, with Jonathan Cash of Oxford, North Carolina finishing fourth and Joey Coulter of Mooresville, North Carolina rounding out the top five finishers. Brandon Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Michael Ritch of High Point, North Carolina, Jeremy Gerstner of Wesley Chapel, Florida, Tim Brown of King, North Carolina and Jason Myers of Walnut Cove, North Carolina rounded out the top 10 finishers. There were five lead changes among six drivers with Loftin leading the final 31 circuits. Gerstner led 29 laps. Heady led 24 laps, Ward led the first eight laps of the race, Cash led four laps, and Myers led three laps. The race was slowed by six caution periods. Saturday night’s Flying VA Classic was a tribute to the late Ray Hendrick who is recognized a s legend in Modified racing. Hendrick won hundreds of Modified races during his illustrious career that included five South Boston Speedway NASCAR track championships. His son, Roy Hendrick, South Boston Speedway’s first NASCAR Late Model Stock car Division track champion, drove his late father’s racecar during pre-race parade laps and joined with Loftin in victory lap after the race. He also presented Loftin a small-scale replica of his late father’s racecar in Victory Lane.

SMART Modified Tour Race (99 Laps): 

1. 15-Brian Loftin[16]; 2. 5-Tom Buzze[10]; 3. 1-Burt Myers[5]; 4. 39V-JONATHAN CASH[6]; 5. 02-Joey Coulter[11]; 6. 2-Brandon Ward[7]; 7. 11-Michael Ritch[18]; 8. 55-Jeremy Gerstner[2]; 9. 25-Tim Brown[13]; 10. 4-Jason Myers[9]; 11. 14-Bobby Measmer Jr[3]; 12. 7NY-Caleb Heady[1]; 13. 18D-Daniel Yates[22]; 14. 23-Carson Loftin[4]; 15. 60-Matt Hirschman[26]; 16. 07VA-Dennis Holdren[8]; 17. 01-Brian Webber[25]; 18. 8NY-Wes Gilbert[23]; 19. 8-Chris Finocchario[20]; 20. 21-Jimmy Wallace[15]; 21. 18-Bobby Labonte[27]; 22. 48-Johnny Kay[12]; 23. 45-Gary Young Jr[17]; 24. 24-Jonathan Brown[14]; 25. 07N-Riley Neal[21]; 26. 22-Jason Tutterow[24]; 27. 79-Zach Brewer[19]

April 1 - Richmond Raceway - 18th

Despite Austin Beers’ best efforts to sweep Friday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action at Richmond Raceway, rain forced the postponement of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 to Saturday. This after Beers set the best lap in practice and earned his first Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award.The only traces of moisture to be found at Richmond on a sunny Saturday evening were the tears flowing in Victory Lane after Beers scored his first Whelen Modified Tour victory.  Beers, a 20-year-old from Northampton, Pennsylvania, joined his father Eric as a Modified Tour winner. And he did so exactly 14 years to the day after the passing of his grandfather Dale. “My dad just kind of stepped aside from our family car,” Austin Beers said. “That kind of propelled me to get this ride with [car owner] Mike Murphy. Without that — him kind of giving up his career — I would not be here today at all. I would still be racing at my local short track. I can’t thank him enough for that.  “My grandfather; I would not be racing without him. He started this in my family, so to win on this day is pretty special.”Beers described his Richmond car as “unreal.” That was evident based on the results of the weekend.On Beers’ 29th lap of Friday’s practice, he set the fastest time of the session. And for the driver who entered the Richmond race with one top-five finish in his Modified Tour career, a third-place run at Langley Speedway last August, this speed wasn’t an anomaly. He proceeded to earn the pole with a 127.137 mph lap. As for Saturday’s race, Beers found himself leading six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby in the waning moments. A late caution could have spelled doom for Beers, but instead, a keen adjustment to tighten up his Modified allowed him to drive away from Coby and the rest of the field over the final stretch of laps. “I got a little nervous there in the middle of the run; Doug was really good,” Beers said. “But we made that last adjustment, and it was perfect.” After some shuffling behind Beers in the last few laps Saturday, J.B. Fortin finished second, and new career-best and his second top-five finish in Modified Tour competition. Max McLaughlin, who entered the Modified Tour race at Richmond driving for Mike Curb, finished third. He and fourth-place finisher Justin Bonsignore, the defending Richmond Modified race winner, exchanged some heated words on pit road after the event over how the finish played out. Patrick Emerling, who finished 29th in the Xfinity Series race that took place prior to Saturday’s Modified Tour event, rounded out the top five. NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte finished sixth in his first Modified Tour start at the 0.75-mile oval. Ron Silk, Bryan Narducci, Jon McKennedy and Eric Goodale completed the top 10.
A replay of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond will air on CNBC on Saturday, April 8 starting at 3 p.m. ET.

Pos    No.    Name    Sponsor    Laps    Diff.
1    64    Austin Beers    Hughes Motors/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric    150    --
2    34    J.B. Fortin    A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete    150    4.048
3    77    Max McLaughlin    Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast    150    4.178
4    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    150    4.191
5    07    Patrick Emerling    Captain Pips Marina & Hideway    150    4.369
6    38    Bobby Labonte    Pace-O-Matic/Cook Out/Units/Coca-Cola    150    5.507
7    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    150    6.998
8    3    Bryan Narducci*    Florida Connection/USNE    150    7.928
9    79    Jon McKennedy    Middlesex Industries    150    8.51
10    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    150    8.849
11    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance, MTT, Munn’s Auto    150    9.618
12    5    Kyle Ebersole    Ebersole Excavating Inc.    150    11.12
13    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    150    11.694
14    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises    150    11.881
15    46    Justin Brown*    Riverhead Building Supply    150    12.115
16    24    Andrew Krause    Supreme Manufacturing Company    150    14.179
17    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One    150    14.33
18    60    Matt Hirschman    Elite Towing/Baker Racing    150    20.198
19    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    149    1 Lap
20    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    144    6 Laps
21    17    Cory Dimatteo*    Xtreme Racing    112    38 Laps
22    26    Gary McDonald    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    98    52 Laps
23    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprera    73    77 Laps
24    78    Walter Sutcliffe    Last Minute Racing    68    82 Laps
25    4    Tim Connolly*    Connolly Companies, LLC    54    96 Laps
26    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction, Inc.    37    113 Laps
27    20    Edward McCarthy, Jr.    McCarthy’s Marine Sales    16    134 Laps
28    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Ave Materials    0    150 Laps

Saturday, March 4 - Florence Motor Speedway - WIN
Big Money does it again!
Matt Hirschman Racing takes home the first SMARTY Trophy of the season in the Low Country 99 at Florence Motor Speedway!
2022 Series Champion Caleb Heady finished second while Burt Myers rounded out the podium. Brandon Ward and Jonathan Brown completed the top 5!
​


Friday, February 17 - New Smyrna Speedway - Rained out -
Set Fast Time - Named Winner and Champions

Friday’s portion of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway has been canceled due to inclement weather.
Following the conclusion of the Hart to Heart Pro Late Model 100, rain brought an end to the evening’s racing. All of the remaining features on Friday’s card have been canceled and will not be made up Saturday. For the Tour-type Modifieds, their World Series was scheduled to end on Friday with the Richie Evans Memorial. All drivers will be paid in full and receive full points for Friday’s race, based on their results in Friday’s qualifying session. As such, Matt Hirschman is the 2023 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Tour-type Modified champion after an undefeated season in the class. 
Matt Hirschman's World Series Undefeated World Series Leads to Fourth Title  Matt Hirschman trails only Ted Christopher and Richie Evans for World Series Modified championships.


Matt Hirschman’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing winning streak will continue until 2024.

Officially, Matt Hirschman received first-place points and prize money for the Richie Evans Memorial on Friday night at New Smyrna Speedway, by virtue of setting fast time in qualifying for the race before rain canceled it. “Well, I guess we have a shot to continue the streak, actually,” said Hirschman.No matter how it happened, Matt Hirschman won every race during the World Series, a feat that had never been accomplished before in the Tour-type Modifieds.Hirschman surpassed Tom Baldwin on the all-time win list for Modified drivers in the event and tied Baldwin with his fourth World Series title. Only Ted Christopher (nine) and Richie Evans (six) have more championships.“Any time you can put your name with guys like that, you’re doing something right,” said Hirschman. “Reggie, Richie, after that, when I started coming here, it was T.C., he was the man coming here. Now, we’re in that position and we’ve earned that, I believe. It’s come with a lot of hard work.“The majority of that success in the World Series has come since 2017 when Hirschman joined forces with Pee Dee Motorsports. Hirschman has won at least one World Series race every year during that span, and hasn't lost since a second-place finish to Ron Silk during the second Modified race of the 2022 World Series.Hirschman is making it look easy right now, but it hasn't always been this way.“There were some lean years, some winless years. Doing this consistently seven straight years with this Pee Dee team is the reason for this success. This is one of the hardest things in racing I’ve done, competing night after night, the grind that it is. Doing it seven years consecutively, you learn. We’ve applied that very well.”  Looking to complete a sweep of the Tour-type Modified division at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, Matt Hirschman set fast time in qualifying for the Richie Evans Memorial.Hirschman clocked in at 17.545 seconds around the half-mile, placing ahead of Tyler Rypkema and Ronnie Williams. Hirschman has won the first four races of the World Series for the Tour-type Modifieds, and hopes to become the first driver in World Series history to sweep the Tour-type Modified division.

TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS

Matt Hirschman – 17.545
Tyler Rypkema – 17.676
Ronnie Williams – 17.681
Tommy Catalano – 17.742
Patrick Emerling – 17.742
Anthony Nocella – 17.748
Caleb Heady – 17.758
Eric Goodale – 17.762
Dillon Steuer – 17.777
Teddy Hodgdon – 17.780
Anthony Bello – 17.782
Craig Lutz – 17.793
Michael Rutkoski – 17.797
Cam McDermott – 17.822
J.R. Bertuccio – 17.831
Justin Brown – 17.861
Amy Catalano – 17.875
Spencer Davis – 17.877
Brett Meservey – 17.883
Tyler Catalano – 17.907
Brian Robie – 17.921
Dave Sapienza – 17.946
Eddie McCarthy – 17.972
Jimmy Blewett – 18.034
Andrew Krause – 18.038
Chris Hatton – 18.422
Norman Newman – 18.893
Rich Parker – 19.314
Joey Coulter – 20.940



Thursday, February 16 - New Smyrna Speedway - Win

Hirschman, Emerling Clash on World Series Thursday Night
Matt Hirschman continued his undefeated run at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.

Matt Hirschman added another win to his collection at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Thursday night at New Smyrna Speedwya, but it did not come without a tense moment. For the fourth night in a row, Hirschman held off Patrick Emerling for the win. However, the two drivers made contact on a late restart, extending tensions that have simmered over the course of the week and surfaced on Wednesday. During Wednesday’s race, the two drivers made contact on a restart, which appeared to knock Hirschman out of the lead. However, an unrelated spin brought the caution back out, giving Hirschman a chance to retain the lead and the win. A similar circumstance played out Thursday night, with the first restart waved off by race officials and the duo once again making contact on the second attempt, putting Emerling in the wall on the frontstrech. “I obviously couldn’t trust him after last night to take the top like you normally would,” said Hirschman on the FloRacing broadcast. “I took the bottom and he was into my side the whole way down the straightaway, so I couldn’t even turn my car to the left until I got to the corner.“I don’t want to race that way, but we as a team don’t even know what he’s talking about last night, that he owed me that and more. He wasn’t even turning his wheel left in the middle of the corner. I ended up in Pat’s Clam Stand last night, so it wasn’t happening tonight.”As for Emerling, he believed he was squeezed into the wall by Hirschman on the decisive restart.
“We were just racing hard. He turned right on me at the end of the straightaway. We’re both doing what we can to win races here. We’ve been having an awesome race car, and every night we make adjustments and make the car a little bit better.” One night ago, Emerling mentioned he still owed Hirschman for past transgressions. The New York driver elaborated on Thursday after Hirschman’s post-race comments. “I would say Spencer Speedway. He knows that. I don’t know if his memory is that short. I don’t know if he has memory problems. There’s a few little things there. You have a car two-tenths faster than me and drive into you on the straightaway. “His restart tactics probably wrecking three or four cars on one of those last restarts. Stuff like that, the competitors get annoyed. His car is fast enough this week that he doesn’t have to do that. Stuff like that irritates people.” Hirschman’s fourth win in as many World Series races makes him the first to win four straight races to start a World Series since Richie Evans in 1981. Dating back to last year’s World Series, Hirschman has now won seven consecutive Tour-type Modified World Series races, breaking a record held by Evans and Reggie Ruggiero (1989-90). Despite Hirschman’s historic start to the World Series, the championship is still very much up for grabs during the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Friday. With four second-place finishes, Emerling sits just eight points behind Hirschman with a chance to claim the championship.

TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Matt Hirschman
Patrick Emerling
Teddy Hodgdon
Jimmy Blewett
Eric Goodale
Anthony Nocella
Joey Coulter
Tyler Rypkema
Spencer Davis
Dillon Steuer
Justin Brown
Eddie McCarthy
Andrew Krause
Brett Meservey
J.R. Bertuccio
Brian Robie
Amy Catalano
Tom Martino, Jr.
Michael Rutkoski
Norman Newman
Craig Lutz
Chris Hatton
Ronnie Williams
Anthony Bello
Burt Myers
Caleb Heady
Tommy Catalano
Nicholas Halkowicz
Rich Parker



Wednesday, February 15 - New Smyrna Speedway - Win

Hirschman Continues Historic Start to New Smyrna World Series
Hirschman won the John Blewett III Memorial on Wednesday night for his third win in as many races during the 2023 World Series.

Hirschman won the John Blewett III Memorial, giving him three consecutive wins to start the week in the Tour-type Modified division at New Smyrna Speedway. With the win, Hirschman became the first driver since Reggie Ruggiero in 1986 to win the first three Tour-type Modified races in a World Series. Ruggiero won seven of nine Modified races that year to win the World Series title. Dating back to last year’s World Series, Hirschman has won six consecutive Tour-type Modified races in the event. That ties the record for most consecutive World Series Modified wins, held by Richie Evans when he won six straight in 1981. In spite of all of these accomplishments and accolades, Hirschman is still taking it one night at a time. “We’ve got two more ahead of us,” said Hirschman. “You see it or read it, about sweeping the week. I’m thinking about tomorrow night. If we win tomorrow night, then it’s a possibility. But we have to take it one night at a time, focus and be mistake-free. If we take care of business, then we can do that.” 
He’s also not resting on his laurels regarding this year’s World Series title. While he is undefeated, Patrick Emerling has finished second on all three nights. As a result, Hirschman holds just a six-point advantage, which could disappear in the blink of an eye. “The weather’s been great. We’re looking at two more nights ahead of us. It’s getting warmer ahead of us, so that could change things. We’ll take it one night at a time and see where we are tomorrow night.” Meanwhile, Emerling finds himself in the unenviable position of trying to stop Hirschman’s dominance. He appeared to have taken the lead on a restart with 20 laps to go, but a caution led to a reset of the field and gave Hirschman another shot. “We were a little bit better than what we were the last couple of nights here,” said Emerling. “We’ll just work on improving. The 60 is just extremely dialed in. We need to get that extra little bit into the race car. “I was proud of a couple of really good ones where we kept it side-by-side going into one. I moved him up and tried to do what I could do to try to win. He did that to me last year and wrecked me last year, too. I think I owe him a little bit more than that.” Ronnie Williams finished third, followed by Anthony Nocella and Burt Myers. 
The Tour-type Modifieds will race for 50 laps on Thursday night before the Richie Evans Memorial 100 to close out their portion of the World Series on Friday.

JOHN BLEWETT III MEMORIAL UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Matt Hirschman
Patrick Emerling
Ronnie Williams
Anthony Nocella
Burt Myers
Anthony Sesely
Cam McDermott
Eric Goodale
Anthony Bello
Teddy Hodgdon
Caleb Heady
David Sapienza
Andrew Krause
Brian Robie
Tyler Rypkema
Tommy Catalano
Justin Brown
Eddie McCarthy
J.R. Bertuccio
Joey Coulter
Norman Newman
Tom Martino, Jr.
Brett Meservey
Jeremy Gerstner
Chris Hatton
Jimmy Blewett
Michael Rutkoski
Rich Parker
Spencer Davis
Craig Lutz
Paul Hartwig, Jr.
Paul Hartwig, Sr.
Tim Moore
Adam LaCicero


Tuesday, February 14 - New Smyrna Speedway - Win

Hirschman Doubles Up to Start His World Series. Hirschman is in unfamiliar territory with a hot start to his World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing

Matt Hirschman continued his World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing dominance on Tuesday night, winning the Tour-type Modified feature.
Hirschman took the lead five laps into the 50-lap race and pulled away, finishing ahead of Patrick Emerling and Eric Goodale for the win. Hirschman’s win came by more than two seconds over Patrick Emerling, but Hirschman was anything but confident “You’re never really confident until it over,” said Hirschman on the FloRacing broadcast. “We were on today. The same car was in second, too. It was a distant second, but they were right there and they’ll be right there all week.”Hirschman traditionally is stronger in the longer races in the World Series, such as the John Blewett III Memorial and the Richie Evans Memorial later in the week, and not the shorter races to start the week.Instead, this year Hirschman has opened with back-to-back wins, putting him in unfamiliar territory despite his success in the event. “We usually end the week strong and don’t usually start the week strong. I don’t want to celebrate too early, because it could go the other way.”“There are two bigger ones here to go, including one tomorrow night. We’ll go and try to get a third.”With the win, Hirschman now has 15 victories in the Tour-type Modified division in the World Series during his career. The win gives him sole possession of fifth on the all-time World Series win list, breaking a tie with Tom Baldwin. Anthony Bello finished fourth, with Ronnie Williams rounding out the top five.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS - TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS
FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Matt Hirschman
Patrick Emerling
Eric Goodale
Anthony Bello
Ronnie Williams
Tyler Rypkema
Jimmy Blewett
Brian Robie
Anthony Nocella
Caleb Heady
Burt Myers
Anthony Sesely
Joey Coulter
Tom Martino, Jr.
Dave Sapienza
Craig Lutz
Spencer Davis
Andrew Krause
Eddie McCarthy
J.R. Bertuccio
Tommy Catalano
Brett Meservey
Justin Brown
Jeremy Gerstner
Kyle Ellwood
Amy Catalano
Norman Newman
Chris Hatton
Rich Parker
Tim Moore

Monday, February 13 - New Smyrna Speedway - Win

Hirschman Tallies 14th World Series Modified Win
Hirschman's first Monday win ties Tom Baldwin for fifth on the all-time Tour-type Modified win list during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.

Matt Hirschman has no shortage of accomplishments during his career at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. On Monday night, he managed to find a new one to add to the list. Hirschman took the lead on lap 23 and pulled away after Ron Silk’s engine expired, opening the Tour-type Modified portion of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with a win. “We had the two best cars, obviously, and we were back and forth," Hirschman told Racing America. "He led early, and then I got ahead of him and he broke. It was definitely between the two of us, I think. After that, we were able to stay out front, get good restarts and get the first win of the week.”The victory marks the ninth different season Hirschman has secured a win during the World Series. It was his 14th World Series win, tying him for fifth all-time in the Tour-type Modified division with Tom Baldwin.Despite that impressive track record, Hirschman had never won the first race of the week for the Tour-type Modifieds. One year ago, he won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event on the second night of competition, but finished 12th in the Monday Tour-type race.“I’ve never won on Monday. The big race on Saturday, with the Whelen Tour, we won it last year but unfortunately, we didn’t have a good run or put together a good race and still finished third.“Usually the big race is at the end of the week with the [Richie] Evans race. Now, we open with a big race. Even though it’s only a two-month offseason, for me, myself and my team you’ve got to knock the rust off some. I think that was Saturday for us, and we were back in form tonight.”The win also marks the seventh consecutive season Hirschman has scored at least one win during the World Series, dating back to when he and Pee Dee Motorsports first started coming to New Smyrna in 2017.
“Every year I’ve come here with the Pee Dee Motorsports, we’ve at least won a race. I think that makes seven consecutive years of winning at least a race. To get a win, and several years we’ve gotten multiple years, so we’ve got plenty of chances to see what we can do the rest of the week.”Patrick Emerling finished second after starting on the pole in his No. 14. Surprisingly, Emerling maintained the runner-up finish despite a mechanical issue late in the running.
“Near the end of the race, we dropped a cylinder,” said Emerling. “We’re trying to diagnose that right now, but we had a strong enough car that we were able to stay out for second. We’ll take this one, work on getting the car a little bit better, figure out our problem and get back tomorrow faster.“Our first night out, it was a pretty solid night. We’ll fix our problems and work on getting our car faster for later in the week.”Former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series race winner Joey Coulter completed the podium, with Tyler Rypkema and Eric Goodale rounding out the top five.


TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Matt Hirschman
Patrick Emerling
Joey Coulter
Tyler Rypkema
Eric Goodale
Jimmy Blewett
Craig Lutz
Anthony Bello
Brian Robie
Spencer Davis
Jeremy Gerstner
Burt Myers
Ronnie Williams
Kyle Ellwood
Cam McDermott
Eddie McCarthy
Tom Martino, Jr.
Tyler Catalano
Nicholas Halkowicz
Chris Hatton
Rich Parker
Brett Meservey
Caleb Heady
David Sapienza
Anthony Nocella
Ron Silk
Norman Newman
J.R. Bertuccio
Andrew Krause
Paul Hartwig, Jr.
Casey Roderick
Dillon Steuer
Justin Brown
Anthony Sesely
Amy Catalano



Saturday, February 11 - New Smyrna Speedway - 3rd Place



Silk Scores Memorable Win in NWMT Season Opener
After a fierce battle with Justin Bonsignore, it was Ron Silk holding The 1948 Cup in victory lane at New Smyrna.

NASCAR's 75th Anniversary began with a race for the ages in its oldest division.
In a furious battle which included Justin Bonsignore and Matt Hirschman, Ron Silk stood victorious in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season opener at New Smyrna Speedway.Silk and Bonsignore exchanged the lead over the final 10 laps, but ultimately Silk held on the win. “I love this racetrack and we’ve been coming here for a long time," Silk told Racing America. "It feels good to win a Tour race here. We’re going to run a couple more this week with the Open stuff, so we’ll try to win another one.” “It was a lot of fun. It was intense. It was aggressive, but I don’t think it was over the line. We were both able to keep going. It was a lot of fun. I knew I could race around Justin like that and trust him. I think he feels the same way about me. That was everything we had, I couldn’t go any harder.”Silk took the lead on lap 169, sliding past Bonsignore just before Bonsignore and Coby made contact in turn one, triggering a multi-car incident. Bonsignore and Coby both carried on and salvaged top-five finishes, but that proved to be the opening Silk needed to capitalize.The victory marks Silk’s 18th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory. The 2011 series champion last won on the Tour in 2021 at Oswego Speedway.
It also marks his first win with Haydt Yannone Racing after joining the team during the 2022 season. “This is my first Tour win with this team, too. Last year, we ran with them and had some really good runs, seconds and thirds, but couldn’t get over the hump."Between the fierce battle, the milestone achievement for Silk and his team, and celebrating the birth and birthplace of NASCAR by receiving the one-of-a-kind 1948 Cup in victory lane, it was a night to remember.“With the 75th anniversary, being 1948 when they ran the first one on the beach, it’s awesome to have our name associated with that anniversary."Bonsignore finished second, with Hirschman rounding out the podium. Anthony Sesely and Doug Coby rounded out the top five.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY

Ron Silk
Justin Bonsignore
Matt Hirschman
Anthony Sesely
Doug Coby
Jake Johnson
Dave Sapienza
Austin Beers
Anthony Nocella
Tommy Catalano
Tyler Rypkema
Kyle Ebersole
Spencer Davis
Joey Coulter
Justin Brown
J.B. Fortin
Jeremy Gerstner
Craig Lutz
Kyle Bonsignore
James Pritchard
Ken Heagy
Gary McDonald
Ronnie Williams
Jon McKennedy
Andrew Krause
Brian Robie
Eric Goodale
Jimmy Blewett
Eddie McCarthy
J.R. Bertuccio
Anthony Bello
Matthew Kimball
Melissa Fifield
Patrick Emerling
Chris Hatton

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