2018 NEWS AND RESULTS:
Matt Hirschman returns to Mahoning April 6 the same way he left, as a winner...100-lap victory was worth $3grand
(LEHIGHTON 4-6-19) Matt Hirschman opened up Mahoning Valley Speedway’s 2019 Opening Night the same as he left for the season finale Octoberfast 2018 by parking his No. 60 in Victory Lane. The talented driver who travels and wins throughout the Eastern Seaboard, came to the track that sits closest to his Northampton home, making the 30-minute trek a profitable $3000 one after he secured victory in the 100-lap contest. Hirschman would come from 8th on the 19-car grid, taking the lead from Earl Paules while engaged in heavy lapped traffic. He then had number of close restart battles with eventual runner-up Austin Kochenash but by the later stages it was clear the race was his to lose. Hirschman crossed the finish line several car lengths ahead of Kochenash for his 17th win at Mahoning, 13 of them coming in 100+ lap events. Kyle Strohl showed good strength late in settling for third while Todd Baer ran consistently steady in securing fourth. Anthony Sesely in his return to Mahoning after a number of years away rounded out the top 5. “It was a great night. The last several Opening Nights here I watched from the grandstands and this was a lot more fun for sure although a lot harder work,” said Hirschman, who was fresh off a win a week early at Richmond International Raceway and third consecutive. “I enjoy the traveling thing but it is nice to race close to home. We had a lot of supporters who came out tonight from many different states and we’re having a great start to the season but there’s a long way to go. I look forward to be back here later this year for a few more shows.” Determined by luck of the draw and leading the field to the green was two-time and defending track champion Brian DeFebo with Kochenash flanked to his outside. DeFefo would jump out front early on while Kochenash, Paules and Hirschman began a tight battle right behind. By lap 10 Paules was getting a good run on the top side and began reeling in DeFebo. Three laps later the leader had a glitch coming off turn four which allowed Paules to seize the lead. One lap later Hirschman was second and for the next 22 laps it was close action with that pair. With no cautions during that stretch lapped traffic became a factor and for the strong running Paules it would ultimately be his downfall after what appeared to be a very promising night. As lap 36 was recorded the leaders came upon a group of cars running two abreast. Paules was holding a line to the outside but just before clearing there was contact made after the car of Nick Baer shot across his path due to a bump that he received. Paules wound up spinning while miraculously Hirschman stayed low enough to just barely avoid the situation. “My eyes where definitely looking out the right side and it was just one of those things were we caught some lapped cars that were racing ahead of us and they were telling them on the scanner to try and get signal file but it didn’t happen and unfortunately for Earl (Paules) he kind of washed up some and got clipped. I just missed him and I’m glad we did otherwise we would have been wrecked too,” explained Hirschman. When the field was reset Kochenash was now second and through a series of restarts he made some valiant attempts to sneak underneath Hirschman for the lead, successfully doing so on one of those tries only to be thwarted on the ensuing lap. “I knew on the restarts I felt pressure from behind and we got a little crossed up a couple times but once we got going the car was great but you can never let your guard down here at Mahoning,” said Hirschman. It would be perceptible over the final 25 tours that Hirschman had a lock as he was hitting his stride with each passing lap. For Kochenash he showed that 2019 has the makings of a rewarding season as he ran the entire race from no lower than third. “We just ran the tires off near the end and the clutch began slipping early on so that hurt quite a bit and it just didn’t play out today. Second (place) is not bad and well get some money and go on to the next one,” said Kochenash.
Modified Feature Finish (100-laps): 1.Matt Hirschman, 2. Austin Kochenash, 3. Kyle Strohl, 4. Todd Bear, 5. Anthony Sesely, 6. Gene Bowers, 7. Brian DeFebo, 8. Josh Scherer, 9. Don Wagner, 10. John Markovic, 11. Bobby Jones, 12. Joey Jarowicz, 13. Earl Paules, 14. Heath Metzger, 15. Nick Bear, 16. Austin Beers, 17. Scott Adams, 18. Jacob Kerstetter, 19. Ron Haring Jr.
‘Big Money’ Enjoys Richmond Victory & Experience - MARCH 30
Matt Hirschman added another honor to his mantle in Modified racing, taking the win in the inaugural Commonwealth Classic at Richmond Raceway (VA). Hirschman dominated the 75-lap feature, winning from the pole and enjoying every second of the experience. “What an awesome place,” Hirschman said in victory lane. “We planned on coming here back in the fall. When that got postponed, we were undecided. We knew the car count wasn’t going to be good and the competition was going to be down some from what it would have been last year.” After being on the fence about whether or not to participate in this year’s Commonwealth Classic, Hirschman was glad he made the choice to haul down to Richmond for the event. “We were going to come last year, so we decided we’d come this year, and what an experience,” Hirschman stated. “From the first lap (in practice) to the feature laps, I improved a thousand times. It took quite a bit to get used to. I hope it’s not the only experience I’ll have here, but if it is, I’m glad I came and got to experience it. It’s an awesome place.” Runner-up finisher Andy Seuss echoed Hirschman’s sentiments, pleased with how the inaugural event played out and hopeful for even bigger things in the race’s future. “I’ve got to thank PASS for putting this on and the Tri-Track Modified tech officials for coming down,” Seuss stated. “Great place to race, great racing, great group of guys to race. Wish we had more cars, but I think word will get out what a great event it was and we’ll have more guys here next year.” While the top two finishers were seasoned veterans of the Modified ranks who have taken on some big challenges in their time, third-place finisher Bobby Measmer, Jr. was tackling a track of Richmond’s scale for the first time. It was an enjoyable but educational undertaking. “It was definitely fun,” Measmer said. “I can’t thank my guys enough for giving me a good car. This is my first time racing in a drafting situation. Some of these guys have raced at Loudon, I learned a few things. It was big-time keeping your momentum up. I got into Andy one time trying to hold off Zacharias and it killed my momentum.” While not having the pedigree of Hirschman or Seuss, as a competitor Measmer hoped to pick up a big win against Hirschman down the road.“I’m getting tired of finishing behind him,” Measmer said. “Eventually I’m going to get him. I respect Matt and all of them, Andy as well. You always want to outrun the best. They’ve been doing it a lot longer than I have, so finishing behind Matt and Andy, that ain’t too bad.” Race fans who missed Saturday's action at Richmond Raceway can visit Race Day Now for updates and information by clicking here. Fans can also stay tuned to the Speed51 Network for highlights, recaps and more from all six divisions of the inaugural Commonwealth Classic.
-Story by: Zach Evans, Speed51.com Southeast Editor – Twitter: @ztevans
Matt Hirschman took a step up to the top of the podium Sunday at Caraway Speedway - MARCH 17
Following a third-place finish Saturday in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season opener at Myrtle Beach Speedway, Matt Hirschman took a step up to the top of the podium Sunday at Caraway Speedway. "Big Money" Matt held off multiple charges from the Myers brothers (Burt and Jason) and even a tap to his rear bumper from John Smith in the last corner to capture the opening round of the 2019 Southern Modified Racing Series season at the Sophia, North Carolina oval. After missing the first round of practice while making changes to his Modified from Myrtle Beach the night before, Hirschman was still a little off in round two of practice, timing in 10th fastest of the 15 Modifieds in attendance. But in typical Matt Hirschman fashion, he wasn't off the pace for long. The driver of car No. 60 stepped it up in qualifying to post the third fastest time and was poised for another strong run. Jimmy Blewett was the early leader of the race, pacing the field for most of the first half of the race until he dropped out with an apparent transmission issue on his No. 76. That handed the lead over to Burt Myers who had a very fast No. 1 car all race long. As one would expect, pit stops and tires played a huge role in the race with drivers on varying tire strategies throughout the 125-lap race. John Smith inherited the lead from Myers by staying out on a Lap 68 caution and was at the point until Lap 93 when Hirschman came to call, stealing the lead away from Smith on the outside. A caution with 27 laps to go sent Smith and Tim Brown to the pit area to see if they could steal a win away in the late stages, restarting sixth and eighth respectively when the race resumed on Lap 98. On the ensuing restart, the Myers brothers were hounding Hirschman at every turn. While the lead battle was heating up, Smith was making his way back up the running order, passing Bobby Measmer Jr. and Burt Myers to get to third place as the caution flew again with five laps to go for a car stopped up high in turn two. That set up a five-lap dash for the $5,000 cash with Hirschman hoping to hold off a slew of hun gry southern drivers who wanted to defend their home turf. Smith leap-frogged Jason Myers on the start and was glued to the rear bumper of Hirschman for the final five laps. Smith drove in hard to the final turn and gave Hirschman a little tap on the rear bumper, pulling low on the exit of four to drag race Hirschman to the line before coming up just .131 seconds short of the victory. "It's tough to run the same car on back-to-back days because they need so much maintenance and things you should do that we were just a little bit behind," Hirschman explained in victory lane. "We still had a good day and I know we didn't have the fastest car here but we just put ourselves in the right position, had a good stop and made some adjustments. The 25 (Smith) had a great car to go as long as he did and when we finally got ahead of him, we didn't need that last caution. He wasn't going to catch us. He was faster but he wasn't going to catch us. The last caution gave him a great opportunity I'm just glad I could hold him off."
Despite coming up one sport short and losing the battle to a northern invader, Smith had nothing but nice things to say after the race."He's a class act," Smith said after the race, referring to Hirschman. "When I've raced with him over the years he always raced me clean. We had a good hard race."
-Story by Shawn Meekhof, Speed51.com Southeast Correspondent
MATT FINISHES 11th at MRYTLE BEACH - MARCH 16
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – It seemed the racing gods were determined to make sure five-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby started the 2019 season in a hole at Myrtle Beach Speedway. After winning the pole in qualifying Coby was forced by NASCAR to drop to the rear of the field for the start of the Performance Plus 150 Saturday after the team found a nail in a tire while bringing the car to the track for driver introductions and was forced to make a change. Then on lap 26 Coby was involved in an early melee, dropping him once again to the rear of the field.But the rallying attitude never waned for the Milford driver. Coby used a late pit stop for tires to rocket from 14thplace to the lead over 13 laps and drove away through traffic over the closing laps to win the Whelen Modified Tour Performance Plus 150 at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was second and Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J. third. Following the race Coby expressed his displeasure with NASCAR’s decision to drop him to the rear of the 32-car field for the start. “What happened at the start of the race, after the pit party out here, NASCAR decided to drive us in all the junk behind the track and as the first car through there we picked up a nail or something in the left front tire. [My Crew chief Phil Moran] saw it right as we were ready to go. The officials saw it and it was leaking air real bad and it was going to go flat. And the rule is that I guess you’ve got to go to the back for that. I don’t think that’s a good rule for any series to have. I’m really supportive of good rules and I’m really critical of bad rules and that’s not a good rule. I’m sure [none of the fans] had any idea what was going on and that’s not good for racing. “… I know you guys don’t like those cookie cutter drivers that have no opinions because they can’t say their minds. But if you follow the Modified Tour enough you’ll find that most of us drivers here aren’t afraid to say what we feel and I think that’s good for racing.” It was the 25th career series victory for Coby, who won his first series title in 2012 and then won four consecutive from 2014-2017.
“I’m really happy to get this win for Mayhew Tools and I thank all the fans from Myrtle Beach for coming out,” Coby said. “That’s really important. Coby restarted in 14th after pitting on lap 109. He took the lead for good on lap 122. After Coby went to the lead Blewett hounded him at the front briefly before falling back to third late.
“I don’t ever make excuses but the battery died in this car and I only had a quarter throttle,” Blewett said. “The thing was breaking up down the whole straightaway. Once I got into second it just started missing. I didn’t know if I was running out of fuel or what the problem was. We definitely had something for him, I just didn’t have the power with the battery being dead. Hats off to Doug and his guys.” Said Coby: “There’s 32 cars here and if there’s one I don’t want behind me with 10 [laps] to go it’s Jimmy Blewett. I was trying to keep my distance from him. … I just wanted to stay as far ahead as I could.” McKennedy was left to celebrate first runner-up in an event he won in 2018. “We came through the field twice and were just a little bit too tight at the end,” McKennedy said. “Doug was really good at the end. We are happy with a second. We ran well and they knew we were here. It was a great way to start the season. “… We still had the best car out there. Our strategy hurt us a little bit there. It was a gamble we took and the competition was close here. But we qualified second and finished second.”
New Smyrna Speedway Feb 15 - Night 5
by Shawn Courchesne
Matt Hirschman went to the 2019 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing as the reigning Tour Type Modified champion of the division. Friday at New Smyrna Hirschman closed out the 2019 World Series by showing competitors that, despite not winning another title, he is the reigning king of Modifieds at speedy Florida oval. Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa., dominated on the way to his third consecutive World Series victory of the week in the Richie Evans Memorial 100 Friday at New Smyrna Speedway. “This is the biggest of the week, but man to win three in a row is incredible,” Hirschman said. “Before we left the last thing my dad said to my son and I was to win some races, so we just got three in a row. … We didn’t end up winning the points … but we kind of dominated the end of speedweeks here and I’ve never done that before.” The event closed out five consecutive nights of Tour Type Modified events at New Smyrna. Hirschman won the final three events of the week. He also had a second place on opening night Monday. His only hiccup of the week came when he was caught up in an early wreck on Tuesday and finished 18th. “It’s just such a grind,” Hirschman said. “For this week plus, all eyes of the short track world are on New Smyrna and speedweeks down here. This is just so cool to come down here with a group of guys and just work your rear ends off. We wrecked Tuesday bad, almost thought we were done. Just worked hard, put it back together and I found my groove.” It was Hirschman’s seventh career Tour Type Modified victory at New Smyrna and his third victory in the Richie Evans Memorial. He became the first driver to win the John Blewett III Memorial 76 (Wednesday) and the Evans Memorial in the same week. “To win the Blewett Memorial and now the Evans Memorial, the two biggest races of the week, these guys just worked hard,” Hirschman said. “… With all the hard work from my dad at home to all these guys here, it’s just a great accomplishment. This is one where I’m talking a lot because I’m really pumped. Three in a row, this is a nice streak.” Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J. was second and Anthony Nocella of Woburn, Mass. third in Friday’s 100-lap feature. “Matt and his guys they do their homework,” Blewett said. “They don’t call him ‘Big Money Matt’ for nothing. My guys came here with a great car, I couldn’t ask for anything more.” Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. used a seventh place finish Friday to clinch the division championship for 2019. Hossfeld also had finishes of fifth, fourth, second and third respectively over the course of the week at New Smyrna. He also won the Tour Type Modified event on Feb. 9 at Bronson Speedway in Archer, Fla. kicking off Modified Speedweek in Florida. It was the second Tour Type Modified division championship at New Smyrna for Hossfeld, who also won it in 2012. “This morning I was thinking about the championship meaning more than the race,” Hossfeld said. “Our car was not good enough to win the race. We had to hold off Doug Coby with like 15 [laps] to go and luckily we did that. … We had a great week, a fun week and my car is as pretty as when it came. It’s not all beat up like some of the other guys cars. I joked around and said I had the prettiest car and the prettiest girl and the best guys and we finished strong so I’m really proud of what we did.” Pole sitter Doug Coby led the first 40 laps, but on lap 41 Hirschman went by him for the lead. From there it was the Hirschman show at the front of the field as he went unchallenged the rest of the way.Coby opened the week Monday by winning the Tour Type Modified division feature at New Smyrna, the first of his career at the track. Ryan Preece got the division’s victory on night two on Tuesday.
1 60 Matt Hirschman
2 2B Jimmy Blewett
3 92 Anthony Nocella
4 54 Tommy Catalano
5 07 Patrick Emerling
6 36 Dave Sapienza
7 22 Chuck Hossfeld
8 25C Calvin Carroll
9 2 Doug Coby
10 71 Jimmy Zacharias
11 12X Andy Jankowiak
12 32 Tyler Rypkema
13 11 Dillon Steuer
14 55 Jeremy Gerstner
15 17 Bobby Measmer, Jr.
16 16 Timmy Solomito
17 25N Nikki Carroll
18 64 Amy Catalano
19 21 Al Emmarino
20 2X Tom Tone
New Smyrna Speedway Feb 14- Night 4
by Shawn Courchesne
Through Thursday this year’s Florida Tour Type Modified action has been about an abundance of winners. Chuck Hossfeld won last Saturday at Bronson Speedway. Then it was Doug Coby, Ryan Preece and Matt Hirschan scoring wins the first three nights of Tour Type Modified action at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. Thursday Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa., snapped that streak of variety by becoming the first repeat winner in Tour Type Modified action in Florida. Hirschman used an aggressive three-wide move on a lap 28 restart to grab the restart and led the rest of the way in winning the 35-lap Tour Type Modified feature Thursday at New Smyrna. “That was pretty exciting actually,” said Hirschman, who started ninth in the 20-car field. “I really didn’t think tonight was going to be out night after our pole qualifying effort. We’ve definitely got to do better there. We missed the opportunity for the invert completely. But I made a few more changes, stuff I wanted to try and at first I didn’t think it was really probably any good, but it really came in well.” Timmy Solomito of Islip, N.Y. was second and Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. third. Solomito went to the lead past Doug Coby on a lap eight restart. Tommy Catalano moved to second on a lap 18 restart and then dogged Solomito on another restart when Solomito restarted on the outside lane. On a lap 28 restart Solomito decided to take the inside, but was Hirschman restarting in third who took advantage of Solomito and Catalano fighting for the lead. Hirschman went low under both Solomito and Catalano to take over the lead on the lap 28 restart and never trailed again. “It was just the right opportunity,” Hirschman said. “I don’t know if we had the fastest car, but I made one good move. That was what we needed.” Said Solomito: “We just overworked the right front tonight. We’ve been loose the last couple nights so we tightened the car up finally and just overworked the right front. I let [Catalano] have the bottom on that one restart and he used me up for three laps and I couldn’t let him have the bottom again.” Hossfeld used the third place to take over the points leading heading into the final night for the Tour Type Modified division on Friday with the running of the Richie Evans 100 Memorial. “It’s been fun here,” Hossfeld said. “We race, then we eat, then we drink and then I try to get an adult hug in and repeat. Do it again tomorrow. Every day the same thing.”
1 60 Matt Hirschman
2 16 Timmy Solomito
3 22 Chuck Hossfeld
4 17 Bobby Measmer, Jr.
5 54 Tommy Catalano
6 12X Andy Jankowiak
7 07 Patrick Emerling
8 25C Calvin Carroll
9 11 Dillon Steuer
10 64 Amy Catalano
11 55 Jeremy Gerstner
12 32 Tyler Rypkema
13 25N Nikki Carroll
14 92 Anthony Nocella
15 2 Doug Coby
16 2B Jimmy Blewett
17 1NY Chris Ridsdale
18 07X Mike Bologna
19 21 Al Emmarino
20 2X Mike Bologna
New Smyrna Speedway Feb 13-Night 3
by Shawn Courchesne
Matt Hirschman can be kept quiet only for so long at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. Wednesday the Northampton, Pa. driver showed that even nearly destroying a car isn’t enough to keep him out of the mix at New Smyrna. Hirschman, the 2018 Tour Type Modified champion at the New Smyrna World Series, used a late charge to the lead to get his first victory of the week at New Smyrna Wednesday Hirschman drove away from the field in the late stages to win the John Blewett III Memorial 76 at New Smyrna Speedway. Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. was second and Dave Sapienza of Riverhead, N.Y. third. It was the second consecutive year that Hirschman has won the John Blewett III Memorial. “I love this race,” Hirschman said. “I really like the longer race here. Guys have different strategies, pitting and different things. It worked out.” Hirschman rallied back from a bad wreck on Tuesday after a third place finish on opening night for the Tour Type division on Monday. “After last night we really had to work hard,” Hirschman said. “Initially I thought we were done for the week. Usually you don’t bring out a welder and a grinder and all that stuff at a race track. But we came here to race. Luckily it wasn’t too bad that we were able to fix it. These guys worked hard. I know we’re all tired. We’re going to go on adrenaline here to celebrate this for a little bit. But we’re definitely worn out. We worked hard the last few days. Hopefully we can finish this week strong.” Hirschman started on the pole, but it was Preece moving past him for the lead at the start, with Doug Coby quickly moving to second from the fourth starting spot. Coby then went by Preece to take over the top spot on lap two. Coby looked dominant early before the first caution flew on lap 25. On the restart it was Preece easily moving by Coby for the lead with Hirschman going to second and the field behind them quickly following to drop Coby to eighth. When the caution flew again on lap 37 it was Coby – the winner Monday on opening night of the World Series and the third place finisher Tuesday – heading to the pits for adjustments. Coby was back in the pits again when caution flew on lap 46. After stalking Ryan Preece for most of the middle portion of the event, Hirschman got by Preece for the lead on a lap 61 restart and never trailed again. Sapienza came from the 14thstarting spot to finish third. “I don’t really time trial well, but I can race a car,” Sapienza said. “So we pretty much time trialed with a race setup and they told me it would be good.” Coby, who won on opening night Monday and was third Tuesday, ended up rallying for a fourth place Wednesday. Jimmy Zacharias was fifth. Preece, who won the 35-lap event on Tuesday at New Smyrna, ended up ninth.
New Smyrna Speedway Feb 12- NIGHT 2
by Shawn Courchesne
Sunday Ryan Preece will begin his chase for the 2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award when he makes his first Daytona 500 start at Daytona International Speedway. Tuesday, a few miles away from Daytona, it was the former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion showing off the talent that has helped to land him a full-time ride at the highest level of NASCAR. Preece used a meteoric drive through from the drop of the green flag to rocket to the lead and go on to win the 35-lap Tour Type Modified feature Tuesday at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. It was the perfect bounce back for Preece, who had mechanical issues in the first Tour Type Modified event of the week at New Smyrna on Monday. “What’s really special about this is it’s all my friends,” Preece said. “We’re all buddies from home. And they come down, it’s a yearly thing. To be able to come here, and we won with a brand new car, a Chassis Dynamics race car. What’s even more special about it is this guy that owns Chassis Dynamics, Mike Paquette, gave me an opportunity in 2010 – along with Bob Hitchcock – and that’s really what got my career going. To be able to debut this brand new car and be as strong as it is, I’m really pumped.” Preece, of Berlin, will run his first full-time season with the Monster Energy Cup Series for JTG Daugherty Racing. The 2013 Whelen Modified Tour champion had two NASCAR XFINITY Series victories running part-time for NASCAR powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018. Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J. was second. Doug Coby of Milford, who won on night one of Tour Type Modified action on Monday, was third. Preece qualified on the pole Tuesday with Coby qualifying second. The top-eight qualifiers were inverted, putting Preece in eighth for the start. He wasted no time swiftly darting toward the front, moving to fifth within the first three laps. On lap six he went by Chuck Hossfeld for fourth. And then on lap nine Preece used a three-wide move low under both Timmy Solomito and Anthony Nocella to move to second. On lap 13 Preece was able to go by Tommy Catalano for the top spot and he never trailed again.
A wreck on lap 22 left the car of Andy Jankowiak on top of Patrick Emerling’s, leading to a long delay. On the eventual restart it was Preece holding the lead with Blewett moving from fourth to second and Coby from fifth to third. But despite having Blewett and Coby stalking, Preece was able to check out on the field over the final seven laps. “I used to be labeled as a guy who burnt up my stuff real quick and I have really have done OK with my setups to make it better in the long run,” Preece said. “Especially on a 35 lapper. It was pretty much on cruise control. I am just happy to be out here at New Smyrna Speedway. To be on the outside is a really big thing with the Modfieds and we clicked them off real quick there. I knew that my setup was going to come in around lap seven or eight and really start rolling. I am just happy to get one win. So far it is Doug one and me one so we will see if we can beat him tomorrow night.” Blewett was left to hold off the charges of Coby late. “I need to find a little more balance,” Blewett said. “Since we unloaded last Thursday we’ve just been working on that, fine tune, fine tune, fine tune, taking baby steps. We didn’t want to really overdo it. Tonight we overdid a little too much. Ran out of forward drive just about halfway through the race. We’ve got a little bit of work to do to catch [Preece].” Said Coby: “We just missed a little bit tonight. We made some adjustments based on how I thought the car was last night. We figured in a 35-lapper we were probably going to have to pass a few cars, which we did. So we made a few changes and it didn’t quite work. So we’ve got to go back to the drawing board. … Just a good learning night for us.” The Tour Type Modified division is scheduled to run five consecutive nights at the World Series. Coby, in his second career start at the track, won the division’s opening event on Monday. Wednesday will see the Tour Type Modifieds run the John Blewett III Memorial 76. The division will another 35-lap feature Thursday before its championship deciding event – the Richie Evans Memorial 100 – on Friday.
New Symrna - Feb 11 - Night 1 50 Lapper
by Shawn Courchesne
Editors Note: Second place finisher Patrick Emerling was disqualified following post-race inspection for left side weight Third place finisher Matt Hirschman was moved to second and Jimmy Blewett was moved from fourth to third.
NEW SMYRNA, FLA. – When Doug Coby and his Mike Smeriglio Racing team began analyzing their preparation plans for the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, it was realized that their options for preseason testing were fairly limited. It led to the team’s decision to head to New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway for the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing for a weeklong test session in Florida. On opening night for the Tour Type Modifieds at New Smyrna Monday it was Coby, of Milford, showing that he had done his homework and was ready to ace the test. In his second career start at New Smyrna Speedway, Coby went to the lead at the start and never trailed again on the way to victory in the 50-lap Tour Type Modified feature. “It’s awesome,” Coby said. “This is like a brand new track for me. I don’t have any experience here. These guys have been running here, for some of these guys, 10-12 years. … They’ve got 80-90 races on me. It helps to have a great prepared car by [crew chief] Phil Moran and all the guys on the Mayhew Tools [sponsored] team. We’ve got a very small crew here this week.” Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y. was second and Matt Hirschman of third. Coby, the five-time Whelen Modified Tour champion, qualified second to Emerling in the 24-car field which started straight up from qualifying. Following a lap 22 caution the race went green to its conclusion, with Coby easily checking out from Emerling. “Great to start off with a win,” Coby said. “We worked really hard on Thursday to come up with some changes and we left them in the car to see how they would race and they raced pretty darn good. We’re going to try some more stuff. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to test.” Said Emerling: “He was just a little bit better than me. … We finished second to a five-time NASCAR Mod champion. That’s not a horrible day for us.” The Tour Type Modifieds will run five consecutive nights at New Smyrna, culminating with the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Friday. Coby’s only other start at New Smryna Speedway came in 2014 when his team was in Florida for the Battle at the Beach for the Whelen Modified Tour at Daytona International Speedway. “I don’t care what race track it is, Doug Coby, he can get it done,” Moran said. “We came down here to try some stuff and so far so good.” Coby had a streak of four consecutive Whelen Modified Tour championships snapped by Justin Bonsignore in 2018. Coby ended up third in the Whelen Modified Tour standings last year. “We want to win races, but we’re here to test for the [Whelen Modified Tour] season,” Coby said. “I’ve got to come after Justin Bonsignore.” Coby understands that the weeklong grind will bring unforeseen challenges. “Some of these guys ran some fast laps,” Coby said. “But we do not care about fast laps, we care about fast race cars. … We now have to worry about the [John Blewett III Memorial 76] and [the Richie Evans Memorial 100] races. And qualifying good every night to stay up front. Matt Hirschman is going to be tough to hold off. He was really strong and had a really good run tonight. I think that Emerling was holding him up a bit. If he had gotten by him he would have had a good shot at it. It is a long week here and we are trying to keep these cars in one piece.”Hirschman is looking to defend his World Series Tour Type Modified championship from 2018. “The car was good,” Hirschman said of his third place run Monday. “Better than the driver I think because I was not making passes that I should have. I just have to get a little bit better. I had a couple of times that I was able to get a wheel but the one time I had a good run I ended up slipping up. Really this is a good start for the first night. Hopefully the weather cooperates so we can get all the nights in and hopefully we can get a little ahead here.”
1 2 Doug Coby
2 60 Matt Hirschman
3 2B Jimmy Blewett
4 92 Anthony Nocella
5 22 Chuck Hossfeld
6 16 Timmy Solomito
7 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
8 55 Jeremy Gerstner
9 46 Jeff Goodale
10 25C Calvin Carroll
11 64 Amy Catalano
12 11 Dillon Steuer
13 6 Ryan Preece
14 4 Jeffrey Gallup
15 25N Nikki Carroll
16 71 Jimmy Zacharias
17 12X Andy Jankowiak
18 54 Tommy Catalano
19 32 Tyler Rypkema
20 24 Dean Rypkema
21 21 Al Amarino
22 1NY Chris Risdale
23 2X Tom Tonn
DQ 07 Patrick Emerling
BRONSON SPEEDWAY - February 9
By Shawn Courchesne & Denise DuPont
ARCHER, Fla. – The 2019 schedule for Tour Type Modified racing kicked off Saturday with a butt kicking at Bronson Speedway in Archer, Fla. Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. led every circuit on the way to victory in the fourth Kickoff To Speedweek powered by Sunoco 50-lap Tour Type Modified feature. Hossfeld started on the pole in the 10-car field for the feature and held off the charges of Matt Hirschman late in the event. “To beat [Hirschman] anywhere nowadays is an accomplishment because it does not happen very often,” Hossfeld told RaceDayCT. “I am very proud of my team it is a great way to start off speedweeks. I have the prettiest car, the prettiest girl and the best group of guys. Now we will go have some beer and food and go to New Smyrna tomorrow.” Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa., was second and Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J. third. “I appreciated everything that is done here [at Bronson Speedway], Hossfeld said. “Everyone here is very welcoming and they do a great job. I would come back anytime. To win here feels really great. I know what it takes to run a race team. I can only imagine what it takes to run a race track. I am glad that I can support it and the track’s fan base. It was a great night. “I like all race tracks. I am glad to be down here with all my buddies racing. I am blessed to be able to do it.” Blewett stalked Hossfeld in second for the first 35 laps of the event before Hirschman used a restart to take over the runner-up position with 15 laps remaining. A bid by Hirschman’s to overtake Hossfeld with two laps remaining was hindered by a lapped car slowing his momentum. “The natural way to go around a lapped car is on the outside,” Hossfeld said. “He may have had a run but I had the preferred lane and the lapped car just made it too many cars in one spot. So if it worked out for me and not him — I am glad.” Said Hirschman of getting slowed by the lapped car: “I do not know if it would have made a difference or not. I had a little bit of a run but I do not know if it was enough of a run or not. Maybe it was bad timing. I am not really to upset about that. “We were challenging, contending but we just did not get by. If I was better it was not by much. Maybe a small amount. I just could not get it done.” Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y. was fourth and Andy Jankowiak of North Tonawanda, N.Y. was fifth. The Tour Type Modifieds now roll on to New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Fla. for the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. The World Series officially kicked off Friday in New Smyrna. The Tour Type Modifieds will run five consecutive nights at New Smyrna, with the first event taking place Monday. “We practiced the other day and we had a fast car so my hopes are high and I think that we are going to do real well,” Hossfeld said of New Smyrna. “There is going to be a lot of competition and this is a great way to start it out.” Hirschman left Bronson ready to begin defense of his 2018 New Smyrna World Series Tour Type Modified championship.
“Initially you are disappointed when you do not win or you had a car capable of winning,” Hirschman said. “But it is very short lived here because we have potentially five races ahead of us next week. So I am not going to dwell on it. And really for every car in this pit area, the main thing is that you do not have damage and you can roll them in the trailer. There is a lot of work to do and a lot of racing to do. I think everyone managed to achieve that.”