2018 NEWS AND RESULTS:
Saturday, March 31 - Hickory - Win
Hirschman Hops to His First Career Victory at Hickory
Matt Hirschman had his eyes on the prize Saturday night during the Southern Modified Racing Series 75-lap feature at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC). The Northampton, PA native took an early lead and dominated the Easter Bunny 75 to score his first career victory at “The Birthplace of NASCAR Stars.”“It’s pretty cool to get a win here, it’s a track that has a lot of history behind it and a lot of great drivers have raced and won at this track,” Hirschman said after the race. “This is a track everybody wants to win and at and their name to the history books as well.”After an incident on the initial start between the leaders – Danny Bohn and defending SMRS champion Jeremy Gerstner – which sent them to the tail of the field, Hirschman and former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Andy Seuss made up the new front row.“The initial restart obviously wasn’t how we wanted to get a race started, but it worked out in our favor and put us on the front row, so we knew what we had to do to get the job done,” Hirschman explained. “However, it wasn’t quite the race I expected.”Hirschman was quick to take the lead on the restart over Seuss as John Smith, Burt Myers, and Jason Myers settled into the top five. A hard-charging Andy Seuss kept Hirschman in striking distance for the lead, but was no match for the driver behind the No. 60 Modified. Cautions flew periodically throughout the 75-lap race, but Hirschman continued to hit his marks and held off his competitors on his way to victory lane. -By Madison Mabry, Speed51.com Southeast Correspondent – Twitter: @madisonmabry23
Top-10: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Andy Seuss, 3. John Smith, 4. Jason Myers, 5. Jeremy Gerstner, 6. Burt Myers, 7. Tim Brown, 8. Danny Bohn, 9. Kevin Orlando and 10. Brian Loftin
Saturday, March 17 - Myrtle Beach - 3rd
Jon McKennedy Knocks One Off His Bucket List
BY KYLE SOUZA HOMETRACKS.NASCAR.COM MARCH 17, 2018
Scores First Whelen Modified Tour Win at Myrtle Beach
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Even though both Jon McKennedy and Tommy Baldwin have put together a long list of accolades in their racing career, both entered the 2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season looking to prove a point. Saturday, McKennedy took the new pairing between the two veterans of asphalt modified racing right to the winner’s circle.McKennedy captured his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in the Performance Plus 150 presented by Safety Kleen at Myrtle Beach Speedway.“It feels great, I feel like this is way overdue,” McKennedy said. “Over the years, I was never really able to put 100 percent effort into the Tour. When Tommy called me, I just knew it was going to be a great deal. I’ve won races from Florida to Canada. It feels good to finally get the monkey off my back.”
Although McKennedy has a successful resume built in New England Tour-Type Modified racing, his first Whelen Modified Tour victory came in his 34th career start in the NASCAR modified ranks.The Chelmsford, Massachusetts, driver started from the outside pole, but quickly backed up through the field, trying to save his tires for the final stages on the tricky half-mile surface known for eating at Hoosier rubber.Following a pit stop for fresh tires during the final caution, McKennedy charged through the field and found himself staring down the back bumper of 20-year-old Chase Dowling in the final laps. On lap 139, McKennedy took his No. 7 Accell Construction Chevrolet to the bottom of Dowling, and took control of the race off turn two.He never looked back.“Tommy gave me a great opportunity to run this car, and I’m glad I could make the most of it,” McKennedy said. “We’re really off to a good start together. It’s great to be in good equipment and have some great knowledge behind us.”Although Jimmy Blewett took second and inched closer to McKennedy in the final laps, he came up just short, and settled for second. Blewett was driving for Ed Partridge, the defending Whelen Modified Tour owner’s champion, while Ryan Preece competed in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Auto Club Speedway.“I can’t thank Eddie and his wife Connie enough, I’m just happy to be able to come out here and help them,” Blewett said. “This is a car that Eddie and my grandfather own together. We came here in the dark, with no notes. But we got ourselves pointed in the right direction fairly quickly today.”
Matt Hirschman led 77 laps and finished third after winning his sixth pole award in qualifying, while Chase Dowling was fourth. Justin Bonsignore, who led 26 laps, was fifth in his debut with LFR Chassis.Dave Sapienza was sixth, followed by Eric Goodale, Calvin Carroll, Craig Lutz and Rob Summers.
1 2 7 Jon McKennedy Accell Construction Inc. (Tommy Baldwin) Chevrolet 150 running 12 47
2 10 6 Jimmy Blewett TS Hauler (Ed Partridge) Chevrolet 150 running 0 42
3 1 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports (Roy Hall) Chevrolet 150 running 77 43
4 7 15 Chase Dowling 15-40 Connection (Rob Fuller) Chevrolet 150 running 9 41
5 6 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. (Kenneth Massa) Chevrolet 150 running 26 40
6 8 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprise (Judy Thilberg) Chevrolet 150 running 0 38
7 11 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing (Edgar Goodale) Chevrolet 150 running 0 37
8 22 25 Calvin Carroll Power with Prestige / Cruising with Betty (Joe Carroll) Chevrolet 150 running 0 36
9 19 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply (Russell Goodale) Chevrolet 150 running 6 36
10 4 64 Rob Summers Hoosier Tire East / Fast Track (Mike Murphy) Chevrolet 150 running 0 34
11 16 14 Blake Barney * Atlantic Sprinkler (Richard Barney) Chevrolet 150 running 0 33
12 5 16 Timmy Solomito Starrett Racing (Eric Sanderson) Ford 150 running 0 32
13 12 97 Andy Seuss O.B. Builders (Byran Dauzat) Chevrolet 150 running 1 32
14 9 2 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools (Mike Smeriglio III) Chevrolet 150 running 1 31
15 18 77 Gary Putnam Curb Records (Mike Curb) Chevrolet 150 running 6 30
16 13 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe / Dunleavy Truck & Trailer (Eddie Harvey) Ford 150 running 5 29
17 26 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape / TRC Electric (Sean McDonald) Chevrolet 150 running 0 27
18 14 75 Chris Pasteryak Dawley's Auto (Charles Pasteryak) Chevrolet 150 running 0 26
19 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Atlantic Sprinkler / PSR (Cheryl Tomaino) Chevrolet 150 running 0 25
20 27 23 Joe DeGracia * PJ DeGracia Contracting (Paul Degracia) Chevrolet 150 running 0 24
21 15 21 Ronnie Williams Gershow Recycling / Empower Financial (Joseph Bertuccio) Chevrolet 149 running 0 23
22 23 40 Frank Fleming Lewisville Motors / Smith Trucking (Gina Fleming) Chevrolet 148 running 0 22
23 3 22 Kyle Bonsignore Snap-On Tools (Kyle Bonsignore) Chevrolet 148 running 7 22
24 21 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines / Kendall Oil (Wade Cole) Chevrolet 141 running 0 20
25 25 01 Melissa Fifield Crowells Towing (Kenneth Fifield) Chevrolet 141 running 0 19
26 20 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood (Robert Pollifrone) Chevrolet 120 tire 0 18
27 17 82 Woody Pitkat Horton Avenue Materials (Danny Watts Jr.) Chevrolet 115 running 0 17
Hirschman’s Injured Crew Member on Road to Recovery
February was a month of triumphs and hardships for the No. 60 Pee Dee Motorsports Modified team. After a solid start to Speedweeks, disaster struck while the team was unloading equipment on Tuesday, February 13 at New Smyrna Speedway (FL). Crew member Dennis Duffy sustained a serious open leg fracture which required immediate surgery and left him hospitalized. The team persevered and raced that night and the rest of the week, with Matt Hirschman claiming his first win in the John Blewett III Memorial and ultimately the 2018 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Tour-type Modified championship; all while thinking of Duffy the entire way.
Two weeks after the accident, good news was delivered to Dennis and his family: he was released from the hospital in Florida and told he could fly home this past Monday. “He is making progress,” Hirschman told Speed51.com. “He was able to fly home to Upstate New York, Monday this week. He’s going to continue with the rehabilitation process.” With Duffy now home, Pee Dee Motorsports and the Modified community continue to rally around him, asking for any donations to help the Duffy family during this trying time. Donations can be made through a GoFundMe account set up for his medical expenses. “We know with the medical bills and the loss of income until he gets back on his feet that we should try to help him out any way we can,” Hirschman stated. “So far there has been a lot of generous people that have contributed.” The best news of all is that Duffy’s spirit has remained high through the ordeal, even during the first few days in Florida. From his hospital bed he became a great source of moral for Hirschman and the team, urging them to continue the fight for race wins and the championship. “The day it happened we discussed whether or not we would even race that night,” Hirschman explained. “It was tough for everyone to deal with what happened, but I’m glad that we continued on and got the championship for the week. There’s nothing more than a team accomplishment that you can achieve down there than that. He was certainly still there with us, sending us messages every night about our resolve and trying to keep my morale up to make sure we got that championship. That was certainly something to remember for all of us.” The recovery process is expected to be somewhere 12 weeks for Duffy, but the outlook is still positive with Hirschman going on to say that Duffy hopes to return to the track sometime in the second half of this year. Hirschman and Pee Dee Motorsports will return to action March 17 at Myrtle Beach Speedway (SC) for the season opener for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. If you or anyone you know wants to donate to the Duffy family, follow the link to the Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/dennis-duffys-medical-expenses
-Story by: Connor Sullivan, Speed51.com Northeast Editor – Twitter: @Connor51CT
Friday, Feb 16 - New Smyrna - 2nd
A week of ups and downs ended on a high note for Ryan Preece Friday night at New Smyrna Speedway (FL). Preece took the lead from Matt Hirschman on lap 65 and drove away for his third career Richie Evans Memorial 100 victory.For Preece, the win this time around means even more given that this year’s race honored the late Ted Christopher.“To win this race is a big deal because it’s named after Teddy and named after Richie,” Preece said on the FansChoice.TV broadcast. “Teddy was somebody I raced with and he never gave me an inch. He’s pushed me to be the racer I am today. To win this race down here where he used to come, this was his playground, so to win this 100-lapper with his name and Richie’s name means a lot to me. Obviously, I finished the race, so that’s even better.”
Preece’s victory comes after a rollercoaster ride during Florida Speedweeks. A week that began with his No. 6 going for a wild ride at Bronson Speedway (FL) included a pair of DNFs at New Smyrna before ending with a victory in the biggest race of them all.
“I was a little nervous there with about 10 to go,” Preece said. “The car really started to free up and had a twitch but apparently (Hirschman) must have been loosening up or tightening up too. We had a really good race car. (We) really haven’t had the best week here. We had to change a clutch earlier and we’ve had issues all week.”
After leading over half of the 100-lap race, Hirschman held on to finish second and win his first World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing championship. The championship was also the first for the Hirschman family.“We had a good week and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Hirschman said of the championship. “All of the times we’ve come down here I’ve never left satisfied with the week we had. I’m still a little disappointed in what he had. We had a good solid week, we did some things that we never did before and checked some things off the list. Although Hirschman was slightly disappointed with his performance at some points during the week, he recognizes the difficulty of what he accomplished. “I always say that the Turkey Derby is the hardest day of the year for racing, running the two classes we do there, but this is by far the hardest thing with the week-long racing here at New Smyrna,” he said. “It’s an experience for sure, but I’m still probably not going to leave here quite satisfied. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitor Timmy Solomito recorded his best finish of the week with a third-place finish. Ron Silk and Jimmy Blewett rounded out the top five.
-By Brandon Paul, Speed51.com Editor – Twitter: @Brandon_Paul51
-Photo credit: Speed51.com
Richie Evans Memorial 100 Unofficial Results
New Smyrna Speedway (FL) – February 16, 2018
Pos. # Driver
1 6 Ryan Preece
2 60 Matt Hirschman
3 16 Timmy Solomito
4 33 Ron Silk
5 179 Jimmy Blewett
6 25 Calvin Carroll
7 71 Jimmy Zacharias
8 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
9 07 Patrick Emerling
10 5 Kyle Ebersole
11 22 Chuck Hossfeld
12 32 Tyler Rypkema
13 64 Amy Catalano
14 45 Timmy Catalano
15 40 Kyle Trayner
16 23 Joe DeGracia
17 4 Jeff Gallup
18 58 Eric Goodale
19 25N Nikki Carroll
20 54 Tommy Catalano
21 2 Ronnie Williams
22 70 Jeremy Gerstner
23 71M Matt Montineri
24 46L Craig Lutz
25 63 Austin Pickens
Thursday, Feb 15 - New Smyrna - 4th
One night after finishing second in the John Blewett III Memorial, Patrick Emerling improved by one spot to record his first career World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing victory Thursday night at New Smyrna Speedway. Emerling took the lead from Craig Lutz with five laps remaining and pulled away during the final laps to score the elusive win. “It’s awesome for us. This is our first time down here in three or four years,” Emerling said on FansChoice.TV. “I used to come down here every year and we never had a win here; we had a lot of seconds. We always were very competitive down here.”The driver from Orchard Park, NY set fast time in qualifying for the first time this week before pulling an invert of eight. He patiently worked his way to the front of the field before making his move to the inside of Lutz on lap 30.“The redraw didn’t really favor us tonight but things finally played out our way a little bit,” Emerling stated. “We have been tuning on our car all week and we got it even better for tonight. We had that thing was so fast, it was perfect. I just slid it in on Lutz there. I just didn’t want to lose one; I wanted to win one so bad. I finally did.”Lutz held on to finish second after leading most the 35-lap feature.
“I can’t thank my guys enough for turning the week around,” Lutz said. “We’ve got fast cars; we’re just looking for that little bit. Hopefully tomorrow will be the night.”
Polesitter Ron Silk earned his best finish of the week with a third. Current Tour-type Modified points leader Matt Hirschman and Eric Goodale rounded out the top five.
The Tour-type Modifieds will be back in action for their biggest race of the week, the Richie Evans Memorial 100, Friday night.
-By Brandon Paul, Speed51.com Editor – Twitter: @Brandon_Paul51
New Smyrna Speedway (FL) – February 15, 2018
Pos. # Driver
1 07 Patrick Emerling
2 46L Craig Lutz
3 33 Ron Silk
4 60 Matt Hirschman
5 58 Eric Goodale
6 22 Chuck Hossfeld
7 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
8 54C Tommy Catalano
9 71M Jimmy Zacharias
10 46G Jeff Goodale
11 2 Ronnie Williams
12 5 Kyle Ebersole
13 63 Austin Pickens
14 16 Timmy Solomito
15 4 Jeff Gallup
16 25 Calvin Carroll
17 23 Joe DeGracia
18 32 Tyler Rypkema
19 25N Nikki Carroll
20 179 Jimmy Blewett
21 70 Jeremy Gerstner
22 40 Kyle Trayner
23 6 Ryan Preece
24 17 Danny Bohn
25 64 Amy Catalano
26 45C Timmy Catalano
Wednesday, February 14 - New Smyrna - Win
Matt Hirschman did what he does best Wednesday night at New Smyrna Speedway. The driver known as “Big Money Matt” conserved his tires and pounced at the right time to win his first career John Blewett III Memorial 76.
“This night and this interview is going to be about what this race is about, the John Blewett III Memorial. I’ve never won this race and I’ve always wanted to win this one,” Hirschman said on the FansChoice.TV broadcast. “We probably don’t really realize just how young John died and what he would have accomplished still in his career as good as he was. I was just getting to the point where we were probably going to battle for a lot of wins. We’ve won the Evans race before and it’s good to win this one now.” Hirschman received additional inspiration as his crew member Dennis Duffy watched on from the Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach. Duffy suffered a leg injury Monday at New Smyrna Speedway and has since been hospitalized. “First and foremost, one of my guys got his leg broke here and he’s watching on FansChoice still from Halifax,” Hirschman said. “Hopefully he’s out tomorrow and maybe he can even join us here Friday night.”
Ryan Preece led the early portion of the John Blewett III Memorial before Patrick Emerling took the lead on a lap 56 restarts. Preece would wrestle the lead back before giving it up to Hirschman for good on lap 64. Emerling eventually made his way by Preece to finish second and record his third straight podium finish. “I really want to win down here, but strategy just didn’t work out for us,” Emerling said. “I was trying to wear Ryan out and Matt was just back there saving his tires a little bit. The last caution just kind of got us because I got a little bit of wheel spin on that last restart.” Craig Lutz also made his way by Preece in the closing laps to finish third. Preece and Tommy Catalano, who arrived to the track late, rounded out the top five.
-By Brandon Paul, Speed51.com Editor – Twitter: @Brandon_Paul51
-Photo credit: Speed51.com
John Blewett III Memorial 76 Unofficial Results
New Smyrna Speedway (FL) – February 14, 2018
Pos. # Driver
1 60 Matt Hirschman
2 07 Patrick Emerling
3 46L Craig Lutz
4 6 Ryan Preece
5 54C Tommy Catalano
6 16 Timmy Solomito
7 17 Danny Bohn
8 71 Jimmy Zacharias
9 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
10 22 Chuck Hossfeld
11 4 Jeff Gallup
12 45C Timmy Catalano
13 58 Eric Goodale
14 2 Ronnie Williams
15 40 Kyle Trayner
16 25 Calvin Carroll
17 71M Matt Montineri
18 75 Jeremy Gerstner
19 70 John Gerstner
20 32 Tyler Rypkema
21 5 Kyle Ebersole
22 33 Ron Silk
23 63 Austin Pickens
24 25N Nikki Carroll
25 23 Joe DeGracia
26 49 Chris Young
27 64 Amy Catalano
Tuesday, February 13 - 2nd
When Ryan Preece arrives at a Florida race track in February he is expected to be one of the contenders. On Saturday at Bronson Speedway, Preece didn’t even see the green flag after a massive practice crash. On Monday at New Smyrna Speedway, Preece dominated most of the 50-lap race before a mechanical failure sidelined him prematurely. But on Tuesday night, Preece’s fortune finally changed in his favor as he scored the win in the 35-lap Tour-type Modified feature.
Preece took the lead from Matt Hirschman just prior to the halfway mark and never looked back. “When you beat that guy right there in that 60 car that’s saying something,” said Ryan Preece on the FansChoice.TV broadcast in victory lane. “All of these guys behind me have worked their butts off this week. This is just awesome. This is definitely the way I wanted to start off yesterday, but to be able to do it tonight makes it a little sweeter.”
Early in the race Preece and Hirschman ran an identical lap time to the thousandth of a second. Even after Preece took the lead, he and Hirschman were still running mostly identical lap times until just a few laps to go. “I knew I had a really good car,” explained Preece. “He was better than me in some places, and I was better than him. Ultimately, the hole opened up and I got underneath him and got a run. Once I got by him we were kind of even and then I was able to inch away.”
At the end of 35 laps, it was Preece across the line first followed by Hirschman, Jimmy Blewett, Patrick Emerling and Timmy Solomito. Preece told Speed51.com reporters before the evening began that he was hoping his bad luck would change at some point this week. He said he wasn’t even hoping for good luck, but instead to just have no luck at all.
“We’ve done our homework. I don’t want any luck. I want to make my own way to victory lane,” said Preece. “We started fourth and got some breaks, but we earned our way here.”
1 6 Ryan Preece
2 60 Matt Hirschman
3 179 Jimmy Blewett
4 07 Patrick Emerling
5 16 Timmy Solomito
6 58 Eric Goodale
7 5 Kyle Ebersole
8 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
9 17 Danny Bohn
10 71 Jimmy Zacharias
11 46L Craig Lutz
12 25 Calvin Carroll
13 4 Jeff Gallup
14 46G Jeff Goodale
15 63 Austin Pickens
16 64 Amy Catalano
17 45C Timmy Catalano
18 23 Joe DeGracia
19 70 John Gerstner
20 10T Tom Tohn
21 25N Nikki Carroll
22 22 Chuck Hossfeld
23 75 Jeremy Gerstner
24 33 Ron Silk
25 7NY Jon McKennedy
26 40 Kyle Trayner
27 71M Matt Montineri
28 2 Ronnie Williams
Monday, Feb 12 - New Smyrna World Series Night #4 (Monday) - Matt 4th
1 7NY Jon McKennedy
2 5 Kyle Ebersole
3 22 Chuck Hossfeld
4 60 Matt Hirschman
5 07 Patrick Emerling
6 2 Ronnie Williams
7 17 Danny Bohn
8 25 Calvin Carroll
9 58 Eric Goodale
10 4 Jeffrey Gallup
11 83 Mike Willis, Jr.
12 40 Kyle Trayner
13 63 Austin Pickens
14 75 Jeremy Gerstner
15 71M Matt Montineri
16 64 Amy Catalano
17 23 Joe DeGracia
18 45C Timmy Catalano
19 10T Tom Tohn
20 46L Craig Lutz
21 6 Ryan Preece
22 32 Tyler Rypkema
23 179 Jimmy Blewett
24 16 Timmy Solomito
25 94 Al Emmarino
26 25N Nikki Carroll
27 46G Jeff Goodale
28 71 Jimmy Zacharias
29 33 Ron Silk
30 2X Tim Lento
31 70 John Gerstner
Tour Type Modifieds came to Bronson Speedway to start 2018 race year while taking a winter break. Making the trip to warm and sunny Florida weather, fourteen teams came to be the victor.
The first day of action on the track brought with it a lot of excitement as teams shook cars out. During afternoon practice Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT became the first one out when the #6 TS Haulers modified’s throttle stuck going into turn one. As the videos captured by spectators show, the car launch over the first turn cement barriers jetted in the air and came to rest in the grassy field outside the track. Preece was able to get out of the car unscathed after the “Dukes of Hazards” type ride. The crew worked on the #6 evaluating the damage and after close examination they packed the car in the hauler to head back to New Smyrna area. With a bent frame, the modified needs extensive work if it can be repaired. The team’s primary car stayed at New Smyrna ready for New Smyrna Speedway Speedweek racing. Eric Goodale of Riverhead, NY through the luck of the draw started the race on the pole. When the green flag flew he found himself out powered as Craig Lutz of Miller Place, NY who rocketed the #46 modified to the lead position. Goodale lost his momentum and was back in fifth by lap 5. Matt Hirschman from Northampton, PA set fast time and after the redraw he found himself in third on race start. Hirschman took advantage of the situation and slid into second. Lutz led the field for thirty-nine circuits holding off Hirschman’s persistent threats. Then on lap 40, Hirschman got way under Lutz in turn four to pass him for the top position. Once in the lead, there was no stopping Hirschman. “It is a fun track to drive. Last year was the first time that I came here. Last year I came close to a win but I did not close the deal. This year I was in the same kind of position. The laps were winding down so I ran Craig as hard as I could there to see if he would slip up. Then finally I was able to get up underneath him and get by. So it was kind of a little redemption to close the deal here.” Making the most of his late race crash in 2017, Hirschman took his notes and improved. “I learned a lot last year. We were pretty much where we needed to be today,” confessed Hirschman. “It is great to start the week off with a win. We still have some much work and racing ahead of us. But we will enjoy the win here a little bit and then get back to work. Hopefully there are more wins that come this week” Hirschman is known as “Big Money Matt” when it comes to short track racing and once again he showed us why. “It is good to get a win at a new track, it is definitely my bread and butter.” Stated Hirschman living up to his nick name. “It is just great to be down here and the weather is excellent. Bronson is a fun track to race on. Short tracks are my strength and when the tires go away and get slick on a short track that it is my real strength.” “On this track it is all about the car and driver and their ability to hook things up.” Hirschman explained. “For his first time here, Craig did real well. If he comes back here next year he will become more of a threat then he was tonight.” Twenty-three year old Lutz beat out Goodale for the lead on the race start. He defended his territory until slick Hirschman made a very strong move under him with ten to go. It was Lutz’s first time racing at Bronson Speedway and he ran it like a pro. “First time here it was an awesome night for us,” exclaimed Lutz. “I missed it a little on the time trials but got lucky with the redraw to start on the outside of the front row. I had good restarts all day to try to get out there with quick pace but they call him ”Big Money Matt” for a reason. All in all it was an awesome day for our team. Hopefully we can carry the momentum in to New Smyrna.” Hirschman had tried his move under Lutz in turn four several times before he finally got the car to stick. Lutz’s held his own and made Hirschman work for the position. Lutz described the race action: “Matt and I bumped a little bit which was just good hard racing. I was trying to keep my line and he was trying to get by me. Matt is a good clean driver so you do not have to worry getting wrecked by him.” Lutz had a solid second in the end. Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, NY went from third in time trials to sixth to start the race. On a fast slick track that was not where he wanted to be. “The race was not too bad. I just did not have the race position from beginning. We started sixth the starts just did not really help us.” acknowledged Emerling. “All in all it was a decent race but I just did not have the track position that I wanted. I just ran my own line for a while but we could have used a caution that would have really helped us out. We ran on the bottom for two or three laps and caught up to second. But who knows if we would have had anything for the #60. Matt had a pretty good run. For the first night and finishing up in the top three is good. It is our first time here and we tried new stuff was positive for us. We will take our stuff and go to New Smyrna.” Ronnie Williams finished fourth, and Eric Goodale fifth. Ken Barry, Chuck Hossfeld, Jeff Gallup, Chris Young and Kyle Trayner round off the top ten finishers. Drivers will now make the ride southeast to New Smyrna Speedway for five nights of modified racing. Join us back for live updates all week as we take you through the action both on and off the track.
Hirschman Heading South Again to Kick Off 2018 Season
This past February, one of the hottest topics entering the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing was the return of Matt Hirschman to the State of Florida and how he and the fledgling Pee Dee Motorsports No. 60 team would perform. Despite an unfortunate start after a collision with Ryan Preece at Bronson Speedway, Hirschman collected a win six days later at New Smyrna Speedway in the Richie Evans Memorial 100 and finished second in the World Series Tour-type Modified standings
What followed was a season for the ages in 2017, with ‘Big Money Matt’ living up to his moniker once again.
Now with 2018 fast approaching, Hirschman is set to begin the year in Florida again. This time around, he’s hoping to get off to an even better start.
Last year was probably the best overall Speedweeks that I’ve ever had, and not that I’ve done a lot of them, but that was definitely the most consistent and best performing Speedweeks we’ve ever had,” Hirschman told Speed51.com powered by JEGS. “We’re looking forward to trying to build on that. I think Ryan Preece and I were the top two there last year. We both got wins and we were one-two several nights, so hopefully we can improve on last year.”
Hirschman’s Speedweeks campaign is expected to include the ‘Kickoff to Speedweeks’ at Bronson Speedway on Saturday, February 10 and the five nights of Modified racing from February 12 – 16 at New Smyrna Speedway during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.
Once again, Hirschman will race for the still fresh Pee Dee Motorsports team, which made its first Speedweeks appearance in 2017. The team will move forward in 2018 with much of the same equipment and personnel.
“We made our debut in late 2016 and we don’t race a lot, so our equipment is in good shape. It’s just a matter of building together as a team, learning more about the car and the crew getting acclimated to the different things we are doing,” Hirschman stated. “Not all the same stuff we do with RoC and Tri-Track is the same; we’ve mixed it up. We’ve done some Whelen Modified shows and some open shows near the end of the year. We’ve been doing a little of everything and it just takes some getting used to.”
While Pee Dee Motorsports will run the southern big shows and select NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events, Hirschman’s family team is set to run a menagerie of races in the Northeast once again.
“It will probably be similar to last year. We had such a good year that I really don’t plan to change up too much,” he stated. “We’re definitely looking forward to seeing more Tri-Track races, and we’ll mix in RoC races, local stuff in Pennsylvania, a few Whelen Modified races, and the typical later season open shows that we traditionally do. It’s still a little early, not everything is finalized yet, so it’s hard to put together a schedule now.”
Following a season-opening run in February and March, Hirschman took a breather for the month of April, only to break out starting in May and set the Northeast racing scene on fire. It is a plan that Hirschman is looking to again in 2018.
“Doing the winter races in February and then if we do races in March, is like its own season. Then the regular season gets going May, June and then right through into the fall. It’s a long season and you really extended it by starting in February,” Hirschman began. “Realistically, we will be starting in the beginning of February this year and race the Thanksgiving weekend. That only really leaves December and January as off months. So, that’s a ten-month season and there is a lot more bigger races later in the year. So, if we are going to skip some races or have a lighter schedule, we would take a break in the spring when there isn’t a lot of big races. That was the case this year, we raced in February and March and we needed to regroup and really prepare for the season, which gets busier as the year goes on. So it worked out, you’ll probably see something similar this year.”
Hirschman’s 2017 season will be remembered as a legendary one, winning half of his 34 starts. He knows that the one thing more difficult will be duplicating or eclipsing that string of success in 2018.
“When you are on a roll and momentum is on your side you really hate to see the season end. Because next year when we start is a brand-new year, you start with zero for wins. Every year is different and it’s kind of a roller coaster ride really,” he said. “Just two years ago I won three races all year; this past year we won 17 and had streaks of seven and six wins. It’s not easy but like I said, if you get momentum rolling in your program and everybody on your team is performing at a high level you can achieve some great things, and that’s the kind of season we had this year. Hopefully we can stay focused and build on that on to start the season off and we can pick up where we left off.”
Hirschman will kick off his season during the 52nd Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. The Tour-type Modifieds will race five straight nights beginning on February 12 and culminating with the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Friday, February 16.
-By: Connor Sullivan, Speed51.com CT, MA, RI & Long Island Editor – Twitter: @Connor51CT
