2023

Matt Hirschman Wins Wreck-Filled Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway on November 25

The 50th running of the annual Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway was full of caution flags and wrecked race cars, with 'Big Money' Matt Hirschman scoring the victory.

]The 50th running of the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway in Wall, New Jersey was plagued by a number of caution flags throughout the event, but in the end it was pole-sitter ‘Big Money’ Matt Hirschman scoring his eight victory in the prestigious event at the 0.333-mile speedway. Saturday night’s win was Hirschman’s fifth win in the last six Turkey Derby events and secured him a $15,000 payday. “They advertised the demo derby was tomorrow, but it’s been going all weekend. Nobody’s giving an inch and everybody’s fighting for everything but we wrecked a lot of race cars, spent a lot of time under caution,” Hirschman said after climbing from the car. “Last night I thought we were in the catbird seat for something possibly to happen last night and I did but I just got spun out the lap before that, and tonight we were kind in the same position again and this time we capitalize so I can’t complain. Got one out of two. “It’s always nice to season with a big win,” he added. “I always say Turkey Derby wins are special, they carry you into the off-season. Just appreciate Hirschman was followed by Stephen Kopcik, who overcame an early-race incident and avoided the plethora of other cautions to finish second.“Second place, can’t complain about that with how tonight went,” said Kopcik. “(We) wrecked too many race cars. It’s a shame. I don’t know what everyone was doing out there. It’s too bad. All-in-all, Turkey Derby weekend, I had a car that could win last night in the Wall mod race and to finish second to Matt here in the big race, really can’t complain too much but we’ll go home and work on it. We’ll get a little better and see if we can contend.”
With less than 20 laps to go, the battle for the lead tightened up between the top three cars, Andy Jankowiak, Andrew Krause and Hirschman. The beating-and-banging at the front of the field continued as the leaders worked through traffic and the laps clicked away.With just eight laps to go, Krause got into the left rear tire of Jankowiak. The contact sent Jankowiak spinning and Krause tangled up with the No. 73. Hirschman was able to avoid the incident at the last minute by going low in the corner and assuming the race lead with Stephen Kopcik on his back bumper.On the ensuing restart, Hirschman took off and never looked back.  Hirschman laid down the fastest lap in the day’s qualifying session with a lap of 11.898 seconds, and took command of the race on a restart on Lap 76 of the 150-lap event. While there was good racing throughout the event, the story of the 50th running of the Turkey Derby was the repeated caution flags and incidents that plagued the event. The first caution flew on the opening lap, and it was far from over from there. On a restart following the second caution of the night, the yellow immediately flew again for two separate incidents. Coming to the green Stephen Kopcik was spun to the infield while at the front of the field leader Danny Bohn made contact with second-place Anthony Sesely Race officials penalized Bohn for rough driving for causing the incident, but with Sesely unable to continue due to excessive damage Bohn was disqualified from the event and parked. Despite being out front, Bohn’s race ended after just 28 laps. During the fourth caution of the day on Lap 74, Sesely rejoined the race many laps down. 
Most of the field hit pit road under caution on Lap 103, including Hirschman, who was then mired mid-pack behind cars that had hit pit road under earlier cautions, including Jankowiak. Following that Lap 103 incident, the field had seven cautions in a row when the field attempted to restart. From stalled cars to crashes, the green flag flew only to be followed immediately by the yellow multiple times. These repeated cautions, and a fast car, helped Hirschman work his way through the field and back into contention. The largest incident of the night took place on a late restart when the front row got together coming off Turn 4 to restart after a string of cautions. Race leader Andy Jankowiak made contact with second-place runner Timmy Solomito, sending Solomito’s No. 66 into the outside wall in front of the entire field. A host of cars piled into the back of the stopped car, bringing out the red flag for an event. NASCAR Cup Series championship tire changer Ryan Flores worked his way from sixth to second in the final LCQ to advance to the 150-lap main event, but the New Jersey native had an issue in the opening laps of the race and pulled his car into the infield after just seven laps.


HIRSCHMAN AND SOLOMITO ARE WALL STADIUM TURKEY DERBY MODIFIED WINNERS

WALL, NJ ~ Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. and Timmy Solomito of Center Moriches, NY were the big winners on Friday and Saturday in Modified stock car main events at Wall Stadium Speedway. The 50th edition of the Turkey Derby was presented in the memory of long-time racing supporter Tom Wanick, Jr.  In Saturday's Tour Modified 150-lap race, Hirschman started tenth in the 27 car field and patiently worked his way into the top five by lap 30. Andy Jankowiak led the first half of the event before Andrew Krause and Hirschman moved to the front to battle for the lead. On lap 103 Hirschman, Krause and others ducked into the pit area for a tire change while Jankowiak moved to the lead after an earlier tire change. Jankowiak and Solomito then fought for the lead before Solomito's effort was ruined in a turn four crash.Jankowiak then paced the field while Krause and Hirschman advanced to second and third. Jankowiak and Krause then wrestled for the win in the closing laps before the duo tangled and spun in the first turn with a handful of laps remaining. That handed the lead and eventual $15,000 win to Hirschman while Stephen Kopcik, Patrick Emerling, Ronnie Williams and Dave Sapienza wrapped up the top five.
In Friday's Wall/SK Modified 100-lapper Kopcik, Solomito, Krause and others were the stars for much of the distance as they battled for the win. In the closing laps they swapped the top spot before Solomito moved the the front and took the $6,000 win. Eddie McCarthy raced to the second place finish, with Hirschman, Carsten DiGiantomasso and Kopcik completing the top five

TOUR MODIFIED FEATURE - 150 Laps - 1. MATT HIRSCHMAN, NORTHAMPTON, PA. 2. Stephen Kopcik, 3. Patrick Emerling, 4. Ronnie Williams, 5. Dave Sapienza, 6. Steven Reed, 7. Brian Robie, 8. Jimmy Zacharias, 9. Austin Beetrs, 10. Andrew Krause, 11. Kyle Scisco, 12. Tommy Martino, Jr., 13. Andy Jankowiak, 14. Tyler Truex, 15. Ricky Collins, 16. Ron Frees, 17. Jimmy Blewett, 18. Timmy Solomito, 19. Eddie McCarthy, 20. Jack Ely, 21. Joey Merlino, 22. Blake Barney, 23. Anthony Sesely, 24. Danny Bohn, 25. Dillon Steuer, 26. Ryan Flores, 27. Matt Swanson

WALL/SK MODIFIED FEATURE - 100 Laps - 1. TIMMY SOLOMITO, CENTER MORICHES, NY, 2. McCarthy, 3. Hirschman, 4. Carsten DiGiantomasso, 5. Kopcik, 6. Sesely, 7. Shaun Carrig, 8. Krause, 9. Blewett, 10 Jake Nelke, 11. Martino, 12. Jonathan Mandato, 13. Jarret DiGiantomasso, 14. Richie Cooper, 15. Emerling, 16. Dom Fattaruso, 17. James Pritchard, 18. Chas Okerson, 19. Derek Hopkinson, 20. Truex, 21. Chris Reynolds, 22. Tyler Ferris, 23. Barney, 24. Adam LaCicero


Matt Hirschman Finally Conquers Riverhead Raceway In The Islip 300 on November 11

by Rob Blount
Matt Hirschman Finally Conquers Riverhead Raceway In The Islip 300
It's hard to believe there are still tracks out there at which Matt Hirschman doesn't have a win. Amazingly, there are still some, and until Saturday night, Riverhead Raceway was one of them. Incredibly, the entire Hirschman family had never won at the challenging Long Island quarter-mile bullring. But Hirschman finally conquered the track in Saturday's seventh annual Islip 300. Hirschman looked like he would finally break the family's winless streak at Riverhead in last year's Islip 300, but late contact while battling for the lead forced him to finish third that night. This year, Hirschman made sure there wouldn't be any late-race contact as he drove away from the field in the waning laps. The Northampton, Pennsylvania driver dominated most of the race, taking the lead early after qualifying in the second place. Hirschman led much of the way aside from when he was cycled to the middle of the field after pit stops. When Hirschman got back to the lead, he stayed there, driving away from challengers like Timmy Solomito, Justin Bonsignore, and Craig Lutz. In the end, Hirschman took the victory over Mark Stewart, Solomito, Roger Turbush, and Kyle Ellwood.Winning Quote From Matt Hirschman
"This thing was fast out of the box today. I always thought I didn't like the track, but maybe I just didn't like the cars I was driving because this thing was good today. I could do what I wanted with it, and I never had a car here that did that. I think the Hirschman's have been coming here since 1989 and we've never left here with a trophy. A lot of times we left here cursing that Indian out in the street. This is one a lot of people thought I'd never check off the list." - Matt Hirschman

2023 Islip 300 Results

1Matt Hirschman
2Mark Stewart
3Timmy Solomito
4 Roger Turbush
5 Kyle Ellwood
6 Owen Grennan
7 Paulie Hartwig III
8 Dylan Slepian
9 Jack Handley Jr.
10 Dave Sapienza
11 Justin Brown
12 Matthew Brode
13 JR Bertuccio
14 Justin Bonsignore
15 Craig Lutz
16 Chris Young
17 JB Fortin
18 Chase Grennan
19 John Beatty Jr.
20 Lou Strohl
21 Andy Jankowiak
22 Allan Pedersen
23 Walter Sutcliffe
24 Tom Rogers Jr.


Matt Hirschman and Lou Strohl heading to Riverhead November 11 for the Islip 300

It was a successful racing weekend for two veteran drivers out of Pennsylvania, “Money” Matt Hirschman scored his ninth career win in the John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout at Caraway, NC Speedway, while Lou Strohl was victorious in the Tom Wanick Jr. Memorial King of the Green event at Evergreen, Pa. Raceway. Both drivers hope to ride a wave of momentum into the 7th annual Islip 300 this Saturday November 11th at Riverhead Raceway. 
For Matt Hirschmann of Northampton, Pa. the fall of 2023 has been just what the doctor ordered after missing some time due to an arm injury suffered in August. Over the past three weekends Matt has visited victory lane at least once, starting with his October 22nd triumph in the Monaco Ford Tri-Track Series event at the Waterford Speedbowl. Last weekend Hirschman followed up with a win in the NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway before his latest North-South triumph at Caraway. The soft-spoken Hirschman spiced things up Saturday when he accepted a challenge to start the John Blewett III Memorial at the tail of the 22-car field earning him an additional bonus. For the Islip 300 Saturday Matt will once again strap into the Alan Dering owned Elite Towing Modified, a car he piloted to third place honors in the 2022 event behind race winner Anthony Nocella and runner-up John Beatty Jr. Dering, longtime sponsor of four-time track champion Bill Park became a car owner in 2022 teaming up with Matt Hirschman for select races. The car is prepared in the Baker Racing shop by Long Island racing veteran Daryl Baker of Staria Automotive.For Lou Strohl, veteran Modified driver out of Palmerton, Pa. it had been since 2007 he had won a race at Evergreen Raceway Park. That all changed Saturday when he took down the 111-lap Tom Wanick Jr. Memorial win. Post race, Strohl told Evergreen media director Dino Oberto about a deal car owner Matt Higgins made him, “on the way up here, Matt made a deal with me, he told me if we win the King of the Green we’re going to run the Islip 300 at Riverhead.” Strohl revealed, but Lou then made a deal of his own with Higgins. “I told Matt if we win the 300, then we’re going to the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium”. Strohl comes to the 300 enjoying recent success of his own, winning the recent Greg & Rich Long Tribute 97 at his home track, Mahoning Valley Speedway. The Strohl/Higgins team also took the 2023 Modified championship at Mahoning.
For Strohl’s owner Matt Higgins, racing the Islip 300 is a home coming of sorts. Higgins grew-up in the shadows of Islip Speedway, and eventually started racing Mini Modified against fellow Islip area residents Jerry Solomito Sr. and Butch Capauno, remaining friends with both to this day. After relocating to Brodheadsville, Pa., Higgins started and continues to operate Matt’s Garage & Matt’s Towing. On Friday Higgins disclosed he is hoping to bring a second car to the Islip 300 for Zane Zeiner of Bath, Pa. Registration for the Islip 300 remains open at http://www.riverheadraceway.com and is free up until Thursday November 9th. A late fee of $150 will be added after the deadline. Pits for the Islip 300 open at 7:30 am with Tour Type Modified tire draw starting also. A 9:00 am drivers meeting will be followed by a 45-minute Tour Type Modified practice from 10:15 am through 11:00 am. Qualifying starts at 12:00 noon, opening ceremonies to follow. Joining the Islip 300 is the General Welding Supply Corp. 50, a $2,500 to win 602 Crate Modified event, the HIGHMARK Building Efficiency 40, $2,000 to win INEX Legend Race Car feature and the Eddie Partridge Vintage All Stars. In the event of rain, the Islip 300 program would shift to Saturday November 18th. 

Matt Hirschman Claims Ninth North-South Shootout Win at Caraway on November 4
"Big Money" has now won the Modified showcase nine times, including three consecutive runnings of the event since 2021.

Matt Hirschman added another North-South Shootout trophy to his collection on Saturday evening at Caraway Speedway. Hirschman held off Patrick Emerling on a late-race restart to collect his ninth win in the 21-year history of the Modified event. Five of those wins have come at Caraway Speedway, with the other four taking place at Concord Speedway."Big Money" also took home some extra money, as he took a promoter's challenge to start at the rear of the field after qualifying on the front row for the 125-lap event.While Hirschman is always a favorite in an event he has dominated and now won in three consecutive years, he had to fight hard to hold off Emerling in the closing laps, including a restart with five laps to go where the two drivers made contact on the frontstretch.“It sure has been great to me, that’s for sure,” said Hirschman. “I’m a little bit winded. It was a long race and there wasn’t a whole lot left there at the end. The way the race started out, I didn’t expect as many cautions late as we had. “There’s just not a whole lot left there at the end. I was struggling to get what grip we had left out of the tires. I don’t know how much gap he had back, but it seemed like it was down to the two of us at the end.” Emerling settled for a second place finish, believing he had the fastest car on the track at race’s end but needed more green flag racing to flex his muscle.  “I’ve got to give it up to the 14 crew,” said Emerling. “We were the fastest car at the end of the race. We were doing everything we could. We had good long run speed. That last caution was kind of inopportune for us. “I’ve got to look at the video,” said about the final restart. “We bumped wheels, and it knocked the steering wheel out of my hands and actually hurt the toe on the car. We were the fastest car, I thought, at the end, but track position is tough here. “We had an awesome car. It’s just how the races go. We’ll move on to the next one. We had some fun out there, and it was our last race of the year. We’ll see everyone down in Florida.”  Two-time North-South Shootout winner Andy Seuss has scaled back his racing efforts in recent years, but proved he can still compete with the best on Saturday night with a third-place finish. However, the result came after a ton of effort to improve his car over the course of the weekend. Furthermore, Seuss had to overcome breaking a wheel early in the race, bouncing back for the podium finish. “We unloaded not in our old form, for sure. We worked on it and worked it. The wheel breaking was interesting and got me down. Eddie Harvey came over the radio and said ‘Both North/South Shootouts we won, we had some adversity, maybe this is a good sign.’“Obviously, they’re two of the best in the Modified game. To be out of it for a while and come back here is awesome. I don’t get to do this a lot anymore, so it’s cool to come back out here."

​
Matt Hirschman Wins NAPA Fall Final Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Feature on October 28, 2023

By Scott Running
Stafford Motor Speedway welcomed the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series to the track for the $15,000 to win NAPA Fall Final.  Matt Hirschman took down the $15k winner’s check after charging into the lead after a mid-race pit stop. The NAPA Fall Final took the green flag with Woody Pitkat and Glen Reen leading the field to the green flag thanks to their first and second place finishes respectively in the August Lincoln Tech 80.  Pitkat took the early lead at the drop of the green flag with Matt Galko getting around Reen for second.  Marcello Rufrano was fourth with Matt Hirschman in fifth when the caution came out with 3 laps complete for David Arute, who came to a stop in turn 3 after spinning through the grass.Galko charged into the lead on the restart with Rufrano taking second.  Pitkat fell back to third in line with Hirschman fourth Reen fifth.  Stephen Kopcik went by Reen to take over fifth place on lap-8 with Ronnie Williams taking sixth to drop Reen back to seventh place as Galko continued to lead Rufrano and Pitkat at the front of the field.With 20 laps in the books, Galko was still out front in the lead followed by Rufrano, Pitkat, Hirschman, and Williams.  Ronnie Silk was sixth followed by Kopcik, Jake Johnson, Eric Goodale, and Chris Pasteryak.  The caution came back out with 26 laps complete for Arute, who spun on the backstretch. Galko took the lead back under green with Rufrano in second.  Pitkat was third with Williams and Hirschman making up the top-5.  The caution came right back out with 27 laps complete for a spin at the entrance to turn 3 by Noah Korner. Rufrano got a good run on the outside of Galko and nearly took the lead on the restart but Galko was able to maintain the lead.  The caution came back out with 29 laps complete for spins in turn 4 by RJ Marcotte and Mikey Flynn with George Bessette, Jr. spun on the frontstretch. Galko again took the lead on the restart with Rufrano in second.  Hirschman and Williams were side by side for third with Pitkat in fifth.  Hirschman got clear of Williams on lap-31 and he then took second from Rufrano on lap-32.  At the halfway point of the race Galko was still in the lead with Hirschman right behind him in second.  Williams was third with Rufrano and Pitkat making up the top-5.  Eric Goodale was up to sixth followed by Silk, Michael Christopher, Jr., Max Zachem, and Craig Lutz.  Reen spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution out with 48 laps complete. Under the caution, the lead cars all came to pit road for 2 new tires and adjustments.  Hirschman on the race off pit road followed by Joey Cipriano, Goodale, Williams, Pitkat, Silk, Teddy Hodgdon, Zachem, Rufrano, and Galko.  With several cars staying out on the track, Craig Lutz was the new race leader back under green with Kopcik, Johnson, Hirschman, and Joey Mucciacciaro lined up behind him.  Hirschman took third from Johnson on lap-50 and he went by Kopcik to move into second place on lap-53.  Hirschman completed his charge back to the front by taking the lead from Lutz on lap-55.  Kopcik was still third at this point with Johnson fourth and Silk back up to fifth.  Silk took fourth from Johnson on lap-57 and that move allowed Pitkat to follow him by Johnson to take fifth and drop Johnson back to sixth.Silk took third place from Kopcik on lap-60 while Galko went by Pitkat to take fifth on lap-61.  Silk went by Lutz to move into second on lap-63 and Galko took fourth from Pitkat on lap-66.  Silk closed down the gap to Hirschman in the closing laps but he couldn’t get close enough to make a bid for the lead as Hirschman took the checkered flag to win the NAPA Fall Final.  Silk finished second with Galko, Lutz, and Pitkat rounding out the top-5.

1    Matt Hirschman    60    5        
2    Ronnie Silk    16    11        
3    Matt Galko    3ct    4        
4    Craig Lutz    46    18        
5    Woody Pitkat    88    1        
6    Marcello Rufrano    48    6        
7    Eric Goodale    58    17        
8    Stephen Kopcik    1    7        
9    Jake Johnson    15ma    10        
10    Bryan Narducci    3    21        
11    Ronnie Williams    50    15        
12    Michael Christopher, Jr.    00    22        
13    Matt Swanson    25    29        
14    Chris Pasteryak    75ct    3        
15    Tyler Hines    99    24        
16    RJ Marcotte    5ma    23        
17    Brett Meservey    45    28        
18    Noah Korner    31    30        
19    Joey Cipriano    51    20        
20    Anthony Flannery    81    9        
21    Eric Berndt    11ct    27        
22    Tommy Barrett, Jr.    9ma    26        
23    Mikey Flynn    24ma    19        
24    David Arute    75    14        
25    Glen Reen    10a    2        
26    Max Zachem    13    25        
27    Teddy Hodgdon    55ct    13        
28    Joey Mucciacciaro    47    12        
29    George Bessette, Jr.    39    8        
30    Anthony Bello    179    16


Ron Silk earns 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title; Ryan Preece scores second Martinsville victory on October 26

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ron Silk’s championship campaign in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour nearly ended several times during Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway. From narrowly avoiding several multi-car accidents to being shuffled through the field due to diverging pit strategies, Silk kept his No. 16 Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes Modified clean through every obstacle to bring home a sixth-place finish. Even though the final showing was far from his most impressive in 2023, it was enough for Silk to secure the 2023 title, his first in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour since the 2011 season. “It’s awesome,” Silk said. “A lot of effort goes into [the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour] and it’s been a long season. It feels really rewarding to finally win another one.” The year Silk put together on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was more than worthy of a second championship.  After going the entire 2022 season without obtaining a victory, Silk kicked 2023 off in thrilling fashion by holding off a stalwart charge from Justin Bonsignore to take home a checkered flag at New Smyrna Speedway. No one knew it at the time, but the battle between Silk and Bonsignore would set the tone for the rest of 2023. The two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heavyweights exchanged literal and metaphorical blows during the remaining 17 races on the schedule. A solid outing from Silk one race would be followed up by a stellar performance from Bonsignore the next, with neither side giving the other any room to work with. By the time the two championship contenders arrived at Martinsville for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, they each had five victories on the year with almost an identical number of Top 5s and more than 625 laps led apiece to complement their stellar title bids. A bad restart for Bonsignore late in the previous race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park gave Silk a 13-point cushion ahead of the season finale. All Silk needed to do was finish eighth or better on Thursday regardless of how Bonsignore performed. Bonsignore did win one last battle over Silk with a second place run. Despite this, luck ended up favoring Silk when the checkered flag waved, who did everything possible to salvage the finish he needed after several close calls.  “It was kind of weird racing tonight,” Silk said. “Knowing what the scenario was, I tried to keep myself in a decent position most of the night. We got turned around once on the backstretch, but luckily we didn’t hit anything.” Any hopes of Silk and Bonsignore obtaining one last victory to close out 2023 were thwarted by 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece, who dominated in his season debut while driving his own No. 40. Thursday’s triumph proved to be emotional for Preece. He dedicated the victory to his late car owner Eddie Partridge, who guided Preece to 14 victories in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour before his sudden passing just more than two years ago.  “The last time I won on [the NASCAR Whelen Modified] Tour was at Richmond [in 2021] and that was the day I lost one of my best friends [in Eddie Partridge] Preece said. “This is the same car that we bought from [Partridge’s] wife, so [tonight] really hit me.” Preece was also relieved to finally celebrate a traditional victory at Martinsville. Although he earned his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win at the facility in 2008, Preece obtained that milestone after Burt Myers was disqualified, which he admitted left him feeling hollow afterwards. Being able to visit Victory Lane at Martinsville on Thursday was something Preece knew would not come easy. Having raced against drivers like Silk and Bonsignore regularly before progressing into the NASCAR Cup Series, Preece expected them to provide a tough challenge throughout the 200-lap event. While Preece enjoyed his 26th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory, Silk found himself relieved and elated after assembling the best statistical season of his career, which also yielded Haydt Yannone Racing the owner’s title in just their second year as a team.Silk said his inability to win a second championship until now is a testament to how tough the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is every season. Every mistake big or small kept Bonsignore within striking distance all year, but Silk credited everyone at Haydt Yannone Racing for persevering to ensure they would be the ones celebrating a title at Martinsville. “The first thing you need [to win a title] is to have fast cars and a good team behind you,” Silk said. “I had that all year but need to have quite a bit of luck go your way. It doesn’t take too many missteps to find yourself too far behind.” Following Preece and Bonsignore in the running order was Patrick Emerling in third, with Matt Hirschman and Tyler Rypkema completing the top-five.
Seventh place belonged to J.B. Fortin, with the rest of the top-10 finishers consisting of Max McLaughlin, Andrew Krause and Bobby Labonte.

1    40    Ryan Preece    Mizzy Construction    200    
2    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    200    0.977
3    07    Patrick Emerling    Bonesteel Aerospace    200    2.856
4    60    Matt Hirschman    PeeDee Motorsports    200    3.596
5    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    200    3.935
6    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    200    4.937
7    34    JB Fortin    A&R Materials/John’s Fuel Oil    200    7.066
8    77    Max McLaughlin    Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast    200    7.871
9    24    Andrew Krause    Supreme Manufacturing Co.    200    7.995
10    7    Bobby Labonte    Pace-O-Matic/Cook Out/Units/Coca-Cola    200    8.276
11    39    Ryan Newman    Pace-O-Matic/Aggressive Hydraulics/Montrose Molders    200    8.673
12    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprera    200    8.874
13    02    Joey Coulter    SRI Performance/Bilstein Shocks/PFC Brakes    200    9.159
14    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction Inc.    200    9.52
15    04    Brandon Ward    KevinSaysYes.com/Kevin Powell’s Foothill Ford    200    9.686
16    23    Carson Loftin*    Lebleu Bottled Water/L&R Transmissions/Glen Homes LLC    200    10.953
17    20    Edward McCarthy Jr.    McCarthy’s Marine Sales    197    3 Laps
18    10    Dylan Slepian    Eastport Feeds    196    4 Laps
19    3    Bryan Narducci*    Florida Connection    196    4 Laps
20    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    195    5 Laps
21    21    Anthony Bello*    Bello Motorsports/SKM/JB Mgmt    183    17 Laps
22    4    Tim Connolly    Connolly Companies LLC    181    19 Laps
23    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    176    24 Laps
24    09    Chris Hatton*    Generac/HTR Racing/Race Radios Direct    176    24 Laps
25    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feeds    174    26 Laps
26    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Avenue Materials    147    53 Laps
27    70    Andy Seuss    Rockingham Boat    137    63 Laps
28    44    Bobby Santos    Harshaw Paving/Aquidneck Services    134    66 Laps
29    1    Burt Myers    Citrusafe Cleaners    126    74 Laps
30    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    72    128 Laps
31    64    Austin Beers    AP Marquadt & Sons/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors    63    137 Laps
32    79    Eric Berndt    Middlesex Interiors    62    138 Laps
33    59    Andy Jankowiak    KLAS Motorsports/Florida Safety Systems    26    174 Laps
34    28    John-Michael Shenette*    Anglers Choice Marine/Heintz Performance/Eighty-Two Services    19    181 Laps
35    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    4    196 Laps
36    5    Kyle Ebersole    Ebersole Excavating, Inc.    200 Laps

Massachusets Driver Beats Matt Hirschman in The Radford Race at “Motor Mile” on October 1

Fairlawn, VA (October 3, 2023) - Sammy Rameau scores his first SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic win in his first series start.  The Massachusetts driver was victorious in The Radford Race on Sunday (October 1) at Pulaski Motorsports Park in Fairlawn, VA.  He became the 41st winner in series history. Rameau led on two different occasions during the 99-lap race.  He took the lead for good on lap 81 from Connecticut driver Stephen Kopeck, and held off Matt Hirschman, who hails from Pennsylvania, to become the sixth different SMART Modified winner in 2023. ​“Anytime you can beat Bobby Labonte (finished 18th - crash), Ryan Newman (finished 17th - damage) and Matt Hirschman, that’s a good day,” said Rameau, who drives the number-06 Modified for his family-owned team.  “Matt’s someone I looked up to a lot.  He doesn’t know that; I don’t tell him; I don’t really talk to him.  He’s like a doctor when it comes to racing.  He’s the guy to beat.  Winning this race was big; beating Matt Hirschman was bigger.” The only guy to beat Rameau, in anything at PCMP, was Matt Hirschmam.  The 60 turned fast time in qualifying and scored the Pace-O-Matic pole award, while Rameau timed in second quick.  Hirschman led twice in the race and finished in the runner-up position.  Coincidentally, Rameau was fastest in practice as well. Rameau also hoarded a bunch of awards from his first SMART Modified start, including becoming the Jostens Lap Leader of the Race (67 laps led), the winner of Bell Helmets Stage One, the Bankers Life Halfway Leader and the Pace-O-Matic Hard Charger of the Race, by advancing seven positions.  Rameau also set the MJ Printing & Graphics Fastest Lap of the Race on lap seven with a time of 15.482. Andrew Krause put in an impressive performance.  The New Jersey driver had to start at the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment to his car after qualifying due to a right front tire going down during his time trial lap.  Krause ended up third at the end of 99 laps. The top rookie in the series, Carson Loftin, was the highest finishing driver who has not yet won a Tour-Type Modified series event.  His fifth place finish makes him the winner of the Carolina Drilling Blast to the Front award. 
By Bob Dillner - Short Track Life Media Group - Twitter: @shorttracklife_

SMART Modified Tour Race #9
Official Race Results for the Radford Race - 10/1/2023
Tri-County Motor Speedway - Radford, VA - 0.416 mile
Race Length: 99L - 41.184 M - 66.231 KM 

​Fin - Str - Car - Driver
1 8 06ma Sammy Rameau
2 5 60 Matt Hirschman
3 23 24nj Andrew Krause
4 4 2 Brandon Ward
5 3 23 Carson Loftin
6 11 1ct Stephen Kopcik
7 1 1 Burt Myers
8 10 25 Tim Brown
9 13 02 Joey Coulter
10 16 55 Jeremy Gerstner
11 17 8F Chris Finocchario
12 18 18 Daniel Yates
13 6 15 Brian Loftin
14 19 45 Gary Young Jr.
15 2 4 Jason Myers
16 9 7ny Caleb Heady
17 12 39va Ryan Newman
18 15 18va Bobby Labonte
19 24 54 Paul Hall
20 21 11 Michael Ritch
21 7 21 Jimmy Wallace
22 20 v4 Tim Connolly
23 22 8ny Wes Gilbert
24 14 07va Dennis Holdren
25 DNS 5 Tom Buzze Jr.

Time of Race: 0h:53:01 | Cautions: 5 for 22 Laps
Lap Leaders: Rameau 67, B. Myers 14, Hirschman 9, C. Loftin 9
Pace-O-Matic Pole Award: Matt Hirschman (15.069 seconds @ 99.382mph)
Bell Helmets Stage Winner: Sammy Rameau
Jostens Lap Leader: Sammy Rameau
Bankers Life Halfway Leader: Sammy Rameau
Pace-O-Matic Hard Charger Award: Sammy Rameau (+7 Positions)
Carolina Drilling Blast to the Front: Carson Loftin
MJ Printing & Graphics Fastest Lap: Sammy Rameau - 15.482 seconds (Lap 7)
Pace-O-Matic Hard Luck Award: Bobby Labonte
Oval Marketing Free Tire Award: Burt Myers


Matt Hirschman wins inaugural Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 at North Wilkesboro on September 30
By Brandon White  NASCAR.com

NORTH WILKESBORO, North Carolina — Saturday marked the ending of one era at North Wilkesboro Speedway and the beginning of a new one.
The final race on the current North Wilkesboro racing surface that has survived since the early 1980s was the inaugural NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Brushy Mountain Powersports 150. Many of the best Modified drivers from the North and South made the trip to Wilkes County looking to write another chapter in North Wilkesboro’s storied history.Matt Hirschman earned the distinction of winning the first Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 after surviving several late restarts. Hirschman was one of the first to claim a checkered flag during North Wilkesboro’s revival in 2022 and was honored to take another elevator ride to Victory Lane. “This is probably the biggest win of the year,” Hirschman said. “We haven’t won as many races as we did last year, but here’s a big one that rivals many of the things we did last year. I really enjoy coming here and these are memories that will last a lifetime.” There was a brief period where Hirschman was unsure if he would even be able to compete in the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150. A bad crash at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in August left Hirschman sidelined with a broken arm. Being out of the car due to the injury was a frustrating time for Hirschman, but he met the best-case scenario on his prognosis and was back racing by the middle of September.The Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 was Hirschman’s first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race since sustaining that injury. Once he made several laps in practice around North Wilkesboro, Hirschman knew he was in perfect shape both physically and mentally to contend for a victory on Saturday night.Replicating his victory from last August was going to be a more challenging task for Hirschman. Rather than a 50-lap sprint, a 150-lap endurance race required Hirschman and the rest of his competition to be patient and take advantage of opportunistic cautions.After pitting early, Hirschman cycled to the lead of the race before falling to second behind 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman. During the final pit stops of the evening with 40 laps left Hirschman’s team opted for two tires, allowing him to take the lead and eventually the win.“I felt this was going to be a tough race to win tonight,” Hirschman said. “There were so many ideas in my head as to what possibly could work. What ended up happening wasn’t initially my Plan A, but you just never know how these races are going to play out.”If we came back next week to run this race again, what I did tonight probably wouldn’t work.”Even though Hirschman had track position, he still had to play defense during the closing stages. Newman, Doug Coby and Ron Silk all provided Hirschman with strong challenges, but the veteran driver withstood everything that came his way to triumph at North Wilkesboro again.Hirschman considered his North Wilkesboro victory to be one of the most significant of his career alongside the inaugural NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Smyrna Speedway last year. Both events attracted notoriety and large fields, which only motivated Hirschman even further.With North Wilkesboro set to be repaved ahead of the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race, Hirschman found Saturday’s outcome to be bittersweet in many ways, but he is also happy to see the historic track thrive after nearly two decades of being dormant.“I hope this place is here to stay for a long time,” Hirschman said. “It’s going to take a while for this surface to age when they repave the whole thing. For the new surface to have the character it had [on Saturday], I don’t know if it’ll happen during my racing career. “Last year and this year were two different storybook endings and I’m going to remember them for a long time.”Hirschman considers himself fortunate to have played a key part in North Wilkesboro’s revival and hopes to write many more successful chapters at the track on the new surface in the coming years.Silk finished behind Hirschman in the second position with Justin Bonsignore, Eric Goodale and Patrick Emerling completing the Top 5. Newman, Andrew Krause, Cobb, Kyle Ebersole and Bobby Santos III were the rest of the Top 10 finishers.


1    60    Matt Hirschman    PeeDee Motorsports/Coyler Trucking    155    --
2    16    Ron Silk    Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes    155    0.564
3    51    Justin Bonsignore    Phoenix Communications Inc.    155    1.095
4    58    Eric Goodale    GAF Roofing    155    1.213
5    14    Patrick Emerling    Advantage Trucks/Anastasi Trucking    155    1.462
6    39    Ryan Newman    Pace-O-Matic/Aggressive Hydraulics/Montrose Molders    155    1.648
7    24    Andrew Krause    Supreme Manufacturing Co.    155    1.988
8    7    Doug Coby    Mayhew Tools    155    2.201
9    5    Kyle Ebersole    Ebersole Excavating, Inc.    155    2.219
10    44    Bobby Santos III    Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market    155    2.295
11    19    Anthony Sesely    Wanick Construction Inc.    155    2.435
12    32    Tyler Rypkema    Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting    155    2.497
13    34    JB Fortin    A&R Materials/John’s Fuel Oil    155    2.542
14    64    Austin Beers    AP Marquadt & Sons/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors    155    2.905
15    36    Dave Sapienza    Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feeds    155    2.953
16    3    Jake Johnson*    Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks    155    3.376
17    06    Sam Rameau    Quality Fleet Services/Dennison Lubricants    155    3.661
18    1    Burt Myers    Citrusafe Cleaners    155    4.238
19    92    Anthony Nocella    Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas    155    4.433
20    54    Tommy Catalano    FX Caprera    155    4.609
21    22    Kyle Bonsignore    Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto    155    5.185
22    70    Andy Seuss    Rockingham Boat    155    5.406
23    99    Jamie Tomaino    Tony’s Competition Engines    155    5.592
24    04    Brandon Ward    KevinSaysYes.com/Kevin Powell’s Foothill Ford    155    6.165
25    23    Carson Loftin*    L&R Transmissions/Lebleu Bottled Water    155    12.096
26    59    Brett Meservey*    BNP Machine    154    1 Lap
27    21    Jacob Perry*    The Royal Screw Machine Co.    152    3 Laps
28    01    Melissa Fifield    Pine Knoll Auto Sales    149    6 Laps
29    26    Gary McDonald    Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat    147    8 Laps
30    09    Chris Hatton*    Generac/HTR Racing/Race Radios Direct    143    12 Laps
31    77    Gary Putnam    Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast    138    17 Laps
32    18    Ken Heagy    Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant    129    26 Laps
33    38    Bobby Labonte    Pace-O-Matic/Cook Out/Units/Coca-Cola    119    36 Laps
34    82    Craig Lutz    Horton Avenue Materials    110    45 Laps
35    17    Chase Dowling    Start Finish Production/S&S Paving    83    72 Laps
36    4    Tim Connolly    Connolly Companies LLC    40    115 Laps
37    28    John-Michael Shenette *    Eighty-Two Services/Heinz Performance    25    130 Laps
38    20    Edward McCarthy Jr.    McCarthy’s Marine Sales    16    139 Laps

MATT HIRSCHMAN WINS 35TH US OPEN AT LANCASTER ON SEPTEMBER 23
​
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 -
​
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

Matt Hirschman Started Out His Drive for 5 With a Dominating Performance at The Waterford Speedbowl Tri-Track Event. The #60 of Matt Hirschman was in another zip code form the other 40 Competitors that showed up to compete at Waterford on Sunday night. Just another ho-hum dominating performance by the #60 of Hirschman. With 17 laps to go the field restarted for the finale time and the 60 of Hirschman showed just how dominate he was on old tires finishing a full straightaway ahead of the 3rd place finisher of the #50 Ronnie Williams who had made a tire change. Finishing in 2nd and 5 car lengths back was the #1 of Stephan Kopcik who had nothing for The 60 of Hirschman. Just a plain old ass kicking. Hirschman has made the Tri-Track Modified Racing Series his own stomping grounds since its inception. I think Matt is the only driver to win a Championship in the Tri-Track Se

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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