Matt Hirschman wins the LEE Speedway the Granite State Derby on May 27 - Austin Podium 3rd place finish 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
Justin Bonsignore denies Ron Silk, claims 10th win at Riverhead Raceway- Austin gets spun going for 3rd at end
For most of Sunday’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200, it appeared Ron Silk would finally visit Victory Lane at Riverhead Raceway in his 23rd NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start at the track. Instead, Justin Bonsignore ended up celebrating his 10th career Whelen Modified Tour victory at Riverhead. A dominant performance for Silk was undone by a perfect restart from Bonsignore on the outside line with less than 10 laps remaining. Bonsignore subsequently held off Silk during an overtime restart to further establish himself as the most dominant driver at Riverhead in the last decade “Ron and I have been beating the hell out of each other all year,” Bonsignore said. “That caution with 15 to go was good for us, and I got a really good restart after he spun the tires bad. We were beating and banging, and I thought we were going to wreck when that yellow came out but thank God we didn’t. “It’s unbelievable to get No. 10 here and it’s a cool way to get into Victory Lane after a battle like that.”Bonsignore’s dominance at Riverhead dates to 2011 when he earned his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory after leading 158 of the 175 laps.With accomplishments at the facility that include four consecutive victories spanning from 2018-2019, Bonsignore has set a commanding precedent for both full-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitors and track regulars each time the series visits Riverhead.Silk was confident his car was strong enough to outrun Bonsignore heading into the weekend. He quickly wrestled the lead away from Bonsignore after the initial start and methodically controlled the race while navigating his way through slower traffic. The decision by Silk to take the inside line on the penultimate restart ultimately gave Bonsignore the opening he needed to pull ahead and deny the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion the opportunity to add a Riverhead win to his resume.Despite the disappointment, Silk still considered the afternoon a success and believes the speed he showed on Sunday will carry over into the next two Riverhead events on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar. “This is the best car we’ve had here in a while,” Silk said. “I thought I was a little bit better than Justin even after he got by me. The bottom is where you want to be on the restart, but I didn’t do a good enough job and he was able to get in front of me. This is the best we’ve run here so far, and hopefully we’ll do a little better [in the next race].”Bonsignore said Silk’s efficiency in the Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 highlighted just how tough NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins are to obtain, but he added the challenge provided by the series only made his 10th Riverhead victory even more memorable. “Anytime you can win one of these races is special,” Bonsignore said. “We’ve won our fair share over the years, but they never get any easier because everyone is always trying harder each year to take down the previous year’s champion. We had a tough year last year but have had at least a second-place car just about every race.“[If] you put yourself in that position, you’re going to win races.”Bonsignore will have two more chances to add to his Riverhead win total during the 2023 season. His next triumph at the facility will tie him with Mike Ewanitsko, who claimed 11 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins at Riverhead from 1987 to 2000. Defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Jon McKennedy finished third in the Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200, with Tyler Rypkema and Eric Goodale completing the top-five. J.B. Fortin, Patrick Emerling, Jake Johnson, Craig Lutz and Kyle Bonsignore rounded out the top-10 finishers. 1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 212 2 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 212 0.175 3 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Industries 212 0.662 4 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 212 1.402 5 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 212 1.972 6 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 212 2.428 7 07 Patrick Emerling Bonesteel Aerospace 212 2.705 8 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 212 2.714 9 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 212 3.264 10 22 Kyle Bonsignore Bonsignore Performance Tools/Chalew Performance 212 4.486 11 66 Timmy Solomito Highmark/Natural Designs 212 4.902 12 49 Chris Young* Sendlewski Architects 212 5.3 13 60 Kyle Soper Elite Towing/Baker Racing 212 5.386 14 45 Jack Handley, Jr.* Hydro-Action/Suffolk Precast 212 5.438 15 5 John Beatty, Jr. Elite Sound Studios, Inc. 212 5.72 16 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas 212 6.018 17 64 Austin Beers Hughes Motors/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric 212 12.645 18 46 Justin Brown* Riverhead Building Supply 211 1 Lap 19 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 210 2 Laps 20 27 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 209 3 Laps 21 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 209 3 Laps 22 96 Matthew Brode Peter Clark Motorsports 205 7 Laps 23 10 Dylan Slepian Eastport Feeds 196 16 Laps 24 88 Roger Turbush Rheem 196 16 Laps 25 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 171 41 Laps 26 26 Eddie Brunnhoelzl III Lakeland Landscape Supply 79 133 Laps 27 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feeds 79 133 Laps 28 81 Chris Turbush* Mike Smith/Cromers Market 3 209 Laps
AUSTIN BEERS SCORES FIRST-EVER RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES VICTORY AT CHEMUNG SPEEDROME ON MAY 13
AUSTIN THOUGHTS: Got the win tonight at Chemung in my dads car! Very special win for me and was definitely a challenge to hold off the pack behind us! Thank you to Thomas Wanick for making this possible with a great Power Plant under the hood! As well as all of our sponsors: Horwith Freightliner, The Joie of Seating, Jones Racing Products, Tri Boro Fencing Contractors, Bassett Wheels, Troyer Race Cars/ TFR Manufacturing, Quartermaster, ASI Racewear, and The Black Flagged Podcast! Also thank you to all of the crew that helps out week in and week out! Everyone make sure to come to Mahoning Valley Speedway on May 21st for the Thomas Wanick Jr race!
Recap Austin Beers from Northampton, Pa., became the most recent winner of a Race of Champions Modified Series event after he drove to victory lane this past Saturday at the Chemung (NY) Speedrome.Beers started in third and took the lead on lap 6 and survived several restarts and challenges from Daren Scherer of Binghamton, NY and Zane Zeiner of Bath, Pa., before he reached victory lane.“We had a good car today, it was a wild one,” offered Beers. “This track can be tough and it bit some people today. It’s just great to finally get our first Race of Champions victory and driving my Dad’s car of course, this is just awesome. I have to thank everyone involved for helping and making this possible.”Scherer led in the early going after drawing the pole with Beers and the Series most recent winner Jack Ely of Wall, NJ, giving chase.Beers and Ely would eventually work around Scherer and battle for the top spot, before Ely had engine woes. Zane Zeiner, who started 7th had an eventful day, working his way back into contention after going a lap down and using multiple caution periods to work on his car and drive his way back into contention. Zeiner took one shot at Beers, but the caution waved and Zeiner could not work his way around Beers at the finish. Scherer ended up third. Trevor Catalano of Ontario, NY wound up fourth while Jimmy Zacharias of Owego, NY, rounded out the top-five. Zacharias, Andy Jankowiak of Buffalo, NY and Zeiner won the qualifying races. Jankowiak posted the fastest lap in green-white-checker qualifying.
Matt Hirschman opens Evergreen Raceway season with 50-lap Tour Type Modified win - Austin Started 19th and was making his way to the front until he gets hooked by a fellow competitor but saves the car and finishes 5th 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
AUSTINS THOUGHTS: We had a nice run on Saturday in the Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock with the Nascar Whelen Modified Tour! After starting in 9th place we fell back a little just saving some tire to about 15th place. After that we slowly started to make our way to the front and we’re about 9th at halfway. A couple restarts later we were up to 6th and got into 5th with about 10 to go. We ended up chasing down 3rd and 4th and passed 4th out of turn two on the last lap! Thank you to all the crew for their hard work and dedication! As well as Mike and Maggie Murphy for allowing me to run their racecar!
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
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
Mahoning Valley Speedway opens its season Saturday with one of the featured events being the Race of Champions Modified Tour race. When public address announcer Dino Oberto introduces the drivers one of the biggest ovations will go to Northampton High graduate Austin Beers.But the ovation will also come in part to congratulate Beers on his most recent win, the biggest one of his career.Beers won his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race, the Virginia is for Lovers 150, taking the checkered flag last Saturday at Richmond Raceway. Several days after, he was still feeling emotional about the win. “It feels awesome,” he said. “It took awhile to sink because in the moment there’s just so much going on after the race. We did the hat parade in Victory Lane where there’s like eight different hats you have to put on and I did like four different interviews and then I went to the media center. There was not a lot of time to process it.”Beers said it was easily the biggest win of his career“It was actually my first win outside Pennsylvania,” he said. “All of my other wins were at Mahoning and Evergreen.”The win was special not only for Beers but also for his car owner, Mike Murphy, who has been involved with the circuit for 12 years.“Looking back at the videos that NASCAR put out, seeing the team’s reactions to the win and seeing a bunch of them crying and stuff, that really hit home,” Beers said. “I honestly believe it meant as much to them as it did to me and seeing their celebration was better than the win itself.” Beers was also emotional because he joined his father, Eric Beers, as a winner on the Whelen tour. Eric Beers won twice.Racing is a family tradition and Austin thought about his grandfather and father as the victory began to set in.“This family has made a lot of sacrifices over the years, a lot of long nights and long days and a lot of hard work was put into it going back to my grandfather in the 1970s,” Beers said. “My grandfather started it all and then my dad pretty much stepped aside to propel me in my career. It’s pretty crazy to know my name will always be among the winners at Richmond Raceway.”The win came in Beers’ 22nd start on the tour. His best previous finish was third last year at Langley Speedway, also in Virginia.In his first race this season, Beers was running first for a quarter of the race but said a problem with his pit guns on this last pitstop ruined his chances and he finished eighth.“We had a car that could have won, but we had a malfunction and it wasn’t our day,” the 20-year-old Beers said.But last Saturday was his day and there’s bound to be many more to come as Beers gets more comfortable and used to the competitive level of the Whelen tour. “It’s a big step up for me,” he said. “You have to be on point. If you are off even in the slightest, you can go laps down even if you’re the best driver out there. You have to be on point all day and even in practice and qualifying. If you go to a track where you have to race hard for the whole race and you qualify bad, your day is almost done before it begins. The level of competition is outstanding.”It’s the challenge that Beers has always wanted.“When I went to all of these races as a little kid with my dad, he was running this tour, so this tour kind of introduced me to racing,” he said. “To now join him on this tour’s win list means a lot.”Beers praised Murphy for giving the team “whatever we need and whenever we need it. He spares no expense. He’s an awesome guy and if I wasn’t driving for him and I was just a friend, I’d still think the world of him. He’s the nicest guy ever and when we won, everybody came over to our pit crew and congratulated Mike and everybody. They knew how much bad luck they’ve had over the years. To see the team finally break through and get a win, everybody was happy about it.”And that’s the beauty of racing, at least in this series. There is a family feel to it all.“Just like any family we all get ticked off at each other at times, but everybody respects everybody,” Beers said.Beers has earned his respect in a short period of time on the tour. This series was a launching point for current Cup series driver Ryan Preece. Preece has become a friend and mentor. “When my dad was on the tour, Ryan was like 16 and he’d come in our camper and play video games with me,” Beers said. “So while all of the other drivers were out drinking, he’d come and hang with me and we’d drink juice boxes together and play PlayStation. Ryan and his father are genuine people, great to be around. I’ve always looked up to Ryan.”Does Beers want to keep climbing up the NASCAR ladder? “The next level would be great, but it takes a lot of sponsorship and a lot of money to get there,” he said. “It’s really tough. There’s a small chance for me, but it could happen. I’m at the point where if I get there, it would be amazing. “But if I don’t, I am 100% happy to stay with Murph and running with him until he’s done. Murphy and I were just texting and we said it’s great to get this one race, but we don’t want to slow down now.”And wherever Beers goes, his family, including his mother, Cherie, and his sister, Kailyn, will be there cheering him on. “Everybody pulls together in this family and I wouldn’t be where I am without them,” he said.
April 1 - Richmond Raceway - NASCAR TOUR - Win
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
Here are some stories for reference from this amazing accomplishment Saturday:
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
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour announces 2023 schedule DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As NASCAR prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2023, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour blends the old with the new as 19 race dates were announced on the 2023 schedule.
The Tour will kick off the season at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway for the second straight year, joining the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks, racing under the lights on Saturday, Feb. 11. The 65th running of the Daytona 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway will take place the following weekend.
In 2022, Martinsville Speedway is hosting the Tour’s season finale for the first time in 30 years. And the Virginia short track will return as the season finale next year to crown the series champion on Thursday, Oct. 26. The Tour title race will kick off a weekend of excitement as NASCAR also will set the field for the Championship 4 in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.
In a tribute to NASCAR’s past, the Whelen Modified Tour will take on North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in series history on Saturday, Sept. 30. North Wilkesboro will be hosting the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race and the NASCAR Xfinity Series in May, marking the first time a NASCAR national series has raced at the track since 1996.
“NASCAR has been running a Modified series since its founding, and it was important to honor that history in the Whelen Modified Tour schedule as NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary,” said Jimmy Wilson, Senior Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “We’re excited to see our drivers put on a great show for fans at so many venues and cities that have played a large role in the success of NASCAR over the years.”
Richmond Raceway (Friday, March 31) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Saturday, July 15) will once again welcome the Tour in conjunction with NASCAR national series events. New Hampshire’s 74 Tour races is the second most among tracks on the 2023 schedule.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Connecticut), one of the original tracks from the Tour’s modern era schedule (1985-Present), will host a pair of events on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Oct. 8. Thompson has hosted 150 Whelen Modified Tour races, most all time.
Riverhead Raceway, third on the current tracks list with 70 Whelen Modified Tour races since first hosting the series in 1985, continues to be a cornerstone of the schedule. The Long Island, New York, track will hold three Saturday race dates again in 2023 – May 20, June 24, Sept. 16.
Seekonk Speedway (Massachusetts), which first hosted a Whelen Modified Tour event in 1987, returns to the schedule after a three-year absence with a race on Saturday, June 10. Langley Speedway (Hampton, Virginia) remains as a summer date, hosting the Tour on Saturday, Aug. 26.
Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, will hold two races for the first time in the track’s history with the Tour, on Saturday, May 6, and Saturday, Sept. 9. Lancaster Motorplex (New York) – formerly known as New York International Raceway Park – will host its second ever Tour event with a Saturday, Aug. 5, race. The Tour’s only other event there was in 2021.
Additionally, the Tour will return to Oswego Speedway (New York), which has hosted 15 Tour races, on Saturday, Sept. 2, and to Wall Stadium on Saturday, July 8.
“These historic tracks and fans in the Northeast are the heart of the Whelen Modified Tour,” Wilson added. “They pack the stands and create an electric atmosphere for their hometown drivers.”
Two additional dates have been set (Saturday, May 27, and Saturday, July 29), with the venues to be announced in the near future.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour concludes the 2022 season tonight at Martinsville Speedway, with four drivers sitting within 13 points of each other for the championship. Jonathan McKennedy leads the points with 564, while Ron Silk is six behind him. Reigning champion Justin Bonsignore is third, 11 points behind McKennedy, and Eric Goodale trails the leader by 13 points in fourth place.
Below is the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Schedule is subject to change. Race times and broadcast networks will be announced at a later date.
2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule Date Track Saturday, Feb. 11 New Smyrna Speedway Friday, March 31 Richmond Raceway Saturday, May 6 Monadnock Speedway Saturday, May 20 Riverhead Raceway Saturday, May 27 Lee USA Speedway Saturday, June 10 Seekonk Speedway Saturday, June 24 Riverhead Raceway Saturday, July 8 Wall Stadium Saturday, July 15 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday, July 29 Claremont Motorsports Park Saturday, Aug. 5 Lancaster Motorplex Wednesday, Aug. 16 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Saturday, Aug. 26 Langley Speedway Saturday, Sept. 2 Oswego Speedway Saturday, Sept. 9 Monadnock Speedway Saturday, Sept. 16 Riverhead Raceway Saturday, Sept. 30 North Wilkesboro Speedway Sunday, Oct. 8 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thursday, Oct. 26 Martinsville Speedway