Austin Beers Latest Driver to Enter NAPA Spring Sizzler running April 27-28 April 17, 2024
By Scott Running (Stafford Springs, CT)—The field for the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® set for April 27-28 at Stafford Motor Speedway has added 2022 Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year Austin Beers to its entry list. Beers has teamed up with the Jensen Family to drive their #179 Avenue Auto machine in the “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”. “I had heard [the Jensens] split up with their last driver so I gave Glenn a call and we worked out a deal and here we are,” said Beers. “We’re going to go race by race, feel things out, and see if we’re a good connection. We finished third at Loudon and the Jensens have had a lot of success at Stafford and they have a big notebook so I’m looking to continue that and have another good run. I’m working on trying to put a crew together right now so we can have a competitive pit stop and I’m really excited about coming back to race at Stafford since I’ve only raced there once before.” Beers comes to Stafford at a disadvantage in the experience department. Beers has only 1 start at the Connecticut half-mile facility, qualifying 7th and finishing 13th in the 2021 NAPA Fall Final. Beers has shown to be a quick study on the Whelen Modified Tour, where he broke out in 2023 by notching his first 2 career wins along with 6 pole positions in only his second full season and he will have his father Eric, who has 41 career WMT starts at Stafford, along with the Jensen family, as experienced voices he can lean on for advice. “Practice will be more important for me than for the car,” said Beers. “The guys will show up with a fast racecar and it’ll be up to me to figure out where I’m at and figure the track out since I haven’t been there since 2021. I’m sure I’ll be asking my father for advice once we get to the track. We’ll do a track walk together and I’m sure that he’ll be able to teach me some things that I don’t know yet like where guys used to run and where to set guys up for passes. He has a lot of knowledge and he’s helped me out a lot. Once I get up to speed, we can fine tune things later on in the practice round.” In addition to being short on track experience, Beers will face another unknown when it comes to qualifying as he is accustomed to 2- ap time trials where now he’ll be facing a 40-lap NAPA Duel Qualifying race.“I’m pretty comfortable with the qualifying,” said Beers. “We’re all still out there racing and trying to get to the front. I do enjoy qualifying with 2 laps, but the Duel will be just another race where you’re trying to get to the front.”Beers is confident that he can build on the 3rd place finish that he and the Jensen #179 crew earned at New Hampshire while setting a reasonable goal for how he would like his NAPA Spring Sizzler® weekend to go. “I’d like to have a repeat of what we did at New Hampshire and try to contend for the win and learn a lot,” said Beers. “I think a top-5 would be outstanding for us with the caliber of field that’s going to be at Stafford. This is probably the biggest Modified race that we’ll have all year long so we want to hang with those heavy hitters and show that we’re contenders. I’d expect to see Ron Silk and Matt Hirschman up front, and with Justin [Bonsignore] in the 7ny car he’s going to be really fast, so we have to be patient, try to not use up the tires that you’re not changing during the race, and keep your nose clean to be there at the end. I’d like to say I’ll be happy with a top-10, but if we could go out there and put it on them, and do something that my Dad hasn’t even done, it would be amazing to win the Sizzler. And I like milk!” The 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. Saturday, April 27th and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Stafford’s Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program with qualifying and feature racing.
Matt Hirshman wins a thriller at Mahoning Valley Speedway over Roger Coss and Zane Zeiner on April 20. The Spring Meltdown 75 was a barn burner and Austin had an up and down day in the debut with Bobby Jones #1!
1 12 60 Matt Hirschman Northampton, PA 2 8 17C Roger Coss Lafayette, NJ 3 1 76Z Zane Zeiner Bath, PA 4 9 66 Austin Kochenash Danielsville, PA 5 7 44 Kyle Strohl Palmertown, PA 6 2 14 Jake Lutz Hamburg, NY 7 4 11JR Paulie Hartwig III Galloway, NJ 8 11 81 Jack Ely Northampton, PA 9 10 1B Austin Beers Northampton, PA 10 18 11H Tony Hanbury Owego, NY 11 14 8 Earl Paules Palmertown, PA 12 3 22 Don Wagner Wharton, NJ 13 23 95K Jacob Kerstetter Allentown, PA 14 19 95M Terry Markovic Slatington, PA 15 16 88 Lou Strohl Palmertown, PA 16 20 3 Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY 17 6 72W John Bennett Lehighton, PA 18 13 41 Todd Baer New Tripoli, PA 19 26 65 George Skora III Eden, NY 20 21 87 Thomas Flanagan Bethlehem, PA 21 25 0 Randall Richard 22 15 1S Nick Schaeffer Lehighton, PA 23 22 51 Jayden Harman sugarloaf, PA 24 5 76S Rod Snyder Jr Lehighton, PA 25 27 40 Tommy Rought Rome, PA 26 17 29 Cody Kohler Schnecksville, PA 27 24 10 Daryl Lewis Jr Ontario, NY
RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES SET TO BEGIN SEASON APRIL 20 AT MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY
Race of Champions Modified Series competitors are gearing up to head to Mahoning Valley Speedway for the Series opener and so are race fans. If opening day at the 1/4-mile facility is any indication of what fans are in store for than Saturday, April 20, at 6:00pm will be one of the most anticipated start times on their 2024 schedules. Matt Hirschman and Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., will resume their battles at what is their “hometrack”. The duo has battled each other many times on the 1/4-mile track, which has helped shape their careers. “Mahoning is fun to race,” offered Hirschman, who has become one, if not arguably the top-star in Modified racing right now. “It has multiple grooves and because of the size the track, it really levels the playing field. You have to be handling, but you also have to be patient and drive precisely to get the job done. It is a lot of fun for the driver and because of the size of the track, it’s right there in front of the fans.” Austin Beers, who was the 2021 Race of Champions Modified Series titleholder. He has also enjoyed success after continuing his family tradition of racing at the Lehighton oval. Beers claimed two Race of Champions Modified Series victories in 2024 at Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome and is looking for his first Series victory at Mahoning. “We have been close and it’s really our home track,” stated Beers. ‘We’ve got more experience and been doing a lot of racing. Hopefully, we’ll be in contention at Mahoning and be able to come out on top.. I’m really looking forward to racing on home turf at Mahoming.” Qualifying for the 75-lap Series opener will begin at 6:00pm on Saturday, April 20 along with a full card of Mahoning racing.
Austin Beers Latest Driver to Enter 2024 NAPA Spring Sizzler By Scott Running (Stafford Springs, CT)—The field for the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® set for April 27-28 at Stafford Motor Speedway has added 2022 Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year Austin Beers to its entry list. Beers has teamed up with the Jensen Family to drive their #179 Avenue Auto machine in the “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”. “I had heard [the Jensens] split up with their last driver so I gave Glenn a call and we worked out a deal and here we are,” said Beers. “We’re going to go race by race, feel things out, and see if we’re a good connection. We finished third at Loudon and the Jensens have had a lot of success at Stafford and they have a big notebook so I’m looking to continue that and have another good run. I’m working on trying to put a crew together right now so we can have a competitive pit stop and I’m really excited about coming back to race at Stafford since I’ve only raced there once before.”Beers comes to Stafford at a disadvantage in the experience department. Beers has only 1 start at the Connecticut half-mile facility, qualifying 7th and finishing 13th in the 2021 NAPA Fall Final. Beers has shown to be a quick study on the Whelen Modified Tour, where he broke out in 2023 by notching his first 2 career wins along with 6 pole positions in only his second full season and he will have his father Eric, who has 41 career WMT starts at Stafford, along with the Jensen family, as experienced voices he can lean on for advice. “Practice will be more important for me than for the car,” said Beers. “The guys will show up with a fast racecar and it’ll be up to me to figure out where I’m at and figure the track out since I haven’t been there since 2021. I’m sure I’ll be asking my father for advice once we get to the track. We’ll do a track walk together and I’m sure that he’ll be able to teach me some things that I don’t know yet like where guys used to run and where to set guys up for passes. He has a lot of knowledge and he’s helped me out a lot. Once I get up to speed, we can fine tune things later on in the practice round.” In addition to being short on track experience, Beers will face another unknown when it comes to qualifying as he is accustomed to 2-lap time trials where now he’ll be facing a 40-lap NAPA Duel Qualifying race. “I’m pretty comfortable with the qualifying,” said Beers. “We’re all still out there racing and trying to get to the front. I do enjoy qualifying with 2 laps, but the Duel will be just another race where you’re trying to get to the front.” Beers is confident that he can build on the 3rd place finish that he and the Jensen #179 crew earned at New Hampshire while setting a reasonable goal for how he would like his NAPA Spring Sizzler® weekend to go. “I’d like to have a repeat of what we did at New Hampshire and try to contend for the win and learn a lot,” said Beers. “I think a top-5 would be outstanding for us with the caliber of field that’s going to be at Stafford. This is probably the biggest Modified race that we’ll have all year long so we want to hang with those heavy hitters and show that we’re contenders. I’d expect to see Ron Silk and Matt Hirschman up front, and with Justin [Bonsignore] in the 7ny car he’s going to be really fast, so we have to be patient, try to not use up the tires that you’re not changing during the race, and keep your nose clean to be there at the end. I’d like to say I’ll be happy with a top-10, but if we could go out there and put it on them, and do something that my Dad hasn’t even done, it would be amazing to win the Sizzler. And I like milk!”
The 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. Saturday, April 27th and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Stafford’s Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program with qualifying and feature racing.
Sunday, April 14 - ACT / Northeast Classic Open Mods, New Hampshire - 3rd
In the Open Tour-type Modifieds, Anthony Nocella got the early jump from third place ahead of front row starters Matt Swanson and Jon McKennedy. After patiently stalking from behind, McKennedy shot underneath Nocella in turn three to lead lap 16 before Nocella returned the favor in turn two just three laps later. While Nocella maintained the lead following the competition caution, he certainly had his hands full with McKennedy, Swanson and Austin Beers keeping him busy. Over the final ten laps Nocella and McKennedy flip-flopped the lead again and again, thrilling the Northeast Classic fans! With one final shove on the frontstretch, Anthony Nocella took his first Northeast Classic victory followed by Jon McKennedy and Austin Beers.
Open Tour-type Modifieds – (50 Laps) 1. 92 Anthony Nocella Woburn, MA 2. 79 Jon McKennedy Chelmsford, MA 3. 179 Austin Beers Northampton, PA 4. 25 Matt Swanson Harvard, MA 5. 50 Ronnie Williams Ellington, CT 6. 44 Doug Coby Milford, CT 7. 8 Woody Pitkat Bellingham, MA 8. 55CT Teddy Hodgdon Danbury, CT 9. 02 Mike Collins Strafford, NH 10. 99 Tyler Hines North Haven, CT 11. 00 Tyler Barry Griswold, CT 12. 81 Todd Owen Somers, CT 13. 19 Jeffrey Battle Dunstable, MA 14. 20 Vincent Marrone Freehold, NJ 15. 43 Matt Kimball Bennington, NH
Thompson Speedway - a hard fought 7th place finish - April 7 What a day!! Lost a motor during practice and the team worked SO hard to get it changed and finished just in time to go green for the race. Had to start last since we missed qualifying but Austin drove it back through the field for a 7th place finish! So proud of this team for their hard work to get the car out on the track and score a top ten! The boys will have a well earned break for a few weeks- next up Monadnock!
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park has been the site of many milestones for Ron Silk on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. From tallying his first three Tour victories at the Connecticut facility to surviving a crucial title tilt against rival Justin Bonsignore in October, Silk regularly rises to the occasion whenever the series visits the historic, 0.625-mile oval The status quo remained in place for Silk in Sunday’s IceBreaker 150. A dominant performance from the defending Modified Tour champion enabled him to secure his seventh Thompson victory and build some crucial early season momentum in the point standings.Once the green flag waved for the IceBreaker 150, Silk knew his silver No. 16 Modified could set a commanding pace as soon as he climbed from the fourth starting position.“I was confident before the pit stop,” Silk said. “I had driven to the lead there and was able to drive away from everybody. This was a fantastic car from the start of the race, and I’m just pumped to be back in Victory Lane.”The only setback Silk endured during his stalwart day at Thompson occurred while in the pits, as a slow stop caused him to lose the lead to fellow Modified Tour veteran Patrick Emerling.It only took Silk one corner to re-assert control over the field. Using the bottom line on the restart, Silk muscled Emerling up the track and claimed the top spot, and he did not receive a significant challenge for the lead during the remaining laps.Emerling, who settled for third, was not pleased with how the final restart played out. Not only did Emerling believe Silk was overly aggressive with his maneuver, but he maintained Silk should have been penalized for a premature launch.“I kind of feel like Martin Truex Jr. the other day at Richmond,” Emerling said. “[Silk] jumped the start and then took us way up the hill. I’m just going to run him like that in the future, but I thought officiating would have caught that.”Despite his frustrations, Emerling found solace in his second top-five performance of the season. After being eliminated in an early crash at Richmond the previous week, Emerling felt the IceBreaker 150 was more indicative of the speed prevalent in his first three starts with Rich Gautreau.With the Thompson race reinforcing the optimism he already had in the program, Emerling believes he can keep tallying strong runs and make a charge for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title.“We had the car to beat today,” Emerling said. “It took us a little bit to get going, but we were the fastest car right at the end. Everyone did an awesome job. I did everything right, but I got beat by a jumped start. We’re coming, though.”Just like at Thompson on Sunday, Silk will be standing in the way of a potential championship for Emerling and the rest of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field. Aside from a sixth at Martinsville Speedway in November, Silk has not recorded a finish outside the top three in his last seven races.Silk has every reason to believe he can defend his title after winning two of the first three events in 2024. For now, Silk is content with celebrating another milestone at Thompson with everyone at Haydt-Yannone Racing “[My confidence] is pretty high,” Silk said. “Richmond was a nail-biter, and we could be looking at three in a row. Should of, could of, would have, but we’ll go to the next one and try and get another one.” In a repeat of the most recent Modified Tour event at Thompson, Jake Johnson placed second behind Silk, matching a career-best finish in the process. Emerling, Justin Bonsignore and Tyler Rypkema made up the rest of the top-five finishers.Rounding out the top 10 were Craig Lutz, Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman and Matt Swanson.
1 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 150 – 2 3 Jake Johnson Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 150 2.169 3 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc/LFR 150 4.846 4 51 Justin Bonsignore Coastal Fiber LLC 150 6.322 5 32 Tyler Rypkema Northern Drilling/Musco Lighting/Make-a-Wish 150 7.184 6 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 150 8.826 7 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric 150 10.723 8 22 Kyle Bonsignore Munns Automotive/Chalew Performance 150 11.868 9 60 Matt Hirschman Elite 150 12.685 10 89 Matt Swanson Cervaolos Auto/Casella Snowplows/Mully’s Auto Repair 149 1 Lap 11 19 Anthony Sesely Franzosa Trucking Co/Karchner Warehousing 149 1 Lap 12 25 Brian Robie Maurice Enterprises 148 2 Laps 13 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports/FX Caprara 148 2 Laps 14 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 147 3 Laps 15 28 Mike Marshall MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 139 11 Laps 16 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 139 11 Laps 17 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 113 37 Laps 18 2 J.R. Bertuccio Gershow Recycling 87 63 Laps 19 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 27 123 Laps 20 4 Tim Connolly Connolly Companies, LLC 17 133 Laps 21 44 Bobby Santos Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 1 149 Laps 22 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing Co. 1 149 Laps 23 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Racing/Eastport Feeds 1 149 Laps 24 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 1 149 Laps
Justin Bonsignore finds a new level of joy with his thrilling Modified Tour win at Richmond. Austin just riding on lap 13 had an unfortunate incident that ended his day. By Tadd Haislop, NASCAR.com
Justin Bonsignore, a three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, entered Friday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway with 40 series victories on his resume. For myriad reasons, No. 41 was different. A notable level of jubilation overcame Bonsignore’s team on pit road as the driver beat rival Ron Silk to the checkered flag in a thrilling finish. That joy transferred to Victory Lane, where Bosignore for the first time in his career was greeted in triumph not only by his wife, but also by his son. An already-charged crowd of friends, family, crew members and sponsors roared when Justin embraced 4-month-old Evan for the first time in a winner’s circle.The 36-year-old from Holtsville, New York repeated the refrain multiple times throughout post-race “This gives a little look behind our team,” he said. “This is tough. [Crew chief] Ryan Stone is the only paid, full-time employee on our team; everybody else is a volunteer. Sometimes it’s too much. We got home from [the season-opener at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway], and we were having some really tough conversations of where we were going to go in the future with things. “But the team proved tonight with good pit stops and hard work all day that we all are still really motivated. And a last-lap battle like that is always going to charge you up. And, to top it off, having my son and my wife here for his first Victory Lane.” This is a team that broke out with three Modified Tour titles in four years from 2018-21. Bonsignore did that on the heels of Doug Coby’s four consecutive championships from 2014-17. (Coby also won in 2012 and 2019; six titles in eight years.) Bonsignore’s team feels it took over as the squad to beat when it delivered those championships. Now, though, Bonsignore is locked into a rivalry with Silk, the defending champion who is trying to steal Bonsignore’s role as the driver to beat each race. That’s what makes Bonsignore’s wins over Silk so satisfying. “We’re trying to stay a step ahead of that, or at least maintain,” Bonsignore said. “These are tough championship battles. So yeah, it was charged up.” On Friday, Bonsignore was so hyped after beating Silk that his mind had nowhere else to go. He said he reached the backstretch of his victory lap before he remembered he would be able to celebrate a win with his newborn son, a realization that delivered yet another wave of emotions. After he had time to collect his sentiments, Bonsignore was reminded he’s now one win away from tying Modified racing legend Ted Christopher for third on the all-time Tour wins list. Ironically, the series’ next race takes place at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where Bonsignore and Christopher are tied for second in Tour victories. The realization delivered yet another factor making Friday’s win so massive “These are guys who are legends of the sport, and our community in the New England area,” Bonsignore said of Christopher and other record-holders. “It’s a lifestyle. I don’t think people understand how crazy we are about Modified racing. “We all have a chip on our shoulder that we think there’s no racing better than what we do. So to have my name mentioned with Silk, who won February’s season-opener at New Smyrna, settled for second Friday at Richmond despite an incredible effort in the closing laps. He and Bonsignore ran side-by-side for the virtual entirety of the last green-flag run.The good news for Silk in what figures to be a season-long battle for the 2024 Modified Tour championship: He left Richmond with a two-point lead over Bonsignore in the standings. Trevor Catalano finished third ahead of Bobby Santos III in fourth. Jake Johnson drove the legendary No. 3 Ole Blue Modified to a fifth-place finish.Coby, Craig Lutz, Kyle Bonsignore, Carson Loftin and Tommy Catalano rounded out the top 10.Ryan Newman finished 11th. The 2008 Daytona 500 winner took his shot in the waning laps, restarting third and diving to the bottom in Turn 1 to briefly take the lead before drifting up the track and fading.Bonsignore didn’t love the move, as Newman’s aggression cost him a few spots. But he laughed and noted, “That’s why he’s a NASCAR legend.”
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Coastal Fiber LLC 150 -- 2 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 150 0.081 3 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 150 0.4 4 14 Bobby Santos III AdvantageTrucks.com 150 0.588 5 3 Jake Johnson Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 150 0.728 6 7 Doug Coby Baldwin Automotive 150 0.856 7 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 150 0.953 8 22 Kyle Bonsignore Munns Automotive/Chalew Performance 150 1.105 9 23 Carson Loftin* L&R Transmissions/LeBleu Water 150 1.359 10 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports/FX Caprara 150 1.526 11 77 Ryan Newman Curb Records/Cassella Waste Systems 150 1.528 12 19 Anthony Sesely Franzosa Trucking Co/Karchner Warehousing 150 1.755 13 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing Co. 150 1.819 14 17 Marcello Rufrano* Wheeler’s Auto Sales 150 1.968 15 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 150 2.248 16 25 Brian Robie Maurice Enterprises 150 2.748 17 32 Tyler Rypkema Northern Drilling/Musco Lighting/Make-a-Wish 149 1 Lap 18 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 146 4 Laps 19 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Avenue Landscape Supply 144 6 Laps 20 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 143 7 Laps 21 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 134 16 Laps 22 4 Tim Connolly Connolly Companies, LLC 96 54 Laps 23 38 Bobby Labonte Pace-O-Matic 70 80 Laps 24 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc/LFR 69 81 Laps 25 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat 30 120 Laps 26 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric 12 138 Laps
FEBRUARY 16 - Matt Hirschman Captures Fifth World Series Championship, Seventh Richie Evans Memorial Win
In a race that celebrates one of the greatest Modified drivers to ever compete, another racer continues to etch his name in history. Matt Hirschman left New Smyrna Speedway a five-time World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing champion while capturing his seventh Richie Evans Memorial 100 win. The PeeDee Motorsports driver led the championship standings by 10 points over Ronnie Williams heading into this event. To secure that title, he had to battle one of his biggest competitors of Speedweeks, Ryan Preece. No. 40 of Preece, a multi-time Richie Evans Memorial winner, spent the first part of the race battling for first with Hirschman. On lap 34, Hirschman made a bold choice, dive-bombing under Preece into the bottom of turn three. This aggressive move paid off as Hirschman rocketed to the lead. From there, the Pennsylvania native had to duel with the hard-charging cars of Eric Goodale and Jimmy Blewett. The No. 58 and No. 76 came to life later on in the race and were aided by a few cautions. However, neither driver was able to outrun the No. 60, leaving them with second and third-place finishes. Hirschman ended his week at New Smyrna with his 20th career World Series win, an impressive stat that was made more special by winning this memorial event. “It always means a lot to win the [Richie] Evans Memorial, and to have your name mentioned in the same category at times is quite an honor,” Hirchman said following the race. “Richie was one of the first guys to dominate down here when they brought the modifieds here a long time ago and in recent years we’ve been the guys doing the same thing that he did in the beginning years. Just great to carry the torch and hopefully we can continue to do this for years to come.” Next year, Hirchman hopes to continue carrying the torch, seeking his seventh consecutive Richie Evans Memorial 100 win. Hirschman has won the event every year since 2019, finishing second to Preece in 2018.
-Story by: Taylor Kitchen
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS RICHIE EVANS MEMORIAL - TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS FIN NO DRIVER LAPS DIFF 1 60 Matt Hirschman 100 --- 2 58 Eric Goodale 100 1.065 3 76 Jimmy Blewett 100 2.056 4 40 Ryan Preece 100 2.501 5 92 Anthony Nocella 100 3.317 6 20PA Austin Beers 100 3.385 7 54C Tommy Catalano 100 4.096 8 32 Tyler Rypkema 100 5.077 9 46 Craig Lutz 100 5.746 10 50 Ronnie Williams 100 6.214 11 02 Joey Coulter 100 6.368 12 8M Cam McDermott 100 6.613 13 36 David Sapienza 100 7.023 14 11 Norman Newman 100 8.345 15 24 Andrew Krause 92 8 Laps 16 12 Brian Sones 88 12 Laps 17 2 J.R. Bertuccio 77 23 Laps 18 20 Eddie McCarthy 74 26 Laps 19 9 Tom Martino, Jr. 74 26 Laps 20 98 Landon Huffman 74 26 Laps 21 54X Trevor Catalano 70 30 Laps 22 42 Spencer Davis 48 52 Laps 23 00 Brett Meservey 32 68 Laps 24 55 Teddy Hodgdon 23 77 Laps
FEBRAURY 14 - Matt Hirschman Wins Third Straight John Blewett, III Memorial Matt Hirschman scored his fifth career win in the John Blewett, III Memorial Wednesday night at New Smyrna, marking his 18th career World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing win.
By Zach Evans
It may have taken longer than Matt Hirschman hoped, or many fans would have expected. Nonetheless, Hirschman returned to victory lane at New Smyrna Speedway Wednesday night. Hirschman won the John Blewett, III Memorial 76 Wednesday at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, his third consecutive win in the tribute race. Winning at New Smyrna has become standard fare for Hirschman. He is a four-time World Series Tour-type Modified champion, and now has 18 World Series race wins. However, he was winless after three nights of Modified racing at this year's event.While many drivers would have loved to have two top-fives and three top-10s in that stretch, it was not the gold standard Hirschman has set in recent years."The toughest competition you'll ever face is when you beat yourself," said Hirschman in victory lane. "We did that for three nights so far. Results of 10th, fifth and fifth are just not up to our standards. "We got back on track tonight. Everything, hopefully, from here forward goes a little smoother for us and we get on track like we should." Hirschman took the lead with a three-wide pass against Ryan Lutz while negotiating lapped traffic on lap 57, and led the rest of the way for the victory. The John Blewett, III Memorial is always a special race during the World Series. Hirschman was presented with an open-face helmet trophy designed in the style of Blewett, III's own racing helmets, offering more sentimental value to Hirschman. "It's always good to get a win here on the Blewett Memorial tonight. They've got a neat little trophy, a helmet like John used to wear. I used to go to Flemington Speedway to watch him in his earlier days. That's the kind of helmet he'd wear, you could always see his face in the car. Very determined racer, I always enjoyed racing with him." Hirschman now has at least one win in every World Series since 2017. His 18 World Series wins place him fourth on the all-time list in Modified competition, behind Ted Christopher (43), Richie Evans (38) and Reggie Ruggiero (28). With two more chances over the next two nights, including Friday's Richie Evans Memorial 100, Hirschman hopes to add to that total before week's end. "We'll see if we can get any more this week. We got off to a slow start, but hopefully we can finish strong."
TOUR-TYPE MODIFIED JOHN BLEWETT, III MEMORIAL 76 FINISH NO DRIVER 1 60 Matt Hirschman 2 92 Anthony Nocella 3 46 Craig Lutz 4 07 Patrick Emerling 5 58 Eric Goodale 6 24 Andrew Krause 7 54C Tommy Catalano 8 179 Anthony Bello 9 50 Ronnie Williams 10 20PA Austin Beers 11 55CT Teddy Hodgdon 12 8M Cam McDermott 13 2 J.R. Bertuccio 14 14NC Bobby Measmer 15 42 Spencer Davis 16 20 Eddie McCarthy 17 36 David Sapienza 18 12 Brian Sones 19 02 Joey Coulter 20 11 Norman Newman 21 98 Landon Huffman 22 48 Jonny Kay 23 4 Tim connolly 24 25 Brian Robie 25 54X Trevor Catalano 26 32 Tyler Rypkema 27 158 Timmy Solomito 28 76 Jimmy Blewett
FEBRUARY 10 - Ron Silk Defends New Smyrna NWMT Season Opening Victory
By Zach Evans
It was deja vu for 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk, as he opened the new season with another win at New Smyrna Speedway. It's deja vu in more ways than one for Ron Silk. The veteran driver repeated what he did last year, winning the opening race of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at New Smyrna Speedway. The defending series champion rolled off third at New Smyrna, right behind Craig Lutz and Austin Beers. When the green flag dropped, the Lutz No. 46 paced the field with ease.When the caution came out on lap 20, several drivers were given an early opportunity to vary their strategy in an attempt to catch up to the 29-year-old. Lutz stayed on track, giving him the clearance to dominate the first 80 laps of the race. However, drivers like Ron Silk gave up track position to head to pit road, a strategy call that worked to his advantage. Over the course of several laps, Lutz saw a silver bullet making its way through the field, lurking in his rearview mirror. It didn’t take much time after the yellow flag for Ron Silk, in a brand new race car, to successfully make a pass for the lead. The veteran racer was challenged through the event by several drivers right behind. One of those was Justin Bonsignore who applied continuous pressure, but never successfully got the lead. On the other hand, Andrew Krause and Doug Coby were the only two drivers to take first from Silk for a short time. And for a moment, when a late caution flew, it looked like Coby could have won the race based on a great strategy call. As the rest of the field went to pit road, Coby and Beers stayed on track, leading the field to green with 10 laps to go. Coby restarted on the preferred line, however, after making contact with the No. 16 of Beers on that restart, the No. 7 machine fell back. This allowed the powerhouse machine of Silk to jolt ahead and cross the line first. “I knew I was sitting in a pretty good spot in third there,” Silk explained, talking about that final restart. “The two guys were on, they weren’t much older tires, but 20 laps makes a difference. So I was able to kind of push Austin (Beers) by Doug (Coby) there and could kind of make quick work of him. Then luckily was just able to get a little bit of a gap that I could manage to the end.” Finishing in the second position, picking up where he left off in the championship standings, was Bonsignore. “I just needed to be a little freer,” Bonsignore said, “He (Silk) obviously got through traffic and had an eight-car length gap on us and I was giving it everything I had but I was just still too tight on that last set of tires and coming to the white. I found something in three and four, I wrapped the yellow line and it hooked really good it’s just too little too late at that point.” The one-two finish between these two drivers is sweet poetry, starting the season how they left it. This opening race at New Smyrna sets the tone for this season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and if this is any indication, it looks like Silk and Bonsignore are on track to battle for the title yet again.
NEW SMYRNA VISITORS BUREAU 200 FINISH NO DRIVER LAPS DIFF 1 16 Ron Silk 200 --- 2 51 Justin Bonsignore 200 0.425 3 7 Doug Coby 200 1.879 4 1 Patrick Emerling 200 2.073 5 56 Trevor Catalano 200 2.286 6 64 Austin Beers 200 2.530 7 32 Tyler Rypkema 200 2.773 8 24 Andrew Krause 200 2.962 9 3 Jake Johnson 200 3.180 10 60 Matt Hirschman 200 3.402 11 22 Kyle Bonsignore 200 3.597 12 46 Craig Lutz 200 3.791 13 40 Ryan Preece 200 6.399 14 14 Ryan Newman 199 1 Lap 15 99 Ronnie Williams 199 1 Lap 16 36 Dave Sapienza 199 1 Lap 17 25 Brian Robie 199 1 Lap 18 02 Joey Coulter 199 1 Lap 19 4 Tim Connolly 198 2 Laps 20 18 Ken Heagy 197 3 Laps 21 34 J.B. Fortin 196 4 Laps 22 26 Gary McDonald 192 8 Laps 23 00 Brett Meservey 191 9 Laps 24 42 Spencer Davis 190 10 Laps 25 01 Melissa Fifiield 188 12 Laps 26 58 Eric Goodale 178 22 Laps 27 84 Tyler Catalano 176 24 Laps 28 19 Anthony Sesely 175 25 Laps 29 23 Carson Loftin 147 53 Laps 30 54 Tommy Catalano 131 69 Laps 31 09 Christopher Hatton, Jr. 129 71 Laps 32 2 J.R. Bertuccio 40 160 Laps 33 8 John-Michael Shenette 32 168 Laps 34 20 Eddie McCarthy 19 181 Laps