Issues in Pre Race Tech results in a DNS for team at Wall Stadium Turkey Derby November 27
Clocking The Competition: Corey LaJoy Wins Whelen Mod Tour Season Finale At Martinsville Speedway on October 26 - Your 2022 Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year Austin Beers fought a hard as he ever has to come home 8th. With One lucky break on the last crash with Lajoy and the leaders could have seen Austin come home with a top 4 finish. by Shawn Courchesne
Corey LaJoie spelled out his mission Thursday at Martinsville Speedway in six simple words. “I came here for a clock,” LaJoie said. And when the dust settled on a wild late race battle for victory it was LaJoie celebrating next to a Martinsville grandfather clock trophy as the winner of the Whelen Modified Tour season ending Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 Thursday at Martinsville Speedway. “I told my wife I’ve got a room picked out for the grandfather clock,” LaJoie said while celebrating his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory. Matt Hirschman was second and Ryan Newman third. LaJoie was making his fifth career Whelen Modified Tour start Thursday and second this season. He was ninth on July 16 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. LaJoie became the fourth first-time series winner over 16 Whelen Modified Tour events in 2022, joining other first-time winners Mike Christopher Jr. (May 28 at Jennerstown Speedway), Kyle Soper (June 25 at Riverhead Raceway) and Anthony Nocella (July 16 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway). It was hardly a night devoid of drama for LaJoie, who started fifth and ran with the leaders most of the event. LaJoie used lapped traffic to get around Hirschman for the lead on lap 32 and held the top spot until caution flew on lap 130. A slow pit stop dropped LaJoie to 14th. But with the initial slow stop for tires, it clinched the team’s decision to make a second stop for fuel. LaJoie was up to fifth by the time caution flew on lap 186, and it was clear at that point that he and fourth place running Max McLaughlin had the fastest cars on the track. But under caution McLaughlin ran out of fuel. “It actually worked out to be a blessing,” LaJoie said of the bad initial pit stop to change tires. “The stop was so bad we couldn’t lose any more spots if we came down and put gas in it. It was a blessing. [McLaughlin] stayed out and tried to make it and ran out of gas. The fact that [my crew] … had the slowest Modified pit stop of all time, that actually won us the race.” The race restarted on lap 192 with Jon McKennedy leading, Jimmy Blewett in second, Kyle Bonsignore in third and LaJoie in fourth. Going down the backstretch chaos ensued among the top four cars, sending McKennedy and Blewett spinning and Bonsignore over the top of McKennedy’s car. LaJoie emerged from the fray as the leader. McKennedy was able to limp to a 12th place finish to secure his first Whelen Modified Tour driver’s championship. “I thought I screwed up his championship hopes there for a minute,” LaJoie said. “He pinched me in the fence. We can talk about that later. “I’m sure I’d be pissed too if I got dumped for the lead. It was just tight and Jon pinched me in the fence out of [turn] two and my left front caught his right rear and turned him into [Blewett].”
1 53 Corey LaJoie Curb Records 200 2 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports 200 0.601 3 39 Ryan Newman Pacematic/PSR Products 200 0.861 4 44 Bobby Santos III Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 200 1.401 5 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas 200 1.741 6 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mfg. Co. 200 1.776 7 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 200 1.893 8 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 200 2.237 9 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 200 2.672 10 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 200 3.003 11 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 200 3.178 12 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 200 3.408 13 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s 200 3.722 14 20 Ed McCarthy* McCarthy Marine Sales 200 3.748 15 02 Joey Coulter IV SRI Performance/Air Shok/Race-Run/Molecule 200 3.796 16 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 200 5.159 17 7 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett, Inc. 200 11.265 18 2 Chuck Hossfeld Gershow Recycling 199 1 Lap 19 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises 199 1 Lap 20 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 199 1 Lap 21 29 Spencer Davis Max Industrial 199 1 Lap 22 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 199 1 Lap 23 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 198 2 Laps 24 55 Jeremy Gerstner Jerry Hunt SuperCenter/GMR Complete Lawn Care 194 6 Laps 25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape Supply 194 6 Laps 26 77 Max McLaughlin CURB Records 190 10 Laps 27 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 178 22 Laps 28 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 175 25 Laps 29 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 153 47 Laps 30 10 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 147 53 Laps 31 3 Ryan Preece Propane Plus/ACG/Island International 111 89 Laps 32 97 Bryan Dauzat Brother in Law Motorsports 82 118 Laps 33 17 Bobby Labonte Pace-O-Matic 63 137 Laps 34 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 55 145 Laps 35 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 3 197 Laps
Anthony Nocella Gets Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Haunted Hundred Win At Seekonk on October 22; Austin had a fast car but had a disappointing 6th place finish
SEEKONK, Mass. – When it comes to the rising growth and continued development of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series over the last three seasons one of the calling cards that has come to light is a deep depth of talent in fields and parity among frontrunners. And in 2022 that parity has shown like never before. The trend of varied frontrunners for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series ran right through to the final event of the season on Saturday. Anthony Nocella used a dominant car late to run away with victory in the season ending Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Haunted Hundred at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway. It was a long awaited first series victory for Nocella, of Woburn, Mass. He came into Saturday’s event having finished in the top-five in nine of his 29 series starts all-time. He jumped that percentage to a clean 33 percent top-five finishes in 30 starts with Saturday’s victory. Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. was second and Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. used a third place finish to clinch his seventh series championship in the last eight seasons. And in a testament to series parity, Nocella became the sixth different winner in seven Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series events in 2022, and the third first time series winner this season. Hirschman, with victories at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester N.H. (April 30) and Seekonk (June 29), was the only multi-time winner in series action in 2022. Other winner this year includes Chase Dowling at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt. on May 29, Jake Johnson at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. on July 23, Dana DiMatteo at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Aug. 6 and Ron Silk at Stafford Speedway on Sept. 24. Johnson and DiMatteo were also first-time series winners. Nocella was 16th in practice Saturday and decided wholesale changes needed to be made. “After practice, we struggled, we were mid-pack,” said Nocella, who earned $7,500 for the victory. “I didn’t think we were going to race very good. I couldn’t pass a car. We just took a gamble on it and threw everything at it. We were [second in the scuff session] and just kept rolling after that. … We made a call to change all four shocks, springs, the whole setup. It really made the car come to life. I’ve really got to thank my guys for not quitting.” Nocella, who finished third in the first Seekonk event in June, went by Hossfeld for the lead on lap 69 and went unchallenged the rest of the way. “Seconds, thirds, a third earlier this year here, I always just came up a little short,” Nocella said of his history in Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series events at Seekonk. “We struggled a little bit in the middle of the race. I didn’t really want to run the pace they were running. I knew my car might give up. We got a little tight at the end, but we were so close again we weren’t giving this one up.” Since 2015, the only year Hirschman has not won the series title was 2019 when Ronnie Williams scored the championship. Hirschman has now won all but two series championship in the division’s existence. Jon McKennedy won the first series title in 2014. “We weren’t good enough,” Hirschman said of Sunday’s race. “I knew I had nothing for [Nocella]. … We missed a little bit and that’s what happens. When you miss by a little bit you finish second, third or fourth or whatever. It wasn’t our day for a win, but glad to get the championship. It’s always a good accomplishment for the team. We started off the season strong and we kind of had some mediocre finishes of late and nobody else capitalized and we were able to win another championship.”Forty-three cars attempted to make the 29-car starting field. Hossfeld started on the pole and had the dominant car for most of the event. The first caution flew on lap 15 when Max Zachem was black flagged for leaking fluid. Instead of going to the pits Zachem stopped on the track at the entry to the pits in turn four necessitating the caution. After going to the pits it was determined Zachem started the event without a gas cap. The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series rules deem that a driver who purposefully brings out a caution is ineligible for the free pass (lucky dog) for the remainder of the event. After returning to the track with a secured gas cap, Zachem then returned to the pits and left the race. The second caution of the event flew on lap 22 for a Matt Galko spin on the backstretch. A Kyle Bonsignore spin on lap 42 brought out the third caution of the day. The race restarted with Hossfeld leading Johnson and Nocella in third. Caution flew again on lap 48 after a Carl Medeiros frontstretch spin. On the ensuing restart a chain reaction wreck in turn ones and two sent Chris Pasteryak up the wall. Les Hinckley III left the track surface in an ambulance after the wreck due to a hand injury. After an extensive red flag for cleanup, the race restarted with Hossfeld continuing to set the pace out front. On lap 50 Hirschman was able to edge Nocella for third place, but Nocella fought back on lap 53 to regain the spot. The sixth caution of the race flew when Galko spun again on lap 56. On the ensuing restart it was Nocella quickly challenging Johnson for second place. Nocella took over second place on lap 58, with Hirschman moving to third on lap 60. By lap 66 Nocella was stalking all over Hossfeld. On lap 69 Nocella found the way under Hossfeld through turns three and four to take over the top spot. The seventh caution flew on lap 80 when Derek Robbie, running at the rear of the field, spun just as Nocella was about to go past him. Following the restart, Hirschman went by Hossfeld for second on lap 81 before caution No. 8 on the day flew for Galko spinning on the backstretch. The final caution of the day flew for a Robbie spin on lap 85. On the ensuing restart Hossfeld was able to get by Hirschman for second
Evergreen Raceway King of the Green Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial nets Matt Hirschman over $10,000 on October 15, 2022. Austin gets spun on a restart while running 3rd ending a day that saw Austin being fastest in Practice, 2nd in Time Trials and leading laps. Ole Blue was strong and deserved a better finish.
Austin Point of View: Saturday we had a badass race car at Evergreen! It was the first time Ole Blue was at Evergreen but it did not look like it. We ended up being the fastest in practice and qualified 2nd to Matt. Little Matt redrew us 7th which is where we rode for a while. Lap 77 we we’re up to 3rd. After a restart around lap 80 we were riding in 2nd. When the fuel break came at lap 96 I knew we had a good enough car to lead. On the ensuing restart we took the lead and stayed that way until lap 133 when a caution came out. We lost a spot on pit road so we decided to just ride in 3rd while the leaders ran pretty hard up front. After saving for a little bit and having a really good car still there was a restart on lap 151. Unfortunately on the restart we got turned around before we went green and got hit hard in the right rear ending our day. We still had a bad fast racecar that could’ve won Saturday and I can’t thank everyone from the 3 team and all of our guys enough for all there help! Thank you to Evergreen and Thomas Wanick for putting on a great show! It was awesome seeing a great car count with a quality field of cars! Thank you to everyone from the 3 team for driving all the way from Massachusetts to bring the car to Evergreen for the first time and it being a badass car! I’ll be back in the 3 car Saturday at Seekonk for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Haunted Hundred!
By DINO OBERTO
There is no denying the superiority of Matt Hirschman who yet again showcased his incomparable driving skills in winning the King of the Green (KOTG) Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial at Evergreen Raceway on Saturday and duplicating his win in the same event earlier this year at Mahoning Valley Speedway. The race was both a track record payout with $8000-to-win plus the longest Modified feature distance ever run and despite an extremely talent filled field, Hirschman rose to the occasion with a performance that will long be remembered as he started dead last on the 24 car grid, was a one point in jeopardy of going on lap down, then systematically began picking off car after car and eventually motored his way into the top five just past the halfway mark. Soon thereafter he was battling with front runners Austin Beers and Ron Silk while at the same time having to negotiate their way through traffic. For most of that spell Hirschman and Silk ran side-by-side while glued to the back of Beers. The defining moment came during a lap 132 caution period which at that time the entire field used to make tire changing pit stops. Hirschman came in second behind Beers but thanks to hasty work by his crew returned first out. From then on it was a battle between him and Silk but during the waning laps there was no denying this was his race as he went on the claim his ninth KOTG dating back to 2001. There was also a $2000 Gamblers Bonus offered to the top four from time trials with the money to be shared if any of those drivers chose to start from the rear and then finish in the top four. Hirschman was the only one who took the dare and in doing so collected a record Evergreen payout when all was said and done. With additional bonuses his day’s work netted the Northampton star $10,750. “We had to go for it (Gamblers Bonus) because 10 (thousand) just sounds so much better than eight and I really appreciate all the money that was put into it by the Wanick family,” said Hirschman after his 52nd career Evergreen victory and 26th overall this season. “We had the biggest paying race ever at Mahoning Valley and we won that and now the same here at Evergreen and it’s been a great season for us locally as well as on the road but it’s great to win at home especially when it’s this big,” he continued. “I’ve come from the back to win here in much shorter races 50, 40, 30 lap so to give me 200 laps is plenty of time but you still have to execute all race and a race that involved pit stops and we had a good one.” When the action began Bobby Jones jumped into the early lead over Tim Connolly and Anthony Sesely. However, Silk would be the man on the move as he wasted little time in getting up to second from his fifth starting spot and on lap 28 he went to the outside of Jones for the lead. Silk then set sail with a steady and quick pace and before 40 laps where complete he caught the tail end of the field which at that point included the likes of Hirschman. He began lapping cars with ease and was within a few car lengths striking distance on Hirschman near the lap 60 mark before a few cautions thwarted his efforts. At that point Hirschman wasn’t holding back any longer and began his march towards the front. While Silk continued to lead and Hirschman was doing his thing, Beers was battling hard with Sesely for second and secured the spot by lap 77. He then charged his was up to Silk and was putting continuous pressure on him which paid off when he seized an opening in Turn 4 during a lap 96 restart. Within the next six laps of Beers taking control Hirschman was now in the top five and moving fast towards the front. At lap 110 he joined the fray with Beers and Silk and the trio then raced under a blanket while meticulously working by heavy traffic.On lap 133 Connolly’s day came to an abrupt end when he smacked the front straight wall. Under the caution Beers led the entire field into the pits but not back out as that distinction went to Hirschman who changed right side tires and rose back into action as the new leader. Beers and Silk would realign second and third.Once back underway the top three battle remained closely contested, that was until a lap 151 restart. As the field was taking the green to restart the race Beers was pinched from behind and went into a spin that send a number of cars scattering. He then pitied for service but was no longer a factor. The rest of the way it would be Silk chasing Hirschman but to no avail as the undisputed current day kingpin of asphalt Modifieds went on to another satisfying verdict. “I don’t think the strategy helped us win today and to be honest I think it made it a little bit harder but we were able to get up to second behind Austin (Beers) and then my guys had a great pit stop and got me that on spot I couldn’t get on the track,” said Hirschman. “I’m thankful to have such a big night so close to home and there was a great purse throughout the field.” 2022 Evergreen champion Roger Coss was a solid third. He qualified through the consi and made a late race charge at the end en garnering a top three. Justin Brown and Chris Turbush competed the top five. Brown started 21st and although he was caught up in a few minor incidents, raced well all the while. Turbush was consistently steady all race long, was never outside the top 10 and at one point ran as high as third until the late going. Jack Handley Jr., Andrew Krause, Stephen Kopcik, Tom Rogers Jr., and Daren Scherer rounded out the top 10. Silk takes in as many Evergreen races as his busy schedule allows and each time is always in contention for a win and usually in the same scenario with Hirschman. “Matt Hirschman is really tough to beat and he’s especially really tough to beat here. I think that we make little improvements every time we come and we always run pretty good but you have to be on top of your game to beat him” reflected Silk. “We were good and second best but the car just got too tight on that last run. I could kind of run the same pace as him but when he decided he wanted to go he could go and that was about all I had” he went on to explain. “After the caution when we got our tires I was driving pretty hard and think both of us were going that way but he was just a tick better and as that last longer run went on he was just got far enough ahead of me and I just kind of cruised around those last few laps.”
Feature finish (200 laps): 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Ron Silk, 3. Roger Coss, 4. Justin Brown, 5. Chris Turbush, 6. Jack Handley Jr., 7. Andrew Krause, 8. Stephen Kopcik, 9. Tom Rogers Jr., 10. Daren Scherer, 11. Blake Barney, 12. Lou Strohl, 13. Austin Beers, 14. Eddie McCarthy, 15. Jerry Hildebrand, 16. Bobby Jones, 17. Brian Sones, 18. Anthony Sesely, 19. Tom Connolly, 20. Brian DeFebo, 21. Artie Pederson III, 22. Jimmy Zacharias, 23. Earl Paules DQ: Jimmy Blewett DNQ: Austin Kochenash, Allen Pederson, Eric Zeh, Nick Baer, Don Wagner, Sean Verwys, Donny Hartzel, Randal Richards
Old School Domination: Eric Goodale Scores Runaway Whelen Modified Tour Win At Thompson Speedway - Austin battles to a 11th place finish
October 9, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
Eric Goodale celebrates victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Phoenix Communications 150 Sunday at Thompson Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT) THOMPSON – A full moon rose beyond the backstretch over Thompson Speedway Sunday evening, but well before its bright light shone over the historic facility things were already a little wild and crazy for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on the .625-mile oval. And howling with glee all the way to the finish in one of the most unique series events ever at the track was Eric Goodale. Goodale put an old school whooping on the competition in cruising to victory in the Phoenix Communications 150 at Thompson Speedway. Goodale, of Riverhead, N.Y., lapped all but five of the other 23 cars on the track Sunday and beat second place Mike Christopher Jr. to the checkered flag by a whopping 3.4 seconds. It was Goodale’s fifth career Whelen Modified Tour victory and his first career win of any type at Thompson Speedway. “I’ve been racing here … since I was 20 years old and have never won here,” the 36-year old Goodale said. “This one is for my dad. He wanted this race track more than anything, so it is freaking awesome.” The second place finish for Christopher, of Wolcott, clinched the 2022 Whelen Modified Tour owner’s championship for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. Anthony Nocella of Woburn, Mass. was third. The event saw just one caution, which came on lap 13 and actually involved Goodale, who got caught in a multi-car mess off of turn four. “We got caught up in that early accident spin back there,” Goodale said. “I was contemplating pitting, I didn’t like the way the car was handling, we were so tight. [Crew chief Jason Shepphard] said we’re staying out and I just [bided] my time.” Goodale went past Doug Coby for the lead on lap 78 and went unchallenged the rest of the way. At one point late in the event he held a lead of more than six seconds over Christopher. “I was probably just about the only car out there praying for a caution not to come out,” Goodale said. “The last 40 laps of that race were the longest 40 laps of my life. They were counting me down in groups of 10 and I felt like it was 25 minutes every time. It got a little dicey with lapped cars at some point. It was just really cool to have that kind of car and be able to put that kind of show on and not fall off that much.” Sunday’s victory proved to be the exclamation point of a solid weekend for him at Thompson. He was third in the 75-lap Modified Racing Series event Friday and fifth in the Thompson Outlaw Modified Sunoco 100 on Saturday. “We ran three races here, we had three top-five’s,” Goodale said. “It’s a damn good feeling.” In the battle for the 2022 driver’s championship it was Jon McKennedy using a sixth place finish to extend his lead at the top of the standings from three points to six points over Ron Silk, who was ninth. Justin Bonsignore, who came into the event tied for second with Silk, was 14th and goes to the final event on Oct. 27 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway 11 points behind McKennedy. Goodale is fourth in the standings, 17 points behind McKennedy.
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff 1 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 150 -- 2 7 Mike Christopher, Jr.* Stuart Automotive 150 3.383 3 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas 150 11.298 4 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 150 17.245 5 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 150 17.785 6 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 19.388 7 15 Kyle Soper Eastport Foods 149 1 Lap 8 10 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 149 1 Lap 9 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 149 1 Lap 10 44 Bobby Santos III Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 149 1 Lap 11 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 149 1 Lap 12 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 148 2 Laps 13 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 148 2 Laps 14 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 148 2 Laps 15 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 148 2 Laps 16 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises 147 3 Laps 17 3 Ryan Preece Propane Plus/ACG/Island International 147 3 Laps 18 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 146 4 Laps 19 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 146 4 Laps 20 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 144 6 Laps 21 27 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape Supply 139 11 Laps 22 26 Ed Brunnhoelzl III Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 136 14 Laps 23 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 121 29 Laps 24 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 30 120 Laps
Outlaw Open Modified Sunoco 100 At Thompson - Austin great run to 4th place October 8, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
THOMPSON – As Ryan Preece slowed on the frontstretch Saturday night at Thompson Speedway heading to victory lane, Woody Pitkat gave him a friendly tap to the rear bumper. Trust this, Pitkat had to make up a lot of ground on the cool down lap to get close enough to give Preece that playful tap. Preece left the field far behind over the final 12 laps to score a runaway victory in the Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Sunoco 100 Saturday at the Sunoco World Series at Thompson Speedway. Preece, of Berlin, collected a $10,000 payday for the victory. “I’m just pumped to have a car like that at the end,” Preece said. “I stuck to my plan. She was a rocket. Man that’s freaking awesome.”Pitkat, of Stafford, was second, a distance 1.8 seconds behind Preece at the checkered flag. “From where we came from yesterday to today was night and day,” said Pitkat, who was 15th in the Modified Racing Series event Friday at Thompson. “Hats off to [crew chief Cam McDermott]. This is the car that we ran [in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series NAPA Fall Final at Stafford on April 24] that got destroyed. He wanted to come here with this car and he worked his ass off.” Matt Swanson of Acton, Mass. was third. “[Team owner] Gary Casella gave me one hell of a hot rod,” Swanson said. “This car was a bare frame five days ago. It was a long week, a lot of sleepless nights, but the No. 25, when it comes to the race track, it’s always prepared and it’s always going to be fast, especially with the awesome group of guys [on the team].” Keith Rocco took control at the start of the event with Craig Lutz settling into second. On lap seven Ronnie Williams got by Lutz to take over the runner-up position and began chase of Rocco. Williams and Rocco swapped the lead twice on lap 19, but then Rocco quickly got away from Williams on lap 20. On lap 21 Pitkat moved past Williams to take over second place. By lap 64, without a caution, Rocco was left working a massive amount of lapped traffic, with Pitkat stalking his every move through it all. Ten car lengths behind Pitkat, Preece patiently rode around in third place. “We were too loose that first run,” Preece said. “[Rocco] and [Pitkat] were really good.” Pitkat’s stalking of Rocco for 50 laps paid off on lap 73. Pitkat used the outside lane off of turn two get a run on Rocco, and came off of turn four in the lead. By lap 80 Pitkat had built his advantage over second place Rocco to 1.1 seconds with Preece in third, 1.7 seconds off the lead. The first caution of the race came on lap 83 when Andrew Charron spun the frontstretch. The caution sent all the lead lap cars to pit road. Pitkat won the race off of pit road with Mike Christopher Jr. going from fifth to second. Preece came off pit road third and Eric Goodale fourth. Jake Johnson restart fifth with Rocco behind him in sixth. On the lap 83 restart it was Pitkat getting the jump on Christopher. On the next lap Preece got a run under Christopher through turn two and had second place through turns three and four. Caution was back out again on lap 85 when Johnson ended up in the turn two wall while running sixth. On the lap 85 restart Pitkat chose the outside. Pitkat and Preece went side-by-side though turns one and two and down the backstretch. Pitkat ended up out of the groove through turn four, allowing Preece to take over the top spot. Pitkat fought off Goodale’s effort to take over second. “I was hoping that we weren’t going to have a caution there,” Pitkat said. “… We had an awesome pit stop, we came out first, everything was aligned and we just missed it a little bit with the tire stagger.” Caution was back out again on lap 87 when Spencer Davis got in the wall in turn four. On the lap 87 restart it was Preece getting a monster jump away from Pitkat while behind them Austin Beers moved past Goodale for third place. On lap 90 Swanson got by Beers to move to third. By lap 91 Preece had checked out by 1.2 seconds over second place Pitkat.
Austin Beers to race iconic Ole Blue at Evergreen for King of the Green Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial 200
By DINO OBERTO The King of the Green Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial 200 at Evergreen Raceway on October 15 is already billed as the biggest event ever held at the Butler Township 1/3-mile paved oval with a record $8000 going to the winner in what is also the longest distance Modified race ever run. With that kind of offering the entry list will see many local and regional talents coming in to be part of the historic event and now there will be a historic car making a run at the top prize too. BRE Racing and the iconic Ole Blue #3 will be racing at Evergreen for the first time but have a very familiar driver behind the wheel with Austin Beers of Northampton getting the nod to pilot the car. “It’s probably one of the most famous Modified cars you could ask to drive and I’m very proud and it’s always been a dream of mine to get behind the wheel and now that I’m able to bring it to Evergreen for the Wanick Memorial which will be the first time that car will be there, it’s pretty special,” said Beers. “My dad (Eric Beers) reached out to Mike (Boehler, car owner) about a month or so ago. We’ve struggled with our 19 car with the track being repaved and we’re a little down on power and we knew we really wouldn’t have a shot so he made a call and what cooler thing then to drive the 3 car at Evergreen.” The BRE #3 has a storied history. Lenny Boehler started the team in 1957 and it is still going strong today with his son, Mike Boehler heading up the operation. They have six NASCAR National Modified Championships, three in a row with Bugsy Stevens as his driver in 1967-68-69, Wayne Anderson in 1994 and Tony Hirschman in 1995 and 1996. Fourteen track championships including seven at the Thompson Speedway, three at the Stafford Motor Speedway, three at the Seekonk Speedway and one at the Norwood Arena. In four decades the Boehler cars have amassed over 300 wins that include some of the biggest Modified races and best drivers to boot. Evergreen will be the third time Beers will be driving the car, doing so earlier this year at Seekonk and Star Speedways with results of fifth and ninth respectively. And, interestingly he is the fourth different driver from Mud Lane in Northampton to race the Boehler mount which along with Tony Hirschman are his son Matt Hirschman and Beers’ father, Eric. “I’d like to think that it shows the testament of how good we are out here with Matt considered the best Modified driver in this era, his dad Tony who won five NASCAR Modified championships and of course the legacy of my dad, it just shows how good Mud Lane is,” offered Beers. Beers collected his very first Modified win at Evergreen in 2019, won the Evergreen Modified title that same year and knows the track exceptionally well. His father is also two-time Modified track champion. This year Beers has been racing on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for Michael Murphy where is fifth in points and also competes on the Race of Champions Tour with his family run #19 and the Dave and Laura DeLange #45. In the past two seasons at Evergreen Matt Hirschman has been the undisputed star winning virtually every race but in nearly every one of those he was being chased to the line by Beers. So coming into the Wanick 200 it should come as no surprise that he feels quite confident of his chances with the Boehler entry. “Every car I’ve driven this year I feel we’ve worked good with them all and had success and there’s not much of a difference but then you have that paint scheme on the outside and were that car has come from, it’s Ole Blue and you can’t really get better than that,” said Beers. “I honestly think when we got the go ahead to run the car I kind of thought to myself this will be the first time I go to that track truly where I feel I’m not playing against Matt, I’m there to win for myself. I’m not worried about the 60 I’m only focused on the 3 so I believe we really have a good shot at getting him.” Confident yes, but naturally the 19-year old Beers does feel a bit of pressure knowing he is driving with so much history underneath him. “When I run that car I feel a lot of pressure because no matter where that car goes it’s always very good. I feel as though I should win in that car and I don’t feel like there’s a reason I shouldn’t win with that car so yes I put a lot of pressure on myself to do good,” he explained. “At Evergreen I already know the track and we can just dial the car in and be ready for qualifying. It’s definetley good to come in there with the experience we have there as opposed to the Tour where we may go to tracks for the first time and have to figure things out compared to other guys who have lots of laps,” he continued. “Experience is one of the biggest parts of racing. If you’re not getting better after every race then why are you doing it because you have to learn and keep learning and if you stop that then you’re going to hit a dead-end and not get any better.” The Tom Wanick Jr., Memorial takes place on Saturday afternoon, October 15. The event is in honor of the late car owner who passed away unexpectedly in January of this year. Tom had a deep passion for Evergreen Raceway. This will be the second memorial with an earlier one held in May at Mahoning Valley Speedway and won by Matt Hirschman. “Tommy Wanick has done a great job promoting this event and there will be a lot of talented drivers and a lot of good cars coming so it will be tough qualifying to get into the race and then you just have to pace yourself once it all gets underway and hopefully we’ll be there at the end,” said Beers.
MATT HIRSCHMAN WINS 34TH US OPEN - Austin gets 3rd and finishes just short of winning back to back RoC Titles
LANCASTER, NY (October 1, 2022) … “Big Money” Matt Hirschman from Northampton, PA won the 34th edition of the US Open at Lancaster Motorplex on Saturday afternoon. For Hirschman, it was his sixth career triumph in the race, and 12th Lancaster Modified victory.
2021 Series champion Austin Beers and 2022 Lancaster Motorplex Sportsman track champion George Skora III brought the Race of Champions Modified Series to the green flag for the 34th running of the US Open with Beers in the lead, with Jack Ely, Matt Hirschman, Skora, and Daren Scherer racing in the top five early on. Andy Jankowiak battled with Jake Lutz to take over sixth place on lap eight, just as Hirschman passed Ely to move into second place. “Big Money” would look for the lead and would take it away from Beers on lap 14. Jankowiak would continue to work his way into the top five on lap 16, after passing Daren Scherer. George Skora III would move back into third place after passing Jack Ely on lap 23, with Jankowiak, and Zane Zeiner racing in the top six. Jankowiak would battle with Jack Ely for fourth place on lap 32, and the two would battle for several laps. At the race’s halfway mark, Matt Hirschman would continue to lead Austin Beers, Skora, Ely, Jankowiak, Zeiner, Patrick Emerling, Tony Hanbury, Mike Leaty, and Daren Scherer. Andy Jankowiak would move into fourth, with Zeiner taking over fifth place on lap 45, as Ely got freight trained on the outside of the speedway. With 25 laps remaining, Hirschman continued to show the way ahead of Beers and Skora. The lead trio would pull away from Jankowiak, Zeiner, Emerling, and Hanbury. Patrick Emerling tried to get around Zane Zeiner to enter the top five on lap 59. Emerling started 14th on the grid of the 21-car field. The leaders would hit lap traffic on lap 61, just as Emerling passed Jankowiak to take over fourth place. Emerling would continue his hard charge to the front, as he passed Skora going into turn three to take over third place on lap 66. Emerling would then catch Austin Beers for second place with six laps remaining. Andy Jankowiak and Tony Hanbury got together on lap 70 in turn two to bring out the race’s first caution. The late-race restart would see Hirschman take off in the lead as Emerling applied pressure to Beers for second place. Mark Tychoniewicz spun going down the back straightaway to bring out the caution with three laps remaining. Hirschman would continue to lead off the lap 72 restart, and Emerling would take over second on lap 73. Hirschman would hold off Emerling, Beers, Skora, and Zeiner to win his sixth US Open, and first since 2018.
RACE RESULTS – 10-1-22 – 34th US OPEN WEEKEND RoC Modifieds: MATT HIRSCHMAN, Patrick Emerling, Austin Beers, George Skora III, Zane Zeiner, Jack Ely, Mike Leaty, Timmy Catalano, Daren Scherer, Chuck Hossfeld, Trevor Catalano, Shawn Nye, Tony Hanbury, Tyler Catalano, Jake Lutz, Andy Jankowiak, Danny Knoll Jr, Sean Verwys, Alan Bookmiller, Mark Tychoniewicz, Daryl Lewis Jr Qualifying Heats: Mike Leaty, Matt Hirschman, Tony Hanbury Fast Time: Matt Hirschman (17.072 seconds)
Austin Finishes 2nd in points at Evergreen Raceway in 2022
Unfortunately couldn’t get it done today at evergreen. We gave it our all and just came up a little short. Congrats to Roger Coss on the championship! He deserves it! Thanks to everyone that helps at the garage and at the track! Excited to tackle King Of The Green!
Island Party: Justin Bonsignore Wins Whelen Mod Tour Eddie Partridge 256 At Riverhead Raceway September 17, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
Justin Bonsignore celebrates victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Eddie Partridge 256 Saturday at Riverhead Raceway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT) It was a night at Riverhead Raceway celebrating the exploits of Long Island native Eddie Partridge and his support as the owner of the historic bullring.
And when it was over it was the most successful Islander of late in Modified racing celebrating victory.
Justin Bonsignore, who got his start in Modified racing at Riverhead, won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Eddie Partridge 256 Saturday at Riverhead Raceway.
Partridge, a longtime Whelen Modified Tour team owner who purchased Riverhead Raceway in 2015, passed away unexpectedly on Sept. 10, 2021 just hours after celebrating a Whelen Modified Tour victory with driver Ryan Preece at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
The event also marked the first time that infield pitting was used for a Whelen Modified Tour event at Riverhead.
“It’s a shame that we lost Eddie last year, but what [Riverhead general manager] John Ellwood, [and co-owners] Tom Gatz and Connie [Partridge] do for this place, and the way they honor him is unbelievable what they do each and every week,” Bonsignore said. “… There’s just so much that they do. I’m just so happy that they keep Long Island racing going for all of us and all the fans. How about the fans? What a crowd? Pit stops went off really well. I think John Ellwood is on to something here.”
It was the 35th career Whelen Modified Tour victory for Bonsignore, the three-time series champion from Holtsville, N.Y. It was the ninth Whelen Modified Tour victory in 24 series starts at Riverhead since 2007. The win moved Bonsignore into sole possession of fifth place on the Whelen Modified Tour all-time win list, breaking a tie he was in with Doug Coby with 34 wins. It was his second consecutive victory and series leading fourth this season.
Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y. was second and Ron Silk of Norwalk third.
Bonsignore used an outside run off of turn two to get by Emerling for the lead on lap 230 and then held off a stalking Emerling over the final 10 laps.
“I knew I could roll the top on him,” Bonsignore said. “… He let me run the top cleanly. It’s always a pleasure racing [Emerling].”
Said Emerling: “The cautions just didn’t fall in our favor there. It sucks. We are disappointed with a second and I guess that’s a good thing. I’ve got to give it up to [my team]. They did an awesome job. We had the best race car out there. We lacked a little drive off [the corner]. Just a little bit too many laps and the cautions didn’t fall our way. … I could have run [Bonsignore] a little bit rougher, but I guess we’re proud of running them clean there.”
Silk, who won the 2011 Whelen Modified Tour championship, was left still looking for his first series win at Riverhead.
“You want to win them all, but it would have been cool to win one for Eddie there,” Silk said. “All in all a great job by my guys. I can’t thank my entire team enough. Keep knocking on the door, we’ll get there sooner or later.”
The event changed up the driver’s championship standings dramatically with two events remaining in the season. Bonsignore is looking for his third consecutive series title after winning championships in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Bonsignore came into the event third in the driver’s championship standings, 17 points behind leader Jon McKennedy. Silk came into Saturday’s event second in the standings, 10 points behind McKennedy. When the night was over McKennedy remained atop the driver’s standings with Silk and Bonsignore each three points behind. Eric Goodale is fourth in the driver standings, 22 points off the lead.
The Tommy Baldwin Racing team, with drivers Doug Coby, Jimmy Blewett and Mike Christopher Jr., continues to lead the owner’s championship standings. Coby was fourth Saturday.
The series visits Thompson Speedway on Oct. 9 for the Sunoco World Series 150 before closing out the year at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 27.
Bonsignore, who won the pole in qualifying, held the top spot at the start, with second place qualifier Emerling tucking in behind him. Doug Coby went from fourth to third past Eric Goodale at the start.
The first caution flew on lap 16 for an incident involving Ken Heagy and Donny Lia.
On the ensuring restart the top three remained in line with Ron Silk moving to fourth past Goodale.
Caution flew on lap 73 for the spinning car of Gary McDonald with Bonsignore still out front chased by Emerling, Coby and Silk respectively.
Bonsignore held the top spot on the lap 82 restart, leaving Emerling and Coby to battle side-by-side for second for three laps before Emerling took control back of the runner-up spot.
Yellow was back out on lap 86 when Dylan Slepian and JB Fortin were involved in a wreck. The wreck brought out a red flag for cleanup.
After the red flag the race went green with a lap 92 restart. On the restart it was Emerling using the outside lane to get by Bonsignore for the lead while Silk moved to third past Coby. Bonsignore fought back to the inside and regained the lead on lap 96. Caution was back out on lap 97 for the spinning car of Matt Brode. During the short green flag stint Coby fell to fifth.
On the lap 104 restart Bonsignore was able to stave off Emerling and it was Silk gets the low run past Emerling to move into second place. But Emerling quickly fought back on lap 106 to move back to second.
The fifth caution flew on lap 108 when Kyle Bonsignore spun.
On the lap 114 restart Justin Bonsignore and Emerling fought side-by-side for a lap up front before Justin Bonsignore cleared for the top spot, leaving Emerling to battle Silk for second.
Caution six flew on lap 136 for another Brode spin. The caution period saw second place running Emerling head to pit road. It moved Silk to second and Craig Lutz to third.
On the lap 144 restart Justin Bonsignore was able to get away from Silk with Goodale getting by Lutz for third.
By lap 176 Emerling was back up to fifth after pitting. On lap 177 Goodale went by Silk for second as Justin Bonsignore created some breathing room out front.
Caution was out once again on lap 183 for a John Beatty Jr. spin with Justin Bonsignore leading Goodale and Silk in third.
Under caution most of the leaders headed to pit road. Emerling, Kyle Bonsignore and Dave Sapienza stayed on track. The race restarted with those three up front with Justin Bonsignore edging Coby in the race off pit road to restart in fourth with Coby fifth.
On the lap 197 restart it was Emerling and Kyle Bonsignore fighting side-by-side for a lap before Kyle Bonsignore moved to the lead on lap 198.
On lap 207 Justin Bonsignore moved past Sapiezna for third place. In front of him Emerling got by Kyle Bonsignore to go to the lead.
On lap 213 Justin Bonsignore got by Kyle Bonsignore to move to second place. Two laps later contact between Kyle Bonsignore and Silk sent Kyle Bonsignore spinning to bring out the eighth caution. The red flag was thrown under caution with Emerling leading, Justin Bonsignore in second, Slik in third, Goodale in fourth and Coby in fifth.
On the lap 225 restart Emerling fought off a hard charge from Justin Bonsignore to stay out front. But Justin Bonsignore stayed on his bumper. On lap 230 Justin Bonsignore used the outside lane move off of turn two to regain the lead for good
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 256 2 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 256 0.402 3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 256 1.987 4 7 Doug Coby Baldwin Automotive 256 4.083 5 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 256 4.643 6 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 256 5.473 7 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 256 6.059 8 66 Timmy Solomito Natural Designs/Highmark 256 8.174 9 15 Kyle Soper Eastport Foods 256 9.21 10 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 256 9.539 11 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 256 10.183 12 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 256 10.644 13 88 Roger Turbush Rheem 256 11.126 14 26 Ed Brunnhoelzl III Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 256 11.836 15 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 255 1 Lap 16 5 John Beatty, Jr. Elite Sound Studios 255 1 Lap 17 81 Chris Turbush* Mike Smith/Cromers Market 255 1 Lap 18 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 250 6 Laps 19 96 Matthew Brode Peter Clark Motorsports 249 7 Laps 20 27 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape Supply 248 8 Laps 21 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 214 42 Laps 22 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 192 64 Laps 23 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 85 171 Laps 24 70 Dylan Slepian* Eastport Feeds 85 171 Laps 25 3 Donny Lia Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 15 241 Laps
Bud Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway on September is an odd race with interesting results
There’s few around the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour that would question the driving skills of three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore. But Saturday at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway it might have been Bonsignore’s acting prowess more than his skill turning the wheel that helped him more in scoring his 34th career Whelen Modified Tour victory. Bonsignore faked a move to pit road under caution with 28 laps to go, inherited the lead and then held off the charges of Chuck Hossfeld over the closing laps to win the Whelen Modified Tour Bud Mod Classic 150 at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway. “We’ve been struggling with where we feel we should be running this year,” said Bonsignore, of Holtsville, N.Y. “That’s not to be whiney or anything like that, we just hold ourselves to a high standard. It’s been an up and down summer. We had a few issues that put us behind and we just haven’t had the speed or the consistency week in and week out. Just from run to run we’re chasing the car. We got it good tonight. I wasn’t too happy with it after qualifying but I just stuck with it.”
It was the third win of the season for Bonsignore, the reigning series champion who came into the event sitting fourth in the series standings. “We’ve kind of been like a bunch of brothers that have been on each other and giving each other a lot of crap lately,” Bonsignore said. “This is good medicine to solve that I think. … I guess we’re not out of it on the points. We’ll go on to Riverhead and see what happens.” Chuck Hossfeld of Ransomville, N.Y. was second and Craig Lutz of Miller Place, N.Y. third. Doug Coby looked to have a fourth victory of 2022 in hand before caution flew with 29 laps remaining after Andrew Krause spun out of sixth place. Coby headed to the pits along with third place McKennedy, fifth place Ron Silk and seventh place Matt Hirschman. The move to the pits handed Bonsignore the lead. “I don’t know if Doug just got tired of winning or I faked him out,” Bonsignore said. “I faked like I was coming to pit road, but we weren’t coming.” Coby said he wasn’t faked by Bonsignore’s move. Coby got stuck in traffic on the ensuing restart and couldn’t claw his way back to the front. He ended up seventh. Hossfeld got by Kyle Bonsignore for third with 10 laps to go and went by Lutz for second with five to go, but couldn’t find a way by Justin Bonsignore at the front. “All these guys did a great job,” Hossfeld said. “Joe [Bertuccio], our car owner, didn’t even come today. My buddy Mike said ‘Who gives the checkbook and car and all their tools and stuff and goes to a wedding and says have fun?’ What a great team and what a great owner.” Hossfeld was making his second series start of the season. He was third at Richmond Raceway on April 1. It was the second podium finish in the last three races for Lutz, who won at Thompson Speedway on Aug. 18. “It was pretty eventful but luckily we had a pretty good car and we were able to stay in the top-five most of the night,” Lutz said. “Those late race restarts, Justin was making it as wide as possible to make everyone else’s job that much harder, and he did. But my guys gave me an awesome car again tonight. The last three races we’ve really been building some momentum.” Kyle Bonsignore ended up fourth and Hirschman fifth. Jon McKennedy, who came into the event leading the driver’s championship standings, was sixth. Ron Silk, who came into the event three points behind McKennedy in second place in the driver standings, was 13th. After the race the standings had McKennedy remaining on top and extending his lead over second place Silk to 10 points. Justin Bonsignore moved past Eric Goodale into third place in the standings, 17 points behind McKennedy. Goodale, who was ninth, now sits 27 points off the lead in fourth after coming into the race 24 points behind. Kyle Bonsignore jumped from seventh to fifth in the standings. Tommy Baldwin Racing remained atop the owner’s championship standings, holding a 32-point lead over the Tim Lepine owned team with McKennedy. The first caution of the race flew on lap 28 for the smoking car of Tyler Rypkema. After a lap 33 restart the caution was flying again on lap 35 for a front stretch multi-car spin involving Bobby Santos III, JB Fortin and Ken Heagy. Pole sitter Hirschman held the top spot with Coby on his bumper after the lap 42 restart. Caution flew again on lap 70 for a Gary McDonald spin. The caution period sent all the leaders to the pits. On pit road it was Coby’s Tommy Baldwin Racing team getting him out on top with Justin Bonsignore coming out second. Behind him a slow pit stop from the Hirschman team dropped him back to ninth for the restart.
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Laps Diff. 1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 -- 2 2 Chuck Hossfeld Gershow Recycling 150 0.129 3 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 150 0.483 4 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 150 0.591 5 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports 150 0.791 6 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 1.047 7 7 Doug Coby John Blewett Inc. 150 1.487 8 44 Bobby Santos Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 150 2.009 9 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 150 2.294 10 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mfg. Co. 150 2.69 11 3 Donny Lia Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 150 2.783 12 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 150 2.803 13 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 3.159 14 14 Mike Leaty* AdvantageTrucks.com LLC 150 3.385 15 25 Brian Robie* Maurice Enterprises 150 3.615 16 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Technique Chassis Ford 149 1 Lap 17 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 148 2 Laps 18 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 148 2 Laps 19 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc. 147 3 Laps 20 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 143 7 Laps 21 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 137 13 Laps 22 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 117 33 Laps 23 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 106 44 Laps 24 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 27 123 Laps 25 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 19 131 Laps
“BIG MONEY” MATT HIRSCHMAN DRIVES TO SECOND STRAIGHT MAYNARD TROYER CLASSIC WIN AT SPENCER SEPTEMBER 2 - AUSTIN WAS TIGHT BUT STILL FINISHES 4th
Williamson, N.Y. (September 3, 2022) – “Big Money” Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., lived up to his nickname this past Friday night at Spencer Speedway in Williamson, N.Y., in the Maynard Troyer Classic III. It was Hirschman’s second consecutive victory in what has become the marquee event at Spencer Speedway. Hirschman took the lead from Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y., on a restart after Emerling encountered mechanical issues. “We had a great car tonight,” stated Hirschman from victory lane. “This is a big race for us because of our family’s history with Maynard Troyer and representing his brand through the Troyer Manufacturing brand. This is a big win and one that you don’t forget any time soon.” Hirschman held off Mike Leaty of Williamson, N.Y., who is the only other driver to win the Maynard Troyer Classic. Zane Zeiner of Bath, Pa., finished third. Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., finished fourth and Jack Ely of Wall Township, Pa., rounded out the top-five.
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown +/- 1 4 60 Matt Hirschman Matt Hirschman Northampton, PA 3 2 5 25 Mike Leaty Mike Leaty Williamson, NY 3 3 6 22 Zane Zeiner Zane Zeiner Bath, PA 3 4 8 45 Austin Beers Austin Beers Northampton, PA 4 5 11 81 Jack Ely Jack Ely Northampton, PA 6 6 3 10 Daryl Lewis Jr. Daryl Lewis Jr. Ontario, NY -3 7 7 56 Tommy Catalano Tommy Catalano Ontario, NY - 8 13 17C Roger Coss Roger Coss Lafayette, NJ 5 9 17 17K Danny Knoll Jr Danny Knoll Jr Amherst, NY 8 10 18 66 Austin Kochenash Austin Kochenash Danielsville, PA 8 11 21 0 Randall Richard Randall Richard 10 12 15 3 Daren Scherer Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY 3 13 22 88 Sean Verwys Sean Verwys East Stroudsburg, PA 9 14 9 8 Chris Finocchario Chris Finocchario Macedon, NY -5 15 1 73X Andy Jankowiak Andy Jankowiak Tonawanda, NY -14 16 12 2 Tony Hanbury Tony Hanbury Owego, NY -4 17 10 45PJ Timmy Catalano Timmy Catalano Ontario, NY -7 18 20 64PJ Tyler Catalano Tyler Catalano Ontario, NY 2 19 2 14 Patrick Emerling Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY -17 20 14 17T Kevin Timmerman Kevin Timmerman Ontario, NY -6 21 19 11 Ricky Knapp Jr. Ricky Knapp Jr. Buffalo, NY -2 22 16 71 Jimmy Zacharias Jimmy Zacharias Candor, NY -6 23 23 40 Tommy Rought Tommy Rought Rome, PA -
All Fixed: Doug Coby Dominates In Whelen Mod Tour Return To Langley Speedway Aug 27- Austin wows the crowd
Austin's recap: Saturday we had a great day all around for the KLM Motorsports #64! Unloaded off the trailer pretty good and made some adjustments to get the car a little better and ended up P3. Then we had our best qualifying effort of the year which was also P3! We had a good strategy for the race and rode in 3rd until around lap 80. After that we came in and put our right front tire on while everyone else put all 3 of there change tires on. We fell back a bit on the restart just hoping for a caution a little after lap 100 and got it at about lap 115. We bolted on our rear tires and the car was a rocket ship. We quickly got up to 5th before a final restart and ended up getting up to 3rd and ran out of laps! Can’t say enough about this team. We haven’t gave up and keep improving every week! Thank you to Mike Murphy, Maggie, and everyone on the team for what they do!
This Friday I’ll be in the DeLange Racing #45 at Spencer speedway in the Maynard Troyer Classic for the Race of Champions Modified Tour! It’s going to be a great show and is only about 45 minutes from Oswego which I’ll be running on Saturday in the 64!
August 27, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne On Aug. 18 at Thompson Speedway the Tommy Baldwin Racing entry in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Phoenix Communications 150 at Thompson Speedway ended up a tattered mess after driver Jimmy Blewett crashed following contact with Doug Coby. Blewett and Coby are two of the three drivers that have been part of the Tommy Baldwin Racing stable this year on the Whelen Modified Tour. Saturday at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. Coby got the chance to make things better for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. Coby put on a whooping on the field on the way to victory in the CHECKEREDFLAG.com 150 at Langley Speedway. Coby won the pole and led every lap in the event. “Racing is an interesting sport right?,” Coby said. “A week ago things didn’t go so well between me and his car. And here I am driving it to victory lane at Langley. This is just all about Tommy and his team and the hard work they put into making this car fast at every type of track with every driver that’s in it.” It was Coby’s third series victory of the season, all coming while driving for Baldwin. Coby also won at Riverhead Raceway on May 14 and Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. on May 21. It was the fifth victory in 12 series events this year for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Blewett (Wall Stadium) and Mike Christopher Jr. (Jennerstown Speedway) also have victories for the team. It was the 34th career Whelen Modified Tour victory for Coby, of Milford, a six-time series champion who was making his eighth series start of the 2022 season. It was the third Whelen Modified Tour event at Langley Speedway and first since 2018. Ron Silk of Norwalk was second. “They were just a little bit better than we were,” Silk said. “I could stay with him there for a few laps after that last restart [on lap 128]. I know we were both running pretty hard at that point. He could just kind of inch and inch and inch away. I slipped up one time getting into [turn] one and lost a good bit of ground on one shot and that was about it for me.” Rookie Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa. had a career series best finish of third. “It feels great,” Beers said. “It’s been a dream of mine to run on this tour so to get a top-five, a top-three especially, how we’re coming on, this feels amazing.” Series points leader Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was fourth and reigning series champion Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, N.Y. was fifth in the 19-car field. Coming into the event McKennedy led second place Silk by five points in the driver’s championship standings with Eric Goodale in third in the standings, 16 points off the lead. Justin Bonsignore came into the race fourth in the standings, 25 points behind McKennedy. Silk cut McKennedy’s lead in the driver’s championship to three points with four events remaining. With a 12th place finish, Eric Goodale fell to 24 points off the lead in third place. Bonsignore, looking for his third consecutive series title and fourth overall, sits two points behind Goodale in fourth, 26 points behind McKennedy.
1 7 Doug Coby John Blewett Inc. 150 – 2 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 0.786 3 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 150 1.845 4 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 6.128 5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 9.228 6 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 150 9.459 7 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Technique Chassis Ford 150 9.808 8 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 150 10.543 9 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 150 12.366 10 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 150 12.599 11 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 149 1 Lap 12 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 149 1 Lap 13 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 149 1 Lap 14 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s 149 1 Lap 15 77 Gary Putnam CURB Records 149 1 Lap 16 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 148 2 Laps 17 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 145 5 Laps 18 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 97 53 Laps 19 2 J.R. Bertuccio, Jr. Gershow Recycling 17 133 Laps RACE STATISTICS Time of Race: 0 hrs., 56 mins, 42 secs Average Speed: 62.698 mph Margin of Victory: 0.786 Seconds Caution Flags: Laps 19-29 (Car #2 turn 4 no contact, no FP); 73-80 (Debris in turn 1, FP #99); 109-114 (Car #01 and #58 contact turn 2, FP #54); 123-126 (Car #22 spin turn 4 no contact, FP #3). 4 for 29 laps. Lap Leaders: Doug Coby 1-150. Total Laps Led: Doug Coby 150. 0 changes involving 1 drivers.
Austin Kochenash holds off Matt Hirschman and Austin Beers to score his first Race of Champions Modified Series win on August 20 at Chemung.
The Rod Spalding Classic "The Night Before the Glen" at the Chemung Speedrome had one caution flag in the 75 lap feature and produced a finish that had the fans on their feet.
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown +/- 1 2 66 Austin Kochenash Austin Kochenash Danielsville, PA 1 2 4 60 Matt Hirschman Matt Hirschman Northampton, PA 2 3 6 45 Austin Beers Austin Beers Northampton, PA 3 4 11 14 Patrick Emerling Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY 7 5 8 81 Jack Ely Jack Ely Northampton, PA 3 6 1 10 Daryl Lewis Jr. Daryl Lewis Jr. Ontario, NY -5 7 5 17C Roger Coss Roger Coss Lafayette, NJ -2 8 20 73X Andy Jankowiak Andy Jankowiak Tonawanda, NY 12 9 7 45PJ Timmy Catalano Timmy Catalano Ontario, NY -2 10 12 3 Daren Scherer Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY 2 11 15 25 Mike Leaty Mike Leaty Williamson, NY 4 12 16 64PJ Tyler Catalano Tyler Catalano Ontario, NY 4 13 9 72 T.J. Potrzebowski T.J. Potrzebowski Elmira, NY -4 14 10 0 Zane Zeiner Zane Zeiner Bath, PA -4 15 3 71 Bryce Bailey Bryce Bailey Waverly, NY -12 16 19 56PJ Trevor Catalano Trevor Catalano Ontario, NY 3 17 14 39 Geary Rinehimer Geary Rinehimer Moosic, PA -3 18 17 40 Tommy Rought Tommy Rought Rome, PA -1 19 18 27 Donny Hartzell Donny Hartzell Sweet Valley, PA -1 20 13 17K Danny Knoll Jr Danny Knoll Jr Amherst, NY -7 21 21 21 Paul Townsend Paul Townsend Guelph, ON - 22 22 88 Sean Verwys Sean Verwys East Stroudsburg, PA -
Survivor Series: Craig Lutz Wins Wreck-Marred Phoenix Communications 150 At Thompson Austin not happy with 16th place finish but the 3 car shut off in front of home and Austin had no where to go
August 18, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
THOMPSON – The last time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competed at Thompson Speedway before Thursday it was Craig Lutz celebrating victory in the Sunoco World Series 150 on October 11, 2020. On that day Lutz celebrated his third career series victory. Thursday the Whelen Modified Tour returned to the track for the first time since that event and the scene remained the same in victory lane. Lutz celebrated his fourth career Whelen Modified Tour win in dominating style scoring victory in the Phoenix Communications 150 Thursday at Thompson. Lutz, of Miller Place, N.Y., proved dominator and survivor in a wreck marred event the left few cars unscathed. “It obviously takes a really good car and luck and things to go your way,” Lutz said. “We got to the lead early and the car felt really good so I wanted to control the pace. And then at like lap 60 the caution came out and I stayed out and everyone else took tires and we were a little scared because we knew we were the lone wolf out there. You’ve made your bed and now you’re going to lie in it. Luckily the caution fell where we were and we were able to come and get tires and pick our way through. I knew we had a really really good car. I knew if I could just get to the lead and set my pace I didn’t think anyone was going to have anything for me. I was able to do that.” Eric Goodale of Riverhead, N.Y. was second and Doug Coby of Milford third. “We unloaded, I wasn’t at the top of the speed charts in practice and I didn’t have any complaints about the car,” Goodale said. “I was like ‘I don’t know what to tell you, don’t touch it. We’re two-tenths off but I like the way it’s driving.’ Obviously leaving it along was a good decision because we were fast right at the drop of the green. We got up to the top-three and just rode there all race. A good night. Best finish at Thompson. Gives us some momentum. We beat some people that we were in front of us in points. That’s what we need to do from here on out and the points will take care of themselves. And we’re going to try to get a couple checkered flags before the year ends.” Lutz became the ninth different winner in 11 Whelen Modified tour events in 2022. He joins Coby (two wins), Justin Bonsignore (two wins), Jon McKennedy, Matt Hirschman, Mike Christopher Jr., Jimmy Blewett, Anthony Nocella and Kyle Soper. Ronnie Williams went to the lead past Blewett, and he pole-winner, on lap four. Three laps later it was Lutz who got by Williams to take over the top spot.The first caution of the race flew on lap 59 when then second place running Goodale made contact with the lapped car of Gary McDonald, sending McDonald into the grass just before turn one. Race leader Lutz and seventh place running McKennedy opted to stay out under caution while the rest of the lead lap cars headed to pit road.Lutz held the top spot on the lap 67 restart, but the green flag run was brief. A Walt Sutcliffe spin on the backstretch brought the yellow out again on lap 69, The race restarted on lap 74 with McKennedy grabbing the top spot from Lutz and Blewett moving to second. Caution flew once again on lap 76 for a multi-car wreck in turn four that involved Coby, Williams, Andrew Krause, Dave Sapienza, Ken Heagy, Patrick Emerling and Tyler Rypkema.Lutz went to pit road under caution along with Ryan Preece and Timmy Solomito. The race restart on lap 81 with McKennedy staying out front, but the caution spree continued with the yellow flying again on lap 82. On the lap 90 restart it was Blewett using the low lane to get by McKennedy for the lead off of turn four. In turn one on lap 91 Ron Silk and McKennedy made contact with McKennedy losing the back end. McKennedy started sliding and then came down the track in front of third place Silk. McKennedy’s car blocked the track, with Silk going over the top of McKennedy and multiple other cars piling in, including Bonsignore and Donny Lia. Blewett went to the pits under caution handing the lead to Tommy Catalano with Austin Beers in second and Lutz in third. Blewett restarted in 10th but his night came to an end not long after the next restart. Contact between Coby and Blewett battling for position in a three-wide situation coming off turn four on lap 99 put Blewett hard into the frontstretch wall. The right front tire on Blewett’s car came off and was hit by Rypkema and sent over the wall in turn one, landing on a section of the Thompson road course. The incident left Blewett incensed at Coby. Blewett was driving the Tommy Baldwin Racing entry. He has shared the seat in the ride on the Whelen Modified Tour this year with Coby and Mike Christopher Jr. Coby, who has made six series starts this year for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr., was driving for his personally owned team at Thompson Thursday. “My teammate [Coby] put me three-wide basically,” Blewett said. “Put me right in the fence. I really don’t understand why he was racing like that with me of all people. We’ve got the rest of the season to race together. It’s just unfortunate for these guys, they gave me such a great car. I was trying to get out of the three-wide situation. I was trying to back out of it and he just cleared himself out [turn] four and destroyed not only my car but his car. … He knows. He knows he fucked up. Excuse my language. But what comes around goes around and I’ll definitely repay the favor.”
Coby blamed Blewett for the wreck.
“When you’re in the outside lane coming off turn two and you end up in the middle going into turn three, that’s not my fault,” Coby said. “I was on the bottom at the [restart], through [turns] one and two, down the backstretch and into [turn] three and off of [turn] four, I was on the bottom following Eric Goodale on tires coming up through. I think it was [Spencer Davis] ahead of [Blewett] who was on older tires. He’s going to have no patience with him and he put himself three-wide in the middle. … I was put three-wide middle by [Goodale] twice and I lifted. I think it’s the middle car’s job to lift. And I thought I came off really low on the bottom. I know there was contact with me, but at some point … If you want to say I made it three wide that means there was cars two-wide in front of me and there were not cars two-wide in front of me. … Jimmy came down the backstretch and really wanted to get by that guy. At that point I have to protect my equipment and my car. … I feel bad. I’m not looking to wreck [Baldwin’s] car that I’m supposed to be driving next week, but at the same point. I didn’t make it three-wide and the video will show that. … [Blewett] chose to go in the middle and hoped that I would lift and I don’t have to lift to protect my spot and my car. That’s how it rolls.” The race restarted with Lutz leading, Catalano in second, Beers in third and Preece in fourth. On the lap 107 restart Lutz held the top spot with Preece rocketing to second. Preece was able to challenge Lutz in the laps just after the restart but but Lutz was checking out from Preece by lap 115. By lap 133 Silk and McKennedy had rallied back to fifth and sixth place respectively. Coming off of turn four McKennedy and Silk were side-by-side, heading that way down the frontstretch. Silk was in the outside lane going into turn one with the lapped car of McDonald down low. Into the corner McKennedy tried to squeeze between Silk and McDonald, sending Silk hard into the turn one wall. On the lap 139 restart Coby went from fourth to second behind Lutz, but the move was negated when Donny Lia and Beers wrecked in turn two. The race restarted on lap 144 with Goodale getting by Coby for second place. Silk came into the event four points ahead of McKennedy at the top of the standings. McKennedy ended up fourth and Silk was 12th, meaning McKennedy left the track with the points lead. Official points were not available from NASCAR Thursday night
1 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 150 – 2 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 150 0.948 3 10 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 150 1.512 4 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 2.059 5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 2.342 6 44 Ryan Preece Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 150 2.784 7 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 150 3.515 8 46 Timmy Solomito Riverhead Building Supply 150 4.645 9 7 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 150 4.796 10 29 Spencer Davis Ionx Supreme Lubricants 150 5.399 11 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 150 5.994 12 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 8.015 13 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 150 13.021 14 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 149 1 Lap 15 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 149 1 Lap 16 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 149 1 Lap 17 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 144 6 Laps 18 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 143 7 Laps 19 3 Donny Lia Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 138 12 Laps 20 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises 123 27 Laps 21 7 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett, Inc. 99 51 Laps 22 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mfg. Co. 81 69 Laps 23 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 81 69 Laps 24 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 81 69 Laps RACE STATISTICS
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 17 mins, 30 secs
Average Speed: 58.065 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.948 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 59-65 (Car #26 turn 4 through grass on frontstretch, no FP); 68-71 (Car #78 backstretch through grass no contact, FP #34); 76-79 (Car #24, #10, #32, #50, #36, #07 and #18 turn 4 contact, FP #78); 82-88 (Car #24, #34 and #26 turn 4 contact, FP #18); 91-96 (Car #7, #79, #16, #22, #51 and #3 contact turn 4, FP #78); 100-105 (Car #7 and #32 contact front stretch, FP #78); 133-137 (Car #16 between turn 1 & 2 contact with wall, FP #78); 139-142 (Car #3 and #64 turn 3 contact, FP #29). 8 for 43 laps.
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Blewett 1-2, Justin Bonsignore 3, Ronnie Williams 4-5, Craig Lutz 6-72, Jon McKennedy 73-89, Jimmy Blewett 90-93, Tommy Catalano 94-98, Craig Lutz 99-150.
Total Laps Led: Craig Lutz 119, Jon McKennedy 17, Jimmy Blewett 6, Tommy Catalano 5, Ronnie Williams 2, Justin Bonsignore 1.
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Team Owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. Hoping To Cool Heat Between Doug Coby And Jimmy Blewett After Thompson August 19, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
It’s a scene from Days of Thunder that most who have watched the movie a time or two remember well. The main characters Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns are wrecking each other regularly and they get sent to visit with “Big John”, who is the Bill France Sr. type character of the movie. Big John tells them: “If you want to become a greasy spot on a country road, go ahead. I don’t give a shit and I don’t think anybody else does. But you’re not going to do it on my racetrack.” NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. said he was taking on the “Big John” role Friday in response to issues between Jimmy Blewett and Doug Coby Thursday during the Phoenix Communications 150 at Thompson Speedway. Blewett and Coby have both played integral roles this year for Tommy Baldwin Racing in putting the team in position to win the owner’s championship. Coby has started six races for the team this year with a pair of victories. Blewett has one win for the team and was making his third start of the season for Baldwin Thursday at Thompson. Coby was driving at Thompson for his personally owned team. With Coby and Blewett clawing back through the field at the back end of the top-10 on lap 99, was a three-wide situation off of turn four also involving Spencer Davis. Contact between Coby and Blewett put Blewett hard into the outside wall on the front stretch and sent his right front tire over the wall. Blewett blamed Coby and vowed revenge. Coby blamed Blewett and said he should have backed out. Baldwin told RaceDayCT Friday morning that he didn’t talk to Blewett or Coby about the incident after the race Thursday. “The plan for today is to give them both the old Days of Thunder speech,” Baldwin told RaceDayCT. “A lot of people don’t understand, a lot of people don’t know because it wasn’t on TV, the wreck actually started happening in [turns] one and two. With [Spencer Davis] being so slow up top, Jimmy had to get below him somehow or else he was going to get freight trained. We had the freshest tires at the time, we were in a good position to have a really good night. Obviously we had a fast car all night. The thought process of a race car driver is ‘You’ve got to get by him, it’s fresh tires, it’s go time.’ So he went down and tried to get below [Davis]. At the same time Doug was pretty much underneath [Blewett] already. So here they go three-wide off of [turn] two already. Now Jimmy is doing what Jimmy does and Doug needs to do what Doug needs to do there. And Jimmy obviously brought Doug lower going into [turn] three, which he should because it’s racing. And at that time, that’s when the helmets tighten up and the heads don’t think anymore and it becomes a competition. “So that was it. And Doug tried as hard as he could underneath to get by, Jimmy tried to get to the position and the end result is I believe it started in [turns] one and two, and Doug ended it off of [turn] four getting loose underneath [Blewett]. That’s a hard a place to be with all the dirt and gravel. He got loose, hit us, overcorrected, got loose again and finished us off. But I’m chalking it up as a racing wreck. I can’t do anything about it. Right now I’ve got a wrecked race car. I’ll have it fixed by Langley on [Aug. 27]. The most important is we’ve got a championship to win. We’ve all got to do it together. They’re going to have to talk about it today. They’re going to have to be men and talk about it and understand that the No. 1 goal that I have, and if they can’t work it out I’ll have to make decisions heading into Langley. They’re good friends, I think they trust the process and we’ll get through it.” Coby said he was planning to be in the car for the event at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. on Aug. 27. Baldwin said Friday that he’s not sure what his driver lineup will be for the final five races. Blewett ended up with a 21st place finish Thursday. Baldwin’s team remained at the top of the owner’s championship standings. The Baldwin owned team holds a 24 point lead over the Tim Lepine owned No. 79 team with driver Jon McKennedy. The Tyler Haydt owned No. 16 with driver Ron Silk sits 29 points off the lead in the owner’s championship standings. “It is what it is,” Baldwin said. “We’ve still go the points lead. We’ve got five races left and we’re going to go do the best we possibly can and hopefully they can work it out today.” To hear more from Baldwin from Friday morning and also hear from Coby, Blewett, Jon McKennedy, Ron Silk, Craig Lutz and Eric Goodale, listen to the latest Unmuffled podcast.
PATRICK EMERLING WINS OVER AUSTIN BEERS AT LANCASTER MOTORPLEX FOR THE RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES ON AUGUST 13
Emerling, who started 3rd on Saturday night at the Lancaster (N.Y.) Motorplex, quickly worked his way to the lead and fended off Austin Beers on a late race restart to earn the victory in the 60-lap sprint race. Emerling earned $4,000 in traditional purse money and another $1,200 from Colton RV and the Colton family, in a salute to Bill Colton, Jr. (the Ol’ Boy), who the race is named after, for a total of $5,200. “This was a good victory for everyone with our Advantage Motorsports Team,” stated Emerling from victory lane. “The car was really dialed in tonight and we were able to work our way to the lead quickly and set our own pace. It’s always great to win here at Lancaster.” Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., the defending series champion held on for second, while George Skora, III of Eden, N.Y., came home third. Tony Hanbury of Owego, N.Y., finished 4th, while Mike Leaty of Williamson, N.Y., who is the current series championship leader, rounded out the top-five.
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown +/- 1 3 14 Patrick Emerling Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY 2 2 7 45 Austin Beers Austin Beers Northampton, PA 5 3 12 65 George Skora III George Skora III Eden, NY 9 4 10 2 Tony Hanbury Tony Hanbury Owego, NY 6 5 2 25 Mike Leaty Mike Leaty Williamson, NY -3 6 8 45C Timmy Catalano Timmy Catalano Ontario, NY 2 7 6 10 Daryl Lewis Jr. Daryl Lewis Jr. Ontario, NY -1 8 9 3 Daren Scherer Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY 1 9 4 81 Jack Ely Jack Ely Northampton, PA -5 10 18 0 Randall Richard Randall Richard 8 11 11 56 Amy Catalano Amy Catalano Ontario, NY - 12 15 17K Danny Knoll Jr Danny Knoll Jr Amherst, NY 3 13 14 11 Ricky Knapp Jr. Ricky Knapp Jr. Buffalo, NY 1 14 17 5 Mark Tychoniewicz Mark Tychoniewicz Rochester, NY 3 15 1 22 Zane Zeiner Zane Zeiner Bath, PA -14 16 5 88V Sean Verwys Sean Verwys East Stroudsburg, PA -11 17 13 88G Tim Garlock Tim Garlock Kenmore, NY -4 18 16 64 Tyler Catalano Tyler Catalano Ontario, NY -2
Austin Beers scores a 2nd and a 4th at The fifth annual Tony Fisher Memorial Friday night August 12 at Evergreen Raceway
Roger Coss and Darren Scherer scored their first wins of the season. Brian DeFebo, who has had nothing but bad luck at Evergreen as of late, ran out front early in the first 25 lap event. Roger Coss battled his way to the front as seventeen lap green flag would shuffle all the top players to the front. Coss and Lou Strohl put on a dazzling display of racing running side by side with Coss the victor. Coss would pull an invert of twelve for the second 25 lap run. With an awesome display of talent, the tour type modified drivers gave the fans a show. Darren Scherer would grap the lead early, being heavily pressured again from behind by Lou Stroul, who had a fantastic night with two top 5 finishes. Scherer nearly ended his night when he was dead sideways off of turn four trying to hold everyone off including Earl Paules, Coss and Blake Barney. Scherer held on for his first ever tour modified win at Evergreen.
Modified Feature 1- ROGER COSS, Austin Beers, Lou Strohl, Blake Barney, Earl Paules, Austin Kochenash, Brian Sones, Don Wagner, Cody Kohler, Tommy Wanick III, Darren Scherer, Jacob Kersetter, Brian DeFebo, Terry Markovic.
Modified Feature 2- DARREN SCHERER, Lou Strohl, Blake Barney, Austin Beers, Rover Coss, Earl Paules, Brian DeFebo, Brian Sones, Tommy Wanich III, Jacob Kersetter, Terry Markovic, Austin Kochenash, Don Wagner, Cody Kohler
33rd Annual Tribute to Tommy Druar & Tony Jankowiak ‘110 Holland Speedway July 30
1 9 22 Zane Zeiner Zane Zeiner Bath, PA 8 2 12 17K Danny Knoll Jr Danny Knoll Jr Amherst, NY 10 3 5 73X Andy Jankowiak Andy Jankowiak Tonawanda, NY 2 4 15 45 Austin Beers Austin Beers Northampton, PA 11 5 1 81 Jack Ely Jack Ely Northampton, PA -4 6 4 25 Mike Leaty Mike Leaty Williamson, NY -2 7 18 17C Roger Coss Roger Coss Lafayette, NJ 11 8 23 54PJ Tyler Catalano Tyler Catalano Ontario, NY 15 9 6 66 Austin Kochenash Austin Kochenash Danielsville, PA -3 10 14 56PJ Trevor Catalano Trevor Catalano Ontario, NY 4 11 25 0 Randall Richard Randall Richard 14 12 19 3 Daren Scherer Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY 7 13 11 11 Kirk Totten Kirk Totten Lockport, NY -2 14 17 95 Bryan Sherwood Bryan Sherwood APALACHIN, NY 3 15 13 2 Tony Hanbury Tony Hanbury Owego, NY -2 16 16 88 Sean Verwys Sean Verwys East Stroudsburg, PA - 17 20 27 Danny Hartzell Danny Hartzell Sweet Valley, PA 3 18 10 14M Dan Majchrzak Dan Majchrzak Perry, NY -8 19 3 71 Jimmy Zacharias Jimmy Zacharias Candor, NY -16 20 7 65 George Skora III George Skora III Eden, NY -13 21 2 10 Daryl Lewis Jr. Daryl Lewis Jr. Ontario, NY -19 22 8 14 Patrick Emerling Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY -14 23 22 72 T.J. Potrzebowski T.J. Potrzebowski Elmira, NY -1 24 24 83 Jeff Szafraniec Jeff Szafraniec Akron, NY - 25 21 45PJ Timmy Catalano Timmy Catalano Ontario, NY -4 26 27 1NY Chris Ridsdale Chris Ridsdale Rochester, NY 1 27 28 21 Paul Townsond Paul Townsond Guelph, ON 1 28 26 40 Tommy Rought Tommy Rought Rome, PA -2
Clash at Claremont 150 at Claremont Motorsports Park- July 29 The Clash at Claremont 150 was a relatively peaceful outing for McKennedy. Once he passed rookie Jake Johnson for the lead in the opening laps, McKennedy set the pace and finished the night uncontested ahead of the rest of his competition. Despite breaking his long dry spell, McKennedy was unable to bring home the $5,000 paycheck that came with winning the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup.That honor belonged to veteran Matt Hirschman, whose fourth-place finish in the Clash at Claremont 150 allowed him to edge out NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship leader Ron Silk by two points to claim the honor. Hirschman, who has been a part-time Whelen Modified Tour competitor since 2016, was honored to bring home the inaugural Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup and said the initiative highlights the need for fans and competitors to support Modified racing in the Northeast.“I probably wouldn’t have gone to all three races had they not been tied together with a bonus,” Hirschman said. “I remember going to Beech Ridge last year and they thanked me for coming. Stuff like that is appreciated, and I talked to my car owner [Roy Hall] about [the Granite State Short Track Cup] and he said this is something we should support.”The Granite State Short Track Cup was far from a smooth experience for Hirschman, who saw a win in the series’ second race at Monadnock Speedway slip away late after contact with the lapped car of J.B. Fortin.Hirschman still thinks about that near miss at Monadnock, but considers himself fortunate the outcome did not significantly hinder his chances of winning the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. He also expressed his gratitude to JDV Productions and the full-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers for mostly racing him clean during the three-race series. “I don’t think I’ve ever won a three-race series that paid that much to the champion,” Hirschman said. “This is certainly appreciated. The guys that we were contending with are in for the big prize during the whole season. Hopefully they have a good race up until the end, but we’ll join them a couple of more times.” One of those drivers expected to contend for the championship is McKennedy, who trailed Silk by 10 points entering the Clash at Claremont 150 and is expected to trim that deficit slightly as the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion finished right behind him in second. Now that he has a win during the 2022 season, McKennedy feels confident heading into the final six races on the schedule and believes that he can overtake Silk in the standings and add a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship to his resume. “This gives us some momentum heading into the last handful of races,” McKennedy said. “We’re heading to Thompson next, which is a really great track for me. I feel really good, and we’ll be going to Thompson with a brand new car, so hopefully that’ll give us a little extra.” Johnson followed McKennedy and Silk in the running order with a third-place finish. Kyle Bonsignore finished behind Hirschman to complete the top-five. Rounding out the top-10 were Justin Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Brian Robie, Doug Coby and Matthew Kimball.
Jon McKennedy Scores Whelen Mod Tour Clash At Claremont Victory; Matt Hirschman Takes Granite State Bonus July 30, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
It was a second and a first Friday at Claremont Motorsports Park for NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Jon McKennedy. The Chelmsford, Mass. driver dominated on the way to victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Clash at Claremont 150 Friday at Claremont (N.H.) Speedway.It was the second series victory for McKennedy, but his first driving for first year team owners Tim and Cheryl Lepine. McKennedy got his first career series victory on March 17, 2018 at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway in his first start for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. McKennedy drove for Baldwin through the 2021 season. The pair parted ways after last season and McKennedy began work building the a new team for the Lepine’s. “This was way overdue,” McKennedy said. “My last few years I had a real good deal with Tommy Baldwin and the 7NY group. It’s a been few years since we won. We had so many seconds with Tommy … I think we had eight or nine seconds. We were always in contention. Just couldn’t get that W the last years. But we’re back here. We won tonight. This is awesome. We’ve got a great group of guys. They worked really hard today. The last few months really switching cars back and forth. It’s a team effort. Big thanks to them. My car owners Tim and Cheryl Lepine, it’s the whole package.” McKennedy came into the night sitting second in the standings, 10 points behind Ron Silk. “This gives us some momentum going into the last few Tour races,” McKennedy said. “We’re in a point hunt here. We’re only a few points out of the lead so this was really big. We’re heading to Thompson [Speedway on Aug. 17] which is a really great track for me.” Silk, of Norwalk, was second. Nineteen year old rookie Jake Johnson of Rehoboth, Mass., coming off a win last Saturday in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series SBM 125 at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., was third. It was a career best Whelen Modified Tour finish for Johnson, who was making his fifth series start. Johnson won the pole for the event, his second pole of the season. McKennedy became only the second full-time series driver to win this year over the first 10 races of the season. Reigning series champion Justin Bonsignore (two wins) is the only other full-time driver to win in 2022. Other series winners this year include Doug Coby (two wins), Hirschman, Mike Christopher Jr., Kyle Soper, Jimmy Blewett and Anthony Nocella. Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. used a fourth place finish to clinch the inaugural Granite State Cup. The Granite State Cup was comprised of the JDV Productions series events held at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. (May 21), Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. (June 19) and Claremont. Hirschman edged Silk to capture the $5,000 bonus. Hirschman was third at Lee and second at second at Monadnock. Silk was fourth at Lee and third at Monadnock. “I’m glad they tied them all together, JDV Productions and Josh Vanada,” Hirschman said. “Probably would not have gone to all three races had it been tied together with a bonus that we were eligible for. I appreciate that.” Friday’s event marked just the third Whelen Modified Tour event at Claremont and first since James Civali won at the track in 2007. Richie Evans won the only other series event at Claremont in 1985. Kyle Bonsignore of Bay Shore, N.Y. was fifth Friday. Justin Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Brian Robie, Doug Coby and Matthew Kimball rounded the top respectively at Claremont.
1 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 150 2 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 1.885 3 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 150 3.725 4 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports 150 4.081 5 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 150 4.538 6 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 5.908 7 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 150 7.366 8 25 Brian Robie* Maurice Enterprises 150 7.851 9 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 150 8.242 10 76 Matthew Kimball* Kimball Trucking & Firewood/Gomarlos Supermarket 150 8.956 11 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 150 9.867 12 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 150 10.682 13 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 150 11.399 14 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc. 150 11.631 15 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 149 1 Lap 16 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 149 1 Lap 17 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 148 2 Laps 18 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electrict 148 2 Laps 19 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas 148 2 Laps 20 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 112 38 Laps 21 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 110 40 Laps 22 06 Sam Rameau Dennison Lubricants/Powdis Stone & Gravel 95 55 Laps 23 12 Todd Patnode* APEX Racing/Swanzey Oil 62 88 Laps RACE STATISTICS
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 45 mins, 13 secs
Average Speed: 65.684 mph
Margin of Victory: 1.885 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 64-69 (Car #12 turn 1 lost power, no FP); 81-86 (Car #36 & #82 turn 4 contact, no FP); 97-101 (Car #06 & #36 turn 3 & 4 contact, FP #01); 111-116 (Car #92 turn 1 lost power, FP #36). 4 for 23 laps.
Lap Leaders: Justin Bonsignore 1-11, Jake Johnson * 12-13, Jon McKennedy 14-150.
Total Laps Led: Jon McKennedy 137, Justin Bonsignore 11, Jake Johnson * 2. 2 changes involving 3 drivers.
Fast Learner: Jake Johnson Wins Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series SBM 125 At Star on July 23
EPPING, N.H. – Last October in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series season finale at Seekonk Speedway, Jake Johnson turned plenty of heads by scoring a third place finish in his series debut. Saturday at Star Speedway the 19-year old from Rehoboth, Mass. made sure the world of Modified races knows his name. Johnson was a dominant force in cruising to victory in the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series SBM 125 Saturday at Star Speedway. Johnson was making his fifth Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series start Saturday at Star. “It really is just a dream come true,” said Johnson, who has also made four starts this season with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “It couldn’t have worked out any better.” Before Saturday’s event at Star Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series managing partner Wayne Darling had to leave the track due to a medical issue. For Johnson, the celebration of victory couldn’t begin until he had a chance to speak with Darling. After climbing from his car in victory lane Johnson was handed a phone with Darling on the line. “Wayne is the reason I’m running with this series,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to thank him for everything he’s done for us. I was glad that I was able to do that.” Woody Pitkat of Stafford was second and Max Zachem of Preston third. Johnson was able to easily hold off the field on seven restarts over the final 44 laps. He said he didn’t mind the rash of cautions late in the event. “It felt good when your spotter is talking to you and telling you you’ve got a gap,” Johnson said of being able to pull away from his pursuers on each restart. “The fans like to see a lot of restarts at the end. It keeps the interest up. I knew we had a good car. The fans love to see the action. It made it more fun for me, it made it more meaningful. You’ve got to put your elbows up and drive for it.” Despite finishing second, Pitkat was one of those celebrating Johnson’s victory. Before starting in a Modified last year, Johnson had spent a number of years competing in Late Models. “It’s cool to see.” Pitkat said. “I feel like a lot people can’t jump from a Late Model to a Modified. It’s a lot. Thankfully I’ve been able to accomplish that. But to see a guy like that adapt so quickly, and win one of the biggest races out there is really cool. It’s nice to see somebody different. If you can’t win it’s nice to see somebody different win.” ohnson started on the pole. Chase Dowling went by him for the top spot on lap four. On lap 52 two cars at the tail of the end the lead lap got together forcing Dowling to slow in turn four and allowing Johnson to get by him for the lead. The first caution flew on lap 74, sending everybody to the pits. Matt Galko won the race out of the pits with Pitkat in second and Johnson third for the ensuing restart. Johnson went to second on the restart, but caution flew once again on lap 75. Following the next restart Galko drifted up the track in turn three, allowing Johnson to assume the lead once again. Johnson was never challenged again at the front.
Heated: Long Day At Star Speedway Leaves Matt Hirschman Perturbed With Officiating At SBM 125 July 24, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
EPPING, N.H. – When it comes to the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series SBM 125 at Star Speedway, it’s fair to say Matt Hirschman is typically the odds-on favorite to win before teams even arrive for the event. Hirschman has long shined at the tight Epping, N.H. bullring. In the last five SBM 125 events at Star before Saturday’s event Hirschman had three wins, a third place and a fourth place. It’s clear Hirschman knows his way around the Star quarter-mile. Unfortunately for Hirschman in Saturday’s SBM 125 it wasn’t getting around the track that hurt him, but getting around the tight confines of the Star pitting area that was his demise. Frustrations building up through the steamy afternoon and into feature time Saturday for Hirschman reached a crescendo when he was penalized for speeding in the pits under caution during the feature.The penalty put him Hirschman, a six-time Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series champion, down one lap and removed him from eligibility for the lucky dog free pass for the remainder of the event. Hirschman ended up 21st in the 29-car field at Star. After the event Hirschman insisted he wasn’t speeding. Hirschman said he feels like series officials have been searching for reasons to penalize him through the first four events of the 2022 season. “I kind of feel since the beginning of the season there’s been things that have happened and I feel like they’ve been trying to get me on something,” Hirschman said. “It’s a judgment call, so anytime you have a judgment call you can get somebody.” Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series rules state that the times from tire scrub set the lineup for heat races. Because of a timing issue with the track on Saturday the heat lineups were set by practice times. Hirschman was fastest in practice which put him starting fourth in the third heat race. Hirschman said he thinks the rule is unfair and ultimately was what set his issues in motion on Saturday. Early in the the third heat Hirschman got driven high up the track by Sam Rameau. After getting out of the groove Hirschman fell back and finished last in the 9-car heat. “I’m not complaining about the series or anything. but the format they have now puts the fastest car in fourth place,” Hirschman said. “Which, you’re already out of the potential invert. To me that’s too severe of a handicap. But, A, there was an issue with the [timing], and that might be a track issue and not the series. That’s legit, whatever, it’s fine. Then when they realized that the scoring wasn’t going to work, then they went by practice speed, which I was first. So I got that fourth place penalty, and so didn’t the second and third place [in practice]. We all started fourth in our heats and ended up getting washed out and sent backwards. To me that wasn’t fair to the racer. You penalized those cars for going fast in practice? What are you supposed to do? Because of the scoring issue, if they wanted to go heads up, fine. Even if they had inverted three and put the fastest three cars in [starting position] three in each heat, then you’re already in the invert and you’ve still go to maintain or move forward. To me that would have been fair. But I don’t see what happened as fair.” It left Hirschman starting 28th in the feature. From the start it was clear Hirschman’s plan was to back off and save tire from the start. Hirschman rode around at or near the back of the field for most of the early going.By l ap 40 then race leader Chase Dowling was closing quickly on Hirschman at the rear of the field and at that point Hirschman started passing cars. Eventual race winner Jake Johnson went to the lead on lap 52 and quickly began working traffic at the tail end of the lead lap. In front of him Hirschman was frantically trying to pick up spots. The first caution of the race flew on lap 74 with Hirschman running 19th. The majority of the field went to the pits. When the cars arrived back out on the track Hirschman was 10th in the running order, having picked up nine spots during the pit stop. Under caution though Hirschman was deemed to have violated the speeding in the pits rule and was assessed a one-lap penalty. Monaco Modified rules state that along with the one-lap penalty for speeding, offenders are not eligible for the Lucky Dog free pass for the remainder of the event. Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series managing partner Ed Bennett said series official Greg Felton made the definitive judgment to call Hirschman for speeding. Bennett said the speeding rule is not judged simply by speed, but also by the effort to not put other drivers, crew members or officials in danger in the tight confines of the pit area. Hirschman was seen by multiple officials making what were deemed unsafe maneuvers to get around other cars and crews to get back to the track. He also hit the car of Dylan Izzo in the pit area. “I don’t feel I was speeding,” Hirschman said. “I did weave my way through. Meaning, if a car pulled out or tried to pull out or stalled, I didn’t break my momentum. I just weaved my way through. I don’t feel I was speeding.” Said Bennett: “Greg [Felton] made the call. I mean, he jumped wheels with Izzo’s car. I witnessed that. He blew by me and I was waving for him to slow down.” After the penalty Hirschman rode near the rear of the field for the remainder of the event. There were seven cautions following the penalty. “The penalty is so severe you basically can’t get [your lap] back,” Hirschman said. “Obviously in today’s racing lead lap cars go to the front so anytime a caution comes out you’re automatically going to go backwards. So you’re never going to get there. It’s such a severe penalty that if you want to get somebody on it, they got me.” Ultimately, Hirschman seemed to regret pushing the limit and putting himself in a position to be called for speeding. “If I would have stopped – whatever – and just let people go – even if five cars got out ahead of me – I just needed to go beat them on the track,” Hirschman said. “I guess I allowed myself to be subject for a judgment call. … Basically, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I’ll make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
St.John’s, PA 7-22-22) Friday night at Evergreen Raceway, Matt Hirschman diced his way to his third victory of the year at the track over Roger Coss. It would be Hirschman’s 50th feature win at the track.
Geary Rinehimer Jr. started on the pole for the 50 lap main but the caution flew with only one lap recorded after Steve Shultz suffered a right rear flat. On the ensuing restart, Cody Kohler would clear Rinehimer for the lead. It would be short lived as Roger Coss would overtake Kohler by lap 4. Several cautions slowed the event, but Coss proved he had a strong car early as he and Lou Stohl pulled away from the field. On a lap 27 restart, Earl Paules would find the wall coming off of turn two after touching wheels with Chuck Hossfeld. Coss would stay in command through three more cautions, but on lap 39, Hirschman used the inside line off on turn four to take the lead. There was no looking back and the fans once again saw the red number 60 in victory lane. Coss held on for second, followed by Hossfeld, Austin Kochenash and Austin Beers.
Tour Modifieds: MATT HIRSCHMAN, Roger Coss, Chuck Hossfeld, Austin Kochenash, Austin Beers, Lou Strohl, Bobby Jones, Darren Scherer, Nick Baer, Jerry Hildebrand, Artie Perdersen III, Carl Altemose, Jason Harman, Geary Rinehimer Jr, Cody Kohler, Steve Shultz, Earl Paules, Brian Defebo, Tom Rought
Squeeze Play: Anthony Nocella Scores Victory After Wild Whelen Modified Tour Finish At NHMS July 16, 2022 by Shawn Courchesne
Austins Thoughts: Had an up and down day at @NHMS in the KLM Motorsports #64! Qualified 9th on Friday and spent the first 20 laps in the lead pack just learning. After a restart at about lap 30 I ended up getting loose into turn one and spun. We checked on the car under yellow and it was still good other than some rub rail damage. After that we had a run all the way to lap 80 where we were riding in 11th. After an awesome pit stop with 15 to go we were all the way up to 6th. After restarting on the bottom with 5 to go. We got stuck down there and came across the line in 11th place which puts us 5th in points! Thank you to Mike Murphy and everyone at KLM Motorsports for not giving up all day and thanks to @Tjmajors for spotting for me last minute!
LOUDON, N.H. – For those who drive Tour Type Modifieds in New England, a victory in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the stuff of dreams. For Anthony Nocella, who grew up just an hour south of the track in Woburn, Mass., those dreams have long been envisioned in his mind. But it’s fair to say the 29-year old Nocella probably never could have pictured the way he was able to score his first win in Loudon and on the Whelen Modified Tour Saturday. Nocella, running fifth going into turn three on the final lap, crossed under the checkered flag first in a chaotic finish in the Whelen Manufactured in America 100 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Nocella was able to find a lane under the wrecking cars of Patrick Emerling, Eric Goodale and Kyle Bonsignore coming to the checkered. “I knew if you’re close down the backstretch [on the last lap] you have a shot here,” Nocella said. “Everyone knows how chaotic the finishes usually get here. I knew we had a pretty good car.” It was the first series victory in 54 Whelen Modified Tour starts for Nocella since 2015. Before Saturday Nocella’s best finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in nine career starts on the 1.058-mile oval was a fourth place run in the Musket 200 on Sept. 12, 2020.“It’s pretty awesome to get a Tour win and here of all places,” Nocella said. “Obviously it’s one of the big ones, and especially because it’s close to home. It’s a big one. It’s a nice one to get.” Bonsignore, of Bay Shore, N.Y. was second, Emerling, of Orchard Park, N.Y. crossed the finish sideways in third with Eric Goodale of Riverhead, N.Y. pushing him across in fourth.The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 94 when Donny Lia, running in fourth, spun in turn two after contact from Bonsignore. The race restarted on lap 98 with Goodale out front, Emerling in second, Jon McKennedy in third, Bonsignore in fourth and Nocella in fifth. Goodale initially got away from Emerling on the restart. Emerling got back to Goodale’s bumper on the backstretch on lap 99. Goodale and Emerling came to the white flag bumper to bumper. Emerling looked to the low lane into turn three and got under Goodale in the corner and darted ahead through the corner. Behind them Nocella moved past McKennedy into fourth place through turns three and four. Goodale got back to Emerling’s bumper in turn four. Goodale made the move to go low under Emerling coming onto the frontstretch. Contact turned Emerling’s car pointing toward the outside wall, sending Emerling sliding sideways in front of Goodale. Bonsignore on the outside tried to clear Goodale as Nocella was diving low to under the sideway sliding Nocella. Contact from Goodale pushing up the track behind the sliding Nocella pushed Bonsignore into the outside wall as Nocella found a clear lane away from the chaos on the low side of the track. Bonsignore was able to clear Goodale just before getting to the start/finish line, but by then Nocella had the momentum edge him at the line. Emerling came across the start finish line sideways with Goodale pushing him there. “We were right in the position we wanted to be,” Emerling said. “We just got together. I don’t know what happened, I’ve got to watch the video. We were there. We put ourselves in position to be there at the end. Unfortunately that happened. It just makes us hungrier for the next time. We’ve been really close to winning here many times. I feel like New Hampshire owes us one a little bit. We’ll just be hungrier and come back even stronger. … Just close quarters. All I know is we went spinning coming to the checkered.” Said Goodale: “I was going for the win. I knew he had a run on me going down the backstretch. I lifted early and let him slide up in front of me. I got to his back bumper. I didn’t want to cross him over that early so I got to him and he dove underneath me, he blocked obviously, and before I got to his bumper I wanted to move to not give him the shot, otherwise I had no chance. So I just moved up the track a little bit and we hooked bumpers. His right rear nerf bar just hooked my front bumper and he spun in front of me. I hate it for Patrick and myself. One of us was going to win that race. It sucks. … I would have like to have finish second. We still finished fourth. We had a really good car. We led some laps. It felt good to be out front. Just sucks. I feel like one got away from us today.” Like Nocella, Bonsignore, Emerling and Goodale were all looking for their first win at NHMS. “From what I could see, and I’m going to be honest, I was looking in my mirror for [Nocella] for a lot of it,” Bonsignore said. “ looked ahead of me. I thought [Goodale] had it won because he had a really good run off of [turn] four. It looked like [Emerling] tried to cut across him or something and misjudged and turned him. I darted to the outside to just try to get to the line and [Goodale] got into my left side and just jammed me up into the fence and that just cost me enough momentum to lose the race. By the time I got to the line I looked over and [Nocella] was ahead of me and I knew I didn’t get it. “Everybody is going for it. Off of [turn] four it’s just a drag race and if you’ve got a little bit of a run you’ve got to try to do what you can with it. I’m glad that we made it out pretty much unscathed. It was a good day for us, so I’ll take it.” Doug Coby went to the lead early and held that spot until the first caution flew on lap 21. Most of the leaders pitted under the first caution, but Goodale, Nocella and Lia chose to stay out and assumed the front spots in the field. On the lap 26 restart it was Goodale and Nocella controlling the pace up front, but the race quickly went back to caution. On lap 28 Austin Beers, Dave Sapienza, Kyle Ebersole and Ron Silk – who came into the race as the series points leader – wrecked together in turn two. Following lap 38 restart it was Nocella powering by Goodale for the lead off of turn four. But on lap 40 Goodale found his way back under Nocella for the lead into turn one. On lap 44 Donny Lia got by Nocella to take over second behind Goodale. On lap 46 Lia made a diving move under Goodale into turn one to move out front for the first time. By lap 50 Lia in the front and second place Goodale had checked out by nearly half a straightaway on third place Tommy Catalano. By lap 60 the tandem of Lia and Goodale out front had checked out to a four second advantage over then third place Patrick Emerling. By lap 65 Lia and Goodale had extended the advantage over third place Emerling to 7.5 seconds. By lap 70 the difference was up to 8.5 seconds. By lap 75 Lia had built up about a half second lead over Goodale in second with then third place Coby about 8.5 seconds off the lead. On lap 80 Lia had built up a 1.8 second lead over Goodale with Coby in third, nine seconds off the lead. Caution flew for the third third time on lap 83 when Catalano slid to the grass in turn four. Under caution Lia took only fuel and came off pit road holding his lead. Goodale followed him off pit road in second. Emerling restarted third with Craig Lutz in fourth and Coby in fifth. On the lap 89 restart it was Lia holding the top spot but not for long. Goodale got under Lia for the lead going into turn one on lap 90 with Emerling following to second in turn three. McKennedy ended fifth. Ryan Preece, Doug Coby, Donny Lia, Corey LaJoie and Craig Lutz rounded out the top-10 respectively.
1 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas 100 2 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 100 0.071 3 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 100 0.228 4 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 100 0.357 5 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 100 0.392 6 40 Ryan Preece Hunt Brothers Pizza/www.racechoice.com 100 0.513 7 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 100 0.730 8 3 Donny Lia Propane Plus/Huntington Honda 100 0.884 9 17 Corey LaJoie Needham Bank 100 1.095 10 82 Craig Lutz Danny’s Cesspool Pool Service 100 1.345 11 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 100 1.600 12 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 100 1.890 13 44 Bobby Santos, Jr. Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 100 2.668 14 20 Ed McCarthy McCarthy Marine Sales 100 5.411 15 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 99 1 lap 16 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel 98 2 laps 17 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racin 98 2 laps 18 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric 96 4 laps 19 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 92 8 laps 20 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 81 19 laps 21 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 49 51 laps 22 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat 46 54 laps 23 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 35 65 laps 24 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 27 73 laps 25 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Technique Chassis Ford 27 73 laps
Jimmy Blewett scores one for the hometown crowd at Wall Stadium Speedway on July 9- Austin runs great to 7th
ByAdam Fenwick NASCAR.com WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Jimmy Blewett is one of the best to ever race at Wall Stadium Speedway. He reminded everyone of that by topping the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field in the Jersey Shore 150 on Saturday night at the popular third-mile high-banked oval. The victory, Blewett’s seventh with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and first since 2016, was his 81st victory overall at Wall Stadium Speedway. He ranks second on the all-time win list at the track. “Tommy and these guys just prepare such a good car. He makes all the drivers who drive this thing look so good,” said Blewett, who was piloting the No. 7NY for team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. “Just riding, biding our time watching these guys burn it up so we had some stuff there at the end.” Blewett spent much of the race riding in the top five, content to let pole-sitter Ron Silk and defending track Modified champion Andrew Krause take turns at the front of the field. A caution for a spin by Eric Goodale with 17 circuits left in the 150-lap event presented Blewett the perfect opportunity to take control of the race. Restarting second with 13 laps left, Blewett rocketed under Krause to take the lead by the time the field got back to the start/finish line. Once in front, Blewett inched away from the battle for second, ultimately crossing the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Matt Hirschman. “I want to dedicate this win to my grandfather,” said Blewett, who also won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Wall Stadium Speedway in 2007. “He always is my biggest supporter and he never, ever doubts me. He just knows I need the right opportunity to get it done. Thanks, Grandpa.” The victory by Blewett gave team owner Baldwin his fourth victory of the season with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Doug Coby drove Baldwin’s No. 7NY to victory at New York’s Riverhead Raceway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway, and Mike Christopher Jr. earned a victory for Baldwin at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway. Hirschman, a multi-time winner of the annual Turkey Derby event at Wall Stadium Speedway who added Saturday’s race to his schedule at the last minute, snuck past both Krause and Silk to finish second. “This wasn’t on our schedule, I just knew there was going to be a great crowd here tonight,” Hirschman said. “Glad to come race in front of them tonight. A good run. It’s no surprise there at the end, Jimmy’s first and I’m second. Congrats to them.” Patrick Emerling also managed to make his way past Krause and Silk in the final laps to complete the podium. It was his second top-five finish this season. “It was a little rough out there, but had a lot of fun tonight,” Emerling said. “We had a pretty good race car for only running here once before.” Krause settled for fourth after leading prior to the final restart. Silk faded to fifth after starting from the Mayhew Tools Pole and leading a majority of the race. Justin Bonsignore, Austin Beers, Jon McKennedy, Blake Barney and Kyle Bonsignore completed the top 10.
1 7 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett, Inc. 150 2 60 Matt Hirschmann PeeDee Motorsports 150 1.91 3 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 150 3.037 4 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mtg 150 3.603 5 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 150 4.422 6 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 150 5.418 7 %2