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SOUTH BOSTON, VA — On Saturday, Matt Hirschman was crowned the new King of the Modifieds at South Boston Speedway. The Pennsylvania resident survived the crash-filled, 125-lap race to earn the $20,000 prize in the Second Annual SMART Modified Tour Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds event.
“It means a lot,” Hirschman said. “It’s a huge-paying race. It was a great crowd today. South Boston Speedway is an awesome place. What I am hoping is that this race has a long-standing tradition and one day I’ll be able to say I was the King of the Modifieds. I can only hope for Modified racing that the event continues to be as big as it is.”{
Hirschman edged Stephen Kopcik of by 2.203 seconds in a 13-lap dash to the finish that followed the race’s seventh caution period and third red flag in earning the win.
Luke Baldwin from Mooresville, the winner of last year’s inaugural King of the Modifieds event, finished third, Brandon Ward finished fourth and Carson Loftin rounded out the top five finishers.{
Fourteen-year-old Paulie Hartwig III, Joey Braun, former NASCAR Cup Series standout Ryan Newman, Eddie McCarthy and Jayden Harmon rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Hirschman, who has won more than 250 feature race wins and 35 championships, was dominant in the closing stages of the 125-lap race, passing Baldwin on the 77th lap following a restart to take the lead. Three caution periods followed, but each time Hirschman was able to quickly pull away from his young challenger.
“It was dominating only late,” Hirschman explained of his race. “We were off a little bit early in the race. [Ron Silk] came on strong to take the lead. We made the right strategy call and made the right adjustments because the car was better after that. I had to step up at the end and cut some really good laps and try to get a little bit of distance. [Baldwin] kept making some runs and getting inside of me. I was able to distance myself and drive on for the win.”
Late Model Stock Car TwinbillDefending South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers started on the front row and led every lap in topping a field of 19 drivers in Saturday afternoon’s twin-50 lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division races. The win was Sellers’ 59th career win at the .4-mile oval.
“Qualifying today showed how really competitive the cars are here,” Sellers pointed out.
“I was very tickled to be able to get out front and lead early and build a little bit of a cushion towards the end.
“The race going green helped us a little bit because my car was really free.”
Trevor Ward started 17th in the 18-car field in the second 50-lap race and rallied to earn the win and score his first career NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division win at South Boston Speedway.
In the opening 50-lap race Sellers edged pole winner Mike Looney 1.250 seconds to earn the win in the race that was slowed by one caution period.
The top nine drivers were inverted for the start of the second race but Ward ended up starting 17th. He quickly worked his way through the field and was challenging McCarty for the lead when contact ensued resulting in damage to McCarty’s car.
Ward assumed the lead for the restart on lap 36 and drove to a 1.335-second win over Landon Pembelton, Craig Moore, Looney and last year’s South Boston Speedway runner-up, Blake Stallings.
Sellers was involved in one of four incidents that resulted in caution periods but still managed to drive to an 11th-place finish.
50-Lap STAR Super Stock Tour RaceJeff Melton of Mooresville, NC started on the pole and led every lap en route to winning the 50-lap race for the Alliance DriveAway Solutions STAR Super Stock Tour that rounded out Saturday’s four-race card. Melton won both the pole and the race when the tour made its first-ever visit to South Boston Speedway last season.
NASCAR racing will return to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, April 12 with the Danville Toyota Race Day event.
RESULTSSentara Late Model Twin Feature 1:
1st — Peyton Sellers (No. 26)
2nd — Mike Looney (No. 87)
3rd — Trevor Ward (No. 77)
STAR Super Stock Feature:
1st — Jeff Melton (60)
2nd — Charles Baldwin (2)
3rd — Cody DeMarmels (53)
Sentara Late Model — Twin Feature 2:
1st — Trevor Ward (77)
2nd — Landon Pembelton (0)
3rd — Craig Moore (1)
SMART Modified Tour King of the Modifieds:
1st — Matt Hirschman (60)
2nd — Stephen Kopcik (INY)
3rd — Luke Baldwin (7VA)
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“It means a lot,” Hirschman said. “It’s a huge-paying race. It was a great crowd today. South Boston Speedway is an awesome place. What I am hoping is that this race has a long-standing tradition and one day I’ll be able to say I was the King of the Modifieds. I can only hope for Modified racing that the event continues to be as big as it is.”{
Hirschman edged Stephen Kopcik of by 2.203 seconds in a 13-lap dash to the finish that followed the race’s seventh caution period and third red flag in earning the win.
Luke Baldwin from Mooresville, the winner of last year’s inaugural King of the Modifieds event, finished third, Brandon Ward finished fourth and Carson Loftin rounded out the top five finishers.{
Fourteen-year-old Paulie Hartwig III, Joey Braun, former NASCAR Cup Series standout Ryan Newman, Eddie McCarthy and Jayden Harmon rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Hirschman, who has won more than 250 feature race wins and 35 championships, was dominant in the closing stages of the 125-lap race, passing Baldwin on the 77th lap following a restart to take the lead. Three caution periods followed, but each time Hirschman was able to quickly pull away from his young challenger.
“It was dominating only late,” Hirschman explained of his race. “We were off a little bit early in the race. [Ron Silk] came on strong to take the lead. We made the right strategy call and made the right adjustments because the car was better after that. I had to step up at the end and cut some really good laps and try to get a little bit of distance. [Baldwin] kept making some runs and getting inside of me. I was able to distance myself and drive on for the win.”
Late Model Stock Car TwinbillDefending South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers started on the front row and led every lap in topping a field of 19 drivers in Saturday afternoon’s twin-50 lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division races. The win was Sellers’ 59th career win at the .4-mile oval.
“Qualifying today showed how really competitive the cars are here,” Sellers pointed out.
“I was very tickled to be able to get out front and lead early and build a little bit of a cushion towards the end.
“The race going green helped us a little bit because my car was really free.”
Trevor Ward started 17th in the 18-car field in the second 50-lap race and rallied to earn the win and score his first career NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division win at South Boston Speedway.
In the opening 50-lap race Sellers edged pole winner Mike Looney 1.250 seconds to earn the win in the race that was slowed by one caution period.
The top nine drivers were inverted for the start of the second race but Ward ended up starting 17th. He quickly worked his way through the field and was challenging McCarty for the lead when contact ensued resulting in damage to McCarty’s car.
Ward assumed the lead for the restart on lap 36 and drove to a 1.335-second win over Landon Pembelton, Craig Moore, Looney and last year’s South Boston Speedway runner-up, Blake Stallings.
Sellers was involved in one of four incidents that resulted in caution periods but still managed to drive to an 11th-place finish.
50-Lap STAR Super Stock Tour RaceJeff Melton of Mooresville, NC started on the pole and led every lap en route to winning the 50-lap race for the Alliance DriveAway Solutions STAR Super Stock Tour that rounded out Saturday’s four-race card. Melton won both the pole and the race when the tour made its first-ever visit to South Boston Speedway last season.
NASCAR racing will return to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, April 12 with the Danville Toyota Race Day event.
RESULTSSentara Late Model Twin Feature 1:
1st — Peyton Sellers (No. 26)
2nd — Mike Looney (No. 87)
3rd — Trevor Ward (No. 77)
STAR Super Stock Feature:
1st — Jeff Melton (60)
2nd — Charles Baldwin (2)
3rd — Cody DeMarmels (53)
Sentara Late Model — Twin Feature 2:
1st — Trevor Ward (77)
2nd — Landon Pembelton (0)
3rd — Craig Moore (1)
SMART Modified Tour King of the Modifieds:
1st — Matt Hirschman (60)
2nd — Stephen Kopcik (INY)
3rd — Luke Baldwin (7VA)
Continue reading...
