NEW SMYRNA, Fla. - Wednesday’s Tour-Type Modified feature at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway ended in celebration for Matt Hirschman.
The Northampton, Pennsylvania, driver celebrated his first victory of the World Series, but more importantly, was able to carry the checkered flag for the first time in the annual John Blewett Memorial 76-lap feature.
Hirschman took the lead from Ryan Preece on lap 64 and never looked back, collecting his third consecutive top-five finish as part of the modified class at the 52nd annual event.
“You sometimes don’t realize how young John died and what he would have still accomplished in his career, as good as he was,” Hirschman said, honoring Blewett, who passed away in 2007. “I was just getting to the point where we were probably going to be battling for a lot of wins. We have won the Richie Evans race before, and it’s great to win this one now.”
Blewett’s career included 10 victories in 164 career starts on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, along with a best finish of third in the championship chase, twice.
Hirschman also dedicated the victory to three other New England names that passed away in the racing offseason — along with one of his crew members — who was forced to watch the broadcast on FansChoice.TV because of an injury he sustained while at New Smyrna working on the No. 60 earlier in the week.
“My good friend Ed McGuire passed away, then Cliff Krause passed away from Wall Stadium, then Bobby Webber from Star Speedway,” Hirschman said in Victory Lane. “Tonight is for all of those guys, and really, nothing else matters more than that.”
Behind Hirschman, Patrick Emerling used a late pass of Preece to finish second, followed by Craig Lutz. Preece, who led for much of the race was forced to settle for the fourth spot, while Tommy Catalano rounded out the top five.
“We unloaded and we have had awesome cars all week,” Emerling said following his best finish thus far. “The restarts just didn’t work out in our favor. Matt had a little bit more tire at the end.”
Harrison Burton Storms Back In Super Late Models
Harrison Burton found himself back on top of the Super Late Model field in Wednesday’s 35-lap feature, which in some ways, allowed him to redeem himself.
Tuesday, Burton was racing Stephen Nasse and Ty Majeski for the lead before he went spinning into the infield and left the incident with a mangled car.
Wednesday he got back to the top.
He drove from eighth to the victory in a caution-free affair after once again setting the fast speed in time trials. Burton was forced to start eighth following an invert, but it didn’t take long for him to slice his way through traffic.
On lap 28, he took the point from Sam Mayer and didn’t turn back — scoring his second victory in four races — and helping himself climb back towards the top of the championship standings.
Mayer settled for second after leading early, while New Hampshire driver Derek Griffith scored his best finish of the week, a third.
In the Pro Late Model feature, Cole Anderson scored his third straight victory.
Racing at New Smyrna continues on Thursday night, with the Tour Type Modifieds, Super Late Models, Pro Late Models and Florida Modifieds all scheduled for action.
World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing
New Smyrna Speedway – New Smyrna Beach, FL
Race Results – February 14, 2018
Tour-Type Modifieds
1. Matt Hirschman
2. Patrick Emerling
3. Craig Lutz
4. Ryan Preece
5. Tommy Catalano
6. Timmy Solomito
7. Danny Bohn
8. Jimmy Zacharias
9. Mike Willis, Jr.
10. Chuck Hossfeld
11. Jeff Gallup
12. Timmy Catalano
13. Eric Goodale
14. Ronnie Williams
15. Kyle Trayner
16. Calvin Carroll
17. Matt Montineri
18. Jeremy Gerstner
19. John Gerstner
20. Tyler Rypkema
21. Kyle Ebersole
22. Ron Silk
23. Austin Pickens
24. Nikki Carroll
25. Joe DeGracia
26. Chris Young
27. Amy Catalano
Super Late Models
1. Harrison Burton
2. Sam Mayer
3. Derek Griffith
4. Ryan Moore
5. Stephen Nasse
6. Steven Wallace
7. Derek Kraus
8. Matt Wallace
9. Brad May
10. Tyler Dippel
11. Carter Stokes
12. Darrell Gilchrist
13. Jerry Artuso
14. Joe Graf, Jr.
15. Gabe Sommers
16. Ty Majeski
17. Justin Ashburn
18. Steve Weaver, Jr.
19. Anthony Sergi
20. Russ Shaw
Pro Late Models
1. Cole Anderson
2. Mike Skinner
3. Nicholas Naugle
4. Giovanni Bromante
5. Harold Crooms
6. Stephan McCurley
7. Ricky Moxley
8. Tyler Porter
9. Kody Jett
10. David Weaver
11. Alex Guenette
12. Roy Hayes II
13. Jackson Boone
14. Todd Stone
15. Mason Keller
16. Kyle Ivey
17. Michael Clancy, Jr.
18. Monte Gress
19. Peter McVey
20. Jerick Johnson
Florida Modifieds
1. Wayne Parker
2. Jerry Symons
3. Kevyn Terry
4. Matthew Green
5. Tank Tucker
6. Ricky Moxley
7. Ben Bosowski
8. Aaron Overman
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/2/637637/hirschman-wins-john-blewett-iii-memorial-at-new-smyrna