SEEKONK, Mass. – In the first 17 editions of Open Wheel Wednesday at Seekonk Speedway, the name Matt was a common sight in victory lane.
Matt Hirschman was a five-time winner of the annual Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event at Seekonk.
Wednesday there was a new Matt celebrating the $10,000 payday at The Cement Palace.
Matt Swanson of Acton, Mass. held off the challenges of Hirschman on a lap 75 restart and then checked out over the final 20 laps to get his first career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series victory Wednesday at Seekonk Speedway.
“It’s a massive weight off my shoulders,” Swanson said. “Not only do I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I put even more pressure on myself to perform for the teams that’s I drive for. I went a lot of years without even getting a win. When I first really started working with this [Gary Casella owned No. 25 team], we got the Modified Racing Series win. Then we got two of them. I knew it was only a matter of time before we got one with Tri-Track. That’s not saying anything against the MRS, but the best of the best come to the Tri-Track.”
Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa. was second and Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa. was third.
Swanson was making his 29th career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series start.
“I cannot say enough about every single one of the guys behind me,” Swanson said. “We were the shop until 11 pm last night getting this car done. Man, I lost this one with about 10 [laps] to go last year, and I knew the second we unloaded today that we had a car to win. I’m at a loss for words.”
Beers led the field to green from the pole but it was Kyle Bonsignore taking over the top spot early in the event.
On lap 26 Johnson found a way under Bonsigore to take over the lead off of turn two.
On lap 29 a turn four wreck at the back of the field nearly ended up with Johnson piling with the lead pack all needed to take evasive action. The caution flew with Johnson leading, Bonsignore second, Rameau third, Silk fourth and Coby fifth. The first attempt at a lap 29 restart was negated when Kirk Alexander had issues coming off turn four and soaked the track.
On the second attempt Johnson held the top spot with Rameau getting by Bonsignore for second. Two laps later Bonsigore got back by Rameau to return to second place.
Caution flew again on lap 48 when Woody Pitkat after contact in turn four. Johnson held on through the restart, but it was Rameau going by him for the lead on lap 49 off of turn four.
On lap 50 chaos struck in the top-10. Bonsignore, running fourth, seemed to get sideways coming off of turn two and ended up collecting sixth place running Silk and seventh place Coby on the backstretch. Silk’s car went off on the double-hook.
On the lap 50 restart it was Hirschman getting under Jake Johnson for second place with Sam Rameau out front. Caution flew on lap 70 with Rameau leading, Hirschman in second, Johnson in third and Swanson fourth. Under caution Hirschman chose the inside lane behind Rameau for the restart, putting Johnson to the outside lane. On the restart Rameau and Johnson went side-by-side for almost to laps before Rameau cleared Johnson. Behind them Swanson got by Hirschman for third place.
On lap 74 contact between Rameau and Johnson slowed both coming off turn two and Swanson capitalized, going under both to take the lead. Caution flew on the next lap for a frontstretch pileup and Rameau was penalized for the contact with Johnson.
“I didn’t see what happened between those guys,” Swanson said. “All the contact was right in my air cleaner view. I saw Jake get into him and I just saw the side of [Rameau’s] car so I just went to the bottom and prayed. And luckily it stuck. We got by them and we got a lap in there. I just had to go on defense from there.”
On the lap 75 restart Swanson was able to easily get away from second place Hirschman.
“I was just thinking about putting together all the perfect laps that I could,” Swanson said. “We were lucky. We passed [Hirschman] twice so I knew we had a decent enough of car to stay in front of him. But when you’re racing against the best of the best in Modifieds in the country you need to be perfect. That’s the hardest part about these Tri-Track races. You need to run every lap perfect.”
Beers got by Hirschman for second on lap 78.
“I lost a little forward drive coming through the pack there,” Beers said about not being able to make up ground on catching Swanson over the final 20 laps. “… Great job to these guys though. They worked really hard today. We got towed into the race track, so it was a long day for us. But they did a hell of a job. They came with a good prepared race car, made the right adjustments all day and we came home P2. That’s pretty damn good I think.”
Said Hirschman: “[Swanson] just had more at the right time. Seekonk is historically been that way where it will change during the race and your car will change. I think my car changed for the worse and his changed for the better. It’s just a timing thing. I was able to just keep it clean and get a respectable finish in a competitive field and race. We needed be better. I’d like to be better. But also it’s a respectable finish.”
where did almost 20 cars go in the last two years? 2 heats and 2 consi’s just vanished. All said and done, only 6 cars more than the tour race here that was ridiculed a few weeks ago.
like i always say, car count was fine for me, deff not at the level that the tri track / open show crowd likes to beat their chest at. Their 3 CT races will be telling
The crowd looked noticeably off the tour show, but I guess that could be expected with the forecast.
Pleasantly surprised with what the PPV offering ended up being. Expensive, but not outlandish. Decent quality.
race was a 7/10.
Track crew needs major help there.
Did they have a change tire this year? Did no one really take it, or did the announcing crew just drop the ball and miss it? Or did i?
I *think* I heard this correctly, but allowing an SKL the chance to compete (before their issues) is a little shocking. The tour would be dragged through the mud for that.
It is now 1 am eastern, and the points haven’t been updated on the website yet. Another sore spot for some people.
I think people are going to have to come to terms with mid/upper 20’s being a good count this year.
Awesome job Matt!!!
Anybody else feel that?
The Earth jolted last night, Matt HIrschman did not win.
What car was he running? The new LFR?
I had some minor surgery that hurts like major surgery, so I couldn’t get to the track.
What happened with Silk and Williams to knock them out?
Good to see Matt Swanson win… it’s been a long time coming. And I hope there are plenty more and higher frequency wins.
Darealgoodfella,
More race context added to the story this morning. Apologies, was one of the last one’s out of Seekonk at 11:15 last night. Not an easy track to work at following events, especially night events. Silk caught up in lap 49 wreck.
Zig,
Just for facts sake, the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series had 28 cars attempt to qualify and lost two cars after qualifying (Chase Dowling and Max Zachem) due to mechanical issues. Obviously car counts are down across the board this year as we’ve seen with all Tour Type Modified racing besides the NAPA Spring Sizzler. That said, you had two series’ at Seekonk within 18 days of each other and the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series attracted 40 percent more cars than the Whelen Modified Tour. That’s a pretty hefty difference really.
That 25 car was hooked up. Told my wife he was gonna be the one to beat when I saw him driving the car one handed in the heat and main.
Well we know which division is more competitive between the NASCAR Modified Tour and the Monaco Tri-Track Series now. 3 weeks ago at the Modified Tour race at Seekonk Matt Hirschman led every lap and lapped 17 of 20 cars in the field. This week Hirschman started 6th in the Monaco race, never led a lap and and barely hung on for 3rd. I’ll take a 28 car field with a bunch of competition up front all race and 5 different leaders like the Monaco series had last night over a 20 car field with 1 car running away and a total of 3 competitive cars like the Tour race had.
Well, another itty-bitty teeny-weenie bullring up next at Wall, and then a real race track: Loudon.
Anybody know if bullring specialist Hirschman is going to run Loudon?
Shawn, thanks for the added context. I was following on Race Monitor, bare bones.
good point Freetown
Zig,
Also, as of 11:57 am this morning the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series points were updated and published online. Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Standings
There’s also an Open Mod race at Star Speedway this Saturday… 27 entered including both Matts.
Well Seekonk has certainly gone down hill,when will they invest in a speedy dry spreader and not bring out a street sweeper…They love raising admission fees though.Probably a reason as to why they lost the Haunted Hundred.The SMAC group is the most unprofessional touring series I have seen,3 heats for 19 cars,were not ready for their feature….good thing it did not rain.
Congrats to Matt and the #25 team. It comes as no surprise, Gary and the 25 team always bring a well prepared,fast car to the track. 28 cars is a good number, better than WMT when they race at tracks without modified division. Good money for the purse brings them out.
I think people expect that someone who owns a modified should be at EVERY modified race regardless of the track or series. This just isn’t practical for a bunch of different reasons. Most series can be broken into 4 groups; the winners, the consistent top finishers, the complete all the laps and the start and park teams. This applies in every series right up through Cup. A race team is expensive. The car and all the support equipment costs money, and yes there are those lucky few who don’t have to worry about money, but they are few. Then, there’s the people. Allot of teams are lucky just to show up to the track with enough crew to support the car. Back in the day, at Monadnock, there was a guy named Doug who literally was alone. If he got a flat he would drive to the pits and change it himself. Then there’s the Time. These things don’t build, maintain and setup themselves, Nocella comes to mind, who said in à previous article here on Race day CT that time was a top reason he accepted the ride in the #46.
What I’m trying to say is; Go to the races, Enjoy the races, and quit your bitching. Be thankful cars are racing. It’s one of the few freedoms we can still enjoy without having to mortgage you’re house to buy a ticket, and one of the most family friendly sports out here.
Muddbus, With due respect to the crew of the 2 wreckers and staff , That was not the regular Seekonk Speedway Wrecker crew… They have more equipment and personnel on Saturday night race card and they are well prepared and pretty quick at getting things moving again…Not as quick as Stafford … Stafford has excellent safety team in fire suits along with super fast Wreckers and such… The Haunted Hundred was moved to Waterford by Tri- Track to expand into highly populated area for the growth of TT…It was also an odd night for fluids getting laid down all the way around the place…Surprised they had enough speedi dry for all that fluid…LOL
The first Open Wheel Wednesday in 2005 paid Donny Lia $10k to win. A grandstand ticket cost $20.
The 18th Open Wheel Wednesday in 2023 paid Matt Swanson $10k to win. A grandstand ticket cost $38.
Long gone are the years of 40+ cars counts at this event where the consolation races were must watch racing as champions like Mike Stefanik often battled just to to make the show. Sometimes they failed.
Now we get 28 cars with heat races with few passes. Now everyone starts including teams that bring SK Lights to start and park.
I’ve been to all 18 Open Wheel Wednesday events–it’s a race I looked forward to every year for over a decade. Thankfully last night’s race was a good one because the only thing about this event that seems to be growing in recent years is the ticket price. We’ve seen non-lights midgets replaced by Legends and now the SMAC for lesser purses.
Hopefully something can be done to recapture the past excitement of this event before it dies and I lose interest.
zig
Where was this offered on PPV? I knew nothing about it and was looking for it earlier this week. Car counts are down, there are a bunch of reasons. High cost to run, too many different tours/opens competing for a finite amount of cars. We should be thankful Tri track is still getting a full field with about half the field being competitive. I believe Silk won a tour type modified race at Seekonk with an SK back in the day. Seekonk might be the track where an SKL might be somewhat competitive. Who was running an SKL?
Word on the street before this week was this would be the last open wheel Wednesday. Can’t blame Tri-track if they don’t go back. Seekonk management is a joke. Great track for modifieds, but seekonk management doesn’t care about this event anymore and is just trying to kill it off. How do you have a major event at your track and have two wreckers for the night? Gotta feel bad for the Tri-track people, they’re busting their rears trying to make everything better with that series and they show up to that kind of dumbassery by the track?
csg
it was shown on NHSTRA vision. i guess thats the site that lee/claremont/hudson and monadnock use for their weekly stuff.
Multiple cameras. Replay. Decent quality. No real hiccups. $35. Not a deal by any means, but I didn’t leave disappointed, like racing america leaves me half the time. wouldnt hesitate to get it again for the waterford races if they pair up or something, so long as im able to sit and watch.
It did seem like it was a last minute deal. The first i saw it mentioned was just a few hours before race time.
And i dont recall the drivers name TBH. Not one i was familiar with.
Same thing happened at the haunted 100 last year. Lack of track crew and tow vehicles. Why is it that every track, in CT anyway, can use their own track crew but Seekonk can’t? Even when pass and act rented out Waterford last year they still used the regular crew and equipment.
I miss the good ole days. The days when mythical,almost god-like guys would travel hours just to race. Guys like Richie, Maynerd, Geoff, George and Jimmy would show up just to race, and raced 4 or 5 nights a week to pay the bills so they could race. Of course you had the local heroes Mike, Reggie, Bob, Ray, Stan, Ron and others who would show up in hopes of stealing a win away. Back then it was Stafford on Friday, Riverside on Saturday and Thompson on sundays.Every Track had that one guy, the one who everyone knew would be at the front at the end. Back then they lived by the saying “Speed costs money, How fast do you want to go?”, And insane amounts of money were spent trying to gain that upper hand. Back then the crews were a bunch of guys in blue jeans and T shirts advertising beer or cigarettes or some random something. Nobody got paid. But, they all had one thing in common… 1 car. That’s right 1 car. 3 totally different tracks over 3 consecutive days with the same car. They had another thing in common which made it possible, Respect, they raced with respect, none of the B.S. you see today where they just run into each other. Back then, most of the time, they passed each other clean and usually a wreck was caused because of an issue.
So, what’s my point?
Maybe what modified racing needs is common rules so you don’t need to spend a fortune to be able to race more than once a week. What it really needs is for the drivers to respect each other and show it on track. A driver who races clean has my respect car control takes talent. Someone who dumps other’s to advance is someone who doesn’t belong. I can train a monkey to dump everyone blaitenly.
What it comes down to is that common rules and respect could very well ensure that modified racing prospers. It worked back then.
God, I miss the good ole days!
It would be a shame to see Open Wheel Wednesday at Seekonk die. It is one of the few tour type modified events that had a crown jewel type big event feel to it. It has some history to it and hasnt gone through format changes. It certainly seems down le ss of a big event this year for some reason. I would argue for big modified events you have Richie Evens at New Smyrna, Spring Sizzler, Open Wheel Wednesday, Riverhead 300 Turkey Derby, then maybe fall final and World Series. I would have said haunted hundred but that was moved. I think they changed the SBM race at Star. I dont even know where the ROC race is held these days or when.
I did see Seekonk increased most of their pricing. They offer a few dollars off if you buy in advance but then charge you a service fee for about half the discount. I decided not to buy in advance then decided day of not to go. Even with the discount of buying in advance the price was higher than last year for pretty much every show with the service charge. I guess its better than Stafford which costs you more to buy in advance then to buy at the door. Why is there a charge for shipping. They arent shipping anything. And you have to wait in the same line to pick up tickets as people buying tickets day of. At least you did during Covid the only time I went through that process.
Suitcase,I do be believe it is the same wrecker crew,why would they change?If Tri-Track was in charge of the wrecker crew there would be ample amount,but why spread speedy dry by hand?I’d love to know what construction site they procured that barrel from that they used as the choose cone…
Thanks zig,
I didnt even know about NHSTRA vision. I will keep an eye out for it in the future. Racing America has Star this weekend. Not sure if I will get it or not, but at least I know about it. Not sure why the big secret with Seekonk. Good to know that it was a good broadcast. thanks for the information
I miss Talent, real Talent, the Talent you see limited times throughout your lifetime. The Talent that few possess..
What killed Talent?
Talent isn’t dead, it’s out there, but now it hides, only showing up in rare moments. If you blink, you’ll miss it.
Why does Talent hide?
Talent hides because it’s not respected anymore.
Why?
Why? Because mostly it’s easier to succeed by disrespecting others rather than use your Talent.
Here’s an exercise:
Take a piece of paper and list drivers who through their career have had great success. Now turn the page over and of those list the ones who had unlimited everything. Exclude them. The 1 driver left is the one with the real Talent.
Try it, do it a few times, that last name should come out the same.
I’m sick of paying good money to watch a bunch of overpriced bumper cars circle a track. But every once in a while I’ve been lucky to see real Talent at work, that’s why I keep going back.
So let me get this straight. There are four tracks in New Hampshire that banded together that race by common rules allowing teams easier access to race at any of the four tracks and they call the association NHSTRA. Got that part a while back. What’s new to me is they televise many of their events via NHSTRA Vision, you can get a yearly subscription for about $200 or watch the replays for about a $100 dollars. Now after the fact I learn for some reason they decided to bring their production crew down to Seekonk to do a pay per view event and near as I can figure kept it a secret until the last minute. At least to the wider audience maybe the regular viewers of the service knew it was happening. Is that about the situation or not?
Or is it me behind the curve. Try to stay up on what’s being streamed. Babbled on about Racing America not even aware this deal existed. Check on social media and read the press releases pretty closely and saw nothing. Zig knew about it apparently at the last minute and csg who usually knows what’s what in streaming unaware so I wasn’t the only one in the dark it would seem.
Reached out to MMTTS and they aren’t responding. I should think if you’re going to all that trouble to bring a crew down and produce the race you’d be shouting it from the roof tops so to speak on social media, in press releases and in RaceDayCt.
Good to know that the replay is available at a mere $20 so that’s in the queue for a watch this weekend. In the mean time hoping the powers that be at NHSTRA Vision try a bit harder to make their offerings a little more public so even the deluded old fart in Connecticut with $35 just itching to give it to them is aware their offering exists.
Less NY, NJ, & PA cars this year at seekonk. I would guess the car counts relate to the number of open events available now. A perfect example is this 11-day period, thompson 6/21, riverhead 6/24, seekonk 6/28, and star 7/1. It will be interesting to see who is at star that wasn’t at seekonk. I’m sure there’s only so much tire $$ that teams have, not counting other team, crew, car, and travel expenses.
How can a 60-lap race at Fairbury on May 13th pay $15k to win, $1500 to start, and an overall purse in excess of $110k yet only charge $30 for a seat?
These dirt promoters in the Midwest are doing something right that seems to elude those in our region.
Doug,
The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series management and staff had nothing to do with the NHSTRA Vision broadcast of Open Wheel Wednesday. It was all organized and coordinated by management of Seekonk Speedway. Also, for some odd reason, it was purposefully not publicized or promoted.
In the past, didn’t Seekonk management say that they believed that streaming cut into the attendance at the track? Perhaps that’s why the streaming option for the event was not publicized.
Also, any intel re: the absence of MCJr and the 7ny at Open Wheel Wednesday? I thought that combo was running the Tru-Track series this year.
I am aware that the MMTTS management leaves all decisions regarding streaming to the tracks that host the events. However one would normally conclude they have some vested interest in the fact it’s streamed. Moreover it’s my experience that regardless of who has what vested interest it’s just good form to at least provide a response to any party showing interest in your product. Something that’s been my experience with promoters including ACT/PASS and others.
My observation is that Stafford, Thunder Road and Riverhead have gone out of their way to promote the fact their races are streamed which has to say there is some monetary reason for doing so. This NHSTRA Vision deal seems really intriguing in that it appears to be set up mostly for NHSTRA tracks. On the surface is looks like they’re doing it all with no intermediate connection like FloRacing to get it out there.
My purpose in making a big deal about this is what I like to refer to a benign trolling. Putting stuff out there not to insult anyone but to farm for more information as well as provide information like mentioning what NHSTRA Vision is all about. Perhaps someone will join me buying the replay that I would hope in some small way benefits the sport and makes the service more viable in the future. Perhaps NHSTRA Vision may read this as well as your observation Mr. Courchesne about not promoting it and decide they may have missed an opportunity and make some changes in the future. In any event I don’t see how it could hurt.
Rafter Fan,
There were plans for the Mike Christopher Jr. to run the Tri-Track Series full-time in 2023 with Tommy Baldwin Racing, but those plans changed due to some overall schedule changes for the team and team owner.
Rob P they passed clean and were not many wrecks? You must have missed the Jimmy Spencer era.
Seekonk changed wrecker companies this year due to their regular guy of the past 15 years retiring. Don’t throw Walsh under the bus he’s great people. East Coast Towing should be sending more than one truck to major events.
Racer, what are you talking about regarding the Jimmy Spencer era? Were you in a coma during the Ted Christopher era?
Racer, that’s why I said that mostly they passed clean. They had their share of idiots, but back then the gentleman out numbered the idiots. The point I was trying to get across is that they raced each other clean, clean enough to be able to race 3 nights in a row with the same car. And, the car counts were awesome. Most nights at least 8-10 cars or more didn’t qualify.
Jimmy Spencer waan animal and it still baffles me how he made it to cup, there were allot of more deserving drivers at the time.
How about …Austin Beers getting 2nd place in the # 13 … !!!! This young man is going to do BIG THINGS in the Modifieds…He came in slow his rookie year getting better each week last year … Now with that all important 1st Win … He is on his way in 2023…I believe the sky’s the limit for this young driver… He is finishing better and better and now a contender when he shows up … He’s a chip off the old block, his Dad Eric was also a real good shoe in ROC and in Old Blue…I believe Eric is the last guy to win a Mod Tour race at Thompson in the #3 if the memory is still in order.. LOL…I was there that day hanging with some of the Boehler guys and Eric went out and Won the Feature….Really looking forward to the next Win for Old Blue…Lenny was just an amazing Man… Did most everything on a shoestring budget with savy and knowledge and was really great mechanic and yankee engineer… When he showed up with that fuel injection, Boy he really spanked them up and down the East Coast…Watching him build those homemade chassis and going out and beating the Troyer’s and such, was in itself amazing… he was an innovator of so many things in those early years…Lenny you are missed!!
Dareal, the difference between Spencer and Christopher was that Ted had the 3 tap rule, he gave you 3 warnings before he moved you, and most times the driver was able to continue. Spencer just dumped you as soon as he caught you, and most times the other car went off hammock style. Allot of times he ended up taking himself out too
Anyone tried the exercise I described? It works as long as you keep an open mind. I recommend having someone else pick the initial drivers.
No Goodfella I wasn’t in a coma Rob P seemed too be talking about the Evans era where they raced 3 times a week.
Robb P. wrote,
“Dareal, the difference between Spencer and Christopher was that Ted had the 3 tap rule, he gave you 3 warnings before he moved you, and most times the driver was able to continue. Spencer just dumped you as soon as he caught you, and most times the other car went off hammock style. Allot of times he ended up taking himself out too”
That’s got to be some of the funniest stuff I ever read. The 3-Tap Rule was because he didn’t have enough car to pass cleanly, so he warned that you had better get out of the way and let him pass, or get dumped. That’s not clean racing. That’s racing thuggery. And it was because he couldn’t pass cleanly.
And Christopher left a debris field. Do not forget that. It was always funny to see “TC was here” written with a Sharpie on all the damage he did to other cars. It was a sad joke.
Right now, Silk and JBon are showing that great, clean racing is possible.
Order in the courtroom, order in the court room here come the judge.
PASS/FAIL- judgment day!!!
*NH Vision-Pass-very impressive. Split screen, lap by lap switching, on screen graphics, replays crystal clear picture all well integrated with the announcing. No Roku a problem. Direct to TV via HDMI had buffering issues, the computer the only alternative.
*Seekonk/MMTTS Promotion-Fail-you poor people that were there that had to endure the delays. Pushing cars off, delays so long the drivers exit the cars to chat while the announcers drone on filling time adds up to one thing. An unpleasant memory and incentive to not attend the event in the future.
*Todays tour modified racing vs long ago comparisons-Fail- inadequate data. Recollections of what was seen long ago viewed through the prism of time wearing rose colored glasses compared to now by old men is never reliable.
* Asphalt vs Dirt comparisons-Fail- all fans have their traditions. Trying to make fans of asphalt racing feel diminished in a forum devoted to the fans of asphalt racing with irrelevant comparisons is uncool.
*Wednesday Wheels-Fail- weather or not the attendance was unacceptable. The fan base of three open wheel divisions should add up to minimally acceptable but that didn’t happen. Open Wheel Wednesday had it’s day but should be dead at this stage.
*MMTTS Tour Mod Division-Pass-they did their job. Great field of cars and can’t say enough about that race it was terrific. Looking like the low groove that got changed by the repave and went away for the Tour modifieds is coming back with strong two lane racing.
*MMTTS vs NWMT comments-Fail-seven drivers from the NWMT raced in this event. Citing any of their finishes vs the Tour as proof of anything a fools errand. Different teams, chassis, engines and rules make it a johnson measuring contest based on claims not tape measures.
*Swanson break out race-Fail-looked like he caused the wreck that took out a few cars including Silks 16 by going three wide and turning Bonsignor. He gets the advantage of eliminating two very competitive cars when he should have gone to the rear.
Narducci- for whatever reason the deal in the 3 so far has got to be very disappointing.
*Coby-Pass-in his own team car quietly turning in competitive finishes positioning himself for the year long championship only 4 points behind Swanson.
*Fans-Pass- Hirschman only good so far that by the Big Money standard of excellence is bad. Two races in no Hirschman domination a win for fans.
*Savory-Pass-front to back to front what’s up with Richard Savory. The serial retirement specialist looks to have spring in his step.
*Les Hinkley-Pass-21 to 7th a banner run by any standard.