The king of Modified racing at Seekonk Speedway retook his throne on Wednesday.
On May 16 Matt Hirschman came into the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour J&R Pre-Cast 150 at Seekonk Speedway riding a streak of three consecutive series victories at the Cement Palace.
He ended with a very un-Matt Hirschman like finish of 20th in the 26-car field that night.
Wednesday at Seekonk Hirschman left the dismal May performance deep in the rear view.
Hirschman passed Stephen Kopcik for the lead on lap 110 and rolled to victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Firecracker 150 Wednesday at Seekonk Speedway.
It was the first victory of the season for Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa. It was his fourth series victory at Seekonk and his 11th career series win overall.
“I mean I’ve been doing this quite a while so you know … people want to start doubting me or think I can’t win because it’s a different brand of tire or it’s a different series or whatever and I shut all them people up for so many years that it doesn’t bother me anymore.”
Wednesday’s event marked the first time the annual Wednesday night Modified show at Seekonk was being run under the Whelen Modified Tour banner. The race was run from 2005 to 2013 as an Open Modified event and from 2014 to 2025 as a Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event. The event was not run in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Over the 20 race span before this year, Hirschman won the race six times, including the 2025 race.
“It’s a hot summer Wednesday night at Seekonk Speedway and part of the nickname Big Money Matt Hirschman came from winning this race on this Wednesday night here at Seekonk,” Hirschman said. “So no better place to get back in Whelen Modified Tour of Modify Tour victory lane than here tonight. … Just been a great ride here at this track on this particular race over the years.”
Chase Dowling of Roxbury, who finished third in the May event at Seekonk, was second. Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y. was third.
“It came to life at the end there,” Dowling said. “And I think we found a groove that was non-existent here. [Hirschman’s back panel] is kind of embedded in my head right now. He’s consistent, he’s smooth, he’s Matt Hirschman.”
Said Emerling: [The team] really threw the kitchen sink at this car. This is one track we would struggle at, and we were just collectively working to get better here. And that’s just what we did. We had a good race car, we just lacked a little track position at the beginning.”
With a fourth place finish Kopcik remained atop the Whelen Modified Tour standings. Reigning series champion Austin Beers, who was fifth Wednesday, sits second in the standings, 10 points off the lead. Emerling moved past Jon McKennedy to third in the standings, 13 points behind Kopcik. McKennedy, who was ninth Wednesday, fell to 15 points off the lead in the standings.
Follow Us On Your Favorite Socials
Discover more from RaceDayCT.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Speak Your Mind