Super Late Models
Byron Goes to Victory Lane in Clyde Hart Memorial Tune-Up
Feb 14, 2023
Matt Hirschman has no shortage of accomplishments during his career at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. On Monday night, he managed to find a new one to add to the list.
Hirschman took the lead on lap 23 and pulled away after Ron Silk’s engine expired, opening the Tour-type Modified portion of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with a win.
“We had the two best cars, obviously, and we were back and forth," Hirschman told Racing America. "He led early, and then I got ahead of him and he broke. It was definitely between the two of us, I think. After that, we were able to stay out front, get good restarts and get the first win of the week.”
The victory marks the ninth different season Hirschman has secured a win during the World Series. It was his 14th World Series win, tying him for fifth all-time in the Tour-type Modified division with Tom Baldwin.
Despite that impressive track record, Hirschman had never won the first race of the week for the Tour-type Modifieds. One year ago, he won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event on the second night of competition, but finished 12th in the Monday Tour-type race.
“I’ve never won on Monday. The big race on Saturday, with the Whelen Tour, we won it last year but unfortunately, we didn’t have a good run or put together a good race and still finished third.
“Usually the big race is at the end of the week with the [Richie] Evans race. Now, we open with a big race. Even though it’s only a two-month offseason, for me, myself and my team you’ve got to knock the rust off some. I think that was Saturday for us, and we were back in form tonight.”
The win also marks the seventh consecutive season Hirschman has scored at least one win during the World Series, dating back to when he and Pee Dee Motorsports first started coming to New Smyrna in 2017.
“Every year I’ve come here with the Pee Dee Motorsports, we’ve at least won a race. I think that makes seven consecutive years of winning at least a race. To get a win, and several years we’ve gotten multiple years, so we’ve got plenty of chances to see what we can do the rest of the week.”
Patrick Emerling finished second after starting on the pole in his No. 14. Surprisingly, Emerling maintained the runner-up finish despite a mechanical issue late in the running.
“Near the end of the race, we dropped a cylinder,” said Emerling. “We’re trying to diagnose that right now, but we had a strong enough car that we were able to stay out for second. We’ll take this one, work on getting the car a little bit better, figure out our problem and get back tomorrow faster.
“Our first night out, it was a pretty solid night. We’ll fix our problems and work on getting our car faster for later in the week.”
Former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series race winner Joey Coulter completed the podium, with Tyler Rypkema and Eric Goodale rounding out the top five.
The Tour-type Modifieds return for another 50 laps on Tuesday night, leading into the Clyde Hart Memorial 100 for the ASA Southern Super Series and David Rogers Super Late Models.
TOUR-TYPE MODIFIEDS UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
FEBRUARY 13, 2023
- Matt Hirschman
- Patrick Emerling
- Joey Coulter
- Tyler Rypkema
- Eric Goodale
- Jimmy Blewett
- Craig Lutz
- Anthony Bello
- Brian Robie
- Spencer Davis
- Jeremy Gerstner
- Burt Myers
- Ronnie Williams
- Kyle Ellwood
- Cam McDermott
- Eddie McCarthy
- Tom Martino, Jr.
- Tyler Catalano
- Nicholas Halkowicz
- Chris Hatton
- Rich Parker
- Brett Meservey
- Caleb Heady
- David Sapienza
- Anthony Nocella
- Ron Silk
- Norman Newman
- J.R. Bertuccio
- Andrew Krause
- Paul Hartwig, Jr.
- Casey Roderick
- Dillon Steuer
- Justin Brown
- Anthony Sesely
- Amy Catalano
