Matt Hirschman started his Turkey Derby 51 weekend with a trip to victory lane in the Wall Modified 100 on Friday night.
Celebrating his birthday in style, Hirschman took the lead from Jimmy Blewett on a lap 95 restart for the win.
A long green-flag run dominated by Kyle Scisco ended with 20 laps to go, and Steven Reed quickly took the lead on the restart. However, Reed lost control of the race five laps later to Blewett, while Hirschman moved into second.
On a restart with six laps to go, Hirschman pulled past Blewett on the high side to take the lead and pull away for the win.
“It was good, hard racing out there,” said Hirschman in victory lane. “I thought everyone ran pretty good there. We had a long green flag run in the beginning, got stretched out. It took a long time to get past lap 80 there.
“I thought it was all pretty good racing. Reed was leading, and then Jimmy was on him, and then me. I just got a good restart. He got a better one the one prior to that. I got a better one on that. It’s late in the race, a lot of heat cycles on the tires. We got a good one at the right time. I always appreciate Turkey Derby wins.”
While it wasn’t a victory, Hirschman raced in the Garden State Classic at Wall Stadium earlier this season. He believed that experience helped him on Friday night.
“We were here earlier this year for the Garden State Classic. I’ve never won that. Coming here for that helped us today. It’s tough to come to these tracks once a year and beat the regulars here. Jimmy’s obviously always tough here, no matter how much he races here. It’s his home track.”
With the 100-lap win on Friday in his pocket, Hirschman now turns his focus towards the Tour Modified feature on Saturday. The 150-lap event is the headline feature of Turkey Derby 51, as Hirschman seeks his ninth career win in the race.
“If it had gone green, that would have worked out for them,” said Hirschman. “I’m glad it didn’t, and we got a win today. Now we’ve got to put our focus on tomorrow.”
Blewett finished second, followed by Adam LaCicero, Steven Reed and Eddie McCarthy.
Qualifying for Saturday's racing program at Wall Stadium Speedway begins at 11:30 a.m. ET, with features starting at 2 p.m. ET. Fans unable to attend Saturday can watch live on RacingAmerica.TV.
-Archive photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America
