Hirschman wins 4th Annual Viveiros Insurance Modified Madness and pockets $10,000
Seekonk, MA — When the 24 car field rolled out for the 4th Annual Viveiros Insurance Modified Madness, it was Matt Hirschman and Bobby Grigas III sitting on the front row. In a race that saw only 3 cautions, it wasn’t enough to slow Matt from putting his name in the record books as the fourth driver to pick up the $10,000 grand prize. When the green flag dropped, Matt took command, and let the rest of the field fight for second. And fight they did. Grigas held on for second for several laps, until the Viveiros Insurance sponsored Chevy of Dick Houlihan jumped into second by lap 10. Ryan Preece had worked himself into third by that point, and was putting pressure on Houly.
The first caution came out on lap 14, when Eric Beers spun his Cape Cod Aggregates Chevy in turn 2. John Fortin’s SGS Stoneworks machine broke, and needed assistance as well. Dave Berghman had moved his Hub Construction 82 into fourth, with Grigas fifth. Chuck Hossfeld, Ed Dachenhausen, Ted Christopher, Rob Summers, and Jimmy Blewett made out the top ten. After a false restart, the field was back underway. Hirschman continued to set the pace in the Furnace and Duct Corvette, but behind him, positions were up for grabs. Ryan Preece used an inside move on Houlihan and put the Reynolds Auto Wrecking 3 into second, and began to pressure the leader.
By lap 25, Berghman was running third, with Hourly and Hossfeld the top five. One driver on the move was reigning True Value Modified Champion Kirk Alexander, as the Gary’s Best 43 was passing cars wholesale style. Between laps 25 and 30, he moved up 6 positions on the outside, and wasn’t done yet. He cleared the Triple G Scaffolding mount of Grigas, but had almost a full straightaway of distance ahead to the Jerry Gradl Motors 22 of Hossfeld.
At the halfway point, the top six remained unchanged, while Dachenhausen, McKennedy, Les Hinckley, and Grigas rounded out the top ten. The gap between Hossfeld and Alexander had shrunk to a couple of car lengths at this point, and by lap 55, there was a new fourth place runner. Hirschman was started to close in on the tail end of the field, and the drivers behind him knew then had to start making a move. About this time, Berghman started to flex some muscle, and he looked to the outside of Preece, trying to pick up second. As the leaders ran through heavy lapped traffic, they were jockeying for position, trying to use the lapped cars as picks. Lap 67 saw the second yellow of the event when Carl Pasteryak spun his Bill Dawley’s Collision Center Pontiac just in front of the leaders. Everyone was able to make it through unscathed.
As the field completed lap 70, Dave Berghman and Ryan Preece made contact, sending Preece around. Berghman was sent to the rear for the contact. This moved Houlihan back into second. Hossfeld was third, with Alexander and McKennedy now rounding out the top 5. Rob Summers, Eric Beers, Jimmy Kuhn, Ken Bouchard and Vinny Annarummo now rounded out the top ten.
Rob Summers started to show he was here for the money, as the outside lane became his friend. Working the second groove, the Frasco Oil machine quickly found his way into the top 4 by lap 73. After holding off Alexander for several laps, lap 80 saw him lose the back end of the car for just a bit. With a great save, he lost only one position to Alexander. The handles started to go away, and Summers faded out of the top 5. Jon McKennedy had worked his way into fourth by lap 88, but over the last 10 laps, the Power Mist Racing Fuels 73 fell back into fifth.
In the end, Matt Hirschman, fresh off his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Series win just 4 days prior, showed the kind of groove he has gotten into, as he drove under the checkered flag $10,000 richer. Dick Houlihan finished second, while Chuck Hossfeld was third. Alexander and McKennedy rounded out the top 5. Summers, Bouchard, Christopher, Grigas and Beers rounded out the top ten.
“This is a great win for the car owner, Wayne Darling.” said Hirschman, after taking his victory lap. “This is his home track. It’s been a great week for me. $10,000 to win is awesome. I got a good pick, and was able to use it to my advantage. Two years ago, I didn’t qualify for this race. Last year I started last and finished second, so I know haw much qualifying means. I had a car to win this year, and we were able to do it. Thanks to Viveiros insurance for putting this race on.”
In the 25 lap NEMA Midget feature, Nokie Fornoro took the early lead from his pole starting position, with Adam Cantor jumping in just behind. Quickly, Nokie had a 4 car length lead, but the driver on the move was 2 time open Wheel Wednesday runner-up Randy Cabral. By lap 3, Randy had worked his way into the second spot, up from his tenth starting position, and started putting heavy pressure on Fornoro. I didn’t take long for the Plymouth MA native to lead the pace, as on lap 4, he powered by on the outside, and put his Bertrand Motorsports entry into the lead.
Once out front, he started to pull away, as Nokie would have his hands full with Jeff Abold, as Jeff had worked his way up from ninth. The first caution dropped at lap eight, when Mike Horn stalled his A-1 Auto machine. Back under race conditions, Cabral’s Atlantic Coast Trailer Sales mount opened up a 12 car length advantage. Abold took over second from Fornoro on lap 9, and started to hunt down the leader. He started to close in the gap, but would find himself lined up on the front row after the second caution came out on lap twelve for John Zych, when he spun his JZ Motorsports Mazda on the front stretch. At this point, the top ten were Cabral, Abold, Fornoro, Adam Cantor, Jeremy Frankoski, Jeff Horn, Greg Stoehr, Lou Cicconi, Jr., Bobby Santos, and Joey Payne.
For the next several laps, Cabral and Abold raced side by side for the lead, swapping it back and forth. It was on lap 14, that Abold officially took over the lead, and started top pull away by lap 17. Working heavy lapped traffic, Abold was able to pull away from the field, and picked up his first Open Wheel Wednesday feature win. For the third time in four years, Randy Cabral was relegated to second place. Jeff Horn worked his way up to third in the finishing order, with Adam Cantor and Nokie Fornoro rounding out the top 5.
“I owe it all to Bobby Seymour for giving me this opportunity” Jeff proudly exclaimed. “I can’t thank him enough and everyone at Seymour enterprises. I knew I had to do something. Randy’s on a tear this season. The car was so good off the bottom, and I got a good run underneath him. That was all she wrote. Thanks to all of the fans that came out. This is the reason short track racing is still alive.”
In their first ever appearance at the Seekonk Speedway, the NEMA Lites ran the first feature on the schedule of the evening. Paul Luggelle and Josh Wallum brought the field down for the green flag in their 20 lap feature. Luggelle grabbed the lead in the early going, opening up a 5 car length advantage over Wallum, Randy Cabral, Shawn Torrey and Jake Stergios. The first caution came on lap five, when Matt Bettencourt and Russ Wood, Jr. got together in turn 4.
The green did not stay out for very long, when Timothy Paul spun his machine in turn 2 on the restart. They would get one more lap in when the yellow came out for the third time. While the leaders ran 3 wide for the lead, Stephanie Doty spun in turn 2. During that lap, Nick Ribbe, a former Seekonk Youth Racing Association champion was on the move, and would restart in second, after a great run on that last lap. Ribbe took the lead on lap 7, and started to pull away from the field. While Nick was out front, Jesse State, who started last in the 17 car field, started hunting down Ribbe, who had build up a ¾ straight lead. By lap 13, Ribbe started to encounter lapped traffic, and his lead dwindled.
By lap 17, State had caught the leader, and working through lapped traffic, State moved into the lead.
Once out front, Jesse pulled away, and picked up his third straight win in the NEMA Lite inaugural season. Ribbe held on for second, while Jake Stergios finished third. Shaun Gosselin was fourth and PJ Stergios rounded out the top 5.
“I think I worked the lapped traffic better than Nick did, but he was strong.” Jesse stated. “It’s great to be back in Victory Lane here at Seekonk. This is a great to win for us. I’d like to thank Race Depot and Hoosier Tires. Thanks to Seekonk speedway for letting us have this race here. I love coming here.”
Viveiros Insurance Modified Madness 100
100 Laps
1. 59 Matt Hirschman, Northampton PA
2. 46 Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater MA
3. 22 Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville NY
4. 43 Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey NH
5. 73 Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford MA
6. 1 Rob Summers, Manchester NH
7. 55 Ken Bouchard, Fitchburg MA
8. 80 Ted Christopher, Plainville CT
9. 09 Bobby Grigas III, Marshfield MA
10. 4 Eric Beers, Northampton PA
11. 06 Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks CT
12. 72 Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater MA
13. 10x Ed Dachenhausen, Danbury CT
14. 75 Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon CT
15. 3 Ryan Preece, Kensington CT
16. 0 Dan Sammons, Hamilton, NJ
17. 67 Ken Spencer, Taunton MA
18. 3x Mike Andrews, Bohemia NY
19. 70 Andy Seuss, Hampstead NH
20. 12 Vinny Annarummo, Swansea MA
21. 82 Dave Berghman, Seekonk MA
22. 19 Jimmy Blewett, Howell NJ
23. 25 Rowan Pennick, Huntington PA
24. 84 John Fortin, Holtsville NY
DNQ 35 Dale Evonsion, East Hartland CT
DNQ 26 Dave Roys, Coram NY
DNQ 66 Mike Stefanik, Coventry RI
DNQ 18 Eddie Spiers, Beacon Falls CT
DNQ 08 John Bennet, Lehighton PA
DNQ 68 Johnny Bush, Huntington Station NY
DNQ 33 Matt Hudon, Acushnet MA
DNQ 8 Jeff Malave, Manchester CT
DNQ 11 Jeff Pearl, Salem CT
DNQ 15 Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon CT
NEMA Finish
25 Laps
1. 29 Jeff Abold, Penniville NY
2. 47 Randy Cabral, Plymouth MA
3. A1 Jeff Horn Ashland MA
4. 7ny Adam Cantor, Dix Hills NY
5. 4 Nokie Fornoro, Stroudsburg PA
6. 75 Lou Cicconi, Jr., Aston PA
7. 98 Bobby Santos, Franklin MA
8. 63 Jeremy Frankoski, Huntington Station NY
9. 45 Joey Payne, Fairlawn NJ
10. 26b Greg Stoehr, Lakeville MA
11. 49 BJ MacDonald, Dublin PA
12. 5 William Wall, Shrewsbury MA
13. 44 Erica Santos, Franklin MA
14. 22 Chris Leonard, Pelham NH
15. 77m Mike Luggelle, Hull MA
16. 88 Abby Martino, Norfolk, MA
17. 87 Doug Cleveland, Sudbury, MA
18. 21 Barry Kitteredge, Marlboro MA
19. 9 John Zych, Mendon MA
20. 94 Jim Peruto, Doylestown PA
21. 35 Lee Bundy, Kennebunkport ME
22. 28 Paul Luggelle, Holbrook MA
23. 16 Matt O’Brien, Wilmington MA
24. 30 Paul Scally, Raynham MA
25. P30 Mike Horn, Ashland MA
26. 77 Shawn Torrey, Enfield CT
27. 99 Aaron Wall, Shrewsbury MA
NEMA Lite Finish
20 Laps
1. 18 Jesse State
2. 85 Nick Ribbe
3. 57 Jake Stergios
4. 26 Shaun Gosselin
5. 11 PJ Stergios
6. 35 Anthony Marvuglio
7. 48 Todd Bertrand
8. 33 Shawn Torrey
9. 51 Russ Wood, Jr.
10. 10 Matt Bettencourt
11. 1 Ted Uzzle
12. 28 Paul Luggelle
13. 06 Timothy Paul
14. 50 Mike Muldon
15. 09 Stephanie Doty
16. 36 Josh Wollam
17. 66 Mike Luggelle
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR