The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour invaded the Seekonk Speedway on Saturday night at the action did not disappoint during the 150 lap feature. Matt Hirschman won his fourth career pole in qualifying and he was at the front of the field when the green flag flew for the Seekonk 150. For much of the first half of the race, Hirschman set the pace with four-time Whelen Mod champion Doug Coby right in behind him.
However, on lap 63, Coby and Hirschman got together battling hard for the lead and Hirschman went spinning at the bottom of turn three. Although Coby was able to escape, modified points leader Timmy Solomito wasn’t as lucky and he ended up crashing out of the race and losing the points lead. Once Coby got back going, he was able to dominate the rest of the race and put his No. 2 Mayhew Tools machine in Victory Lane for the first time this season. Coby has been close at times, but the four-time champion was finally able to seal the deal Saturday. He will leave Seekonk just two points behind Ryan Preece in the championship standings. The top three drivers are separated by just three points!
Even though the Whelen Modified action was intense, our NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions put on one of the best shows we have seen all season long as well. The Late Model race was definitely one of the best we have seen this season. Early on, it was Nick Johnson showing the way in his No. 6, but just past the halfway point, Johnson got kicked to the outside and Ryan Lineham was able to slide by into the lead. In the final dash to the finish, Lineham held off Jake Johnson to take down another win this season. The victory also allowed Lineham to gain back some lost points and increase his lead heading for the final four races of the year.
The Sportsman division also had a great battle on Saturday with their normal slipping and sliding. This week, the slipping and sliding was a little bit more than normal with the modified rubber down on the track and that caused drivers to turn the wheel left and right if they wanted to hang on. Rey Lovelace was able to drive the Danny Cabral owned No. 44 into Victory Lane when it was all over. Lovelace has been driving the car recently and definitely has it going in the right direction. He was able to beat Paul Lallier over the final few restarts to take the win, while Sparky Arsenault finished third.
The Sports Trucks were the first feature on the track and while lots of wild action took place behind him, Josh Hedges was able to get to the lead early and never look back en route to the victory. Hedges was clearly the fastest truck during the race and did everything he could to end up in Victory Lane. Along with the other competitors, Hedges will gain points on Chase Belcher, who spun coming off turn four on the last lap. The final four weeks in the Trucks should be interesting.
Next week, we kick-off September with our second and final Pit Party of the season. Join us!
SATURDAY NIGHT RECAP
WITH KYLE SOUZA
AUGUST 26TH, 2017