Fourteen years have passed since Matt Hirschman last contested the entire NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule.
A lot has changed during that time for both Hirschman and the series, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Hirschman’s ability to win races. The driver from Northampton, Pennsylvania is always a threat to reach Victory Lane no matter where he’s racing. In fact, Hirschman has won a race in five consecutive Modified Tour seasons despite racing on part-time basis.
This year, thanks in part to the race and championship purse increases announced by NASCAR and series entitlement partner Whelen Engineering last October, Hirschman decided to embark upon the entire Modified Tour campaign for the first time since 2011.
The goal was simple: Win as many races as possible and try to secure a championship.
“It’s just been a matter of putting all the people and pieces in place to do it,” said the 42-year-old Hirschman, who will make his 150th Modified Tour start in Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 256 at Riverhead Raceway. “NASCAR and Whelen made a commitment to increasing the point fund for this year, which certainly weighed on our decision to compete in all the races.
“I’m glad that we did it. We’re going to see how things finish up.”
Speed has never been an issue for Hirschman. Whether it’s in his own car, the PeeDee Motorsports entry or the Elite Towing/Baker Racing Modified, he always finds a way to get the most out of whatever car he’s driving.
During a career that has spanned 19 mostly part-time seasons, Hirschman has scored 10 Modified Tour wins.
He’s also secured 59 top fives and 95 top 10s in his 149 starts leading into Saturday. Those are incredible numbers for a driver who’s started every race during a Modified Tour season just four times in 19 years.
They’re so good, in fact, that he was selected as one of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 40 greatest drivers earlier this year alongside his father, five-time Modified Tour champion Tony Hirschman.
“It speaks to having longevity and having a good career to continue to have the opportunity to still compete,” Hirschman said. “I still have cars to drive and can compete at a high level. As long as we can continue to do that, we’re going to continue to make more starts and look to try and get some more wins.”
This year, being consistent has been Hirschman’s biggest challenge.
Despite leading 91 laps in the first three events, he failed to secure a top-10 finish.
He turned things around quickly, winning at Seekonk Speedway and scoring four consecutive top-five finishes before a disappointing, 17th-place effort at Monadnock Speedway on July 19.
Since then, he hasn’t finished worse than sixth, which leaves him 25 points behind Modified Tour championship leader Austin Beers entering Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 256.
While Hirschman isn’t out of the championship battle, he admits he’s going to need a lot of help starting Saturday at Riverhead if he has any chance of capturing the championship later this month in the season finale Martinsville Speedway.
“I feel like our season did not get off to a good start. We dug ourselves a hole that we’ve never been completely out of it, but I always feel like we’ve been at an arm’s length,” Hirschman said. “We’re solidly in the top five, and it’s not over yet. We just didn’t get off to the start we needed to.
“The consistency shows for the 64 team (Beers). They’ve been in the top 10 in every race. They have the best average finish of all the teams. We’ve had the speed and the top-five finishes to compete with those teams, but we have too many finishes outside the top 10.”
Saturday’s race presents a unique challenge for Hirschman. He doesn’t have many starts at the Long Island quarter-mile bullring, which means his notebook is considerably smaller at Riverhead than it is at most of the tracks in the Northeast.
He’s made a conscious effort to change that. In addition to racing in Modified Tour events at the track, he’s also competed in Riverhead’s annual Islip 300 in each of the last three years, winning the event in 2023.
The extra laps have already paid dividends. He scored a runner-up finish earlier this year in the Miller Lite Salutes Steve Park 200, a career-best for Hirschman at the historic Long Island oval in Modified Tour competition.
“Riverhead is a track I never really had a lot of success or experience at,” Hirschman said. “That was one of the tracks, when I stopped racing full time, that I didn’t go to while participating on a part-time schedule. Over the last few years while running races with the Elite Towing-sponsored car in the Islip 300, I’ve gained more experience there and more confidence there.
“I believe our runner-up finish back in June shows that we can now contend, and I’m more comfortable there now. I can now say I’m looking forward to going. Years ago, that would not have been my answer. I think right now it’s a track that we’ve got the speed, and I’m comfortable racing there now. I think we can contend to win.”
If everything goes right, Hirschman thinks a trip to Victory Lane on Saturday night isn’t out of the question. If that happens, it will be hard to bet against the driver from Mud Lane in a championship battle that will almost certainly come down to the wire.
“It’s still tight among the top five,” Hirschman said. “We can move up or down over the last three races.”
This report first appeared on NASCAR.com