To be the man, you have to beat the man, and Luke Baldwin became the King of the Modifieds by beating Matt Hirschman on Sunday at South Boston Speedway.
Baldwin, the 17-year-old son of Modified and NASCAR legend Tommy Baldwin Jr., scored $20,000 by holding off one of the most decorated Tour Type drivers of all-time in the inaugural marquee SMART Modified Tour event.
It was just his third ever start in a Tour Type.
“I can’t believe it,” Luke Baldwin said. “That thing was a rocket ship. … [Thank you] to Matt Hirschman for racing me clean. I know he had a chance to give me a shot there. I didn’t mean to get into him earlier in the race to get into the lead. It is what it is. I’m really happy and I’ve got a lot of respect for not giving it back when he very well could have.”
His father was exceptionally proud.
“He put on a clinic. … For a 17-year old to have that much speed and talent. He passed Hirschman twice. Ninety-five percent of the racing Modified world has never passed Matt Hirschman. He passed him twice.”
It was a really good day for Baldwin who also put Doug Coby on the podium.
“This was pretty wild. This track is so fun and so fast but man when they all check up on the backstretch you really can’t do anything. Two wrecks there. … Came home third. I’d like to say the car is one piece, we’ll give it like seven/eighths of a piece.”
Hirschman led the most laps but conceded he just didn’t have enough pace at the end.
“He was just a little bit faster,” Hirschman said. “We just weren’t good enough to win, unfortunately for us. We spent some time at the front and led some early pretty good. … We just didn’t have enough to win.”
The race, which was treated with immediate reverence by the industry, created several big moments and bigger tempers.
Woody Pitkat got under Ryan Newman for fourth place on Lap 105. As the pair went down the backstretch on lap 106, contact between them sent Newman into the backstretch wall to bring out the caution.
“He ran me clear up into the fence,” Newman said. “… I didn’t really expect him to drive like an idiot and he sure did.”
Pitkat said it was just an unforced error.
“Newman got by me and then it was tough to get back by him. I got free up off [the corner] and got into him and knocked him into the wall. I hate that for him. I have all the respect in the world for him.”
On the ensuing restart, Jake Crum and Hirschman battled for second when contact between them sent Crum hard into the backstretch wall. The melee collected 10 cars.
“I didn’t know Hirschman drove like that,” Crum said. “He doored the hell out of us off of [turn] two over there and we went right front first into the fence. I thought I raced everybody clean. I know everybody has got their opinion about me and I really don’t give a shit. We were fast, we were here, they know we’re here and we’ll come back stronger and beat that asshole.”
Hirschman didn’t know what happened immediately after the race but expressed contrition.
“I didn’t see it yet, but I apologize to anybody’s equipment that got wrecked off of [turn] two if that was my fault. [Crum] went high in the middle [of the corner]. When he did I thought that I would be clear up off [the corner] until it was called and it was too late, he came back up on the outside. That was my fault. I know other cars got wrecked. I hate to see that.”
https://twitter.com/FloRacing/status/1772032172255236245
Woody Pitkat got under Ryan Newman for fourth place on Lap 105. As the pair went down the backstretch on lap 106, contact between them sent Newman into the backstretch wall to bring out the caution.
“He ran me clear up into the fence,” Newman said. “… I didn’t really expect him to drive like an idiot and he sure did.”
Pitkat said it was just an unforced error.
“Newman got by me and then it was tough to get back by him. I got free up off [the corner] and got into him and knocked him into the wall. I hate that for him. I have all the respect in the world for him.”
On the ensuing restart, Jake Crum and Hirschman battled for second when contact netween them sent Crum hard into the backstretch wall. The melee collected 10 cars.
https://twitter.com/FloRacing/status/1772033727536713903
“I didn’t know Hirschman drove like that,” Crum said. “He doored the hell out of us off of [turn] two over there and we went right front first into the fence. I thought I raced everybody clean. I know everybody has got their opinion about me and I really don’t give a shit. We were fast, we were here, they know we’re here and we’ll come back stronger and beat that asshole.”
Hirschman didn’t know what happened immeidiately after the race but expressed contrition.
“I didn’t see it yet, but I apologize to anybody’s equipment that got wrecked off of [turn] two if that was my fault. [Crum] went high in the middle [of the corner]. When he did I thought that I would be clear up off [the corner] until it was called and it was too late, he came back up on the outside. That was my fault. I know other cars got wrecked. I hate to see that.”
https://twitter.com/FloRacing/status/1772064558028399078
SMART Tour King of the Modifieds
South Boston Speedway
March 24 2024
- Luke Baldwin
- Matt Hirschman
- Doug Coby
- Jonathan Cash
- Anthony Bello
- Burt Myers
- Brandon Ward
- Jimmy Wallace
- Jason Tutterow
- Jayden Harman
- Tyler Barry
- Joey Coulter
- Carson Loftin
- Jason Myers
- Jake Crum
- Woody Pitkat
- Will Lambos
- Tom Buzze
- Danny Bohn
- Caleb Heady
- Daniel Yates
- Blake Barney
- Ryan Newman
- Austin Kochenash
- Andrew Krause
- Gary Young
- Stephen Kopcik
- Jim Gavek
- Paul Hatwig
- Bryce Bailey
- Chris Pasteryak
- Brian Loftin
- Jimmy Blewett
