Matt Hirschman claims points victory at New Smyrna

NEW SMYRNA– Matt Hirschman wasn’t holding the checkered flag Friday night at New Smyrna Speedway following the Richie Evans/Ted Christopher Memorial 100, but he was holding the points championship trophy for the week at the World Series of Asphalt.

On Wednesday, Matt Hirschman celebrated in victory lane for winning the John Blewett III Memorial race during the World Series of Asphalt. Running consistently well, Hirschman still faced challenged on and off the track.

“We were never way off,” he said. “We had good finishes, fourths, seconds, one win, but would’ve like to have done a little bit better as far as having a winning race car, but we had a solid piece, and the car never let us down,” Hirschman added.

The championship trophy sits atop Matt Hirschman’s car.

Earlier in the week, one of his crew members broke his leg earlier in the week and he lost several friends during the racing off-season. For Hirschman, the championship was the result of laying it all in the line and being physically and emotionally invested in the outcome of the week in south central Florida.

He finished in second place at the Memorial race, after being unable to close a one-second gap between himself and first-place Ryan Preece.

“I lost a little bit of speed after the pit stop,” said Hirschman. “The team worked hard, and the championship is a nice thing for us.”

It marked a milestone for the 35-year-old Pennsylvania native – the first World Series of Asphalt championship.

“We’ve come here at most a handful of times and it’s something nice to check off the list,” Hirshman said. “It’s been a long week, we’ll celebrate this tonight.”