Silk finally wins at Monadnock; Hirschman claims miniseries

After a series record eight different to open the year, Sunday’s Cheshire County Clash 200 at Monadnock Speedway yielded the first repeat winner of the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Ron Silk would be the one to snap the streak, earning his first Monadnock victory with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in the process. The triumph did not come without drama for Silk, who collided with race leader Patrick Emerling in Turn 3 with 30 laps remaining, sending the latter for a spin.

Silk attributed the collision to two drivers going for the win. Although he was disappointed to see Emerling spin after the contact, Silk was more than satisfied to finally visit Victory Lane at Monadnock in his 15th appearance.

“We were racing pretty hard,” Silk said. “I pulled out on the exit of Turn 2 and he didn’t give me a lot of room, but I don’t blame him. I feel like we both kind of got loose in and made some contact. I wish he could have held onto it, but that’s hard racing.”

Prior to the doubleheader, Silk had enjoyed modest success at Monadnock but never managed to bring home a checkered flag. His Monadnock resume featured seven top five finishes, including two runner-up showings in 2020 and 2024.

A disappointing 15th in Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 fueled Silk’s motivation to rebound. Silk posted the fifth-best time in qualifying but started on pole by virtue of the redraw.

While Silk successfully maintained his track position at the front of the field, he faced constant pressure from Emerling, who was also eager to shake off a frustrating Saturday outcome that saw him lose a win to Tommy Catalano by .007 seconds. Emerling go to the lead during the closing stages, but Silk stayed within striking distance, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Silk saw his opportunity with less than 40 laps left. He dove to the inside of Emerling in search of an open lane in Turn 3. The move sent Emerling around while Silk continued unscathed.

Being on the receiving end of contact to close out two consecutive races at Monadnock was irritating for Emerling. He was confused and frustrated by Silk’s dive bomb in Turn 3, especially after he believed the two had raced cordially earlier in the day.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Emerling said. “[Silk and I raced] like gentlemen and I passed him without touching him. He had a fresh tire on, we were better on the long run and he knew that. He was just good enough to maybe get to our bumper. He knew he wasn’t going to stay there long and that we would drive away.

“Then he decided to ship it into the corner like he wasn’t going to make it and just took us out.”

With Emerling out of contention, Silk still had to deal with two familiar foes in his rearview mirror, Justin Bonsignore and Matt Hirschman. Neither posed a significant challenge to Silk in the final 20 laps as he drove away to earn his second win of 2025.

Bonsignore held on to finish second while Hirschman secured third, which enabled him to claim his second Whelen Short Track Cup. Hirschman endured an odyssey just to reach the top five, as a mistake in qualifying relegated him to 20^th on the starting grid.

By utilizing strategy and persevering with a car not to his liking, Hirschman narrowly edged out his Mud Lane neighbor Austin Beers for the Whelen Short Track Cup and a $3,500 bonus courtesy of JDV Productions.

“I did not think this was possible,” Hirschman said. “I do think we gave it away last night, but we ended up with a third place finish with a car that felt like it was on six or seven cylinders. My guys worked hard, nobody knows what the problem is, but it’s nobody’s fault. The Cup wouldn’t have even been a contest if we finished remotely close to where we should have last night.

“I feel like I drove my rear end off today with what I had.”

Anthony Nocella and Trevor Catalano made up the rest of the top five. Rounding out the top 10 at Monadnock were Joey Cipriano III, Luke Baldwin, Emerling, Beers and Tommy Catalano.

The next stop for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be a midweek race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Aug. 6. The green flag for the Thompson 150 presented by FloSports.com will wave at 8 p.m. ET, with FloRacing providing live coverage.