Hirschman wins MMTTS Haunted Hundred XL, McKennedy crowned champion

For the first time in years, Matt Hirschman was only in contention for one trophy at the conclusion of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series season last weekend.

And while “Big Money Matt” easily took home the winner’s trophy in last Saturday’s USNEPower Haunted Hundred XL at Seekonk Speedway, a three-way championship battle played out in Hirschman’s mirror.

By finishing second to Hirschman, Jon McKennedy clinched his second championship in the Monaco Modifieds’ biggest season yet.

What began as a loose confederation of big-dollar open-comp Modified races in New England in 2014 wrapped up a ten-race schedule last weekend at the “Action Track of the East.” Long having outgrown its three-track roots, the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series has established itself as a formidable and competitive alternative to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, sharing tracks and even drivers with NASCAR’s oldest touring series.

Hirschman, the nine-time and reigning champion and defending race winner, surprisingly sat out April’s season-opening tilt at Thompson Speedway. For the first time in the series’ twelve-year history, the Northampton, Pa. Modified ace would not contend for the championship, instead running a full NWMT campaign and competing with the Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series.

At Seekonk, three drivers remained mathematically in contention for the crown: inaugural Tri-Track champion McKennedy, 2019 champion Ronnie Williams, and wildcard Chris Pasteryak. A top-five finish would be enough to seal the title for McKennedy no matter what Williams or Pasteryak could pull off.

The starting order up front was jumbled before the race as three of the top five starters took advantage of a “Start In The Back” challenge, leaving Riverhead Raceway regular Chase Grennan on the pole with Hirschman to his outside. Hirschman took the early lead, with Grennan filing into second and McKennedy riding in third early.

McKennedy eventually got past Grennan and into second, but even with a bevy of mid-race cautions, he was unable to mount a challenge against the dominant Hirschman.

Pasteryak pitted mid-race and was back up to fourth when he was spun on lap 102, knocking him down the running order and out of title contention. Williams was still in sight of the leaders in case McKennedy suffered any trouble, but he spun on a lap-116 restart, trapping him deep in the field with only nine laps to go.

Hirschman eluded McKennedy in the final laps, but there was little reason for either driver to push the envelope with their fates quite clearly secure.

Leading from the drop of the green, Hirschman held on for his second Monaco Modified win of 2025 and his series-leading 24th career Monaco Modified victory. With a win in June’s NWMT J&R Precast 150 at the “Cement Palace,” Hirschman swept the bullring’s three touring Modified dates.

McKennedy finished second while Grennan held on for third in his first touring series start. Patrick Emerling, who started the day with a new sponsorship and team announcement for the 2026 season, finished fourth.

Brett Meservey finished fifth, completing the back-of-the-pack challenge and pocketing a $6,000 bounty for his tenacity.

And once Hirschman had celebrated his victory, all eyes turned to McKennedy, who became the first driver other than Hirschman to hoist the championship trophy since Williams in 2019.

The Chelmsford, Mass. open-wheel ace spread his attention throughout the Northeast this season, running the full slate of Monaco Modified events while making selected starts in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the Modified Racing Series, and the New England Supermodified Series. While McKennedy went winless in his Monaco Modified campaign, he won both of his MRS attempts, took three NESS feature wins, and scored an open win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in April.

McKennedy’s key title rivals Williams and Pasteryak, as well as fourth-place finisher Stephen Kopcik, all went winless in their pursuit of the championship. Late-race contact at Star and in Stafford’s Fall Final robbed McKennedy of two potential wins, but he finished no worse than seventh in the year’s other eight races.

Fifth-place Austin Beers, who was crowned the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour titlist only a few days before, won at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in May, but missed the green flag at Star Speedway in the summer to take him out of the title race. Jake Johnson and Ron Silk each won three races, with Blake Barney dodging a late-race incident to win at Star.

While Hirschman gets the lion’s share of regional Modified attention, McKennedy has quietly made his own case for recognition as one of the Northeast’s elite Modified talents. The 2022 NWMT champion has championships in all three active Tour-type Modified series in the Northeast, as well as the 2017 International Supermodified Association title. McKennedy has never run a full schedule with NESS, leaving the Maine-based Supermodified circuit one of the few New England open-wheel tours he has yet to conquer.

What Hirschman has over McKennedy, so far, is frequency; racing is Hirschman’s career path, where McKennedy has only recently focused on motorsports as a vocation. Hirschman was also already established in the region when McKennedy began to break out of the weekly ranks.

Fortunately for fans, both Hirschman and McKennedy have plenty of years ahead of them.

Unofficial Results
Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series | USNEPower Haunted Hundred XL
Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, Mass.
1. (60) Matt Hirschman
2. (79) Jon McKennedy
3. (38) Chase Grennan
4. (1NY) Patrick Emerling
5. (76) Brett Meservey
6. (179) Austin Beers
7. (1) Stephen Kopcik
8. (06) Tyler Chapman
9. (88) Woody Pitkat
10. (66) Timmy Solomito
11. (20C) Dana DiMatteo
12. (31) Noah Korner
13. (10A) Keith Rocco
14. (5CT) Chris Pasteryak
15. (7) Jon Puleo
16. (20) Max Zachem
17. (75) David Arute
18. (24) Mikey Flynn
19. (25) Matt Swanson
20. (76CT) Cory DiMatteo
21. (39) George Bessette, Jr.
22. (50) Ronnie Williams
23. (55) Ryan Doucette
24. (81) Nathan Wenzel
25. (05CT) Teddy Hodgdon
26. (3) Tyler Rypkema
27. (19) Jeffrey Battle
28. (82) John-Michael Shenette
29. (47) Joey Mucciacciaro
30. (27) Derek Robbie

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