Luke Baldwin is the King of the Modifieds.
Competing in only his third career Tour-Type Modified race, the 17-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina resident won the new crown jewel Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds race, the feature race of Sunday’s season-opening URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event at South Boston Speedway. The win was worth $20,000.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” the young racer said after edging “Big Money” Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pennsylvania by .415-seconds in a 17-lap sprint to the finish following the last of the race’s six caution periods.
“Matt Hirschman is the guy to beat in Tour-Type Modified competition. To put my name above his and guys like Doug Coby, Woody Pitkat, Burt Myers and Ryan Newman, it’s unbelievable. It means so much to bring this home for the Sadler-Stanley Racing Team, everybody at Pace-O-Matic, and team owners Hermie (Sadler) and Senator (Bill) Stanley were here as well. I’m just super glad to bring one home for those guys.
Baldwin, the son of longtime Modified team owner and former Cup Series crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., took the lead from Hirschman on lap 99 and led the final 27 circuits of the .4-mile oval. In qualifying, Baldwin showed his speed by setting a new track record for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic with a lap of 13.610 seconds and 105.805 mile-per-hour.
A late-race adjustment by his crew chief was a big key to Baldwin’s victory.
“This thing was an absolute rocket ship,” Baldwin remarked. “Neal Cantor played a 90 percent role in winning this race with a great late-race adjustment coming off of pit road with about 50 (laps) to go that made the car really good on the short run.”
Hirschman, who led twice for a total of 95 laps, had a tough outing, yet he still was able to challenge for the win before having to settle for second place and the $10,000 runner-up prize.
First, following a caution period on lap 40 involving Doug Coby, Coby accidentally backed into Hirschman’s car and banged into Hirschman’s left front tire.
Later, Hirschman was involved in an incident on lap 107 that involved several competitors.
“I didn’t have quite enough to win,” Hirschman pointed out. “I had some things throughout the race, some unfortunate things that happened, some maybe that I take responsibility for. Other things happened like I got a little front-end damage that shouldn’t have happened. Then there was a big wreck on the backstretch where I misjudged. I thought I was clear coming up off the (corner) and when that call was made it was too late. I believe that put the 12 (Jake Crum) into the wall and got other guys wrecked, so, it was not the day we wanted to have.”
Despite that, Hirschman remained in contention at the end.
“He (Baldwin) slipped a couple of times, and I was kind of there,” noted Hirschman. “If I thought we had enough to win, I would have tried to get the job done. I think it played out the way it probably should have.”
Six-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby of Milford, Connecticut finished third, Jonathan Cash of Oxford, North Carolina took fourth place and Anthony Bello of Newtown, Connecticut rounded out the top five finishers.
Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, the 2023 SMART Modified Tour champion, Brandon Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the 2023 Bowman Gray Stadium NASCAR Modified Division champion, Jimmy Wallace of Lexington, North Carolina, Jason Tutterow of Advance, North Carolina and Pennsylvanian Jayden Harman rounded out the top 10 finishers in the 30-car starting field.
Jake Crum, who led a couple of laps and ran in the top three a lot of race, former NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Newman, and popular NASCAR Modified racer Woody Pitkat, were among the drivers who were sidelined due to accidents.
There were four lead changes among four drivers in the race that was slowed by six caution periods and two red flags.
CRAIG MOORE LANDS SECOND CAREER SOUTH BOSTON LATE MODEL WIN
To say Craig Moore had a big day would be an understatement.
Moore, from Rougemont, North Carolina wrestled the lead from pole winner Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina on the 56th lap and sped to a 2.114-second win over 2023 Motor Mile Speedway NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division champion Mike Looney of Catawba, Virginia in the 100-lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division race that was the co-feature race of Sunday’s URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event.
The win was Moore’s second career Late Model Stock Car Division win at South Boston Speedway and was his first in a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series event. He had previously won at South Boston Speedway in 2018 in a CARS Tour event.
Also notable was that Moorer won in a car that he borrowed from well-known former racer Jay Fogleman.
“I don’t know what to say,” Moore remarked. “I borrowed the car from Jay Fogleman, and I’m super appreciative to him for letting me borrow the car. To be able to win the race with a car that we borrowed says a lot. I worked for two weeks on this car to get it ready to go.
“I felt that since that CARS Tour race here I’ve had some good runs, but never had the piece we needed to win the race with.”
Blake Stallings of Danville, Virginia finished third, Stacy Puryear of South Boston, Virginia finished fourth, and Kyle Dudley of Roanoke, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers. Ward finished ninth after retiring from the race after 59 laps.
Goble Scores Win In Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division
Cameron Goble of Ringgold, Virginia got his 2024 season off to a good start with a flag-to-flag win in Sunday’s 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police H EAT Hornets Division.
Goble edged former division champion Jason DeCarlo of Chase City, Virginia by 1.243 seconds in a four-lap dash to the finish that followed the last of the race’s five caution periods.
Chris Barrett of Ringgold, Virginia, Steven Layne of Nathalie, Virginia, and Jordaine Penick of Drakes Branch, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.
Next Race At South Boston Speedway
NASCAR racing returns to South Boston Speedway with the Danville Toyota Weekly Series Opening Night on Saturday night, April 13 at 7 p.m. This event will be the first night race of the 2024 season at South Boston Speedway.
It will be a big night with the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division competitors seeing action in double 75-lap races and the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division competitors will open their season with a 75-lap race that will be their longest and richest race of the season. A $1,500 prize will go to the winner and there are purse increases throughout the field.
Anderson Turf Management of South Boston, Virginia will post a $500 Hard Charger Award for the race. The Anderson Turf Management Hard Charger Award will reward the driver who gains the most positions from their starting position. Sellers Racing has posted a $500 pole award for the race. The $500 Sellers Racing Pole Award will go to the driver who is the fastest in qualifying for the race.
In addition, the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division competitors will open their 2024 season with a 25-lap race and the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division competitors will do battle in a 20-lap race.
Qualifying starts at 6 p.m. and the first race will get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Fans and competitors can find the latest news and updates from South Boston Speedway on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours, and through the track’s social media channels.
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