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MCKENNEDY IS SUPER IN ISMA/MSS DEBUT AT CARAWAY
Dylan Ward Doubles Up
Photo Matt Hirshman Racing
Sophia, NC: (November 10, 2024): Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA, led all but a few laps of the 22nd Annual John Blewett III Memorial North South Shootout presented in memory of Charles Kepley en route to his fourth straight and tenth event victory. John McKennedy of Chelmsford, MA, took top honors in the ISMA /MSS 60-lapper for the Supers and Dylan Ward of Walkertown, NC, doubled up winning both the 602 Modified and BGS Sportsman features. The Southern Groundpounders put on a great show as part of the event with Mack Tatum, Josh Weston, Christopher Werner, and Josh Roberts scoring victories in their Fall Classic.
After a pole setting qualifying run, Hirschman started the event from the front row for the eleventh different time, jumping out to the early lead over Carson Loftin, Jason Myers, and Jake Crum. It did not take long for the first of what would be many cautions to fly as an incident with John Michael Shenette found the yellow flying on lap one.
On the restart, despite the choose cone, the lineup inside the top five remained unchanged. It was once again Hirschman jumping out to the lead. Burt Myers was on the move early.
A caution for Jonny Kievman on lap 6, saw John Smith on pit road. Back under green, B. Myers chose the outside but found himself slipping back. Tom Buzze and Tommy Martino, Jr. were locked in a fierce battle just outside the top ten. At mid- pack things were getting dicey with James Civali, Paulie Hartwig III and Joey Coulter.
More cars joined the mid-pack fray before an incident with Civali and Norman Newman slowed the action for a third time. While the top four remained unchanged once again during the choose, the line-up further back showed some movement. They would get the chance to choose again following a fourth incident with Gary Young, Jr., and Jimmy Segar.
An eventful restart on lap 18 saw cars at the front of the pack checking up and scattering. The incident collected a host of potential winners to change the complexion of the event. Those involved included B. Myers, Tommy, Tyler, and Trevor Catalano, Paulie Hartwig III, Mike Speeny, Michael Ritch, and others. Most were able to rejoin the field.
On the restart, Hirschman got out front and began to immediately stretch his lead. By this time, Andy Suess has moved into fifth with Brandon Ward and Josh Lowder in pursuit. The first car to step out of line was Lowder, looking to make a move on Ward. He was able to get by Ward, taking Buzze along with him. The top five began to get stretched out during the green flag run.
The sixth caution flew on lap 31 with an incident involving Hartwig and Segar. Under the caution Ward ducked down pit road for service. Back under green, the lead pack remained unchanged. Now it was Brian Loftin on the move.
While C. Loftin continued to take chase of Hirschman, his father Brian was looking racy and making his way toward the front. The best battle on the field was just outside the top ten with Robie, Martino, Gary Young Jr., and Civali.
The competition fuel stop brought out the seventh caution of the event on lap 50. After the controlled fuel stop the entire field, with the exception of B. Myers, came down pit road for live pitstops. A variety of tire strategies began to play out and shook up the restart lineup. B. Myers would lead them to green on lap 51 followed by Hirschman, C. Loftin, B. Loftin, Jimmy Blewett, Ward, Cody Norman, Buzze, Robie and Civil inside the top ten.
Hirschman used the outside groove to retake the lead on the restart. C. Loftin lost a spot to his father while Myers started falling back on older tires. A single car spin by Civali brought out the eighth caution on lap 53. Hirschman had another Loftin to contend with on the restart, this time lined up again Brian. It was much the same with Hirschman grabbing the top spot. Blewett was able to get by Carson under the green. A spin by Segar on lap 56 brought out the ninth caution of the event.
Back under green, a hard changing Suess was looking to make tracks to the front on the outside groove. At halfway the lead duo was getting away from a brewing battle for third between Blewett and C. Loftin. The best battle on the field was for sixth between Crum, Young, and J. Myers.
The lead duo continued stretching their lead over third running Blewett. Hirschman began to distance himself from Loftin as well. Entering heavy lapped traffic on lap 77, including a side-by-side battle between Martino and Hartwig bottled up the leaders, allowing B. Loftin to catch up to the back bumper of Hirschman. A few laps later, Martino dispensed of Hartwig, clearing the way for Hirschman and Loftin.
The event’s tenth caution flew on 82 for an incident involving Robie, who ended up against the turn one wall. Under this yellow, all the cars came down pit road except for Shenette and Hartwig for a second tire change. C. Loftin, Blewett, and B. Loftin beat Hirschman off pit road.
C. Loftin grabbed the lead on the restart over Blewett before the second large incident of the event slowed the action. This eleventh caution collected J. Myers, Speeny, Gerstner, Keivman, Young, Gary Putnam, Lowder, Hartwig, Buzze and Norman. Hartwig and Norman received the worst damage. Unrelated to the incident, the #1 of Myers required a hook having come to a stop on the front stretch under the caution. He was able to rejoin the field. Yet another stalled attempt at lap 82 involved Shenette, Keivman, and Lowder.
On the choose cone, Blewett chose the inside, giving Hirschman the outside of C. Loftin on the front row for the restart. Hirschman was holding his own on the outside of C. Loftin when debris off the Myers’ #1 necessitated the thirteenth caution of the event.
C. Loftin was able to prevail for a single lap before relinquishing the lead once again to Hirschman. A bobble by Blewett on lap 85 caused B. Loftin to take evasive action. Lifting, he fell back to seventh. In the meantime, Crum had moved into third, passing Blewett. Suess rebounded to run in fifth.
A heated battle for eighth boiled over on lap 102 when Lowder and Martino made contact to bring out the fourteenth. The restart on lap 102 was much the same for Hirschman; however, it was now Crum who had worked in his way into second. Hirschman was out to a half straightaway lead with Crum running second following closely by Suess. A hard-charging J. Myers had passed several cars, including Blewett to run in fifth. B. Loftin fell off the pace on lap 112 and headed to pit road. The fifteenth caution flew on 115 when Speeny slowed exiting turn three after contact with Myers. Under caution Tom Martino headed to pit road.
The restart set up a 10-lap chase to the checkers and set up a duel between Hirschman and Crum. Crum faltered a bit on the restart allowing Hirschman to get away and Suess to take second. Under the green, Crum slid back to fourth.
Another caution flew on lap 117 when Gerstner slowed with a flat tire. The ensuing restart pitted two former race champions on the front row. The restart proved to be problematic for Suess who went spinning from second.
On the restart with six laps remaining, again put Crum alongside Hirschman for the restart. C Loftin was able to take the runner up position before the eighteenth and final caution flew on lap 117 when Keivman slowed with a flat. With Hirschman at the point with Crum, C. Loftin in tow, a new face had emerged in the top five with Tyler Catalano, who had made his way past Blewett.
In the closing laps Hirschman checked out leaving Crum and C. Loftin to battle it out for the runner-up spot. At the checkers, after 125 laps of green flag racing, Hirschman had yet another lucrative win in North-South Shootout competition. Crum, C. Loftin, Ty. Catalano. and Blewett rounded out the top five. Young, Jr., Putnam, Lowder, Keivman and Gerstner completed the top ten.
John McKennedy added another page to his history by becoming a North-South Shootout Supermodified winner. The Chelmsford, MA, driver already has a Tour Mod Shootout victory to his credit winning the final event at Concord Motor Speedway in 2019.
DJ Shullick led the 22-car field to green for their 60-lap main event before the first caution flew on lap 2 for a stalled Mike Ordway, Jr. Having a tough time getting going initially, the second caution flew immediately for a spin by Rick Reid that also collected the ’24 season champion Otto Sitterly and Dave Duggan.
On the single file restart, Shullick continued to lead the way. On lap 3, a side-by-side battle found McKennedy besting Kyle Edwards for the second spot. McKennedy immediately began to reel in Shullick. By lap 10, McKennedy had caught Shullick and grabbed the top spot on lap 13. Despite entering lapped traffic, the leader began distancing himself from second place. In lapped traffic, Josh Sokolic began running down Shullick. Another great battle was brewing for fourth between Michael Bruce and Reid.
With McKennedy out front the battle for second was heating up between Shullick and Sokolic once again in lapped traffic at lap 24. Through it all McKennedy was able to stretch his lead. After halfway the best battle was at mid-pack between Bruce, Joe Gosek, Danny Connors, Jr., and Vern Romanoski.
Lapped traffic had meanwhile impeded any progress by the Sokolic. McKenney was meticulously making his way through traffic, easily lapping cars during this extended green flag run. On lap 43, Sokolic was finally able to take second from Shullick.
The third caution flew on lap 49 for a spin by Sawyer Stout. The double file restart with 11 laps to go pitted Sokolic against McKennedy. He was no match for McKennedy who easily resumed the lead. Sokolic, Shullick, Trent Stephens and Johnny Benson, Jr., ran nose-to tail inside the top five. In a heartbreaker, Stephens lost power with only 8 laps remaining relinquishing fourth place and a solid finish.
With five laps remaining there was a three-car breakaway with McKenney, Sokolic, and Shullick. In the closing laps it was clear sailing for McKennedy to take the checkers. Sokolic, Shullick, Benson, and Dave Danzer rounded out the top five. Veterans Mark Sammut and Mike Litchy, Bruce, Connors, and Romanoski completed the top ten.
The 50-lap 602 Modified feature event saw Dylan Ward of Walkertown, NC, score a popular victory. After a tough time getting going, things finally settled down with fast qualifier Robbie Brewer taking the lead with Ward taking chase. The best battle was for the fourth position with James Blewett and Jaxson Casper running wheel-to-wheel. Ward began applying heavy pressure to Brewer for the top spot during the early stages of the event. There were multiple battles throughout the field including one for seventh with Mitchell Wright, Slate Myers, and Kevin Orlando. After a problem on the first caution, Paulie Hartwig was making quick work under green, moving back into contention.
The caution flew on lap13 for a single car spin by Jeremy Gerstner, who was doing double-duty. Back under green, Brewer continued to show the way. Three-wide behind the leader on the restart ended with Blewett being shuffled back.
Hartwig continued his rebound making his way past Slate Myers for fifth as the race approached halfway. As the race wore on, Ward once again caught Brewer. With four laps to go Ward was able to make the pass of the lead and ultimately the win. Casper and Hartwig joined the mix as well.
A crazy moment for second running Brewer saw his bid for a strong finish come to an end. Entering turn one after receiving the crossed flags for two to go, Brewer found himself in a four-wheel drift. While he was able to maintain his position initially through slide, he made hard contact with the wall ending his great run. In the end, Ward picked up the win followed by Casper, Hartwig III, Lawder and Wright. Myers, Blewett, Orlando, Gabe Saavedra, and Dale Ogburn completed the top ten.
Friday night winners included Challenger winner Austin Harris. Winners of the Fall Classic for the Vintage Ground Pounders included Mack Tatum (Limited Modified), Christopher Werner (Open Modified), Josh Roberts (Limited Sportsman), and Josh Weston (Open Sportsman).
John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout presented in Memory of Charles Kepley, Tour-Type Modified 125 Lap (Green Flag) Feature Finish: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Jake Crum, 3. Carson Loftin, 4. Tyler Catalano, 5. Jimmy Blewett, 6. Gary Young, Jr., 7. Gary Putnam, 8. Josh Lowder, 9. Johnny Kay, 10. Jeremy Gerstner, 11. Joey Coulter, 12. Andy Seuss, 13. Tom Martino, Jr., 14. Jason Myers, 15. Mike Speeny, 16. Brian Loftin, 17. Burt Myers, 18. John Michael Shenette, 19. Cody Norman, 20. Tom Buzze, 21. Brian Robie, 22. Jeff Fultz, 23. Paulie Hartwig III, 24. Jimmy Segar,
- James Civali, 26. Brandon Ward, 27. Tommy Catalano, 28. Trevor Catalano, 29. Michael Ritch,
- Chris Finocchario, 31. Norman Newman, 32. John Smith.
ISMA/MSS Supermodified 60-Lap Feature Finish: 1. Jon McKennedy, 2. Josh Sokolic, 3. DJ Shullick, 4. Johnny Benson, Jr., 5. Dave Danzer, 6. Mark Sammut, 7. Mike Litchy, 8. Michael Bruce, 9. Danny Connors, Jr., 10. Vern Romanoski, 11. Brandon Bellinger,12. Sawyer Stout, 13. Joe Gosek, 14. Trent Stephens, 15. Ben Seitz, 16, Moe Lilje, 17. Mike McVetta, 18. Rick Reid, 19. Kyle Edwards, 20. Dave Duggan, 21. Otto Sitterly, 22.Mike Ordway, Jr.
602 Modified Feature Finish: 1. Dylan Ward, 2. Jaxson Casper, 3. Paulie Hartwig III, 4. Dean Lowder, 5. Mitchell Wright, 6. Slate Myers, 7. James Blewett, 8. Kevin Orlando, 9. Gabriel Saavedra, 10. Dale Ogburn, 11. Eric Zeh, 12. Paul Hartwig, Jr., 13. Mason Lawson, 14. Kayden Rogers, 15. Chris Hatton, 16. Robbie Brewer, 17. Jeremy Gertsner, 18. Jonathan Hatton, 19. Sean McElearney, 20. Ryan Nelson, 21. Chase Lewis.
