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Hartwig III, Thompson, Smith & Salter Also Winners
Sophia, NC (November 12, 2025): Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA, turned in another dominating performance in the 23rd Annual North-South Shootout, continuing his stronghold on the event at Caraway Speedway. Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, MA, repeated in ISMA/MSS competition. Paulie Hartwig III of Galloway, NJ, led all 68 laps of the 602 Modified event to secure the $5,000 winner’s share in memory of Robbie Brewer. Austin Thompson swept Legends competition.
Friday winners included Adam Salter of Andalusia, AL, in the inaugural Crown Vic Clash, and Luke Smith of Charlotte, NC, in the Chargers. John Lozyniak and Jonathan Fleming split top honors in Friday night’s Vintage Fall Classic.
Matt Hirschman led all but a handful of laps enroute to his eleventh North-South Shootout Tour-Type Modified title — and his fifth straight. Young guns Hartwig III and Jack Baldwin of Mooresville, NC, joined him on the podium. In true Shootout tradition, the remainder of the top five was a split between Northern and Southern talent, including previous event winner Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, NC, and Kyle Scisco of Jackson, NJ.
Despite qualifying second, Carson Loftin had to start the 125-lapper from the tail of the field due to an engine change. Ultimately, Hirschman and Hartwig III led the field to green. Danny Bohn quickly motored to second behind Hirschman and became the new leader one lap later.
The best battle on the track was for sixth between B. Myers and fourth-generation New Jersey driver James Blewett. A bit deeper in the pack, Jimmy Wallace and J. Baldwin were racing hard for ninth. Tenth-place starter Carter McMurray was shuffled back in the early going. J. Baldwin made the pass on Blewett and moved into seventh on lap 14.
The top five at lap 25 were Bohn, Hirschman, L. Baldwin, Hartwig, and Scisco. Jason Myers had moved into the top ten. On lap 30, Loftin was up to thirteenth.
The leaders entered lapped traffic. Hirschman had his hands full on lap 33, allowing L. Baldwin to close in. In the congestion, the lapped car of Joel Belanger got out of shape, collecting L. Baldwin and ending his day with hard contact with the outside wall in turn two. Loftin and Scisco were on pit road for service under the caution.
Per event rules, the lap 33 restart was single file, with Bohn leading Hirschman, Hartwig, B. Myers, and J. Baldwin. Loftin fell off the pace on lap 38, dropping to the tail of the field.
The field strung out heading into the designated fuel stop at lap 50. Hirschman, Wallace, and Sean Verwys opted to stay on track. Several teams took the opportunity to pit again for tires. The mixed pit strategy shook up the lineup for the restart.
On the restart, Hirschman remained out front. One lap later, the race slowed for an incident on the backstretch with Tyler Truex and Norman Newman. Hirschman got the jump on Wallace on the ensuing restart. Bohn made quick work driving back toward the front and into second, followed by Loftin, who used pit strategy to gain track position.
Loftin pressured Bohn for second as Verwys began to fade. Wallace, shuffled back earlier, rebounded to retake third from Loftin. Wallace then passed Bohn for second. J. Baldwin rejoined the mix, along with Hartwig, Flores, and B. Myers inside the top ten.
A spin by Jeremy Gerstner brought out the caution on lap 67. Bohn headed to pit road under caution, as did McMurray, Finocchiaro, Annabeth Crum, and Jeffrey Battle.
The restart order just past halfway was Hirschman, Wallace, J. Baldwin, Hartwig, Loftin, Flores, B. Myers, Blewett, Max Handley, and J. Myers inside the top ten.
Hirschman resumed the lead, with J. Baldwin moving into second over Wallace. The race slowed again on lap 68 for a spin by Gary Putnam that collected Verwys and Belanger.
Another caution flew on the restart when Newman spun. Loftin and Blewett pitted under yellow.
On the restart, Hirschman got out front again with Hartwig making a run for second over J. Baldwin. Battle, Blewett, and Flores were locked in a tight battle deeper in the field. Under a long green-flag run, Hirschman, Hartwig, and J. Baldwin stretched their lead. Loftin struggled to make additional headway. J. Myers climbed to fifth behind his brother Burt.
At the back half of the top ten, Newman, Scisco, Finocchiaro, McMurray, and early leader Bohn were locked in battle. Flores lost the handle on his car. Finocchiaro spun on lap 85 to bring out the caution. Contact sent Bohn to the pits, ending his day. Under caution, much of the field pitted, including Hirschman, J. Baldwin, Hartwig, the Myers brothers, and others. The only cars to stay out were Battle, Truex, Blewett, and Crum.
Restarting fifth, Hirschman wasted no time charging back to the point. He made a three-wide move on Truex and Crum to get to second behind Blewett, then took the lead on lap 91. Blewett fell into the clutches of Hartwig.
On lap 100, with 25 to go, Hirschman led Blewett, Hartwig, J. Baldwin, and B. Myers. Tight racing for second between Blewett and Hartwig resulted in slight contact. Blewett bobbled, opening the door for both Hartwig and J. Baldwin. B. Myers also got by.
A caution flew on lap 107 for an incident involving Finocchiaro and Newman. As the caution waved, the engine expired on the #02 of Flores. McMurray, Battle, and Crum returned to pit road. After the cleanup, Hirschman led Hartwig, J. Baldwin, B. Myers, and Blewett. Myers pressured J. Baldwin, while Loftin hounded Blewett for fifth.
Hirschman stretched his lead with ten laps to go. The heated battle for fifth between Blewett and Loftin boiled over, with contact sending both into the turn one wall. The restart with nine laps remaining saw Hirschman, Hartwig, Baldwin, B. Myers, Handley, J. Myers, Scisco, Finocchiaro, Wallace, and McMurray inside the top ten.
Hartwig got a great run on the restart, briefly getting alongside Hirschman. Fending off the teenagers, Hirschman pulled away. With B. Myers pressuring J. Baldwin, Hartwig held second comfortably. Scisco moved past J. Myers.
A caution on lap 121 for a spin by Finocchiaro after contact with the 21 set up a short dash to the finish. On the double-file restart with four to go, Hirschman lined up on the bottom with Hartwig to his outside. J. Myers broke on the restart but got to pit road.
Hirschman would not be denied, taking his fifth straight North-South Shootout win over Hartwig, J. Baldwin, B. Myers, and Scisco. A strong North/South split inside the top ten also included rookie Handley, Wallace, Putnam, Battle, and Truex.
Despite starting mid-pack, Jon McKennedy expertly navigated a competitive field to successfully defend his ISMA/MSS North-South Shootout title. A stout field of 21 Supermodifieds took the green to kick off Saturday’s racing. Fast-time qualifier Tyler Shullick finished second and was joined by Shootout rookie Matt Swanson on the podium.
Pole-sitter—by virtue of the redraw—Tyler Thompson led early ahead of a heated battle for second between David Danzer and Trent Stephens. The duo ran side-by-side for several laps before Stephens edged out Danzer. McKennedy, who started eleventh, began his march through the field early.
Danzer relinquished third, heading to pit road on lap 10. Leader Thompson encountered lapped traffic on lap 13. Sayer Stout slowed on lap 19. By lap 20, McKennedy was up to fifth.
Thompson had built a sizable lead, but Stephens began to chip away at it. The first yellow flew on lap 24 when Mike McVetta slowed in turn three.
The lap 24 restart featured Thompson, Stephens, Swanson, Johnny Benson, and McKennedy in the top five. T. Shullick, Kyle Edwards, D. Shullick, Mike Ordway Jr., and Mark Sammut completed the top ten.
Stephens edged ahead on the restart, but the caution immediately flew for an incident involving AJ Lesiecki, negating the pass. Per rulebook, the second attempt was single file.
On the restart, Thompson and Stephens went side-by-side. Contact between the two sent both sliding and spinning, bringing out the caution and handing the lead to Swanson.
The front five on the third attempt at lap 24—another single-file restart—were Swanson, Benson, McKennedy, T. Shullick, and Edwards. A jumped restart by Mike Litchey required a fourth attempt. As the green flew, Thompson took his #98 to the pits.
With Swanson out front, a three-car battle developed for second among Benson, McKennedy, and T. Shullick. McKennedy took the spot on lap 26. Benson fell to fourth. Ordway Jr. also moved forward during the green-flag run.
By halfway, McKennedy had erased Swanson’s lead. After stalking the leader for several laps, he made a bottom-groove pass on lap 33. Once out front, McKennedy began pulling away as T. Shullick passed Swanson for second on lap 37, then closed quickly on McKennedy— even getting alongside momentarily before settling in behind him.
The field saw the yellow on lap 39 for a multi-car incident involving Lesiecki, Duggan, and Brandon Bellinger. On the restart, McKennedy retained the lead ahead of T. Shullick and Swanson and Benson battled for third. Swanson held the spot.
During the long green-flag run that followed, the front duo pulled away from Swanson, who maintained a comfortable gap over Benson. D. Shullick Jr., from fifth, began reeling in Benson.
Over the closing laps, it was all McKennedy, earning his second straight win over T. Shullick, Swanson, Benson, and D. Shullick Jr. Ordway Jr., Sammut, Anthony Nocella, Russ Wood, and Stephens completed the top ten.
North-South Shootout Tour-Modified 125 Feature Finish: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Paulie Hartwig III, 3. Jack Baldwin, 4. Burt Myers, 5. Kyle Scisco, 6. Max Handley, 7. Jimmy Wallace, 8. Gary Putnam, 9. Jeffrey Battle, 10. Tyler Truex, 11. Chris Finnochario, 12. Norman Newman, 13. Carter McMurray, 14. Annabeth Crum, 15. Jason Myers, 16. James Blewett, 17. Carson Loftin, 18. Ryan Flores, 19. Jeremy Gertsner, 20. Danny Bohn, 21. Sean Verwys, 22. Joey Belanger, 23. Luke Baldwin.
ISMA/MSS Feature Finish: 1. Jon McKennedy, 2. Tyler Shullick, 3. Matt Swanson, 4. Johnny Benson, Jr., 5. Dave Shullick, Jr., 6. Mike Ordway, Jr., 7. Mark Sammut, 8. Anthony Nocella, 9. Russ Wood, 10. Trent Stephens, 11. Rich Reid, 12. Josh Sokolic, 13. AJ Lesiecki, 14. Kyle Edwards, 15. Mike Lichty, 16. David Duggan. 17. Brandon Bellinger, 18. Tyler Thompson, 19. Mike McVetta, 20. Sawyer Stout, 21. David Danzer.
602 Modified Feature Finish: 1. Paulie Hartwig III, 2. Carter McMurray, 3. Sean McElearney. 4. Gabriel Saavedra, 5. Cayden Lapcevich, 6. Mitchell Wright, 7. Gary Young, Jr., 8. Toby Grynewicz, 9. James Civalli, 10. Annabeth Crum, 11. Jesse Hilger, 12. Eric Hersey, 13. Brooklyn Newman, 14. Ethan Truell, 15. Kaitlyn Tarantino, 16. Cody Norman, 17. Ryan Kuhlthau, 18. Cory Luetjen, 19. Greg Newman, 20. Ryan Lowder, 21. Slate Myers.
Legends Feature Finish (Saturday, November 8): Unofficial Results: 1. Austin Thompson, 2. Ryan Zima, 3. Spencer Bradshaw, 4. Rhylee Hutchins, 5. Maddox Hooper, 6. Joey Lobue. 7. Lucas Thek, 8. Eli Black, 9. Hudson Barret, 10. Charles Parker.
Crown Vics Feature Finish (Friday, November 7): 1. Adam Salter, 2. Chris Salter, 3. Bentley Black, 4. TJ Gibson, 5. Shelby Prather, 6. Steve Collins, 7. Christian Morris, 8. Brian Musgrove, 9. Eric Sutton, 10. Jon Morton, 11. John Turner, 12. Kaleb Brown, 13. Corey Luejten, 14. Jaclyn Morton, 15. Mike Bakalon, 16. Tod Bradbury, 17. Robbie Perkins, 18. Jason Gallimore.
Charger Feature Finish (November 7, 2025): 1. Luke Smith, 2. Brody Duggins, 3. Greg Story, 4. Corey Wilson, 5. Brandon Cox, 6. Zachary Cogar, 7. Daniel Schadt, 8. Tommy Raino, 9. Brant Brown.
Legends Feature Finish (Friday, November 7): Unofficial Results: 1. Austin Thompson. 2. Ryan Zima, 3. Spencer Bradshaw, 4. Rhylee Hutchins, 5. Maddox Hooper, 6. Joey Lobue. 7. Lucas Thek, 8. Eli Black, 9. Hudson Barrett, 10. Charles Parker.
