Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway was a fitting honor to the late Doug Hoffman.

Matt Hirschman drove the No. 60over - a number carried by Hoffman to countless wins - to victory in the Doug Hoffman Modified 60-lap Tribute, which was race No. 3 of the Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series (MVSHoFS).

Much like Hoffman, Hirschman began his career locally and then went on the road to gain national acclaim. This was Hirschman’s second straight win in the Series, and 20th at Mahoning Valley.

“This whole Hall of Fame Series is nice to recognize these past great drivers, and this one probably means the most to me because of having the 60over on the car,” said Hirschman.

“Doug had the ability to win at his home tracks and also on the road at just about anywhere he went; I’d like to think that I’m following that same path he took. He’s one of the all-time great drivers from this area.”

A redraw put Josh Scherer and Todd Baer on the front row. At the onset of the 60-lap event, Baer jumped to the front while Bobby Jones was second.

During the early going, Baer and Jones had a thrilling battle while Scherer watched closely from third and was fending off sixth-starting Hirschman.

On a lap 10 restart, Jones was able to get the lead, while a fast-moving Brain DeFebo advanced to second with Hirschman now third.

Hirschman then went to the inside of DeFebo, and after a few double-wide laps, grabbed second and continued on toward Jones.

Jones was doing all he could to make his car wide in order to protect his lead, but when Hirschman wants the top spot he seems to seize it at will and on lap 20 that was just the case.

Near the end, Austin Kochenash had worked into second. A restart with two laps to go saw the decent lead of Hirschman get wiped away and gave a thought of a shootout to the checkers.

However, when the race resumed, there was no denying the stellar performance of Hirschman, who went on the claim the $2,500 win.

“This was a shorter race tonight, and it was just go from the start and go as fast as I could,” said Hirschman. “We’ve been working to get a faster race car, and I need to say a big thanks to my family, crew and sponsors for all the incredible support.”

Kochenash, Eric Beers, Jones and DeFebo rounded out the top five. It was the second straight time that Kochenash was second to Hirschman, and he remains the point leader heading into the Marvin Bartholomew 85-lap Tribute on Aug. 22.

“I tried to go as fast as I can to catch Matt (Hirschman) and do whatever it took to win because this race meant a lot to me. Doug (Hoffman) let me start racing here when I was 12 years old, and he taught me how to race and would make me start in the back until I was good enough to start passing cars,” said Kochenash.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t really have tires left at the end to go and we just had to settle for second again. I could just never get quite close enough to mount a challenge.”

In the Street Stocks, it was Todd Ahner capturing the checkers for his second win of the season and first with the MVSHoFS.

Even though the fast-pacing Ahner began the 30-lap contest from the pole, he was surrounded by a bevy of rivals. Eric Kocher and Mark Martini raced side-by-side while relentlessly trying to unseat Ahner, yet the highly-respected veteran wasn’t giving in.

Lap after lap, Ahner was able to run a perfect line that enabled him to uphold his lead despite the onslaught from others.

Over the final five laps, Martini had secured second and was giving the leader fits, but it would be to no avail as the victory was captured by Ahner, marking his 38th with a Street Stock. Rick Reichenbach showed good power to claim third.

Just as Ahner did in the Street Stocks, Jacob Boehm was able to lead every lap in the Hobby Stock main, but he, too, had to fend off nonstop challenges in the form of Taylor Schmidt and Jesse Bollinger.

Despite the fact that Boehm was solid and never wavered from the lead, he was only a car length ahead of Schmidt and Bollinger. This was Boehm’s second victory of 2020, and fifth time winning with the Hobby Stock class. Lyndsay Buss had her best run thus far with a very credible fourth.

In the Rookie Hobby Stock feature, Makayla Kohler grabbed the lead on the second try from the start, and there was no looking back as she controlled the lead confidently even though Paul French Jr., would make several attempts to pass her.

Kohler held her ground, though, and won for the first time in a stock car, and became the sixth different winner in as many races with the Rookie division.

MVS Results

Modified Feature Finish (60 laps)

: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Austin Kochenash, 3. Eric Beers, 4. Bobby Jones, 5. Brian DeFebo, 6. Chuck Hossfeld, 7. Nick Bear, 8. John Markovic, 9. Earl Paules, 10. Josh Scherer, 11. Mike Stofflet, 12. Terry Markovic, 13. Kyle Strohl, 14. Don Wagner, 15. Sean Verwys, 16. Gene Bowers, 17. Rod Snyder, 18. Todd Bear, 19. Jacob Kerstetter, 20. Lou Strohl, 21. Austin Beers DNQ: Heath Metzger, Jesse Strohl, Louie Horvath, BJ Wambold

Street Stock Feature Finish (30 laps)

: 1. Todd Ahner, 2. Mark Martini, 3. Rick Reichenbach, 4. Jon Moser, 5. Eric Kocher, 6. Mark Deysher, 7. Randy Ahner Jr., 8. John Bennett, 9. Greg Long, 10. Bobby Kibler Jr., 11. Jamie Smith, 12. Rich Moser, 13. Brandon Christman, 14. Dennis Buss, 15. TJ Gursky, 16. Todd Geist, 17. Tucker Muffley, 18. Beau Drobot DNS: Thomas Flanagan DNQ: Bobby Kibler Sr., Kadie Pursell, Steve Tito, Josh Mooney DQ: Shayne Geist, Randy Schlenker

Hobby Stock Feature Finish (25 laps)

: 1. Jacob Boehm, 2. Taylor Schmidt, 3. Jesse Bollinger, 4. Lyndsay Buss, 5. Al Arthofer, 6. Justin Markel, 7. Devin Schmidt, 8. Cody Geist, 9. Rich Mutarelli, 10. Trish Connolly, 11. Nick Schaffer, 12. Corey Edelman, 13. Jacob Oswald, 14. Ryan Berger, 15. Cody Edelman, 16. John Petro, 17. Tad Snyder, 18. Makayla Koehler, 19. Kevin Behler, 20. James Tout, 21. Hunter Iatalese DNQ: Kyle Troch, Travis Solomon, Terry Peters, Chase Hoffman, Mallory Kutz, Brandon Covert, Tyler Nemeth, Nicholas Kerstetter, James Yons

Rookie Hobby Stock Feature Finish (12 laps)

: 1. Makayla Kohler, 2. Paul French Jr., 3. Brody George, 4. Jaden Brown, 5. Brandon Eustice, 6. Corey Gulich, 7. Jess Ripkey, 8. Zoe Kuchera, 9. Hallie Muffley, 10. Mia Guy, 11. Maggie Yeakel DNS: Josh Dise