Matt Hirschman proved yet again his role as one of the premier Northeast pavement Modified stars.

That’s because Hirschman collected his 14th win of the year last Saturday evening in the fourth installment of the 2021 John Blewett Inc., Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series Lorin Arthofer Sr. Tribute 71-lapper.

Hirschman redrew ninth in the 24-car field. Inside of 11 laps he was in the top five, and within eight tours of that was running down the front pair of Cody Kohler and Nick Baer. It only took him another four circuits, a restart on lap 24, in gaining the top spot from Baer, and he eventually made it a race for second as he sailed to his fifth Mahoning win in six starts, and 27th at the ¼-mile oval.

“It was a really good race for us starting from ninth, and then to advance and go with all good clean passes all the way to the lead and just hold everyone off from there,” said Hirschman. “It was a good night, and it’s been a good year for us here at Mahoning.

“It’s so nice to honor some of these guys with the Hall of Fame Series while they’re still with us and they’re able to enjoy it and see the recognition they deserve. Those guys were some real wheelmen back in the day.”

Veteran Don Wagner and rookie Kohler shared the front row at the outset, which began with honorary starter Lorin Arthofer Sr. waving the green. Wagner took the early lead, but by the second go-around Kohler unseated him. Kohler, who was leading a Modified feature for the first time, then set out on a steady pace while holding off both Wagner and Baer as they raced side-by-side. Making haste was Austin Kochenash, who joined in the lead trio by lap nine. Two laps later, Hirschman added his No. 60 to the fight.

By lap 18, Baer was able to pull ahead of Wagner and once he did, he continued on toward Kohler’s outside. Hirschman advanced to third, partly from restarts and lane choice with this being a cone race. As the leaders completed lap 21, Baer had his nose out front. Unfortunately, it would be short-lived as Hirschman utilized a restart to move to the front two laps later.

Afterward, he would have to contend with numerous challengers such as Kochenash, Brian DeFebo and eventual runner-up Zane Zeiner, with the majority of those encounters taking place on restarts. But, each time he was quick to go, and would leave no doubt of his unquestionable prowess.

“Restarts is how I got spun out on the last one (June 26) here, so I wanted to make sure I got as best a start as I could,” said Hirschman. “I felt I got good ones the last time here, but I guess there was a little too much room for a nose to get in there, so this time I tried to close that off and just try and get away.

“You never know here with no radios and no mirrors. You can always sense if you have pressure or not and feel if they’re tight on you. So we just needed to execute a few laps, and then I felt like we were safe.”

While Hirschman had control of the lead, DeFebo and Zeiner would lock horns in a great battle for second as they traded the position back-and-forth all the way to the finish.

“It was a strong run, and I may have used my stuff up a little too much, but it was hard racing with Brian (DeFebo),” said Zeiner. “Randall Richards gives us a great car, and I give a big thanks to the Arthofer family for all they did to put this race on.

Baer had a solid run all race long and took fourth, while Earl Paules came on strong late to nab a respectable fifth-place showing.

In the Street Stock main, Cody Geist was finally able to shake off the gremlins and pick up his first win of the season.

Since getting behind the wheel of his brother-owned Shayne’s No. 4, Geist has shown his trademark swiftness, but the end results were eluding him. This time, with the advantage of starting from the pole, Geist was not about to let Lady Luck or anyone else spoil his night.

When the action got underway, he wasted no time in darting to the lead. Afterward, it would become a fast-paced affair as the race went nonstop through the first 21 laps. All the while, Geist was holding his line while close behind the opposition was very tough on him.

Teammates Mark Martini, Randy Ahner Jr. and TJ Gursky all had him in their sites, but there was no wavering from Geist.

In the closing laps, Jillian Snyder was coming on in a hurry and with three laps to go, not only was she up to second, but she began a charge towards Geist. On the final lap, she tried to squeeze to the inside of Geist but time ran out as they reached the finish line. Geist held on for a slim and thrilling victory, his first since 2018.

The Hobby Stock feature came down to inches as Corey Edelman eked out a narrow verdict over Justin Merkel.

Merkel had been out front for the first 24 laps, while ninth-starting Edelman had to meticulously pick his way frontward as the race was going rapidly thanks to no cautions.

That was until three laps to go when the only yellow of the event waved. On that restart, Merkel was still ahead with James Tout and Edelman in line. When the action resumed, Edelman made an outside power move over Tout and then closed in on Merkel. On the final lap, slower traffic came into play and as the top two reached that car, they split as Merkel went low and Edelman stayed on top. At the checkers, a closer review deemed Edelman the winner, which was his class-leading 19th.

In the Futures/Rookie Hobby Stocks, Brody George and Greyson Ahner put on a duel that also came down to the wire.

Ahner had been leading, but with the laps running out and making use of a restart with three laps to go, George was able to put the pressure on. The two then went into the final lap trading paint in an exciting double-wide race to the finish. As they wheeled off turn four, George was inside of Ahner and would cross the line for his ninth Futures win of the season.

Ahner’s runner-up wasn’t a complete loss, as he gained his seventh victory for the Rookie class.

Modified feature finish (71 laps)

: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Zane Zeiner, 2. Brian DeFebo, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Earl Paules, 6. Terry Markovic, 7. Carl Altemose, 7. Sean Verwys, 9. Kyle Strohl, 10. Tommy Flanagan, 11. Cody Kohler, 12. Wes Gilbert, 13. John Markovic, 14. Lou Strohl, 15. Don Wagner, 16. Rod Snyder Jr, 17. Avery Arthofer, 18. Austin Kochenash, 19. Nevin George, 20. Lorin Arthofer, 21. Peyton Arthofer, 22. Stephanie Moyer, 23. Bobby Jones, 24. Rich Cooper

Street Stock feature finish (30 laps)

: 1.Cody Geist, 2. Jill Snyder, 3. TJ Gursky, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Jon Moser, 6. Mark Martini, 7. Mark Deysher, 8. Randy Ahner Jr., 9. Matt VanSyckle, 10. Rick Reichenbach, 11. Tucker Muffley, 12. Brandon Christman, 13. Jeremy Scheckler, 14. Jamie Smith, 15. Lonnie Behler Jr., 16. Toby Behler, 17. Thomas Flanagan, 18. Dennis Buss

Hobby Stock feature finish (25 laps)

: 1. Corey Edelman, 2. Justin Merkel, 3. James Tout, 4. Ryan Berger, 5. Jake Oswald, 5. BJ Wambold, 7. Trisha Connolly, 8. Travis Solomon, 9. Tad Snyder, 10. Nick Schaeffer, 11. Jacob Boehm, 12. Nicholas Kerstetter, 13. Shayne Geist, 14. Mallory Kutz, 15. Ralph Boger, 16. Terry Peters, 17. Cody Boehm

Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock feature finish (12 laps)

: 1. Brody George, 2. Greyson Ahner, 3. Reid Levengood, 4. Jared Green, 5. Maggie Yeakel, 6. Adam Steigerwalt, 7. Gabi Steigerwalt, 8. Hallie Muffley, 9. Deegan Underwood, 10. Zoey Moyer, 11. Makayla Kohler, 12. Dave Kerr, 13. Ryan Kresge, 14. Lexus Kutz, 15. Zoe Kuchera