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"BIG MONEY"
MATT HOPING TO CASH ANOTHER BIG CHECK AT CONCORD
Hirschman Trying for Win Number Six at the North South
Shootout |
"The
North-South Shootout has been the best race for my
career."
That's a big statement coming from a driver such as
Matt Hirschman, who carries the moniker "Big Money."
Hirschman has won just about every big race there is
to win in Modified racing. If there's a race paying
$5,000-to-win or more, there's a good chance he's
there and there's a good chance he's cashing the big
paycheck.
He's won the North-South Shootout a total of five
times now, with three of those wins coming at
Concord Speedway in North Carolina where the race
returns to this weekend with $10,000 on the line.
The crazy thing is Hirschman feels he should have
more than just five wins in this race, and that's
why he's headed back to Concord this weekend for the
13th Annual John Blewett III North-South Shootout
for the Dunleavy's Truck and Trailer Repair
Tour-Type Modifieds.
"Like any race, we probably could have won more,"
said Hirschman. "There's a few opportunities that
slipped away, both at Concord and at Caraway. Or
just the timing of a late race caution or something
like that. We just haven't capitalized and closed
the deal on all of them."
Hirschman said he's overjoyed that the North-South
Shootout is returning to Concord this year because
it will bring some of the appeal back to the event
that he felt was lost when the race left the
triangular half-mile.
"It's such a fun track. I've missed going there," he
said. "Even though I think 2011 through 2013 the
races at Caraway was a great race. Last year it was
just lacking the car count. But it just never had
the same atmosphere and it wasn't special because
Concord used to be a once a year thing. There were
Modified races held at Caraway throughout the year.
Going back there is definitely something to look
forward to because it's such a unique race and it's
back to being a special event."
Hirschman's first couple of trips to the North-South
Shootout in 2004 and 2005 didn't go so well when he
finished no better than 15th, but after that
Hirschman became the master of the Shootout.
He rattled off finishes of first, first, second,
fourth and first from 2006-2010 at Concord Speedway,
and kept on winning even after the race moved to
Sophia, North Carolina's Caraway Speedway.
"Concord just suits my style I guess," said
Hirschman. "As fast as it is, it's very much a
finesse track as well. It's challenging and thinking
about all the tracks that I feel I do the best at, a
lot of them seem to be where one end is very
different than the other. They're all unique tracks.
Those seem to be my best tracks for some reason. The
odd-shaped, challenging, different race tracks seem
to suit me best. Obviously Concord is one of a kind
and that certainly fits that description."
One of the reasons Hirschman said he's glad to be
going back to Concord isn't because of how good he
was there, but because it's like a new challenge
again after being away for so long.
"As good as we were at Concord it was sad to see the
race leave there," he said. "But then it was like a
new challenge going to Caraway because we knew we
were going up against teams that had tons of laps
there. It was a challenge but we won it the first
year and we won it again in 2013. Now going back to
Concord it's a challenge again."
For those race fans that cannot attend the 13th
Annual North-South Shootout, Speed51 TV is offering
a live broadcast of the race on a pay-per-view
basis. Visit Speed51.com for more details on how to
purchase the event.
Entry forms for the $10,000-to-win John Blewett III
Dunleavy's Truck and Trailer Repair Tour-Type
Modified North-South Shootout event, as well as the
$5,000-to-win Mr. Rooter SK Modified event, are
currently available by visiting
www.northsouthshootout.net.
Practice day kicks off the 13th Annual North-South
Shootout on Thursday, November 5. Additional
practice and qualifying will take place on Friday,
November 6, with the North-South Shootout main
events taking the green flag on Saturday, November
7. The features will consist of a 125-lap race for
the Pro All-Stars Series South Super Late Models, a
60-lap event for the Southeast Trucks, 75-laps for
the Limited Late Models, the Mr. Rooter 50 for the
SK Modifieds and the John Blewett III Memorial 125
for the Dunleavy's Truck and Trailer Repair
Tour-Type Modifieds.
For more on the 13th Annual North-South Shootout,
visit
www.northsouthshootout.net.
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Source:
51 Sports / North-South Shootout
Posted:
November 4, 2015 |
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