There is just something about Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts that suits Matt Hirschman.
The driver from Northampton, Pennsylvania isn‘t just good at the 0.333-mile asphalt oval. He‘s great.
That‘s not just an arbitrary statement. The stats back it up.
Hirschman has won every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event held at Seekonk since NASCAR’s oldest division returned to the facility in 2023. He‘s led 65 percent of the laps run in those events and set fast time in qualifying for each race.
That makes Hirschman the obvious favorite entering Saturday‘s J&R Precast 150, the fourth race of the 2026 Modified Tour season.
ENTRY LIST: See who’s racing at Seekonk
“It‘s a technical race track,” said Hirschman, who has won 11 times at Seekonk in various Modified divisions dating back to 2017. “When they did some paving work to the track about three years ago, I think it even made it more technical than what it was prior to that.
“Since then, I‘d say it‘s been a great track for me. We‘ve won the majority of the Modified races up there since that change to the track was made.”
Matt Hirschman, driver of the No. 60 Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports Modified, during the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour during night 2 of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida on February 7, 2026. (Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
That track work was a partial repave of the racing surface, mainly in the corners. Hirschman explained Seekonk was already a temperature- and line-sensitive track, which is what made the facility so technically demanding. The fresh asphalt in the corners only amplified those attributes, a development that placed Seekonk further into Hirschman‘s wheelhouse.
Hirschman and the PeeDee Motorsports team have gotten off to a slow start this year. They have finishes of 12th, 12th and fifth through the first three Modified Tour races of the season — not bad by any means — but the team expected more.
The ship was righted during the most recent event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where Hirschman won the American Racer Pole Award and finished fifth.
The true test will come Saturday night at Seekonk, where Hirschman and the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust-sponsored No. 60 team expect to win.
“That was certainly a building block to hopefully more success to come,” Hirschman said of the last outing. “The first two races were certainly below expectations and really not disastrous, but definitely not the kind of performance we were looking for.
“Being that our best run by winning the pole and running in the top five throughout the race, there was certainly still some room for improvement because we didn‘t win the race, but it was definitely a big step in the right direction.
“That should give us some momentum and confidence back going to Seekonk, where we have been so successful.”
Matt Hirschman, driver of #60 Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports Modified reacts during the Icebreaker 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on April 12, 2025 in Thompson, Connecticut. (Rachel O‘Driscoll/NASCAR)
A win Saturday at Seekonk would put Hirschman in rarified air. In the history of the Modified Tour, a driver has won four or more consecutive races at the same track 11 times.
The names on that list — Justin Bonsignore, Reggie Ruggiero, Doug Coby, Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Steve Park, Jeff Fuller and Richie Evans — are among the best to ever race Modifieds.
Hirschman knows he’s the favorite Saturday night based on his recent performances at Seekonk, but he had no problem pointing out that the competition level on the Modified Tour is at an all-time high.
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Just because he‘s won the last three Modified Tour events at Seekonk doesn‘t mean he‘ll win again Saturday, but it doesn‘t hurt his chances, either.
“We‘ve won three straight Whelen Modified races and swept the entire season of Modified races held at the track last year, so I don‘t think there is any arguing we come into the race as the team to beat,” Hirschman said. “That really doesn‘t mean anything. Every race is different. Sometimes the format is different. Last year there was the option of changing tires during the race. This year there is not.
“It‘s really important you have the car where it needs to be, because if you have to make a pit stop for an adjustment, you can‘t fix it with a tire change. You‘d just have to make an adjustment to what you already have, and at that point, it may be too late.”
