Matt Hirschman Wins Fourth Consecutive North-South Shootout at Caraway

It's a perfect 10 for Matt Hirschman in the North-South Shootout.

Matt Hirschman dominated the attrition-filled 22nd Annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout in Memory of Charles Kepley at Caraway Speedway Saturday. With the win, Hirschman is now a 10-time winner in 21 starts in the event, and has won the last four runnings.

"It's kind of hard to believe. It's hard to do something like that four consecutive times," Hirschman told Racing America. "There's just so many variables that can factor in to that. It takes a big effort. It takes a good car. In this race, it takes good pit stops. You have to have the right strategy. You've got to hit the tire staggers. There are so many things that go into it, it's hard to believe you can do that four consecutive times and come out on top."

Hirschman is unquestionably one of the most successful Modified racers of this generation. He won his ninth Race of Champions 250 this year, has eight Turkey Derby wins, five Tour-type Modified championships at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and countless other accolades.

However, there may not be any event Hirschman has dominated like the North-South Shootout. Hirschman won the race four times at Concord Speedway and is now a six-time winner in the North-South Shootout at Caraway.

"I just appreciate that kind of run of success in one particular event. There are other events like the Race of Champions, marquee events with lots of history that we've won that same amount of times. I think 10 is more than I've done in any of those races as well.

"I've always been pretty good here. I've won here not just in North-South Shootouts but in other races, SMART races, different races they've had here over the years. I've always gotten around here. I have a good amount of success here. This particular race, whether it was at Concord or here, just a great track record of success."

While it was a dominant showing for HIrschman, it was far from smooth sailing for him or most of the field on a night filled with carnage. Only 14 of the race's 32 starters saw the checkered flag, as the 125-lap race necessitated nearly three hours to complete.

"I know at least two of the last three years, this race has been a marathon," said Hirschman. "As a whole, something needs to be cleaned up. There may have been one of those years where the officiating or scoring and cleanup was maybe a cause of that.

"Today, it seemed like it was more on the racers. There seemed to be too many cautions, spins, tangles, wrecks. There's been races like that here in the SMART series, marathon races where cars were running out of gas at the end. I'm not really sure why. It's a good racetrack, there's room out there. It seems to produce some, at times, lengthy events."

Hirschman has two more chances to add to his trophy cabinet in 2024, as he will compete in both the Islip 300 at Riverhead Raceway and the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway.

"We won the Tri-Track race last week, this race this week, and we've got two more weekends to go with the Islip 300 at Riverhead and then the Turkey Derby weekend. We'll just approach them like we always have. We're going back with the same teams and cars that we've had success with at them before, just like we did today. We'll see if we can put ourselves in a position to compete for wins."

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America

North-South Shootout Unofficial Results