A TOUGH HEART KNOWS NO BOUNDS – SMART Modified Tour Hickory Hundred At Hickory Motor Speedway

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Abraham Lincoln

From the time Gwyn Staley won the very first race ever held at Hickory Motor Speedway, the track has been known by those who’ve ever raced there as a place where toughness reigns supreme. All you have to do is look at the list of champions who rose to the top of that place. And although the track has been transformed 3 different times to the current 0.363 mile asphalt speedplant it has been since 1970, it has never lost it’s toughness. Staley went on to a championship on the dirt in the track’s first season in 1951. The very next year Junior Johnson won the track championship and went on to score 7 NASCAR Grand National wins at the track to become the most successful Grand National winner there. Ralph Earnhardt dominated the 1950’s, winning 5 track championships through the decade. And later when the NASCAR Busch Series came to the track in the 80’s, track champions Jack Ingram and Tommy Houston both took 8 wins apiece respectively. Now, 74 years since the speedway’s opening, the track is as tough as ever to win on. As Ryan Newman was so apt to point out to us, the cracks, dips, and character of the track’s surface is your first challenge before you even start to think about the competition. But when you do add that factor…other drivers with the ability and will to win at such an historic place, things get twice as complicated. It will test your own will as well as your patience, and most importantly your own abilities to the fullest. This is not a place for weakness. Sure, you can bring it if you think the car alone is going to get you the win. But one thing you can bet on for sure, is you can’t bring it to victory lane at Hickory Motor Speedway. You can bring a lot to victory lane, but weakness isn’t one of them. Bank on it.

Coming into the Hickory Hundred weekend, SMART Modified Tour’s Ryan Newman brings plenty of toughness along with momentum fresh off his win in the tour’s last event at Orange County Speedway. But 19 other SMART Tour competitors also came looking to build their own momentum in the series. 2025 King Of The Modifieds winner “Money” Matt Hirschman is a challenge in every event he enters and the bigger the better. Joining him is 2024 King Of The Modifieds and defending champion Luke Baldwin leading the youth movement. And hot on their heels and looking for his first SMART Modified win, currently sitting 3rd in series points, is young Paulie Hartwig III. With two 2nd place finishes in his rookie year, Paulie came into this event looking for more. The Carolina Crate Modified Series came into the weekend in a heated battle for supremacy with Cody Norman and Sean McElearney locked in a heated battle with defending champion Dale Ogburn looking to make up some ground on the points leaders. But there’s also a determined group of contenders looking for their first 2025 win that’ll put them in the hunt. How did it all play out on one of the toughest tracks in the region to find success? Let’s take a closer look at all the action from the Hickory Hundred Presented By Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet.

VINTAGE FEATURE

Jay Dunham in the #3 hot rod will lead a field of gorgeous machines to green alongside the #16 of Mackie Webb, with #3M Jesse Martin rounding out the top three. Dunham gets a fantastic launch as the #61 of Marty Reid cuts in front of Martin. It won’t last for long though as the #44 of Duffie Sams attempts to make a move but they make contact, sending Sams around! That’ll allow Martin to reassert himself in third for the restart while Dunham again clears for the lead once we go back green. Martin dives low under Webb and makes it work, now setting his sights on Dunham. But his sights will be a little hazy as #24 Thomas Reid goes up in smoke on the frontstraightaway, putting us under caution once again. Thankfully, a complete fluid spill is avoided and we’re back green in no time with Dunham, Martin, and Webb your top three. It’s the same song and dance for Dunham as he pulls ahead of Martin. Soon, lap traffic begins to play a role, almost causing Dunham to spin in turn one! He saves it but all of a sudden comes to a slow! His race will end prematurely in the pits, opening the door for Jesse Martin, who takes the victory ahead of Webb and Reid!

SUPER STREET FEATURE

Rolling out for their first race of the year, #15 Tristen Barnes starts on the pole for the Super Streets with #08 Sam Butler starting second and 2022 Blue Collar Racer Of The Year #1J Kyle Barnes starting third. Tristen Barnes and Butler find themselves in a dead heat for the top spot with Barnes finally getting the momentum off of turn four to get ahead. Barnes looks to get away, but Butler won’t let that happen as he stays in Barnes’ footsteps. Both cars slide their machines sideways trying to get all they can, with Barnes shutting off any advance Butler makes. Now Butler finally finds room inside and dives low, but he nearly spins! That finally allows Barnes to have some breathing room, but Butler still won’t give up without a fight, setting up one last gasp. There just aren’t enough laps though as Barnes will take the big win in a thriller ahead of Butler and brother Kyle Barnes.

CAROLINA CRATE MODIFIED SERIES FEATURE

Annabeth Crum in the #12C qualifies fastest with a lap of 15.368 seconds, but after the redraw, Mitchell Wright in the #25 will start on the pole. 2021 Carolina Crate champion Dean Lowder in the #63 will start second, 2022 champion #12 Cody Norman starts third, Crum redraws fourth, and #98 Sean McElearney rounds out the top five. The flagman looks over the eager field, approves what he sees, and we’re green for 62 laps at Hickory! Lowder gets the jump and clears for the lead but now he has a problem after lap one! He starts to slow on the frontstretch while #63L Rylan Lowder along with the #62 of Joe Federico and #21 Wes Glascoe have nowhere to go, piling in! Federico and Glascoe are unfortunately done for the night as both Lowders will try to recover. After all is said and done, your new top five for the ensuing restart will be Wright, Crum, Norman, McElearney, and the #51 of two time and defending champion Dale Ogburn. Wright and Crum are deadlocked for the top spot but the battle will be interrupted as Dean Lowder is slow on track, bringing out a caution. Thankfully it’s a quick one as we’ll have the same top five as before, this time with Wright able to retain the top spot. Behind them, the #34 of Eric Zeh has broken into the top five, moving into fourth ahead of McElearney as Ogburn tumbles to sixth. You can throw a blanket over fourth, fifth, and sixth with Ogburn searching for a route around McElearney. McElearney washes high just a few inches heading into one, but it’s just enough for Ogburn to sneak by as #87 Tim Hylton spins in turn one! No harm, no foul as he gets it fired back up and will rejoin the field under yellow.

Wright, Crum, Norman, Zeh, and Ogburn lead the field to green as Wright and Crum duel it out for the top spot again. All eyes are on the middle of the field though as Rylan Lowder and McElearney touch, setting off a hard crash in turn four between Lowder and Hylton! Thankfully both drivers are okay as the field will go under red conditions for an extensive cleanup. Before you know it, we’re ready for green as Crum gives Wright yet another hard fight, but Wright will fend her off once again. She gives him the bumper to loosen him up, but it’s not enough while Zeh motors his way around Norman in a great run. A furious battle begins to break out between Zeh, Norman, and Ogburn as they’re all under a blanket now, trading paint and trying to make moves. None of that matters to Wright though, as he’ll drive to the checkered flag for his first career Carolina Crate Modified Series win! Crum will grab second, Zeh hangs on for third, Norman crosses the line in fourth, and Ogburn will round out the top five.

SMART MODIFIED TOUR HICKORY HUNDRED

Bryce Bailey and the Shady Grady Racing #15 team have qualifying figured out this year, ripping off yet another pole with a time of 14.141 seconds. But just like the Carolina Crate Modified Series, we’ll have a redraw that sees Jake Crum in the #99 start up front alongside defending SMART Modified champion #7VA Luke Baldwin. The #79 Hillbilly Racing machine of Joey Braun will start third, fastest qualifier Bailey starts fourth, and #73 Paulie Hartwig III will start fifth. The flagman looks over the scary fast pack, likes the formation, and we’re green for the ground pounders! Crum will prevail early as the field is already shuffling with some drivers wanting to go while some decide to conserve tires. Sparks fly on the backstretch as the #40 of Carter McMurray and #5 Tom Buzze Jr come together, sending McMurray partly airborne! Despite how serious it looked, both drivers are able to drive away and somehow continue as we’ll have the same top five as the initial start coming back to green. Crum again gets away with Bailey moving into third. He’ll bring along Hartwig III while trouble befalls #21CT Jacob Perry, who slows on the track with an issue, bringing out another caution. After the choose, Braun will move into fourth while Hartwig III moves back to fifth. Crum gets a monstrous launch with Braun making the most of his choose decision, now going into third. Baldwin makes a daring move on the outside for the lead as both try to command the field all while under a cautious pace in order to save as much rubber as possible. Baldwin asserts himself in the lead from the outside as Hartwig III scrapes the wall behind trying to get around Bailey. Baldwin wins the stage as the field now tries to get into the right mindset to take home a SMARTY Trophy.

Baldwin, Braun, Crum, Bailey, and Hartwig III make up the top five after another round of the choose rule. Baldwin looks to have the jump but Braun has something to say about it up high as he gets to the lead. Crum loses third to Bailey and can’t stop the bleeding, now losing another position to Hartwig III. Braun continues to lead as veteran Matt Hirschman in the #60 is moving through the field, breathing down the neck of Crum. Crum hangs tough and is able to hold him off, but not for long as Hirschman makes a way to the inside and by. Back up front, Baldwin dives under Braun and snatches the lead back in a big move. Bailey follows suit around Braun, mimicking Baldwin’s every step. Braun still can’t catch a break, losing two more spots, this time to Hartwig III and Hirschman. Meanwhile, Baldwin is in a precarious position with lap traffic, having to go three wide at one point to get through. This allows Hartwig III to get right up to the back bumper of Bailey as well, disposing of the #15 in search of the lead. Before you know it, Hartwig III is right there! He gives Baldwin numerous bumps, but Baldwin hangs on to the white flag! Hartwig III ramps it up, giving him an even harder love tap into one. He’ll have one last shot going into three and he makes it count! He moves Baldwin out of the way and gets to the checkered for his first career SMART victory, becoming the youngest winner in SMART Modified Tour history! Baldwin remains second, Bailey notches third, Hirschman rallies to fourth, and Braun hangs onto the top five in fifth.

MY TAKE

First of all, it’s great to see new winners emerge. And especially when it happens in a big way. Carolina Crate Modified Series driver Mitchell Wright’s win was nothing short of impressive. Although statistically he dominated the Crate Modified feature, it was closer than it appeared on paper. Wright had to endure numerous restarts and Annabeth Crum challenged him hard on many seeing it was her best chance at victory. But Wright stayed poised and constantly got the separation he needed to secure his first ever Carolina Crate Modified win. Cody Norman did what he needed to do to get a great points day finishing fourth behind Eric Zeh and ahead of points contenders Dale Ogburn and Sean McElearney who finished 5th and 6th respectively. This year’s points race is really starting to heat up and it’s definitely worth keeping your eyes on. It’s also great to see good young talent gracing the competitive tour to get the experience they need going forward in their racing careers. It’s especially good to see them do well early in their careers as well, notably this weekend with Brooklyn Newman, yes that’s former Cup star Ryan Newman’s daughter finishing 7th, and young Rylan Lowder also getting a top 10 after a very eventful race finishing 9th. And speaking of youth making the best out of getting experience on a competitive tour…

Underrated! That’s the word of the day. Toughness is the theme, however, and truly it fits because in today’s world, toughness is definitely an underrated trait. This sport was not founded on weakness I can assure you and it’s sad that some have to be reminded, or should I say made aware of that. Those guys running Modified hot rods up in the Carolina and Virginia mountains didn’t do so out of weakness. And when they started racing those mods around the fields in said states for cash and to see who had the fastest runner and the most skills didn’t do so wondering if there would be a little fender rubbing. As a matter of fact, they relished it! But after Paulie Hartwig III put on a late race clinic for the exciting win in the Hickory Hundred SMART Modified race, although most saw it as the great performance it was, we saw some of the most asinine statements about that win on social media you could imagine. Statements that pointed out that the authors of those opinions have no clue about what short track racing is or it’s origins. And to the few that stated Paulie Hartwig III is just another spoiled driver that doesn’t have to work on his machine, you might want to do some research before you comment. Hartwig is young, 14 years young to be exact. But this kid is as blue collar as it get. He is what you guys have been asking for. His driver development is listening to his dad’s experienced advice and putting it to use as he races for his family owned team. As a matter of fact, from what we could tell, they had to borrow the truck they used from a family member to haul the car down from New Jersey.

The truth is that this kid is for real. When we saw him for the first time he was an 11 year old kid who came down to Franklin County Speedway to run a Carolina Crate race. One look at him and my immediate thought was he had no chance. 11 years old and 4 foot nothing. But the kid drove like a veteran and went on to a dominating win. He went on shortly after to sweep the Carolina Crate events at North Wilkesboro Speedway’s revival in a double header full of great Crate Mod talent. And now at 14, he came into the Hickory Hundred 3rd in points and with two 2nd place finishes this year. He was poised for a southern Touring Modified win. And with “Money” Matt Hirschman, Cup veteran Ryan Newman fresh off of his Orange County win in the field, and defending champion Luke Baldwin out to a comfortable lead, Paulie Hartwig III who had saved tires and moved around the track to find the fastest route around one of the trickiest short tracks in the nation, walked down the leader and knocked on the door until he moved him out of the way just enough to take the exciting win. That my friends is great short track racing! He didn’t wreck the leader like Sammy Smith did. No, he didn’t cross that line. He did the classic bump and run, a move that has been perfected by the best in the business for years. Note, Luke Baldwin did NOT get wrecked and finished 2nd in the race. He was not the fastest car at the end and when it was over he congratulated Hartwig III with enthusiasm. Racing is tough, ask anyone in the sport. You gotta take ’em when you can get ’em. And if you’re the fastest on any given race day and you don’t do what it takes besides wreck the leader to win, then you might want to look into another genre of racing. Paulie Hartwig III got his first Touring Modified win this past weekend, but it most likely won’t be his last, not by a long shot. Him and his team work hard for everything they’ve got and they’re coming to win. Weakness just won’t cut it. Until next time, See You At The Track!

(Race write ups by Joshua Weatherman. Intro and My Take written by Billy Weatherman. Copyright 2025 SHORT TRACK REPORT)