Matt Hirschman won just about every battle there was to win at New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt in 2022, including the Richie Evans Memorial 100 once again, but it was Jimmy Blewett who won the war.

Blewett, a Howell, New Jersey native, never finished lower than third in all five races during this year’s World Series. He picked up four second-place results, which propelled him to the championship. The title is Blewett’s second at New Smyrna, coming 14 years after his first.

“Obviously I wanted to win and there was a few nights I thought I was going to win,” said Blewett. “The championship was the big picture. We were looking at the big picture the whole week. Even though we didn’t win a race, we won a championship. That means something to me to do it against a guy like Matt Hirschman, because he barely ever misses, and you’ve seen that here all week long.”

Hirschman did not miss on Friday night. He dominated Friday’s 100-lap finale, scoring his third-straight win in this race and sixth overall, breaking a tie with the late Ted Christopher for most all time.

Matt Hirschman scored his fourth victory of the week on Friday in the Richie Evans Memorial 100 at New Smyrna Speedway (FloRacing photo).

“We’ve actually done this before, we won Wednesday, Thursday and Friday one year before, but this year having the (NASCAR Whelen Modified) Tour race win too, it’s just amazing,” Hirschman said. “I love coming here, I love Speedweeks, I love this race track and I hope to keep doing this for years to come. I couldn’t ask for more. Just a week of more memories made here in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I love it.”

Blewett tried everything he could to beat Hirschman, but Hirschman and his PeeDee Motorsports team proved to be too strong once again. So strong that as Hirschman crossed under the checkered flag, all Blewett’s team could do was shake their heads before starting to celebrate their championship.

“I felt this morning like I was racing for everybody in the racing community to try to beat Matt,” Blewett said. “Matt’s a great guy. A great person on and off the track. But it’s not an easy feat to beat him. So, for me, I felt like I was doing it for everyone. It was pretty cool to see the fellow competitors come over today before the race and wish me luck. This is something special for me. I think this is going to be one of many with this team.”