Austin Beers Scores RoC Mod Series “Bunny Hop 75” Win At Mahoning Valley

Information By: RACE OF CHAMPIONS – LEHIGHTON, PA – Austin Beers of Northampton, PA, delivered an electrifying performance to open the 2025 Race of Champions Modified Series season, winning the “Bunny Hop 75” at Mahoning Valley Speedway after starting deep in the field.

Beers started 27th and worked his way through the field in the caution-filled main event, ultimately taking the lead from Lou Strohl of Palmerton, PA, in the closing laps to score his third career Race of Champions Series victory—and his first at his home track.

“This was a big win for us,” said Beers in victory lane. “It’s definitely my most memorable Race of Champions victory. I need to thank the Zacharias family, my family, and our crew. We battled fuel issues all day and had to change the fuel pump. Everyone worked so hard—this is a huge way to kick off the season.”

Paulie Hartwig III of Galloway, NJ, led the early laps from the pole position before Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA, took over the top spot. Hirschman looked poised for another RoC victory before a spin following contact with Jack Ely of Northampton, PA, ended his charge.

Blake Barney of Jackson, NJ, briefly led on a restart before Strohl moved to the front. Strohl held the lead until Beers executed a clean pass for the win.

Hirschman posted the fastest lap in group qualifying. Heat race wins went to Hirschman, Ely, Hartwig, and Roger Coss of Lafayette, NJ.

Bunny Hop 75 (75 Laps): 1. 71-Austin Beers[27]; 2. 88-Lou Strohl[10]; 3. 14-Blake Barney[2]; 4. 16-Ron Silk[7]; 5. 3-Daren Scherer[19]; 6. 60-Matt Hirschman[5]; 7. 53-Brian Defebo[3]; 8. 11-Paulie Hartwig III[1]; 9. 03-Jaden Brown[4]; 10. 22-Don Wagner[21]; 11. 19B-James Blewett[14]; 12. 8P-Earl Paules[12]; 13. 51-Jayden Harman[17]; 14. 8F-Chris Finocchario[15]; 15. 66-Austin Kochenash[24]; 16. 95-Jacob Kerstetter[18]; 17. 87-Thomas Flanagan[23]; 18. 7X-Mark Miller[25]; 19. 29-Cody Kohler[26]; 20. 81-Jack Ely[9]; 21. 17-Roger Coss[6]; 22. 19W-Tyler Wagner[13]; 23. 76-Rod Snyder Jr[11]; 24. 44-Kyle Strohl[8]; 25. 72-John Bennett[16]; 26. 41-Nick Baer[20]; 27. 0-Randall Richard[22]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 60-Matt Hirschman[1]; 2. 44-Kyle Strohl[2]; 3. 16-Ron Silk[3]; 4. 19W-Tyler Wagner[4]; 5. 51-Jayden Harman[6]; 6. 22-Don Wagner[5]; 7. 7X-Mark Miller[7]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Jack Ely[1]; 2. 14-Blake Barney[2]; 3. 03-Jaden Brown[4]; 4. 19B-James Blewett[3]; 5. 95-Jacob Kerstetter[6]; 6. (DNS) 0-Randall Richard

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 11-Paulie Hartwig III[1]; 2. 53-Brian Defebo[5]; 3. 8P-Earl Paules[4]; 4. 8F-Chris Finocchario[2]; 5. 3-Daren Scherer[8]; 6. 87-Thomas Flanagan[6]; 7. 29-Cody Kohler[3]; 8. (DNS) 71-Austin Beers

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Roger Coss[1]; 2. 88-Lou Strohl[2]; 3. 76-Rod Snyder Jr[3]; 4. 72-John Bennett[4]; 5. 41-Nick Baer[6]; 6. 66-Austin Kochenash[5]

GWC Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 60-Matt Hirschman, 00:10.005[16]; 2. 81-Jack Ely, 00:10.039[15]; 3. 11-Paulie Hartwig III, 00:10.116[10]; 4. 17-Roger Coss, 00:10.129[18]; 5. 44-Kyle Strohl, 00:10.178[6]; 6. 14-Blake Barney, 00:10.220[12]; 7. 8F-Chris Finocchario, 00:10.234[20]; 8. 88-Lou Strohl, 00:10.241[5]; 9. 16-Ron Silk, 00:10.248[13]; 10. 19B-James Blewett, 00:10.251[21]; 11. 29-Cody Kohler, 00:10.296[26]; 12. 76-Rod Snyder Jr, 00:10.307[27]; 13. 19W-Tyler Wagner, 00:10.332[2]; 14. 03-Jaden Brown, 00:10.343[7]; 15. 8P-Earl Paules, 00:10.345[4]; 16. 72-John Bennett, 00:10.360[17]; 17. 22-Don Wagner, 00:10.404[9]; 18. 3-Daren Scherer, 00:10.404[3]; 19. 53-Brian Defebo, 00:10.427[25]; 20. 66-Austin Kochenash, 00:10.432[24]; 21. 51-Jayden Harman, 00:10.450[11]; 22. 0-Randall Richard, 00:10.482[19]; 23. 87-Thomas Flanagan, 00:10.509[22]; 24. 41-Nick Baer, 00:10.516[1]; 25. 7X-Mark Miller, 00:10.578[14]; 26. 95-Jacob Kerstetter, 00:10.801[23]; 27. (DNS) 71-Austin Beers

Practice: 1. 81-Jack Ely, 00:10.133[15]; 2. 19B-James Blewett, 00:10.267[21]; 3. 60-Matt Hirschman, 00:10.273[16]; 4. 3-Daren Scherer, 00:10.284[3]; 5. 16-Ron Silk, 00:10.286[13]; 6. 14-Blake Barney, 00:10.326[12]; 7. 19W-Tyler Wagner, 00:10.328[2]; 8. 44-Kyle Strohl, 00:10.343[6]; 9. 8F-Chris Finocchario, 00:10.357[20]; 10. 11-Paulie Hartwig III, 00:10.367[10]; 11. 71-Austin Beers, 00:10.416[8]; 12. 17-Roger Coss, 00:10.427[18]; 13. 76-Rod Snyder Jr, 00:10.446[27]; 14. 03-Jaden Brown, 00:10.493[7]; 15. 8P-Earl Paules, 00:10.522[4]; 16. 51-Jayden Harman, 00:10.542[11]; 17. 41-Nick Baer, 00:10.591[1]; 18. 88-Lou Strohl, 00:10.607[5]; 19. 66-Austin Kochenash, 00:10.623[24]; 20. 7X-Mark Miller, 00:10.645[14]; 21. 29-Cody Kohler, 00:10.686[26]; 22. 72-John Bennett, 00:10.693[17]; 23. 0-Randall Richard, 00:10.740[19]; 24. 53-Brian Defebo, 00:10.793[25]; 25. 22-Don Wagner, 00:10.821[9]; 26. 95-Jacob Kerstetter, 00:10.936[23]; 27. 87-Thomas Flanagan, 00:10.936[22]