The final installment of the 2022 Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series (MVSHoFS) was an amazing finale for the unique five-race series that honors past greats inducted into the Dorney Park Speedway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame.

It was the Mike Muffley Tribute, with the Modifieds running twin features of 40 and 39 laps. It was fitting that a pair of future Hall of Famers collected wins as Matt Hirschman of Northampton and Brian DeFebo of Berwick both chalked up victories.

In the companion events, three first-time winners emerged as Matt Kocher of Nazareth, Dave Imler Jr. of Lehighton and Ryan Petro of Tamaqua scored the outcomes in the Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Futures, respectively.

In the Modified opener, Hirschman drew the pole position and admitted - that despite the best starting spot - it should not be taken lightly, and he was correct. When the race got underway, he jumped into the lead but would have Kyle Strohl hot on his heels.

Throughout the contest, Hirschman never was able to separate himself much as Strohl stayed within striking distance lap after lap. A few cautions also afforded Strohl opportunities to advance, but each time Hirschman was just a bit quicker on restarts.

Nonetheless, they continued to run within a car length of each other as Hirschman held on for his fifth consecutive Mahoning win in as many starts this season.

“I didn’t know just how close he (Strohl) was, and I wasn’t happy with my handling on the car, so I was just trying to keep it on the bottom and only allow him to go to the outside,” said Hirschman after notching his 33rd Mahoning victory.

“This was probably the most unhappy I’ve been with his car in years here, but this track is tough, and to do what we’ve been doing is quite remarkable because this place changes a lot with weather and things like that.”

For Strohl, it would be his seventh runner-up of the season - including the past four races.

Hirschman picked an eight pill for the invert of the second feature which put DeFebo on the pole. The race became quite the contrast from the first as all the while there was intense action at the front of the pack.

DeFebo led from the outset, but was contending with Bobby Jones over the first dozen circuits. At that juncture, Strohl and Hirschman came into play and the four titans then raced under a blanket.

The first of only two cautions waved when Rod Snyder Jr. spun in Turn 2 on lap 23. That put Strohl alongside DeFebo for the restart, with Hirschman lined up behind the leader. When the action resumed, DeFebo was able to uphold his spot, albeit under the same intense hassling from Strohl and Hirschman.

On lap 33, the final caution slowed the pace when Terry Markovic spun in the first corner. As they set up for the restart once again, there was high expectations from the front trio as to who could hold off the other.

DeFebo swiftly showed he wasn’t about to give in to the persistence, and went into a major defensive role in safeguarding his lead. Behind him, Strohl and Hirschman ran side-by-side.

At one point Hirschman, who was running on the inside and attempting to assert his way by DeFebo, was called out for crossing the lower yellow line on the track, which is a no-passing zone and had to back down.

That would become the saving grace for DeFebo, as only two laps remained and he held on for a narrow victory, his first of the season.

“The best car doesn’t always win, and we were just a little bit off. I just had to keep my line and make them try and go around me, and it’s nice to see somebody else win a race down here besides Matt (Hirschman),” said DeFebo, who earned his 108th-career win.

“We started out front, played defense and I’m just glad to win a race. I was trying to slow the car down as much as I could, and he (Hirschman) knows where (the) yellow line is and I do too, and obviously he went down a little bit much.”

Hirschman and Strohl went nip and tuck over the final two laps with the 60 just edging the 44 for the runner-up spot. Hirschman would be named the overall champ of the Muffley race, while Strohl took the MVSHoFS title.

In the Street Stock main, Kocher and Josh Mooney opened with a lead-swapping battle.

It would take until lap nine before Kocher would take control for good, but he still had plenty to deal with from Mooney and Cody Geist. Holding steady on the inside lane, Kocher was able to keep his pursuers at bay the rest of the distance and collected his career first victory.

TJ Gursky won the MVSHoFS Street Stock points setting a track record with his unparalleled eighth-career Mahoning championship.

The Hobby Stocks got off to a rough start, as it took several tries to get the race underway, but once it did there would be no stopping Imler Jr., who blasted out ahead of the pack and proceeded to author a stirring performance. No one was able to challenge him during the nonstop run.

Imler put the family name in Victory Lane for the first time. His father, Dave Imler Sr., a long time Mahoning supporter, had come close over the years. The younger, however, eased that frustration with his flawless effort.

Not to be unnoticed was the return of 2018 champion Michael Wambold, who was back racing after a long hiatus, and impressively drove to a solid runner-up over Ryan Berger. The MVSHoFS crown went to Cody Boehm.

In keeping with the first-time winners, Petro added his name to the list with a flag-to-flag run in the Futures.

Starting from the pole, he wasted little time in taking control. By mid-race, hot-handed Maggie Yeakel had zeroed in on him and was making several attempts at unseating him.

With two laps to go she almost did, but while trying to make the pass her car got unbalanced. That allowed Petro the breathing room he needed to go on and secure the victory.

The East Coast TQ Midgets raced a pair of features, with Jasper Zeigafuse and Tyler Wagner collecting top honors.

1st Modified feature finish (40 laps)

: 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. Lou Strohl, 4. Don Wagner, 5. Austin Kochenash, 6. Bobby Jones, 7. Jaden Brown, 8. Brian DeFebo, 9. Nick Baer, 10. Cody Kohler, 11. Geary Rinehimer Jr., 12. Rod Snyder Jr., 13. Terry Markovic, 14. Brody George

2nd Modified feature finish (39 laps)

: 1. DeFebo, 2. Hirschman, 3. K. Strohl, 4. Kochenash, 5. Wagner, 6. Jones, 7. L. Strohl, 8. Snyder Jr., 9. Brown, 10. George, 11. Markovic, 12. Kohler, 13. Baer, 14. Rinehimer Jr.

Street Stock feature finish (30 laps)

: 1. Matt Kocher, 2. Josh Mooney, 3. Rick Reichenbach, 4. Tommy Flanagan, 5. Mark Deysher, 6. Jillian Snyder, 7. Cody Geist, 8. Jacob Christman, 9. TJ Gursky, 10. Matt Schlenker, 11. Todd Ahner, 12. Jon Moser, 13. Tucker Muffley, 14. Randy Ahner Jr., 15. Johnny Bennett, 16. Mark Martini, 17. Thomas Flanagan, 18. Randy Green, 19. Logan Boyer, 20. Stacy Brown

Hobby Stock feature finish (25 laps)

: 1. Dave Imler Jr., 2. Michael Wambold, 3. Ryan Berger, 4. Shayne Geist, 5. Corey Edelman, 6. Cody Boehm, 7. Nick Schaeffer, 8. Don Bauder, 9. Travis Solomon, 10. James Tout, 11. Ralph Borger Jr., 12. Mike Horn, 13. Lyndsay Buss, 14. Jared Frye, 15. Mallory Kutz, 16. Jake Kibler, 17. Nicholas Kerstetter DNS: Sam Ryan

Futures feature finish (15 laps)

: 1. Ryan Petro, 2. Maggie Yeakel, 3. Parker Ahner, 4. Adam Steigerwalt, 5. Michael Klotz, 6. Makayla Kohler, 7. Mayson Moyer, 8. Lexus Kutz, 9. Hallie Muffley, 10. Al Gildner, 11. Alex Rogers, 12. Zoe Kuchera DNS: Gabrielle Steigerwalt