Sheppard Gets One For The Thumb In Malta Massive 100

MALTA, N.Y. – Entering this weekend, only one of Matt Sheppard’s 101 Super DIRTcar Series victories had come at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

However, the Waterloo, N.Y. driver added to that total Saturday night, delivering a history-making performance by leading every lap to become the first driver to win two big-block modified features during Malta Massive Weekend.

“The car was good all night,” Sheppard said. “We had speed all night. We’ve had a string of bad luck here with the series, and it was kind of nice having a night where everything went the right way.”

Sheppard led the field to the green in the 100-lap feature and quickly pulled away from Anthony Perrego in the race’s opening laps. That advantage lasted until the race’s first caution flew for Brian Calabrese on lap 12, who had a flat right rear tire.

The 10-time Super DIRTcar champion continued to lead when the green came back out, but a caution for series point leader Mat Williamson, Justin Stone, and Jeremy Pitts slowed the field again on lap 14.

When the race resumed, Sheppard continued his pace again and opened a full-straightaway lead over Perrego throughout the next 10 laps before he caught the back of the field. That allowed Perrego to start closing in on the No. 9s.

As Sheppard tried to go around the lap cars of Calabrese and Rich Scagliotta, Perrego rolled the bottom, trying to sneak by Sheppard. However, as they raced into turns three and four on lap 35, Sheppard slid in front of Calabrese and drove around Scagliotta as they entered turn one on Lap 36.

That pinned Perrego behind both drivers, allowing Sheppard to get away.

While Sheppard continued leading out front, Jimmy Phelps found momentum on the outside lane. After trying to go around Perrego for a few laps, Phelps thundered by Perrego on the outside of turn two to grab the runner-up spot on lap 58.

Phelps had his best chance to pass Sheppard on the race’s final restart on lap 81, as he pulled his No. 98H even with Sheppard as they exited turn two. But Sheppard had too much momentum on the outside lane, pulling away from Phelps as they raced down the backstretch.

The Baldwinsville Bandit got within five car lengths as Sheppard tried to pass Ryan Behrent, a lap car, with five to go, but couldn’t get close enough. Sheppard held on to score the $10,000 victory and his fifth Super DIRTcar triumph of the year.

Despite starting on the pole, Sheppard admitted he was worried about how much the track would change during the race.

“The track went through a lot of transitions,” Sheppard said. “I was afraid it’d get slick, and my car would get kind of skatey, and that I didn’t adjust enough for it.

“We got cautions at the right time and never really had any super heavy lap traffic. Everything went our way.”

Phelps settled for second and earned the final guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 during Super DIRT Week 53. He said after the track began to clean off, his car got better.

“The first 20 laps I felt like we might’ve under-adjusted after the heat race,” Phelps said. “I felt like I was a little free. I felt like we were able to keep pace with the nine. I just felt like our cars were so close and our lines were so similar that we were making speed that it was going to traffic to get by him.”

Perrego crossed the line third to score his second podium finish of the season. The Montgomery, N.Y. driver said that switching lanes throughout the middle of the race may have cost him second.

“I just didn’t feel great off the top of (turn four),” Perrego said. “I think I gave up the second spot by moving down. At the end, the yellows kept coming, and if one of those guys messed up on one of those restarts, we were there to capitalize.”

Alex Yankowski crossed the line fourth, cutting Williamson’s lead to 71 points in the standings. Erick Rudolph rounded out the top five.

Williamson rebounded to finish eighth.

The Super DIRTcar Series now sets its sights for Oswego Speedway and Super DIRT Week 53, which culminates Oct. 11 with the Billy Whittaker Cars 200.

The finish:

Feature (100 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard [1]; 2. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [4]; 3. 4-Anthony Perrego [2]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [5]; 5. 25-Erick Rudolph [6]; 6. 21A-Peter Britten [10]; 7. 3D-Matt Delorenzo [16]; 8. 88-Mat Williamson [19]; 9. 20-David Schilling [14]; 10. 35-Mike Mahaney [21]; 11. 83X-Tim Sears Jr. [7]; 12. 2-Jack Lehner [20]; 13. 91-Felix Roy [3]; 14. 3J-Marc Johnson [12]; 15. 12-Darren Smith [8]; 16. 7Z-Zachary Payne [22]; 17. 11-Matt Caprara [18]; 18. 87-Neil Stratton [9]; 19. 6-Matt Stangle [25]; 20. 15X-Justin Stone [15]; 21. 8-Rich Scagliotta [24]; 22. 27-Jeremy Pitts [17]; 23. 21C-Brian Calabrese [23]; 24. 70A-Alex Payne [11]; 25. 3B-Ryan Behrent [13]; 26. 60-Jackson Gill [26].