VERNON, N.Y. — For the third time in three races, Matt Sheppard took home the three Bastards Brewing Modified feature win on Fire Management & Control of Pennsylvania night.
The win was the 63rd for the Savannah, N.Y., native at Utica-Rome Speedway, tying for the most modified wins of all-time at the Home of Heroes.
“It’s cool (tying Stewart Friesen on the all-time win list), I’m kind of getting a one-up on him right now,” Sheppard said of tying the record. “He’s off doing the NASCAR deal in the trucks and we’re here doing the NASCAR (Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) deal here at Utica-Rome now.”
Sheppard used a pair of early restarts to drive from his 11th starting position into third before racing by the leaders to take the top spot and ultimately the win.
“I thought the big move for us was the opening green, I went in on the bottom and a bunch of guys slid up,” Sheppard proclaimed of his early race moves. “I think we were fifth or sixth by the time we got out of turn two.”
Canandaigua, N.Y.’s Alex Payne started on the outside of the front row and quickly got the early lead before the race’s first caution on lap three.
With Sheppard sixth, another big move was on the horizon.
“We got a really good restart, and I wasn’t sure where (Addison) Bowman was gonna be with the Wegner engine,” explained Sheppard. “Fortunately, he left an opening down the straightaway and we were able to get a run around him and a good launch into turn one.”
The move took Sheppard from sixth to third and quickly he raced inside Norwich, N.Y.’s Alan Barker for the runner-up position at the completion of the fourth circuit.
Sheppard worked over Payne for multiple laps before getting the run through turns one and two on lap nine and taking the lead away for good.
“He (Payne) runs well, and he’ll be very good here as the season progresses,” spoke Sheppard of his competition. “The track was interesting tonight; the rain delay threw us for a curveball, and it slicked off much faster than I thought it would.
“It got very technical on the top and bottom and I think experience really came into play as the race went on.”
Middlesex, N.Y.’s Alan Johnson was the runner-up with a late-race charge aboard the Mark Spoor Racing No. 14J and Genoa, N.Y.’s Pat Ward rounded out the podium in the Joe Beyea owned No. 42P.
Sheffield, Mass., native Andy Bachetti raced from 10th to fourth and Payne rounded out the top five.
South New Berlin, N.Y.’s Payton Talbot gifted himself a birthday present, coming from his 20th starting position to win the Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman feature.
Fort Johnson, N.Y.’s Josh Coonradt took home his first Next Generation Graphix Pro Stock win of the 2023 campaign. Coonradt led all 20-laps for the win.
New Berlin, N.Y.’s Zack Welch grabbed his second win of the season with the Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman, taking the lead at the halfway point and never looking back for the checkered flag.
Rudy King Jr. (DOHC) and Wayne Russell Jr. (SOHC) were victorious with the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders in their 12-lap feature.
Brett Putnam won his second Senior Services Inc. All-Star Slingshot main event while Trevor Houghton won the Junior Slingshot affair.
Feature Finish (30 Laps)
MATT SHEPPARD, Alan Johnson, Pat Ward, Andy Bachetti, Alex Payne, Bobby Hackel IV, Erick Rudolph, Alex Yankowski, Alan Barker, Mike Trautschold, Addison Bowman, Randy Shantel, Ron Holmes, Eric Leet, Tim Mayne, Michelle Courcy, Billy Decker, Brad Poppleton, Rocky Warner, Willy Decker.