WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — Weedsport Speedway opened its season on Sunday night and it was Matt Sheppard topping a field of more than 30 DIRTcar Big Block Modified entries to claim the night’s top prize of $4,000.
Starting third on the grid, Sheppard quickly moved to the runner-up position and utilized a mid-race restart to move past Anthony Perrego to take a lead he would never relinquish on his way to victory.
The 50-lap triumph was not only worth $4,000, it also locks Sheppard into at least the 13th starting position for this Sunday’s Super DIRTcar Series Heroes Remembered 100 at The Port.
“That restart was definitely the turning point, Anthony and I seemed pretty darn equal there,” said Sheppard on top of Victory Hill. “I think that the track burned off enough that being on the outside there actually gave me a little momentum and he couldn’t really find any brown to grab.
“When you come to Weedsport it is such a tough field, so getting a good draw in the heat and re-draw for the feature is important, then you have to have a good enough car to capitalize and luckily we were able to put it all together.”
Perrego proved to be the best of the rest in the closing stages of Sunday’s main event finishing nearly a second ahead of third place finisher Erick Rudolph.
Larry Wight and Jimmy Phelps closed out the top five finishers.
The Big Block Modifieds will return to Weedsport this Sunday, May 28 as the Super DIRTcar Series will take to The Port for 100-laps and $7,500-to-win in the Heroes Remembered 100.
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
1. 9S – Matt Sheppard, 2. 4* – Anthony Perrero, 3. 25R – Erick Rudolph, 4. 99L – Larry Wight, 5. 98H – Jimmy Phelps, 6. X – Chad Phelps, 7. 19 – Tim Fuller, 8. 12S – Darren Smith, 9. 49 – Billy Dunn, 10. 8H – Max McLaughlin, 11. 2 – Jack Lehner, 12. 21A – Peter Britten, 13. 27J – Danny Johnson, 14. 29 – Matt Caprara, 15. 22 – Tanner VonDohren, 16. 3RS – Dalton Slack, 17. M1 – Dave Marcuccilli, 18. 32R – Ronnie Davis III, 19. 83X – Tim Sears Jr., 20. 27Z – Dylan Zacharias, 21. 52 – Jessica Power, 22. 96 – J.F. Corriveau, 23. 5H – Chris Hiler, 24. 88 – Mat Williamson, 25. 15 – Todd Root, 26. 70A – Alex Payne