CENTER LISLE, N.Y. — Matt Sheppard moved one step closer to a significant Super DIRTcar Series milestone Monday night at Thunder Mountain Speedway.
“Super Matt” beat Peter Britten to Turn 1 on the race’s opening lap and never relinquished the position, leading every lap to win the Natural 77 honoring Dale Planck, and earning his 99th career series win.
The victory brings Sheppard one win away from joining Brett Hearn as the only two drivers to earn 100 series triumphs.
It’s also his first championship season top five of the year after what he called a horrible start to 2025.
“Flat tires, broken shocks, bad qualifying efforts, we just haven’t been able to put a night together,” Sheppard said. “We had speed at times but never at the right time. Luckily, tonight, we were able to pick up that [Heat Race] win and that all-important number one draw and put 77 laps together.
“You have to have a really good race car and a really good team, but luck is just as important in this game, too. Sometimes drawing a good number is just as important as having a good race car.”
Sheppard led the field to the green alongside Britten in the 77-lap feature. The two drivers battled side-by-side down the backstretch on the race’s opening lap, but Sheppard’s momentum carried him across the start-finish line as the leader on Lap 1.
That side-by-side battle didn’t last long, as Sheppard pulled ahead through Turns 1 and 2 and drove away from the No. 21a. However, contact at the back of the field led to an incident involving Jimmy Phelps, Tim Sears Jr., and Jamie Kamrowski for the first of the race’s two cautions.
Sheppard continued his lead when the race resumed, pulling away until he reached the back of the field on Lap 17. That allowed Britten to close in on Sheppard, who eventually pulled away to a two-second lead over Britten in traffic and went unchallenged before a caution for Daniel Morgewicz on Lap 56 slowed the field again.
On the restart, Sheppard drove away from Britten for a third time, cruising through the final 21 laps to win the $7,700 prize and his second series checkered flag of the season.
Sheppard said his notes from last year’s race at Thunder Mountain helped him prepare.
“Everyone tried driving around lap cars (last year), and it cost them spots every time,” Sheppard said. “I was definitely nervous early in the race because the top was really good, and the middle was pretty good. But I thought the longer the race went on, as long as I could stay on the brown, that would be a positive for me.
“It was just a matter of keeping the car straight and trying to pass the lap cars you could pass.”
Britten crossed the line second, earning his first championship season top five of 2025.
“Knowing how the race went and how my year’s gone, I wasn’t going to be the guy to pull out of line and get freight trained,” Britten said. “If someone has been brave enough to do it and it worked, then good on them. Matt obviously tried the same approach.
“I really didn’t want to see that last caution come out because then I had to make a decision on what to do on this restart. I felt like the tires had finally gone off, and they did feather a little bit on the right rear. And I wasn’t feeling as confident to roll the middle. So, I tried to floor it the best I could, and Matt got a better jump.”
Rudolph said his third consecutive top-five finish was possible after he passed nine cars in the first 12 laps using the outside lane.
“I knew everyone was fighting for the bottom there,” Rudolph said. “They kind of got jammed up, so I got a couple of them that way. I think the middle was there all night, but I think after a handful of laps it seemed like the bottom got too good on everybody. I tried it a few times on that green flag run, but there was nothing there.”
The finish:
Feature (77 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[1]; 2. 21A-Peter Britten[2]; 3. 25-Erick Rudolph[19]; 4. 28M-Jordan McCreadie[6]; 5. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 6. 70A-Alex Payne[18]; 7. 91-Felix Roy[25]; 8. 4M-Logan Watt[9]; 9. 31-Lance Willix[11]; 10. 4-Anthony Perrego[8]; 11. 88-Mat Williamson[3]; 12. 35-Mike Mahaney[5]; 13. 2-Jack Lehner[13]; 14. 26R-Corey Cormier[23]; 15. 7Z-Zachary Payne[15]; 16. 22-Brandon Walters[10]; 17. 32R-Ronnie Davis III[20]; 18. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[14]; 19. 71-Jimmy Zacharias[21]; 20. 27K-Brett Tonkin[4]; 21. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[27]; 22. 12-Darren Smith[22]; 23. 284-Jamie Kamrowski[29]; 24. (DNF) 14B-Brendan Darrah[16]; 25. (DNF) 44H-Chris Hulsizer[24]; 26. (DNF) 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[12]; 27. (DNF) 15-Todd Root[17]; 28. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[28]; 29. (DNF) 98H-Jimmy Phelps[26]
