DUNDEE, N.Y. — Matching his rival Stewart Friesen, Matt Sheppard powered to his 53rd career Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco feature victory on Thursday night at Outlaw Speedway.
Sheppard collected $7,078.78 for his efforts in the Dave Machuga Memorial Outlaw Showdown 50-lap event, Round No. 3 of the HYTORC of New York North Region for the STSS Modifieds.
Sheppard, ironically, held off Friesen in the final laps at the four-tenths-mile oval for the win using a lane he doesn’t typically frequent at Outlaw.
“I don’t normally run the middle here, but my car was really shining there,” Sheppard said. “I didn’t feel like I had great speed on the top; I moved into the middle and said, ‘Man, this thing’s pretty good here.’”
Sheppard was methodical in his move forward from fifth starting position in a caution-marred main event.
Pole starter Alex Yankowski led the opening 21 laps of the main event following the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw.
Sheppard pushed his Hurlock Auto & Speed No. 9s into a lead he would not relinquish with 29 laps remaining.
Friesen, meanwhile, had to surge forward from 10th on the grid. He took over the runner-up spot with 26 circuits left on the board and chased Sheppard to the finish, drawing within a car-length in the race’s final five laps.
“I was getting nervous late in the race,” Sheppard said. “The track was definitely changing. I didn’t know if I should have made a move. That’s the tough part about leading sometimes.
“Everything worked out for us.”
The win for Sheppard was his third in eight STSS appearances at Outlaw.
Friesen picked up $3,000 for his runner-up finish.
“We passed a lot of cars there,” Friesen said. “It was a great race – we’ll add to the notebook a little bit. We just couldn’t keep it squared up at the end like he (Matt) could and get that drive off (the corner).”
Yankowski guided the Millman’s NAPA Auto Parts No. 84y to third, followed by track regular Bobby Varin, driving a Tyler Siri-owned No. 18v and Quebec’s David Hebert, making his debut at Outlaw Speedway.
The finish:
Feature (50 laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[5]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[10]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 4. 18V-Bobby Varin[2]; 5. ONE-David Hebert[11]; 6. 4P-Anthony Perrego[8]; 7. 7MM-Michael Maresca[6]; 8. 22JZ-Jeffery Daugherty[21]; 9. 3-Mat Williamson[7]; 10. 713-Tommy Collins[24]; 11. 02-Jack Lehner[3]; 12. 5*-Tyler Siri[19]; 13. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[12]; 14. 42P-Pat Ward[23]; 15. 47-Kreg Crooker[9]; 16. 70A-Alex Payne[15]; 17. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II[22]; 18. 2B-Ron Cartwright Jr[18]; 19. 27-Tanner Van Doren[16]; 20. 01-Chris Raabe[4]; 21. 27J-Danny Johnson[13]; 22. 70-Brady Fultz[20]; 23. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo[14]; 24. 82S-Will Shields[25]; 25. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[17]
