FONDA, N.Y. — Matt Sheppard topped the Bob Hilbert Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco event at Fonda Speedway on Monday night. The event was postponed by rain from July 2.
The Firecracker 50 went to the Savannah, N.Y., native after taking the lead at the completion of lap 28 and setting sail for the final 22 laps.
The win was Sheppard’s 34th career STSS victory, this one worth $10,000 in Round No. 5 of the River Valley Builders North Region.
“I thought I had a flat tire before the red flag came out,” Sheppard explained of his early race fade. “My crew guys signaled it was ok and when we went back racing it took off like a missile.”
Sheppard started from the seventh position, following the redraw, with Mat Williamson and Matt DeLorenzo on the front row.
At the drop of the green flag, DeLorenzo, defending Fonda champion, took hold of the top spot while Williamson was left to fight off Alex Yankowski for the runner-up position.
Yankowski overtook Williamson before a yellow flag fell on lap 11 with Sheppard pulling up alongside Williamson in row two.
When the green flag came back out, Sheppard overtook Williamson for third, while Yankowski was challenging DeLorenzo for the lead.
Another yellow presented another restart, this time Sheppard would falter. The Savannah, N.Y. native fell back to seventh, where he took the initial green flag from.
Danny Varin was charging from the 11th starting position, getting by Williamson and into a podium spot before breaking and crashing, bringing out the red flag Sheppard referenced on lap 17.
Sheppard fired off from sixth on the restart and marched to the front in the next 11 laps. ‘Super Matt’ quickly climbed into the fourth spot when the green flag came back out.
From there, Sheppard slid by Demetrios Drellos for third on lap 22, by Yankowski for second on lap 27 before taking the lead from DeLorenzo one lap later.
Stewart Friesen came from the 15th starting position and raced into the runner-up position on a lap-36 restart. He had nothing to offer a challenge to Sheppard.
“This place, Fonda Speedway, can be a thorn in any driver’s side,” Sheppard continued. “But when your car’s right, it’s a lot of fun.”
Friesen would settle for second.
“We were behind the 8-ball after a really bad draw,” Friesen said after drawing 74 in the Dirt Draft pre-race draw. “Clean air was really good and once Matt got to it, he was really good.”
Yankowski rounded out the podium finishers.
“When DeLorenzo was leading, it was the same thing as all year,” Yankowski proclaimed. “The cautions just don’t seem to fall our way when we need them to.”
He continued, “We’re putting ourselves in position to win races and I’m really proud of our team for that.”
DeLorenzo came home fourth in the BBL Companies No. 3D and Williamson rounded out the top five in the Behrent’s Performance Warehouse No. 3.
The Short Track Super Series Crate 602 Sportsman main event went to Payton Talbot. Talbot took command of the lead on lap eight and never looked back for the rest of the 25-lap feature.
Talbot scored his sixth victory of the season.
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
MATT SHEPPARD, Stewart Friesen, Alex Yankowski, Matt DeLorenzo, Mat Williamson, Michael Trautschold, Max McLaughlin, Cody Clark, Billy Decker, Rocky Warner, Dillon Steuer, Marc Johnson, Steve Bernier, JaMike Sowle, Tyler Dippel, JR Hurlburt, Chris Curtis, David Schilling, Francois Bernier, Tim Fuller, Demetrios Drellos, Michael Parent, Bobby Hackel IV, Brian Calabrese, Danny Varin, Ronnie Johnson, Jessica Friesen