Story By: CHRIS MOORE / UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY – VERNON, NY – In what was perhaps his most dramatic victory of the season, Matt Sheppard topped the 3 Bastards Brewing Modified feature on Friday night for the fifth time this season on Mastrovito Hyundai First Responders Night.
Sheppard, a Savannah, N.Y., resident, outdueled Unadilla, N.Y.’s Billy Decker in a three-lap dash to the finish to take home the win.
“I put two of the best corners together of the entire race,” Sheppard explained of his pass for the win. “Just got lucky I was able to squeeze back by Billy (Decker) and get the win.”
The win for Sheppard was the 65th win of his Utica-Rome Speedway career, again breaking the tie and putting him atop the all-time win list at the ‘Home of Heroes.’
York, N.Y.’s Justin Wright and Vernon, N.Y.’s Willy Decker occupied the front row when the race began, while Sheppard fired off from the 11th starting position.
Wright would race out to the lead early, leaving behind an epic five-car battle for the runner-up spot.
Willy Decker, Alan Barker, Alex Yankowski, Billy Decker, and Sheppard went at it for the first half of the race, knifing through traffic as well, for the runner-up spot.
Sheppard, who settled in sixth for several laps, went to work on the 10th circuit of the race. Sheppard used the outside to go around both Billy Decker and Yankowski to take fourth.
Two laps later, Sheppard had taken third away from Willy Decker, all the meanwhile, Billy Decker hung right with Sheppard as they navigated to the front of the feel.
At the halfway mark, Sheppard had raced around Alan Barker and began to chip away at Wright’s three second advantage over the rest of the field.
Wright’s lead was all but gone with eight laps to go, as he began to struggle with heavier lap traffic and Sheppard and Decker quickly made up the deficit.
Sheppard and Decker would both get by Wright before a yellow came out with six laps to go.
When racing resumed, Decker rolled around the outside groove and snatched the lead away from Sheppard.
“I made a good corner in one and two and he just drove around me,” Sheppard said. “He really surprised me.”
Decker led, but another yellow would fly with three laps to go, giving Sheppard the only reset he would need.
Sheppard hooked the bottom in the first two corners and held off Decker from there for the win.
Decker would settle for his second straight runner-up finish in the Jeremy Smith Racing No. 91 and Justin Wright rounded out the podium with his best finish of the year.
Despite a flat left front tire, Covington Township, Pa.’s Alex Yankowski finished fourth and Norwich, N.Y.’s Alan Barker completed the top five.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Genoa, N.Y.’s Pat Ward in the Beyea Custom Headers No. 42p; Willy Decker who faded to seventh after running second early in the JSD Express No. 1x; Sheffield, Mass. native Andy Bachetti in the Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming No. 4; Roscoe, N.Y.’s Michael Trautschold in his QFM No. 28 and Middlesex, N.Y.’s Alan Johnson completed the top five in the Mark Spoor Racing No. 14J.
Durhamville, N.Y.’s Matt Janczuk claimed his fourth Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman victory of the season.
After starting in 12th, Janczuk quickly raced to the front and led the final 16 laps to take the win.
Payton Talbot, Matt Richardson, Josh Amodio, and Blaine Klinger rounded out the top five.
Fort Johnson, N.Y.’s. Josh Coonradt topped what was the race of the night in the Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks division.
Coonradt emerged from a five-car fight for the lead and held off Bret Belden to take his second win of the season.
Belden, A.J. Walters, Jim Normoyle, and Ken Griffin were the top five.
New Berlin, N.Y.’s Zack Welch rolled the inside groove to perfection for his third triumph of the season with the Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman.
Welch rolled by Dalton Doyle and Tyler Bobar on the inside groove to take the win in the late stages.
Doyle, Carson Rothwell, Bobar, and Jonathan Feagles were the top five.
Kyle Coley (DOHC) and Bruce Liddle (SOHC) were victorious with the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders, both getting their first win of the season.
A.J. Albreada and Chase Spoor were both first time winners this season with the Senior Services Inc. All-Star Slingshots (Albreada) and Junior Slingshots (Spoor) on the inner oval.
Racing returns next Friday night, July 14, as Westmoreland Golf Club and Pozzie’s Auto Refinishing presents the night of racing. The CRSA Sprint Cars return to the ‘Home of Heroes’ along with the 3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds, Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman, Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks, Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman, and Fonda Fair Four Cylinders will all be in action.
3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[11]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[9]; 3. 19W-Justin Wright[1]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[5]; 5. 77-Alan Barker[3]; 6. 42P-Pat Ward[6]; 7. 1X-Willy Decker[2]; 8. 4B-Andy Bachetti[13]; 9. 28T-Michael Trautschold[4]; 10. 14J-Alan Johnson[7]; 11. 70A-Alex Payne[12]; 12. 82H-Ron Holmes[14]; 13. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[16]; 14. 21C-Brian Calabrese[17]; 15. 54H-Kurtis Hohensheldt[20]; 16. 8M-Tim Mayne[18]; 17. 369-Jim Walsh[21]; 18. JS98-Rocky Warner[8]; 19. 60X-Brad Poppleton[22]; 20. 76-Jamike Sowle[15]; 21. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[10]; 22. 5-Addison Bowman[23]; 23. 16-Aaron Jacobs[19]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Alan Barker[2]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[3]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[5]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[6]; 5. 4B-Andy Bachetti[4]; 6. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[7]; 7. 8M-Tim Mayne[1]; 8. 5-Addison Bowman[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19W-Justin Wright[1]; 2. JS98-Rocky Warner[3]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[5]; 4. 42P-Pat Ward[2]; 5. 82H-Ron Holmes[4]; 6. 21C-Brian Calabrese[6]; 7. 16-Aaron Jacobs[8]; 8. 369-Jim Walsh[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1X-Willy Decker[1]; 2. 14J-Alan Johnson[3]; 3. 91-Billy Decker[4]; 4. 28T-Michael Trautschold[2]; 5. 76-Jamike Sowle[5]; 6. 60X-Brad Poppleton[7]; 7. 54H-Kurtis Hohensheldt[6]
Hot Laps: 1. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:18.947[17]; 2. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:19.321[15]; 3. 91-Billy Decker, 00:19.551[4]; 4. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:19.985[6]; 5. 19W-Justin Wright, 00:20.821[18]; 6. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:20.911[11]; 7. 77-Alan Barker, 00:20.985[2]; 8. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:21.091[19]; 9. 4B-Andy Bachetti, 00:21.541[1]; 10. 82H-Ron Holmes, 00:21.575[8]; 11. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:21.670[3]; 12. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:21.716[12]; 13. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:21.731[10]; 14. 1X-Willy Decker, 00:22.033[5]; 15. 369-Jim Walsh, 00:22.630[22]; 16. 16S-Jeremy Slosek, 00:24.777[13]; 17. (DNS) 54H-Kurtis Hohensheldt; 18. (DNS) 14J-Alan Johnson; 19. (DNS) 76-Jamike Sowle; 20. (DNS) 42P-Pat Ward; 21. (DNS) 5-Addison Bowman; 22. (DNS) 60X-Brad Poppleton; 23. (DNS) 16-Aaron Jacobs
Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[12]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot[15]; 3. 262-Matthew Richardson[3]; 4. 2K-Josh Amodio[4]; 5. 9K-Blaine Klinger[13]; 6. 23D-David Dickey[2]; 7. 82-David Hackett[7]; 8. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[11]; 9. 44CD-Stephen Denton[20]; 10. 77L-Ed Lukas[8]; 11. 15-Shawn Frost[5]; 12. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[18]; 13. 7H-Allan Hodge[14]; 14. 22X-Mike Richmond[9]; 15. 47H-Alex Hughes[21]; 16. 4-Jim Rothwell[10]; 17. 28J-Joey Buonagurio[1]; 18. 44C-Ed Downing[6]; 19. 12M-Seth Martin[17]; 20. 18-Bobby Heintz[19]; 21. 16-Jeremy Slosek[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Josh Amodio[2]; 2. 4-Jim Rothwell[6]; 3. 28J-Joey Buonagurio[1]; 4. 82-David Hackett[4]; 5. 9K-Blaine Klinger[7]; 6. 16-Jeremy Slosek[5]; 7. 18-Bobby Heintz[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[7]; 2. 77L-Ed Lukas[5]; 3. 23D-David Dickey[1]; 4. 15-Shawn Frost[2]; 5. 7H-Allan Hodge[6]; 6. 12M-Seth Martin[3]; 7. 44CD-Stephen Denton[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44C-Ed Downing[2]; 2. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[6]; 3. 22X-Mike Richmond[5]; 4. 262-Matthew Richardson[1]; 5. 14T-Payton Talbot[7]; 6. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[3]; 7. 47H-Alex Hughes[4]
Hot Laps: 1. 7H-Allan Hodge, 00:19.809[10]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot, 00:19.884[21]; 3. 33X-Matt Janczuk, 00:19.923[12]; 4. 22X-Mike Richmond, 00:19.943[17]; 5. 1X-Willy Decker Jr, 00:19.966[3]; 6. 77L-Ed Lukas, 00:19.987[14]; 7. 16-Jeremy Slosek, 00:20.034[20]; 8. 262-Matthew Richardson, 00:20.090[16]; 9. 2K-Josh Amodio, 00:20.206[1]; 10. 12M-Seth Martin, 00:20.218[15]; 11. 47H-Alex Hughes, 00:20.304[11]; 12. 23D-David Dickey, 00:20.571[5]; 13. 18-Bobby Heintz, 00:20.574[9]; 14. 44CD-Stephen Denton, 00:20.684[4]; 15. 15-Shawn Frost, 00:20.820[7]; 16. 9K-Blaine Klinger, 00:20.979[13]; 17. 4-Jim Rothwell, 00:21.018[18]; 18. 82-David Hackett, 00:21.071[8]; 19. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone, 00:21.703[19]; 20. 44C-Ed Downing, 00:21.993[6]; 21. (DNS) 28J-Joey Buonagurio
Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 00X-Josh Coonradt[7]; 2. 81-Bret Belden[5]; 3. 22W-AJ Walters[8]; 4. 74N-Jim Normoyle[3]; 5. 25Y-Ken Griffin[2]; 6. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[6]; 7. 101-Ed Kotary[14]; 8. 94-Tom Denton[12]; 9. 96-Andy Graves[9]; 10. 28H-Johnny Holmes[1]; 11. 715-Jason Morrison[4]; 12. 13-George Cushman[10]; 13. 14KK-Hunter Keith[16]; 14. 28G-Gus Gould[11]; 15. 51D-Dalton Szewczyk[13]; 16. (DNS) 22-Tim Wood
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22W-AJ Walters[7]; 2. 28H-Johnny Holmes[2]; 3. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 4. 715-Jason Morrison[4]; 5. 96-Andy Graves[6]; 6. 28G-Gus Gould[1]; 7. 51D-Dalton Szewczyk[8]; 8. (DNS) 22-Tim Wood
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Bret Belden[4]; 2. 74N-Jim Normoyle[3]; 3. 00X-Josh Coonradt[6]; 4. 25Y-Ken Griffin[2]; 5. 13-George Cushman[1]; 6. 94-Tom Denton[8]; 7. 101-Ed Kotary[7]; 8. 14KK-Hunter Keith[5]
Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 67W-Zack Welch[6]; 2. 08-Dalton Doyle[2]; 3. 4-Carson Rothwell[5]; 4. 12B-Tyler Bobar[8]; 5. 55-Jonny Feagles[10]; 6. 11-Nick Zielinski[7]; 7. 57-Eric Jensen[18]; 8. 17S-Ernie Staelens[3]; 9. 30-Dylan Piersall[12]; 10. 10-Andrew MacFadden[13]; 11. 5P-Aaron Page[14]; 12. 24N-Bobby Newman[16]; 13. 52M-Matthew Backus[9]; 14. 36-Matt Bukovan[17]; 15. 31K-Kennedy Payne[11]; 16. 26-Maddy Broedel[1]; 17. 90-Brodie Davis[4]; 18. 5-Eymarah Bowman[19]; 19. 116-Alexis Jacobs[15]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 4-Carson Rothwell[6]; 2. 17S-Ernie Staelens[3]; 3. 11-Nick Zielinski[7]; 4. 26-Maddy Broedel[1]; 5. 52M-Matthew Backus[9]; 6. 31K-Kennedy Payne[8]; 7. 10-Andrew MacFadden[5]; 8. 116-Alexis Jacobs[10]; 9. 36-Matt Bukovan[2]; 10. 5-Eymarah Bowman[4]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 12B-Tyler Bobar[7]; 2. 08-Dalton Doyle[1]; 3. 90-Brodie Davis[4]; 4. 67W-Zack Welch[6]; 5. 55-Jonny Feagles[9]; 6. 30-Dylan Piersall[5]; 7. 5P-Aaron Page[8]; 8. 24N-Bobby Newman[2]; 9. 57-Eric Jensen[3]
Hot Laps: 1. 57-Eric Jensen, 00:20.602[10]; 2. 17S-Ernie Staelens, 00:20.613[17]; 3. 90-Brodie Davis, 00:21.330[6]; 4. 36-Matt Bukovan, 00:22.514[5]; 5. 5-Eymarah Bowman, 00:22.840[3]; 6. 4-Carson Rothwell, 00:20.079[16]; 7. 11-Nick Zielinski, 00:20.327[19]; 8. 08-Dalton Doyle, 00:20.405[7]; 9. 67W-Zack Welch, 00:20.434[18]; 10. 12B-Tyler Bobar, 00:20.522[2]; 11. 52M-Matthew Backus, 00:20.529[1]; 12. 31K-Kennedy Payne, 00:21.074[14]; 13. 26-Maddy Broedel, 00:21.137[4]; 14. 10-Andrew MacFadden, 00:21.161[11]; 15. 30-Dylan Piersall, 00:21.168[15]; 16. (DNS) 55-Jonny Feagles; 17. (DNS) 47H-Alex Hughes; 18. (DNS) 24N-Bobby Newman; 19. (DNS) 5P-Aaron Page
Fonda Fair Four Cylinders
A Feature (12 Laps): 1. 0D-Kyle Coley[1]; 2. 666D-Rudy King Jr[4]; 3. 47S-Bruce Liddle[5]; 4. 171D-Jacob Kimball[3]; 5. 20D-Nick Galusha[6]; 6. 9D-Sophia Denova[7]; 7. 7D-David Denova[2]; 8. 42S-Hayleigh Gates[9]; 9. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[12]; 10. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[11]; 11. 88D-Jacob Jipson[10]; 12. 68FD-Jean Foster[8]; 13. (DNS) 17S-Keith Chorba
Heat 1 (5 Laps): 1. 0D-Kyle Coley[2]; 2. 666D-Rudy King Jr[6]; 3. 7D-David Denova[4]; 4. 171D-Jacob Kimball[5]; 5. 20D-Nick Galusha[12]; 6. 47S-Bruce Liddle[10]; 7. 9D-Sophia Denova[3]; 8. 68FD-Jean Foster[8]; 9. 42S-Hayleigh Gates[9]; 10. 88D-Jacob Jipson[7]; 11. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[13]; 12. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[1]; 13. 17S-Keith Chorba[11]
Hot Laps: 1. 20D-Nick Galusha, 00:28.571[6]; 2. (DNS) 17S-Keith Chorba; 3. (DNS) 0D-Kyle Coley; 4. (DNS) 7D-David Denova; 5. (DNS) 9D-Sophia Denova; 6. (DNS) 68FD-Jean Foster; 7. (DNS) 42S-Hayleigh Gates; 8. (DNS) 88D-Jacob Jipson; 9. (DNS) 171D-Jacob Kimball; 10. (DNS) 666D-Rudy King Jr; 11. (DNS) 47S-Bruce Liddle; 12. (DNS) H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr
Senior Services Inc. All Star Slingshots
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22A-AJ Albreada[2]; 2. 6B-Brett Putnam[3]; 3. 33Z-Justin House[4]; 4. 42-Mason Pittenger[9]; 5. 68-James Benz[5]; 6. 88-Chris Darrow[1]; 7. 56-Andrew Turpin[7]; 8. 95-Lucas Pittenger[8]; 9. 349-Garrett Chillot[12]; 10. 100-Corky Warner[15]; 11. 85X-Jason Dufel[6]; 12. 67-Charlene Benz[16]; 13. 57-Jim Pollard[21]; 14. 8-Tadd Granger[13]; 15. 10-Scott Sprague[11]; 16. 74J-Jaden Pierce[10]; 17. 115-Paul Holic[14]; 18. 42L-Kevin Loveless[20]; 19. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[17]; 20. 4-Tucker Jones[18]; 21. (DNS) 83-Corbyn White
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33Z-Justin House[3]; 2. 88-Chris Darrow[6]; 3. 56-Andrew Turpin[4]; 4. 74J-Jaden Pierce[5]; 5. 8-Tadd Granger[1]; 6. 67-Charlene Benz[2]; 7. (DNS) 83-Corbyn White
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6B-Brett Putnam[4]; 2. 68-James Benz[2]; 3. 95-Lucas Pittenger[7]; 4. 10-Scott Sprague[6]; 5. 115-Paul Holic[3]; 6. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[5]; 7. 42L-Kevin Loveless[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22A-AJ Albreada[1]; 2. 85X-Jason Dufel[2]; 3. 42-Mason Pittenger[6]; 4. 349-Garrett Chillot[3]; 5. 100-Corky Warner[5]; 6. 4-Tucker Jones[4]; 7. 57-Jim Pollard[7]
Hot Laps: 1. 33Z-Justin House, 00:13.953[9]; 2. 42-Mason Pittenger, 00:14.288[15]; 3. 95-Lucas Pittenger, 00:14.289[14]; 4. 6B-Brett Putnam, 00:14.328[17]; 5. 56-Andrew Turpin, 00:14.337[19]; 6. 68-James Benz, 00:14.391[3]; 7. 22A-AJ Albreada, 00:14.393[1]; 8. 8-Tadd Granger, 00:14.624[7]; 9. 349-Garrett Chillot, 00:14.634[4]; 10. 67-Charlene Benz, 00:14.741[2]; 11. 10-Scott Sprague, 00:14.777[18]; 12. 115-Paul Holic, 00:14.870[8]; 13. 57-Jim Pollard, 00:14.880[16]; 14. 100-Corky Warner, 00:15.022[20]; 15. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins, 00:15.264[10]; 16. 4-Tucker Jones, 00:15.435[11]; 17. 83-Corbyn White, 00:15.589[21]; 18. (DNS) 88-Chris Darrow; 19. (DNS) 85X-Jason Dufel; 20. (DNS) 42L-Kevin Loveless; 21. (DNS) 74J-Jaden Pierce
Junior Slingshots
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 41S-Chase Spoor[6]; 2. 10-Trevor Houghton[3]; 3. 33M-Bodie Marks[4]; 4. 50-EJ Hatch[8]; 5. 43J-Jayden Wust[2]; 6. 33X-Brody Janczuk[11]; 7. 20-Preston Trautschold[12]; 8. 27-Blake Banek[14]; 9. 99-Ayna Sarpriacone[9]; 10. 11J-Jakoby Thompson[1]; 11. 56-Ayden Goodier[5]; 12. 21-James Hatch[10]; 13. 61-Reese Farrell[13]; 14. 54-Sullivan Dickey[7]; 15. 9-Addisyn Roger[15]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 41S-Chase Spoor[1]; 2. 33M-Bodie Marks[8]; 3. 43J-Jayden Wust[6]; 4. 54-Sullivan Dickey[2]; 5. 99-Ayna Sarpriacone[5]; 6. 33X-Brody Janczuk[4]; 7. 61-Reese Farrell[7]; 8. 9-Addisyn Roger[3]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 56-Ayden Goodier[1]; 2. 10-Trevor Houghton[7]; 3. 11J-Jakoby Thompson[2]; 4. 50-EJ Hatch[6]; 5. 21-James Hatch[5]; 6. 20-Preston Trautschold[4]; 7. 27-Blake Banek[3]
Hot Laps: 1. 10-Trevor Houghton, 00:14.562[7]; 2. 43J-Jayden Wust, 00:14.692[15]; 3. 33X-Brody Janczuk, 00:14.710[8]; 4. 27-Blake Banek, 00:14.814[1]; 5. 20-Preston Trautschold, 00:14.910[14]; 6. 54-Sullivan Dickey, 00:15.045[2]; 7. 50-EJ Hatch, 00:15.087[5]; 8. 56-Ayden Goodier, 00:15.087[4]; 9. 41S-Chase Spoor, 00:15.352[12]; 10. 21-James Hatch, 00:15.413[6]; 11. 99-Ayna Sarpriacone, 00:15.439[11]; 12. 33M-Bodie Marks, 00:15.457[9]; 13. 9-Addisyn Roger, 00:15.496[10]; 14. 11J-Jakoby Thompson, 00:15.501[13]; 15. 61-Reese Farrell, 00:18.182[3]