Matt Sheppard Makes It Look Easy At Utica-Rome Speedway; Wins Modified Feature

Story By: CHRIS MOORE / UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY – VERNON, NY – For the sixth time this season, Matt Sheppard rose above the rest to take the 3 Bastards Brewing Modified victory at Utica-Rome Speedway.

The win came on Pozzie’s Auto Refinishing and Westmoreland Golf Club night at the speedway, the latter of which being a primary sponsor on Sheppard’s car.

“It’s great to win on Westmoreland Golf Club night and have all of them here,” stated Sheppard. “They’re a big supporter of ours and there’s always a little extra pressure on your sponsors night.”

Sheppard, a Savannah, N.Y. native, started from the 12th starting position after winning his heat race, and appeared to be mired back where he started in the early going.

By the completion of lap five, Sheppard was still running in the 10th spot.

“There was just a lot of traffic back there and I honestly didn’t feel that great about our racecar,” Sheppard explained of his early struggles.

Sheppard made a change on the sixth circuit, moving to the outside of the progressively banked half-mile oval.

“It seemed like everybody else kind of struggled on the top and luckily for me, my car felt really good up there,” Sheppard said of the change that won him the race.

The move saw Sheppard climb to sixth in the next three laps, before a yellow came out resetting the field.

With Sheppard chasing, it was York, N.Y.’s Justin Wright continuing his strong recent form that was setting the pace at the lap eight yellow, after muscling the lead away from Norwich, N.Y.’s Alan Barker.

Wright chose the outside groove on the restart, which worked into the hands of Sheppard when the green flag flew.

Sheppard grabbed three positions on the first lap of green flag action and setting his sights on Wright and Barker, who were slugging it out for the top spot.

With the lead duo in a heavyweight bout, Sheppard closed quickly and took the runner-up spot from Barker on lap 12. One lap later Sheppard took a lead he would never relinquish.

Vernon, N.Y.’s Willy Decker spent all of the race in the top five, and ultimately charged forward late to grab the runner-up spot in the JSD Express No. 1x. Unadilla, N.Y.’s Billy Decker slowly picked his way through the field to take fourth in the Jeremy Smith Racing No. 91.

Justin Wright fell to fourth in the late stages of the race and Sheffield, Mass. star Andy Bachetti outgunned Alex Yankowski to round out the top five.

Finishing sixth through tenth, respectively, were Yankowski, of Covington Township, Pa.; Alan Barker, who fell to seventh; Genoa, N.Y.’s Pat Ward in the Beyea Custom Headers No. 42p; Schnecksville, Pa.’s Tanner VanDoren in the Charlie Lord owned No. 01c; and Roscoe, N.Y.’s Michael Trautschold in his self-owned No. 28.

The CRSA Sprint Cars returned to the ‘Home of Heroes’ on Friday night and Jordan Hutton took home the victory in the 20-lap main event.

Hutton, who admitted he normally struggles at Utica-Rome, unloaded fast and never lost the speed, racing away to the victory.

“We normally aren’t very good here, but I love a track you can rip around the top and that’s what this place was tonight,” Hutton continued. “It was a lot of fun. This place was awesome.”

Billy Van Inwegen came home second and Cory Sparks rounded out the podium finishers.

Dillon Paddock and Tomy Moreau rounded out the top five.

Durhamville, N.Y.’s Matt Janczuk grabbed his fifth Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman win of the season, working from the 12th starting spot to grab the lead on lap six and never looked back.

Despite two late race restarts, Janczuk proved to be the class of the field.

Payton Talbot came home second and Seth Martin got his best career finish of third. Ed Lukas and David Dickey rounded out the top five.

Bret Belden emerged victorious from an epic three-car battle to win the Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks feature.

Belden outgunned the two most recent winners, Josh Coonradt and A.J. Walters to take home the victory.

Jason Morrison finished fourth and Jim Normoyle, who was a part of the battle for the lead for several laps, rounded out the top five.

New Berlin, N.Y.’s Zack Welch notched his second consecutive Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman victory.

In a caution filled race, Welch outdueled Dalton Doyle and Connor Prokop to take home the win.

Doyle would settle for second with E.J. Gallup, Eric Jensen, and Jonathan Feagles rounding out the top five.

Prokop would retire late in the race with a mechanical failure.

Rudy King Jr. (DOHC) took home the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders victory in a wire-to-wire performance while Wanye Russell Jr. (SOHC) topped the single cam portion of the race.

Racing returns next Thursday night, July 20, as Broedel Energy and Recovery Sports Grill present the ‘Richie Evans Remembered 61.’ The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco comes into town for a 61-lap, $6,100 to win main event for the STSS big-block/small-block Modifieds. The STSS Crate 602 Sportsman are also in action for 25-laps and a $2,061 top prize. The Senior Services Inc. All-Star Slingshots and Junior Slingshots will also be in action on the inner oval.

3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[12]; 2. 1X-Willy Decker[3]; 3. 91-Billy Decker[9]; 4. 19W-Justin Wright[4]; 5. 4B-Andy Bachetti[8]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[5]; 7. 77-Alan Barker[1]; 8. 42P-Pat Ward[7]; 9. 01C-Tanner Van Doren[11]; 10. 28T-Michael Trautschold[2]; 11. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[15]; 12. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[13]; 13. 17Z-Dillon Steuer[21]; 14. 70A-Alex Payne[10]; 15. 74W-John Willman[17]; 16. 76-Jamike Sowle[18]; 17. 12B-Addison Bowman[19]; 18. 82H-Ron Holmes[14]; 19. 8M-Tim Mayne[20]; 20. 14J-Alan Johnson[16]; 21. 60X-Brad Poppleton[23]; 22. 10R-Ryan Walther[22]; 23. JS98-Rocky Warner[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[7]; 2. 19W-Justin Wright[3]; 3. 91-Billy Decker[6]; 4. 77-Alan Barker[2]; 5. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[5]; 6. 14J-Alan Johnson[4]; 7. 12B-Addison Bowman[1]; 8. 60X-Brad Poppleton[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[3]; 2. 28T-Michael Trautschold[2]; 3. 42P-Pat Ward[4]; 4. 70A-Alex Payne[6]; 5. 82H-Ron Holmes[5]; 6. 74W-John Willman[8]; 7. 8M-Tim Mayne[1]; 8. 10R-Ryan Walther[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1X-Willy Decker[2]; 2. 4B-Andy Bachetti[4]; 3. JS98-Rocky Warner[3]; 4. 01C-Tanner Van Doren[6]; 5. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[5]; 6. 76-Jamike Sowle[1]; 7. 17Z-Dillon Steuer[7]

Hot Laps: 1. 1X-Willy Decker, 00:18.101[5]; 2. 91-Billy Decker, 00:18.125[4]; 3. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:18.131[15]; 4. 77-Alan Barker, 00:18.233[2]; 5. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.370[22]; 6. 19W-Justin Wright, 00:18.497[21]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:18.529[11]; 8. 42P-Pat Ward, 00:18.551[18]; 9. 17Z-Dillon Steuer, 00:18.565[14]; 10. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.587[6]; 11. 12B-Addison Bowman, 00:18.622[3]; 12. 4B-Andy Bachetti, 00:18.729[1]; 13. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:18.784[19]; 14. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:18.806[10]; 15. 14J-Alan Johnson, 00:18.874[8]; 16. 16S-Jeremy Slosek, 00:18.958[12]; 17. 82H-Ron Holmes, 00:19.140[7]; 18. 74W-John Willman, 00:19.168[20]; 19. 76-Jamike Sowle, 00:19.208[13]; 20. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:19.300[9]; 21. 10R-Ryan Walther, 04:01.747[17]; 22. (DNS) 01C-Tanner Van Doren; 23. (DNS) 60X-Brad Poppleton

Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[12]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot[11]; 3. 12M-Seth Martin[2]; 4. 77L-Ed Lukas[7]; 5. 23D-David Dickey[1]; 6. 16-Jeremy Slosek[5]; 7. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[14]; 8. 9K-Blaine Klinger[9]; 9. 63C-Chip Constantino[10]; 10. 22X-Mike Richmond[19]; 11. 262-Matthew Richardson[4]; 12. 82-David Hackett[13]; 13. 47H-Alex Hughes[3]; 14. 10-Jim Nagle[20]; 15. 44CD-Stephen Denton[6]; 16. 4-Jim Rothwell[15]; 17. 7H-Allan Hodge[8]; 18. 15-Shawn Frost[23]; 19. 2K-Josh Amodio[22]; 20. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[17]; 21. 35R-Justin Comes[25]; 22. 34-Behr Grover[24]; 23. 28J-Joey Buonagurio[16]; 24. 31B-Ryan Dolbear[18]; 25. 44C-Ed Downing[21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot[8]; 2. 44CD-Stephen Denton[5]; 3. 12M-Seth Martin[2]; 4. 63C-Chip Constantino[7]; 5. 82-David Hackett[4]; 6. 28J-Joey Buonagurio[1]; 7. 22X-Mike Richmond[6]; 8. 2K-Josh Amodio[3]; 9. 35R-Justin Comes[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 47H-Alex Hughes[2]; 2. 33X-Matt Janczuk[8]; 3. 77L-Ed Lukas[5]; 4. 23D-David Dickey[1]; 5. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[6]; 6. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[3]; 7. 10-Jim Nagle[7]; 8. 15-Shawn Frost[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7H-Allan Hodge[5]; 2. 262-Matthew Richardson[3]; 3. 9K-Blaine Klinger[6]; 4. 16-Jeremy Slosek[4]; 5. 4-Jim Rothwell[2]; 6. 31B-Ryan Dolbear[8]; 7. 44C-Ed Downing[1]; 8. 34-Behr Grover[7]

Hot Laps: 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk, 00:19.924[15]; 2. 7H-Allan Hodge, 00:20.105[13]; 3. 44C-Ed Downing, 00:20.110[9]; 4. 63C-Chip Constantino, 00:20.115[4]; 5. 1X-Willy Decker Jr, 00:20.290[5]; 6. 23D-David Dickey, 00:20.295[7]; 7. 4-Jim Rothwell, 00:20.302[22]; 8. 77L-Ed Lukas, 00:20.323[17]; 9. 14T-Payton Talbot, 00:20.330[25]; 10. 28J-Joey Buonagurio, 00:20.344[2]; 11. 16-Jeremy Slosek, 00:20.360[24]; 12. 22X-Mike Richmond, 00:20.440[21]; 13. 82-David Hackett, 00:20.496[12]; 14. 44CD-Stephen Denton, 00:20.513[6]; 15. 31B-Ryan Dolbear, 00:20.517[8]; 16. 15-Shawn Frost, 00:20.595[10]; 17. 47H-Alex Hughes, 00:20.619[14]; 18. 2K-Josh Amodio, 00:20.628[1]; 19. 34-Behr Grover, 00:20.631[11]; 20. 262-Matthew Richardson, 00:20.635[20]; 21. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone, 00:20.639[23]; 22. 9K-Blaine Klinger, 00:20.680[16]; 23. 12M-Seth Martin, 00:20.684[18]; 24. 10-Jim Nagle, 00:20.687[19]; 25. 35R-Justin Comes, 00:20.811[3]

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 81-Bret Belden[7]; 2. 00X-Josh Coonradt[8]; 3. 22W-AJ Walters[9]; 4. 715-Jason Morrison[3]; 5. 74N-Jim Normoyle[4]; 6. 96-Andy Graves[6]; 7. 94-Tom Denton[10]; 8. 25Y-Ken Griffin[2]; 9. 28H-Johnny Holmes[1]; 10. 13-George Cushman[12]; 11. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 12. 14KK-Hunter Keith[13]; 13. 101-Ed Kotary[16]; 14. 28G-Gus Gould[11]; 15. 9-Kyle Money[17]; 16. 63-Matt Rose[15]; 17. 29-Jerry Streeter[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 74N-Jim Normoyle[4]; 2. 22W-AJ Walters[7]; 3. 81-Bret Belden[6]; 4. 25Y-Ken Griffin[3]; 5. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 6. 28G-Gus Gould[1]; 7. 14KK-Hunter Keith[2]; 8. 63-Matt Rose[8]; 9. 9-Kyle Money[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 715-Jason Morrison[3]; 2. 28H-Johnny Holmes[2]; 3. 00X-Josh Coonradt[6]; 4. 96-Andy Graves[5]; 5. 94-Tom Denton[8]; 6. 13-George Cushman[1]; 7. 29-Jerry Streeter[7]; 8. 101-Ed Kotary[4]

Hot Laps: 1. 00X-Josh Coonradt, 00:22.110[2]; 2. 22W-AJ Walters, 00:22.280[17]; 3. 28H-Johnny Holmes, 00:22.398[8]; 4. 101-Ed Kotary, 00:22.736[11]; 5. 94-Tom Denton, 00:23.172[4]; 6. 9-Kyle Money, 00:24.927[12]; 7. 63-Matt Rose, 00:25.151[15]; 8. (DNS) 81-Bret Belden; 9. (DNS) 13-George Cushman; 10. (DNS) 28G-Gus Gould; 11. (DNS) 96-Andy Graves; 12. (DNS) 25Y-Ken Griffin; 13. (DNS) 15K-Mike Kazluaskas; 14. (DNS) 14KK-Hunter Keith; 15. (DNS) 715-Jason Morrison; 16. (DNS) 74N-Jim Normoyle; 17. (DNS) 29-Jerry Streeter

Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 67W-Zack Welch[8]; 2. 08-Dalton Doyle[5]; 3. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[9]; 4. 57-Eric Jensen[3]; 5. 55-Jonny Feagles[12]; 6. 5P-Aaron Page[7]; 7. 78-Stephen Winsor[15]; 8. 10-Andrew MacFadden[4]; 9. 17S-Ernie Staelens[2]; 10. 79-Eric Winsor[16]; 11. 26-Maddy Broedel[17]; 12. 44T-Hunter Tarbania[20]; 13. 36-Matt Bukovan[14]; 14. 12B-Tyler Bobar[6]; 15. 12P-Connor Prokop[10]; 16. 4-Carson Rothwell[13]; 17. 30-Dylan Piersall[11]; 18. 17-Mike Haman[18]; 19. 24N-Bobby Newman[1]; 20. 216-Phil Arnold[19]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 24N-Bobby Newman[2]; 2. 57-Eric Jensen[3]; 3. 08-Dalton Doyle[4]; 4. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[9]; 5. 12P-Connor Prokop[10]; 6. 30-Dylan Piersall[6]; 7. 4-Carson Rothwell[7]; 8. 78-Stephen Winsor; 9. 26-Maddy Broedel[1]; 10. 17-Mike Haman[8]; 11. 44T-Hunter Tarbania[5]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 12B-Tyler Bobar[4]; 2. 17S-Ernie Staelens[2]; 3. 5P-Aaron Page[5]; 4. 67W-Zack Welch[6]; 5. 10-Andrew MacFadden[3]; 6. 55-Jonny Feagles[9]; 7. 36-Matt Bukovan[1]; 8. 79-Eric Winsor[7]; 9. 78-Stephen Winsor[8]; 10. 216-Phil Arnold[10]

Hot Laps: 1. 67W-Zack Welch, 00:20.755[18]; 2. 57-Eric Jensen, 00:20.760[9]; 3. 30-Dylan Piersall, 00:20.845[13]; 4. 10-Andrew MacFadden, 00:20.904[10]; 5. 78-Stephen Winsor, 00:20.910[20]; 6. 5EJ-EJ Gallup, 00:20.939[7]; 7. 08-Dalton Doyle, 00:21.001[5]; 8. 36-Matt Bukovan, 00:21.029[4]; 9. 4-Carson Rothwell, 00:21.101[15]; 10. 55-Jonny Feagles, 00:21.213[6]; 11. 17S-Ernie Staelens, 00:21.225[16]; 12. 12B-Tyler Bobar, 00:21.305[2]; 13. 26-Maddy Broedel, 00:21.377[3]; 14. 17-Mike Haman, 00:21.599[8]; 15. 79-Eric Winsor, 00:21.634[19]; 16. 216-Phil Arnold, 00:22.013[1]; 17. (DNS) 24N-Bobby Newman; 18. (DNS) 5P-Aaron Page; 19. (DNS) 12P-Connor Prokop; 20. (DNS) 44T-Hunter Tarbania

Fonda Fair Four Cylinders

A Feature (12 Laps): 1. 666D-Rudy King Jr[3]; 2. 21D-Corey Valade[6]; 3. 171D-Jacob Kimball[4]; 4. 22D-Dan Valade[5]; 5. 9D-Sophia Denova[1]; 6. 0D-Kyle Coley[11]; 7. 7D-David Denova[2]; 8. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[8]; 9. 68FD-Jean Foster[9]; 10. 35S-Hank Wedgren[7]; 11. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[10]

Heat 1 (5 Laps): 1. 21D-Corey Valade[11]; 2. 666D-Rudy King Jr[4]; 3. 9D-Sophia Denova[2]; 4. 171D-Jacob Kimball[8]; 5. 22D-Dan Valade[10]; 6. 7D-David Denova[3]; 7. 35S-Hank Wedgren[5]; 8. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[6]; 9. 68FD-Jean Foster[7]; 10. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[1]; 11. 0D-Kyle Coley[9]

Hot Laps: 1. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr, 00:27.325[7]; 2. (DNS) 0D-Kyle Coley; 3. (DNS) 7D-David Denova; 4. (DNS) 9D-Sophia Denova; 5. (DNS) 68FD-Jean Foster; 6. (DNS) 171D-Jacob Kimball; 7. (DNS) 666D-Rudy King Jr; 8. (DNS) 21D-Corey Valade; 9. (DNS) 22D-Dan Valade; 10. (DNS) 35S-Hank Wedgren; 11. (DNS) H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr