Matt Sheppard Wins At Utica-Rome Speedway After Rocky Warner Is Light On Scales

Story By: CHRIS MOORE / UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY – VERNON, NY – Surprise ending.

Rocky Warner crossed the finish line first at the completion of the 30-lap 3 Bastards Brewing Modified feature on Ferris Commercials Mowers at Utica-Rome Speedway.

However, Warner was not awarded the victory. After crossing the scales five pounds under the required weight limit, Warner was disqualified, and Matt Sheppard was declared the winner.

“It’s really a shame for Rocky,” Sheppard said. “He had the best car tonight for sure and I had nothing for him.”

Sheppard’s win was the eighth of the season for the Savannah, N.Y., resident at the ‘Home of Heroes’ and his fifth consecutive since the month of July began.

“I’ve lost a few like this,” Sheppard explained of the winner’s disqualification. “I don’t know that I’ve ever won one like this, but I guess things always even themselves out.”

Sheppard fired from the 12th starting position while Warner and Fultonville, N.Y.’s JaMike Sowle occupied the front row at the drop of the green flag.

Warner raced off the outside of the front row and led from the very start of the race.

Sheppard, meanwhile, quickly charged to the seventh position in the opening three laps before getting to Alex Yankowski’s back bumper, one he would chase for a while.

Warner, Sowle, and Bobby Hackel IV had separated themselves from the field after a lap five caution, setting up an epic four-car battle for the fourth position eight laps into the race.

Alan Johnson was fending off Alex Payne, Alex Yankowski, and Matt Sheppard as the quartet battled high and low attempting to gain position to run down the lead trio.

Yankowski and Sheppard were the first to make a move, both using the outside groove to get around Payne for fifth and sixth. Three laps later, the duo switched to the bottom and got by Johnson to move into fourth and fifth.

One lap later, Alan Johnson slowed off the second corner with a flat right rear tire, sending him to the pits for a new tire.

The next restart saw Sheppard make his move. After the first attempt was nixed due to a yellow on the backstretch, the next attempt came as a single-file restart.

Sowle, Hackel IV, and Yankowski tried their luck at the top groove on the restart, and Sheppard seized the opportunity.

The No. 9s drove by all the three cars using the bottom groove to drive into the runner-up spot.

From there, Sheppard chased Warner for the final 18 laps, including opportunities on a couple more restarts, but was unable to make the move.

Warner, however, lost the race when he crossed the scales too light, and Sheppard became the winner.

Unadilla, N.Y.’s Billy Decker came with a second-place finish in the Jeremy Smith Racing No. 91. Decker quietly followed Sheppard toward the front of the field throughout the race. East Greenbush, N.Y.’s Bobby Hackel IV rounded out the podium finishers.

Covington Township, Pa.’s Alex Yankowski finished fourth and Canandaigua, N.Y.’s Alex Payne rounded out the top five.

Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Norwich, N.Y.’s Alan Barker in the Scenic View Campground No. 77; York, N.Y.’s Justin Wright, who charged to the top-10 after pitting early; Mexico, N.Y.’s Addison Bowman who claimed his best career Modified finish; Sheffield, Mass. native Andy Bachetti and Roscoe, N.Y.’s Michael Trautschold and rounded out the top-10 after both being involved in a final lap wreck.

Not to be outdone, Durhamville, N.Y.’s Matt Janczuk claimed his fourth consecutive Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman victory and his seventh of the season.

The first 23-laps of the race went without a caution and Janczuk raced from 12th to take the lead and ultimately the win despite the late race restart.

Payton Talbot, Rocky Rothwell, Blake Sarpriacone, and Stephen Denton rounded out the top five.

Johnstown, N.Y.’s Jason Morrison claimed his first career Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks victory after starting from the pole position.

Morrison led all 20 laps and held off Luke Horning, Bret Belden, and Josh Coonradt for the win, despite multiple mid-race restarts. Jim Normoyle rounded out the top five.

Fulton, N.Y.’s Dalton Doyle got his first career Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman win, using the outside groove to his advantage and driving to the front and getting the win.

Doyle, a former asphalt racer, has now finished in the top two in three consecutive races.

Nick Zielinski, Johnny Feagles, Carson Rothwell, and Connor Prokop were the rest of the top five.

Dan Valade was a first-time winner with the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders in the dual cam portion and Wayne Russell Jr. got his sixth single cam win of the year.

On the inner-oval, Brett Putnam was victorious with the Senior Services Inc. All-Star Slingshots for the fourth time this season and Jayden Wust got his first Junior Slingshots victory.

Racing continues next Friday, August 4, when International Wire presents the return of the Empire Super Sprints (ESS) 360 Sprint Cars. Along with the ESS, 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[12]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[11]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[3]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 5. 70A-Alex Payne[5]; 6. 77-Alan Barker[6]; 7. 19W-Justin Wright[8]; 8. 12B-Addison Bowman[16]; 9. 4B-Andy Bachetti[9]; 10. 28T-Michael Trautschold[13]; 11. 14J-Alan Johnson[4]; 12. 82H-Ron Holmes[15]; 13. 8M-Tim Mayne[20]; 14. 16-Aaron Jacobs[21]; 15. 76-Jamike Sowle[1]; 16. 1X-Willy Decker[10]; 17. 42P-Pat Ward[14]; 18. 01C-Tanner Van Doren[19]; 19. 369-Jim Walsh[18]; 20. 60X-Brad Poppleton[24]; 21. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[17]; 22. 8R-Brian Murphy[22]; 23. 7G-Brad Godshalk[23]; 24. (DQ) JS98-Rocky Warner[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[2]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[4]; 3. 4B-Andy Bachetti[5]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[7]; 5. 28T-Michael Trautschold[3]; 6. 12B-Addison Bowman[1]; 7. 01C-Tanner Van Doren[6]; 8. 8R-Brian Murphy[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Jamike Sowle[1]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[3]; 3. 1X-Willy Decker[5]; 4. 91-Billy Decker[6]; 5. 42P-Pat Ward[4]; 6. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[2]; 7. 8M-Tim Mayne[7]; 8. 7G-Brad Godshalk[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. JS98-Rocky Warner[1]; 2. 14J-Alan Johnson[2]; 3. 77-Alan Barker[3]; 4. 19W-Justin Wright[4]; 5. 82H-Ron Holmes[5]; 6. 369-Jim Walsh[6]; 7. 16-Aaron Jacobs[8]; 8. 60X-Brad Poppleton[7]

Hot Laps: 1. 1X-Willy Decker, 00:18.697[5]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.755[20]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.928[6]; 4. 4B-Andy Bachetti, 00:19.027[1]; 5. 16S-Jeremy Slosek, 00:19.078[12]; 6. 19W-Justin Wright, 00:19.149[19]; 7. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:19.191[10]; 8. 12B-Addison Bowman, 00:19.270[3]; 9. 01C-Tanner Van Doren, 00:19.366[15]; 10. 76-Jamike Sowle, 00:19.827[13]; 11. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:19.877[14]; 12. 91-Billy Decker, 00:21.096[4]; 13. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:21.264[11]; 14. 77-Alan Barker, 00:21.677[2]; 15. 369-Jim Walsh, 00:21.725[16]; 16. 7G-Brad Godshalk, 00:21.857[22]; 17. 8R-Brian Murphy, 00:21.940[23]; 18. 42P-Pat Ward, 00:21.985[17]; 19. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:23.896[9]; 20. 14J-Alan Johnson, 00:25.603[8]; 21. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:18.579[18]; 22. (DNS) 82H-Ron Holmes; 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. 4-Jim Rothwell[2]; 4. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[1]; 5. 44CD-Stephen Denton[5]; 6. 2K-Josh Amodio[4]; 7. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[8]; 8. 262-Matthew Richardson[10]; 9. 22X-Mike Richmond[17]; 10. 82-David Hackett[7]; 11. 9K-Blaine Klinger[14]; 12. 15-Shawn Frost[6]; 13. 7H-Allan Hodge[9]; 14. 10-Jim Nagle[15]; 15. 54-David Dickey[13]; 16. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[21]; 17. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[18]; 18. 47H-Alex Hughes[3]; 19. 77L-Ed Lukas[16]; 20. 12M-Seth Martin[20]; 21. 90-Brodie Davis[22]; 22. 44C-Ed Downing[19]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47H-Alex Hughes[2]; 2. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[4]; 3. 7H-Allan Hodge[5]; 4. 14T-Payton Talbot[7]; 5. 54-David Dickey[3]; 6. 77L-Ed Lukas[6]; 7. 44C-Ed Downing[1]; 8. 90-Brodie Davis[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Josh Amodio[2]; 2. 33X-Matt Janczuk[7]; 3. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone[1]; 4. 15-Shawn Frost[3]; 5. 9K-Blaine Klinger[6]; 6. 22X-Mike Richmond[5]; 7. 12M-Seth Martin[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44CD-Stephen Denton[2]; 2. 262-Matthew Richardson[5]; 3. 82-David Hackett[3]; 4. 4-Jim Rothwell[1]; 5. 10-Jim Nagle[6]; 6. 1X-Willy Decker Jr[4]; 7. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[7]

Hot Laps: 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk, 00:19.953[12]; 2. 2K-Josh Amodio, 00:20.124[1]; 3. 14T-Payton Talbot, 00:20.137[22]; 4. 22X-Mike Richmond, 00:20.286[18]; 5. 1X-Willy Decker Jr, 00:20.286[3]; 6. 10-Jim Nagle, 00:20.325[16]; 7. 82-David Hackett, 00:20.374[9]; 8. 9K-Blaine Klinger, 00:20.392[13]; 9. 262-Matthew Richardson, 00:20.427[17]; 10. 16S-Jeremy Slosek, 00:20.535[21]; 11. 77L-Ed Lukas, 00:20.663[14]; 12. 47H-Alex Hughes, 00:20.792[11]; 13. 12M-Seth Martin, 00:20.901[15]; 14. 15-Shawn Frost, 00:20.997[7]; 15. 44C-Ed Downing, 00:21.157[6]; 16. 5EJ-EJ Gallup, 00:21.176[8]; 17. 44CD-Stephen Denton, 00:22.182[4]; 18. 69S-Blake Sarpriacone, 00:22.221[20]; 19. 54-David Dickey, 00:22.225[5]; 20. 4-Jim Rothwell, 00:22.426[19]; 21. 90-Brodie Davis, 00:22.846[2]; 22. (DNS) 7H-Allan Hodge

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 715-Jason Morrison[1]; 2. 2H-Luke Horning[11]; 3. 81-Bret Belden[10]; 4. 00X-Josh Coonradt[9]; 5. 74N-Jim Normoyle[7]; 6. 94-Tom Denton[13]; 7. 28H-Johnny Holmes[4]; 8. 96-Andy Graves[6]; 9. 25Y-Ken Griffin[5]; 10. 22-Tim Wood[16]; 11. 28G-Gus Gould[19]; 12. 63-Matt Rose[17]; 13. 9-Kyle Money[14]; 14. 14K-Mike Keith[18]; 15. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[12]; 16. 14J-Johnny Rivers Jr[20]; 17. 101-Ed Kotary[2]; 18. 22W-AJ Walters[8]; 19. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[3]; 20. 13-George Cushman[15]; 21. 51D-Dalton Szewczyk[21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[7]; 2. 101-Ed Kotary[2]; 3. 81-Bret Belden[6]; 4. 25Y-Ken Griffin[3]; 5. 94-Tom Denton[5]; 6. 22-Tim Wood[4]; 7. 28G-Gus Gould[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 715-Jason Morrison[1]; 2. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[2]; 3. 96-Andy Graves[3]; 4. 22W-AJ Walters[5]; 5. 9-Kyle Money[6]; 6. 63-Matt Rose[4]; 7. 14J-Johnny Rivers Jr[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 00X-Josh Coonradt[5]; 2. 74N-Jim Normoyle[3]; 3. 28H-Johnny Holmes[2]; 4. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[7]; 5. 13-George Cushman[1]; 6. 14K-Mike Keith[6]; 7. 51D-Dalton Szewczyk[4]

Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 08-Dalton Doyle[7]; 2. 11-Nick Zielinski[9]; 3. 55-Jonny Feagles[11]; 4. 4-Carson Rothwell[5]; 5. 67P-Connor Prokop[12]; 6. 5P-Aaron Page[17]; 7. 12B-Tyler Bobar[6]; 8. 31K-Kennedy Payne[16]; 9. 67W-Zack Welch[10]; 10. 36-Matt Bukovan[2]; 11. 44T-Hunter Tarbania[13]; 12. 5-Eymarah Bowman[8]; 13. 26-Maddy Broedel[14]; 14. 57-Eric Jensen[4]; 15. 24N-Bobby Newman[1]; 16. 17S-Ernie Staelens[3]; 17. 42K-Dave Kingsley[15]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 24N-Bobby Newman[1]; 2. 08-Dalton Doyle[4]; 3. 4-Carson Rothwell[3]; 4. 36-Matt Bukovan[2]; 5. 11-Nick Zielinski[7]; 6. 55-Jonny Feagles[6]; 7. 44T-Hunter Tarbania[5]; 8. 42K-Dave Kingsley[8]; 9. (DNS) 5P-Aaron Page

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 17S-Ernie Staelens[2]; 2. 12B-Tyler Bobar[4]; 3. 67W-Zack Welch[8]; 4. 5-Eymarah Bowman[5]; 5. 57-Eric Jensen[3]; 6. 67P-Connor Prokop[7]; 7. 26-Maddy Broedel[1]; 8. 31K-Kennedy Payne[6]; 9. 5P-Aaron Page[9]

Hot Laps: 1. 67W-Zack Welch, 00:20.719[16]; 2. 55-Jonny Feagles, 00:20.722[6]; 3. 08-Dalton Doyle, 00:20.906[5]; 4. 17S-Ernie Staelens, 00:21.171[14]; 5. 4-Carson Rothwell, 00:21.182[13]; 6. 12B-Tyler Bobar, 00:21.208[1]; 7. 57-Eric Jensen, 00:21.376[7]; 8. 31K-Kennedy Payne, 00:21.411[11]; 9. 11-Nick Zielinski, 00:21.956[17]; 10. 36-Matt Bukovan, 00:22.344[4]; 11. 42K-Dave Kingsley, 00:23.649[8]; 12. 5-Eymarah Bowman, 00:24.254[2]; 13. 26-Maddy Broedel, 00:41.364[3]; 14. (DNS) 24N-Bobby Newman; 15. (DNS) 5P-Aaron Page; 16. (DNS) 67P-Connor Prokop; 17. (DNS) 44T-Hunter Tarbania

Fonda Fair Four Cylinders

A Feature (12 Laps): 1. 22D-Dan Valade[6]; 2. 21D-Corey Valade[7]; 3. 171D-Jacob Kimball[2]; 4. 666D-Rudy King Jr[11]; 5. 7D-David Denova[3]; 6. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[4]; 7. 35S-Hank Wedgren[8]; 8. 212S-TJ Marlitt[13]; 9. 68FD-Jean Foster[1]; 10. 0D-Kyle Coley[5]; 11. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[10]; 12. (DNS) 42S-Hayleigh Gates; 13. (DNS) 8WD-Jeff Weeks

Heat 1 (5 Laps): 1. 171D-Jacob Kimball[3]; 2. 21D-Corey Valade[11]; 3. 7D-David Denova[4]; 4. 22D-Dan Valade[8]; 5. 68FD-Jean Foster[2]; 6. 0D-Kyle Coley[7]; 7. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[6]; 8. 35S-Hank Wedgren[5]; 9. 212S-TJ Marlitt[13]; 10. 42S-Hayleigh Gates[10]; 11. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[1]; 12. 666D-Rudy King Jr[9]; 13. (DNS) 8WD-Jeff Weeks

Hot Laps: 1. 22D-Dan Valade, 00:27.142[9]; 2. 21D-Corey Valade, 00:27.142[8]; 3. 171D-Jacob Kimball, 00:27.142[5]; 4. 666D-Rudy King Jr, 00:27.142[6]; 5. 7D-David Denova, 00:27.142[2]; 6. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr, 00:26.287[7]; 7. 35S-Hank Wedgren, 00:26.287[11]; 8. 212S-TJ Marlitt, 00:27.142[13]; 9. 68FD-Jean Foster, 00:27.142[3]; 10. 0D-Kyle Coley, 00:27.142[1]; 11. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr, 00:27.142[10]; 12. (DNS) 42S-Hayleigh Gates, 00:27.142; 13. (DNS) 8WD-Jeff Weeks, 00:27.142

Senior Services Inc. All Star Slingshots

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 6B-Brett Putnam[5]; 2. 88-Chris Darrow[4]; 3. 115-Paul Holic[3]; 4. 8-Tadd Granger[1]; 5. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[2]; 6. 10-Scott Sprague[8]; 7. 85X-Jason Dufel[6]; 8. 15-Caleb Still[7]; 9. 42-Kevin Loveless[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Tadd Granger[1]; 2. 6B-Brett Putnam[9]; 3. 115-Paul Holic[4]; 4. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[2]; 5. 88-Chris Darrow[7]; 6. 85X-Jason Dufel[5]; 7. 15-Caleb Still[8]; 8. 10-Scott Sprague[6]; 9. 42-Kevin Loveless[3]

Hot Laps: 1. 8-Tadd Granger, 00:14.343[3]; 2. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins, 00:14.450[5]; 3. 115-Paul Holic, 00:14.452[4]; 4. (DNS) 88-Chris Darrow; 5. (DNS) 85X-Jason Dufel; 6. (DNS) 42-Kevin Loveless; 7. (DNS) 6B-Brett Putnam; 8. (DNS) 10-Scott Sprague; 9. (DNS) 15-Caleb Still

Junior Slingshots

A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 43J-Jayden Wust[2]; 2. 10-Trevor Houghton[6]; 3. 54-Sullivan Dickey[4]; 4. 56-Ayden Goodier[5]; 5. 41S-Chase Spoor[10]; 6. 20-Preston Trautschold[9]; 7. 33X-Brody Janczuk[1]; 8. 27-Blake Banek[3]; 9. 99-Ayna Sarpriacone[7]; 10. 33M-Bodie Marks[8]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 43J-Jayden Wust[2]; 2. 56-Ayden Goodier[4]; 3. 10-Trevor Houghton[5]; 4. 99-Ayna Sarpriacone[1]; 5. 20-Preston Trautschold[3]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 27-Blake Banek[2]; 2. 33X-Brody Janczuk[1]; 3. 54-Sullivan Dickey[3]; 4. 33M-Bodie Marks[5]; 5. 41S-Chase Spoor[4]

Hot Laps: 1. 41S-Chase Spoor, 00:14.103[8]; 2. 33M-Bodie Marks, 00:14.225[6]; 3. 54-Sullivan Dickey, 00:14.237[2]; 4. 43J-Jayden Wust, 00:14.287[10]; 5. 20-Preston Trautschold, 00:14.309[9]; 6. 10-Trevor Houghton, 00:14.333[4]; 7. 33X-Brody Janczuk, 00:14.657[5]; 8. 56-Ayden Goodier, 00:14.755[3]; 9. (DNS) 27-Blake Banek; 10. (DNS) 99-Ayna Sarpriacone