Story By: CHRIS MOORE / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – GEORGETOWN, DE – Finally. After years of trying, Danny Bouc can finally call himself a Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco feature winner.
The Pipersville, Pa., native drove his Craig and Leslie Pondish, BDR Speed No. 6 to a $7,000 triumph in the ‘Mid-Atlantic Championship’ at Georgetown Speedway.
The race was the finale in the Rent Equip/Party Central South Region for the STSS Modifieds.
“I don’t know what it is about this weekend,” Bouc exclaimed. “We got a taste of one of these (an STSS win) last year and now to come back and get this one means so much to this team.”
Bouc was triumphant in the Camp Barnes Benefit Stock Car Race and the 358 Spec Small-Block feature in the 2022 ‘Mid-Atlantic Championship.’
This year, Bouc saved his best for the big prize.
“I knew Ryan (Godown) wasn’t going to give me an inch,” Bouc explained with his battles with his closest competitor. “We raced really hard and really clean… I appreciate him racing me that way.”
Bouc started from the third starting position following the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw but quickly moved into second and began chasing Johnstown, N.Y.’s Rocky Warner for the top spot.
Bouc rolled around the outside of Warner and nabbed the lead away at the completion of the fourth circuit.
Bouc paced the field with a healthy advantage into lap traffic as the opening 16 laps clicked off before the race’s first caution flag flew.
From there caution flags became a theme of the race, which allowed both Ryan Godown and Matt Sheppard to begin making their way to the front, each picking off multiple cars as the restarts commenced.
Godown moved into the runner-up spot on lap 21, giving Bouc his best effort to nab the lead away with every passing restart.
Bouc was up to every challenge Godown threw at him and raced away with his first ever STSS victory.
Godown would settle for the runner-up position.
“He had a really good car… I knew my only chance was to get him on a restart,” Godown proclaimed. “It’s good to see him get a win like this though, them guys work hard, and everybody needs one of these wins sometime.”
Godown was also the runner-up at Georgetown in the STSS ‘Blast at the Beach’ back in August.
Matt Sheppard rounded out the podium, and with the finish was crowned the STSS South Region Champion for the second consecutive season.
“It was another steady solid year, and I couldn’t do it without my crew,” Sheppard said. “A lot of traveling up and down the road and I’ve been fortunate to have a really good team behind me.”
Rocky Warner settled for fourth in his first race since a nasty crash at Fonda (N.Y.) Speedway in September and Elizabethtown, N.Y.’s Mike Mahaney completed the top five in George Huttig owned No. 35.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Boyertown, Pa.’s Ryan Watt in the Ron Roberts Racing No. 14w; Boyertown, Pa.’s Mike Gular aboard the Terry Fasnacht owned No. 2A; Frenchtown, N.J.’s Billy Pauch Jr. piloting the Rick Holsten owned No. 96; Fonda, N.Y.’s Danny Varin driving the BDR Speed No. 16s; and Georgetown, Del.’s Carson Wright in his family-owned No. 91 machine.
Thirty-one STSS Modifieds signed in for competition for the ‘Mid-Atlantic Championship.’
Heat races were won by Godown, Sheppard, and Gular.
Racing concludes for the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco on Friday, November 10 at Middletown, N.Y.’s Orange County Fair Speedway. The rescheduled ‘Hard Clay Finale’ serves as the final race of the 2023 season for the STSS and will crown a champion in the River Valley Builders North Region. The STSS Modifieds go for 50-laps and a $10,000 top prize.
A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 6B-Danny Bouc[3]; 2. 26-Ryan Godown[7]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[10]; 4. JS98-Rocky Warner[2]; 5. 35M-Mike Mahaney[5]; 6. 14W-Ryan Watt[8]; 7. 2A-Mike Gular[4]; 8. 1J-Billy Pauch Jr[9]; 9. 16S-Danny Varin[15]; 10. 91-Carson Wright[24]; 11. 29-Ryan Krachun[20]; 12. JB1-Johnny Bangs[26]; 13. 28-Thomas Solderich[27]; 14. 74W-John Willman[14]; 15. 43H-Jimmy Horton[17]; 16. 117-Kevin Hirthler[1]; 17. 32G-Brandon Grosso[13]; 18. 6S-Matt Stangle[18]; 19. 1K-Sean Weiss[21]; 20. 65-Austin Hubbard[6]; 21. 4P-Anthony Perrego[11]; 22. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 23. 71-James Hill[19]; 24. 10C-Ryan Charland[22]; 25. 410-Alex Yankowski[16]; 26. M2-Bubba McPhee[25]; 27. 8-Norman Short Jr[23]
Penske Racing Shocks Hot Laps: 1. 6B-Danny Bouc, 00:18.649[2]; 2. 4P-Anthony Perrego, 00:18.883[19]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:19.094[20]; 4. 43H-Jimmy Horton, 00:19.192[13]; 5. 14W-Ryan Watt, 00:19.205[26]; 6. 91-Carson Wright, 00:19.288[29]; 7. 6S-Matt Stangle, 00:19.333[22]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:19.366[6]; 9. 32G-Brandon Grosso, 00:19.390[8]; 10. 1J-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:19.392[18]; 11. 410-Alex Yankowski, 00:19.394[30]; 12. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:19.509[16]; 13. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:19.627[24]; 14. 65-Austin Hubbard, 00:19.646[14]; 15. 16S-Danny Varin, 00:19.648[23]; 16. 29-Ryan Krachun, 00:19.681[15]; 17. 71-James Hill, 00:19.704[11]; 18. 1K-Sean Weiss, 00:19.768[27]; 19. JB1-Johnny Bangs, 00:19.770[1]; 20. 10C-Ryan Charland, 00:19.864[4]; 21. 117-Kevin Hirthler, 00:19.935[12]; 22. 74W-John Willman, 00:19.945[28]; 23. 28-Thomas Solderich, 00:20.036[31]; 24. 8-Norman Short Jr, 00:20.249[21]; 25. M2-Bubba McPhee, 00:20.333[17]; 26. 30-HJ Bunting, 00:20.333[3]; 27. 157-Dave Dissinger, 00:20.333[5]; 28. 26-Ryan Godown, 00:20.333[7]; 29. 2A-Mike Gular, 00:20.333[9]; 30. 51H-Wade Hendrickson, 00:20.333[10]; 31. 1W-Jordan Watson, 00:20.333[25]