Matt Sheppard Opens Short Track Super Series’ 2024 Campaign With Win At All-Tech Raceway
News Director 
Story By: CHRIS MOORE / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – LAKE CITY, FL – “Super start.” The Northeast Modified kingpin kicked off the 2024 racing season with a $5,000 win with the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco.
Matt Sheppard kicked off the ‘Sunshine Swing’ presented by Capitol Custom Trailers & Coaches with an Opening Night win, leading from lap five on to take home the win.
‘Super Matt’ carved his way through several bouts of lap traffic nearly flawlessly to claim the 39th win of his STSS career and his second at All-Tech Raceway.
“It feels really good, you never know with a new year, but we haven’t really changed our program,” Sheppard explained. “Everything went our way tonight; we had a good car and we drew a good number.”
With Sheppard rolling off third, Vestal, N.Y.’s Seth Zacharias and Wurtsboro, N.Y.’s Danny Creeden occupied the front row for the 30-lap affair after the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw.
Creeden quickly raced out to the lead on the opening lap with Sheppard following him by Zacharias and into the runner-up spot.
Creeden was rolling the outside groove trying to maintain the top side with Sheppard plugging on the bottom side of the speedway chasing Creeden.
Sheppard worked by Creeden on the inside groove at the completion of the fifth circuit and began to drive away.
Meanwhile, Phoenix, N.Y.’s Larry Wight was quickly marching from the seventh starting position and working on Marc Johnson for fourth.
Wight surpassed Johnson on lap seven and set his sights on what was becoming a battle for the runner-up spot.
Binghamton, N.Y.’s Darren Smith parlayed his strong practice night into a fast racecar and worked by Creeden for the runner-up spot on the same lap.
Two laps later, Mike Trautschold slowed exiting turn two to head off the racetrack, directly in front of Matt Sheppard. Sheppard hooked Trautschold in the left rear and sent him around bringing out the race’s first yellow.
Racing resumed with Sheppard leading Smith, Creeden, Wight and Johnson.
Wight made quick work of Creeden when racing resumed, while Darren Smith showed the potential to challenge Sheppard for the top spot.
Smith bounced off the turn two concrete however on lap 11, and Sheppard skated away.
Shortly after, Wight took advantage of Smith continuing to rebound and drove him for the runner-up spot and set his sights on Sheppard for the top spot.
Wight, however, made a similar mistake, bouncing off the third-turn concrete and losing crucial ground on Sheppard.
From there, Wight never got close enough to offer Sheppard a challenge as the driver of the No. 9S navigated through lap traffic without a hiccup.
“I ran the bottom most of the race, so I didn’t really know what I had up top,” Sheppard proclaimed. “But I know these guys are too good for me to ride around behind the lapped cars.”
Wight settled for the runner-up spot.
“Our car was good, and I lost the right-front once and smacked the wall,” Wight explained with a laugh. “After that I think it knocked a hub loose because the brakes were shaking really bad.”
Darren Smith rounded out the podium finishers; the best finish of his STSS career in his Jeremy Smith Racing No. 12.
“We were really good tonight and we had really good balance in our car,” Smith said. “I’d just lose the nose every now and then and it hurt us when I hit the wall.”
Sprakers, N.Y.’s Stewart Friesen charged from the 11th starting spot to finish fourth and Guilderland, N.Y.’s Marc Johnson rounded out the top five.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Ransomville, N.Y.’s Erick Rudolph aboard his family-owned No. 25; Federalsburg, Md.’s Austin Hubbard in the Blades HVAC Services No. 65; Danny Creeden piloting his own No. 16x; Schnecksville, Pa.’s Tanner VanDoren driving in the Charlie Lord No. 01C; East Greenbush, N.Y.’s Bobby Hackel from 23rd in the Godgart Motorsports No. 97; and East Canaan, Conn.’s Chris Curtis.
Thirty-one STSS Modifieds signed in for the opening night of the ‘Sunshine Swing.’
Heat winners were Rudolph, Sheppard, Danny Bouc and Trautschold, respectively.
Racing continues Thursday night with a 35-lap, $6,000-to-win STSS Modified main and a $1,500-to-win, 25-lap Crate 602 Sportsman event.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[7]; 3. 12S-Darren Smith[5]; 4. 44-Stewart Friesen[11]; 5. 9-Marc Johnson[4]; 6. 25R-Erick Rudolph[10]; 7. 65-Austin Hubbard[9]; 8. 01VD-Tanner Van Doren[14]; 9. 97H-Bobby Hackel IV[23]; 10. 35C-Chris Curtis[21]; 11. 6-Mat Williamson[17]; 12. 16X-Dan Creeden[2]; 13. 6B-Danny Bouc[6]; 14. 11H-Danny Hieber[15]; 15. 21A-Peter Britten[18]; 16. 7-Rick Laubach[16]; 17. 70A-Alex Payne[22]; 18. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[1]; 19. 35-Francois Bellemare[20]; 20. 11-Matt Caprara[24]; 21. 34-Rusty Smith[12]; 22. 6S-Matt Stangle[13]; 23. 28T-Michael Trautschold[8]; 24. 27J-Danny Johnson[26]; 25. 27-Jason Reome[19]; 26. 22J-Bubba McPhee[25]
Consolation (8 Laps): 1. 35C-Chris Curtis[1]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[11]; 3. 97H-Bobby Hackel IV[9]; 4. 11-Matt Caprara[4]; 5. 22J-Bubba McPhee[3]; 6. 27J-Danny Johnson[2]; 7. 38-Jean Mathieu Raymond[8]; 8. 7Z-Zach Payne[6]; 9. 29J-Julien Raymond[7]; 10. (DNS) 01-Danny Varin; 11. (DNS) 87-Jason Ingalls
Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 25R-Erick Rudolph[3]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[1]; 4. 6S-Matt Stangle[4]; 5. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 6. 35C-Chris Curtis[8]; 7. (DNS) 01-Danny Varin; 8. (DQ) 97H-Bobby Hackel IV[5]
Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 2. 65-Austin Hubbard[2]; 3. 9-Marc Johnson[1]; 4. 01VD-Tanner Van Doren[5]; 5. 21A-Peter Britten[4]; 6. 27J-Danny Johnson[8]; 7. 7Z-Zach Payne[7]; 8. 70A-Alex Payne[6]
Heat #3 (8 Laps): 1. 6B-Danny Bouc[2]; 2. 16X-Dan Creeden[3]; 3. 34-Rusty Smith[1]; 4. 11H-Danny Hieber[5]; 5. 27-Jason Reome[7]; 6. 22J-Bubba McPhee[8]; 7. 29J-Julien Raymond[6]; 8. 87-Jason Ingalls[4]
Heat #4 (8 Laps): 1. 28T-Michael Trautschold[1]; 2. 12S-Darren Smith[3]; 3. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[5]; 4. 7-Rick Laubach[4]; 5. 35-Francois Bellemare[7]; 6. 11-Matt Caprara[2]; 7. 38-Jean Mathieu Raymond[6]
Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 1: 1. 25R-Erick Rudolph, 00:19.506[6]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:20.056[7]; 4. 6S-Matt Stangle, 00:20.105[1]; 5. 97H-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:20.453[4]; 6. 01-Danny Varin, 00:20.611[8]; 7. 6-Mat Williamson, 00:20.858[3]; 8. 35C-Chris Curtis, 00:22.093[5]
Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 2: 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:19.690[6]; 2. 65-Austin Hubbard, 00:19.692[5]; 3. 9-Marc Johnson, 00:20.225[8]; 4. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:20.310[3]; 5. 01VD-Tanner Van Doren, 00:20.317[1]; 6. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:20.690[2]; 7. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:20.786[7]; 8. 27J-Danny Johnson, 00:20.951[4]
Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 3: 1. 16X-Dan Creeden, 00:19.519[5]; 2. 6B-Danny Bouc, 00:20.319[1]; 3. 34-Rusty Smith, 00:20.488[7]; 4. 87-Jason Ingalls, 00:20.558[4]; 5. 11H-Danny Hieber, 00:20.612[2]; 6. 29J-Julien Raymond, 00:21.088[8]; 7. 27-Jason Reome, 00:21.178[3]; 8. 22J-Bubba McPhee, 00:21.188[6]
Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 4: 1. 12S-Darren Smith, 00:19.617[4]; 2. 11-Matt Caprara, 00:19.799[2]; 3. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:19.875[7]; 4. 7-Rick Laubach, 00:19.884[1]; 5. 17Z-Seth Zacharias, 00:20.070[6]; 6. 38-Jean Mathieu Raymond, 00:20.203[3]; 7. 35-Francois Bellemare, 00:20.588[5]
Did Not Qualify: 38-Jean-Mathieu Raymond, 7z-Zach Payne, 29J-Julien Raymond, 01-Danny Varin, 87-Jason Ingalls
American Racer/Lias Tire Bonuses (FREE Tire Certificate): Tanner Van Doren (eighth) & Danny Bouc (13th)
ATL Fuel Cell ‘Hot Lap Hero ($100): Erick Rudolph (19.506 seconds)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Bonuses ($50 Gift Cards): Stewart Friesen (fourth) & Bobby Hackel (ninth)
Beyea Custom Headers Redraw Bonus ($50): Rusty Smith (Redrew 12th)
Eibach Springs Bonus ($100 Certificate): Erick Rudolph (sixth)
Henry’s Exhaust Power Position ($50 Certificate): Mat Williamson (11th)
NPS First Car One Lap Down ($100): Danny Hieber (14th)
Penske Racing Shocks Bonuses: Matt Sheppard (first – $150 certificate); Larry Wight (second – $75 certificate); Darren Smith (third – $50 certificate); Stewart Friesen (fourth – $25 certificate)
Schultz Racing Fuel Cells Bonus ($100 Certificate): Chris Curtis (10th)
TV 12 Race Products Bonus (Two Wheel Covers): Dan Creeden (12th)
Wilwood Brakes ‘Lucky 7’ Bonus ($100 Certificate): Austin Hubbard (seventh)
