Matt Sheppard Scores Another $50K; Wins Short Track Super Series Speed Showcase 75

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Story By: CHRIS MOORE / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – PORT ROYAL, PA – Conservation.  That was the name of the game in the ‘Speed Showcase’ at Port Royal Speedway, as Matt Sheppard did just enough to save his right-rear tire for the duration of the 75-lap affair to claim the $50,000 top prize.

The win was Sheppard’s fourth of the early season with the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco and with the win, was also officially crowned the 2023 Ollie’s ‘Elite’ Series Champion following the win.

The ‘Elite’ Series title was worth $15,000, making Sheppard’s total take home money a staggering $65,250.

“As soon as I got to the lead, the first thing that went through my mind was the tires,” Sheppard explained. “I started doing everything I know how to do to conserve them and take care of them.”

Sheppard came from the ninth starting position following the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw but went from fourth to first on a lap-20 restart to take the lead and pace the remaining 55 laps.

“Getting to the lead early I think was the key,” he proclaimed. “I was able to pace myself out front and the clean air helped with the handling and could control the tires well.”

Despite leading the final 55 laps of the race, Sheppard did not go without a competition late in the race.

Unadilla, N.Y.’s Billy Decker charged from the 24th starting position into the runner-up spot with still 25 laps remaining in the race.

Decker, who had a harder tire compound on his right rear, was unable to get by Sheppard over the last 25 laps with several cautions coming late in the race.

“The only thing I think that would’ve helped was a longer green-flag run,” Decker said. “I wasn’t good enough on the short runs to make him run harder.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done with him if I could get to him other than make him run harder and hope his tire went.”

Sheppard on the other hand, wasn’t as sure Decker couldn’t have made a move under different circumstances.

“I’m going to have to go back and watch the race,” Sheppard said. “My crew guys signaled Decker was running the bottom. I tried to go down there and didn’t feel very good… we were gonna live and die by the outside.”

With the win, Sheppard vaulted to the top of the Ollie’s Overall Championship standings and the NJ Quality Drywall South Region standings two races into the season.

With Decker coming home second, Oley, Pa.’s Louden Reimert turned heads in the Modified racing world with a podium finish.

“We were definitely a third-place car,” Reimert stated. “Matt and Billy are two of the best in the business and it’s honestly just an honor to be up here with them.”

Reimert raced to third on the final restarted after firing from the 16th starting position.

Watertown, N.Y.’s Tim Fuller rose 24 positions to come home fourth in his St. Lawrence Radiology No. 19 and St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada’s Mat Williamson – who ran as high as second – rounded out the top five in the Behrent’s Performance Warehouse No. 3.

Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Saratoga Springs, N.Y.’s Jack Lehner in his family-owned No. 2; Guilderland, N.Y.’s Marc Johnson – who was the BDR Speed Hard Charger advancing 26 positions – in the S&S Asphalt Paving No. 9; Covington Township, Pa.’s Alex Yankowski brought his Tim Millman-backed No. 84y home eighth; Mooresville, N.C.’s Max McLaughlin rebounded for ninth in the Norm Hansell owned No. 357 after pitting early; and Walden, N.Y.’s Anthony Perrego rounded out the top-10 after getting a flat tire late in the race with his Vinnie Salerno owned No. 4*.

Sixty-five STSS big-block/small-block Modifieds signed for competition in the ‘Speed Showcase.’

The STSS now lays dormant until the calendar flips to the month of May when Delaware International Speedway hosts the ‘Diamond State 50.’ The STSS Modifieds go for 50-laps and $5,000 top prize in Round No. 3 of the Ollie’s Overall Championship and the NJ Quality Drywall South Region. The STSS Crate 602 Sportsman will also be on hand for Round No. 3 of the Belmont’s Garage South Region for a 25-lap, $1,500 top prize.

Speed Showcase 75 Feature (75 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[9]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[24]; 3. 58-Louden Reimert[18]; 4. 19-Tim Fuller[26]; 5. 3W-Mat Williamson[7]; 6. 2L-Jack Lehner[22]; 7. 9J-Marc Johnson[33]; 8. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[23]; 9. 357-Max McLaughlin[14]; 10. 4P-Anthony Perrego[31]; 11. 29K-Ryan Krachun[35]; 12. 3RS-Dalton Slack[16]; 13. 35M-Mike Mahaney[2]; 14. 2X-Jeff Strunk[5]; 15. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[13]; 16. 70A-Alex Payne[11]; 17. 28T-Michael Trautschold[34]; 18. 6B-Danny Bouc[17]; 19. 27J-Danny Johnson[32]; 20. 6D-Dillon Steuer[29]; 21. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[30]; 22. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[6]; 23. 7MM-Michael Maresca[20]; 24. 14W-Ryan Watt[4]; 25. 16X-Danny Creeden[8]; 26. 25R-Erick Rudolph[19]; 27. 32-Brandon Grosso[36]; 28. 6S-Matt Stangle[15]; 29. 65-Austin Hubbard[21]; 30. 1X-Willy Decker[28]; 31. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[1]; 32. 24M-Sammy Martz Jr[27]; 33. 26-Ryan Godown[3]; 34. 2A-Mike Gular[10]; 35. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[12]; 36. JS98-Rocky Warner[25]; 37. (DNS) 35C-Chris Curtis

Consolation #1 (10 Laps): 1. 65-Austin Hubbard[2]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[4]; 3. 24M-Sammy Martz Jr[5]; 4. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[3]; 5. 9J-Marc Johnson[10]; 6. 29K-Ryan Krachun[12]; 7. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[1]; 8. 20C-Cole Stangle[7]; 9. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[8]; 10. 28-Brian Swartzlander[9]; 11. 24-Jake Dgien[6]; 12. 71-Jimmy Zacharias[11]; 13. (DNS) 11-Matt Caprara

Consolation #2 (10 Laps): 1. 2L-Jack Lehner[2]; 2. JS98-Rocky Warner[1]; 3. 1X-Willy Decker[4]; 4. 4P-Anthony Perrego[5]; 5. 7Z-Zach Payne[6]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight[7]; 7. 29-Garrett Krummert[10]; 8. 28T-Michael Trautschold[13]; 9. 117-Kevin Hirthler[11]; 10. 77-Alan Barker[14]; 11. 221-Gary Edwards III[12]; 12. 1G-Darwin Greene[15]; 13. 32-Brandon Grosso[3]; 14. 87-Neil Stratton[8]; 15. X1-Ken Eckert[9]

Consolation #3 (10 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[5]; 3. 6D-Dillon Steuer[2]; 4. 27J-Danny Johnson[4]; 5. 11H-Danny Hieber[10]; 6. 165-Rex King Jr[3]; 7. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[6]; 8. 58M-Marshall Hurd[9]; 9. 10C-Tanner Van Doren[13]; 10. 74W-John Willman[7]; 11. 22-Brandon Walters[8]; 12. 01-Danny Varin[11]; 13. J24-Justin Grosso[12]; 14. 35C-Chris Curtis[14]

Penske Racing Shocks Hot Laps: 1. 9J-Marc Johnson, 00:20.302[24]; 2. 29-Garrett Krummert, 00:20.349[28]; 3. 91-Billy Decker, 00:20.503[6]; 4. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:20.549[57]; 5. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:20.593[12]; 6. 27J-Danny Johnson, 00:20.670[23]; 7. 4P-Anthony Perrego, 00:20.674[39]; 8. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:20.795[25]; 9. 3RS-Dalton Slack, 00:20.814[44]; 10. 2L-Jack Lehner, 00:20.826[29]; 11. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:20.876[60]; 12. 6D-Dillon Steuer, 00:20.894[47]; 13. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:21.007[31]; 14. 24M-Sammy Martz Jr, 00:21.058[32]; 15. 16X-Danny Creeden, 00:21.065[4]; 16. 1X-Willy Decker, 00:21.116[7]; 17. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:21.122[40]; 18. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:21.191[55]; 19. 32-Brandon Grosso, 00:21.197[15]; 20. 357-Max McLaughlin, 00:21.221[34]; 21. 74W-John Willman, 00:21.228[59]; 22. 1Z-Jessica Friesen, 00:21.233[11]; 23. 3W-Mat Williamson, 00:21.238[58]; 24. 165-Rex King Jr, 00:21.259[26]; 25. 22-Brandon Walters, 00:21.353[54]; 26. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:21.442[43]; 27. 26-Ryan Godown, 00:21.501[13]; 28. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:21.520[38]; 29. 28-Brian Swartzlander, 00:21.545[50]; 30. 29K-Ryan Krachun, 00:21.557[27]; 31. 2X-Jeff Strunk, 00:21.571[49]; 32. 6S-Matt Stangle, 00:21.583[46]; 33. 20C-Cole Stangle, 00:21.592[45]; 34. 1-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:21.598[36]; 35. 1G-Darwin Greene, 00:21.599[14]; 36. 21M-Bob Mcgannon, 00:21.648[33]; 37. 221-Gary Edwards III, 00:21.655[10]; 38. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:21.658[30]; 39. J24-Justin Grosso, 00:21.672[16]; 40. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:21.713[37]; 41. 2A-Mike Gular, 00:21.718[17]; 42. 01-Danny Varin, 00:21.735[53]; 43. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr, 00:21.807[35]; 44. 117-Kevin Hirthler, 00:21.839[20]; 45. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:21.843[18]; 46. 35C-Chris Curtis, 00:21.862[5]; 47. 14W-Ryan Watt, 00:21.915[56]; 48. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:21.957[51]; 49. 58-Louden Reimert, 00:21.995[41]; 50. 58M-Marshall Hurd, 00:22.018[22]; 51. 6B-Danny Bouc, 00:22.044[2]; 52. 17Z-Seth Zacharias, 00:22.110[62]; 53. 65-Austin Hubbard, 00:22.300[21]; 54. 10C-Tanner Van Doren, 00:22.418[52]; 55. 24-Jake Dgien, 00:22.431[8]; 56. 77-Alan Barker[1]; 57. 11-Matt Caprara[3]; 58. X1-Ken Eckert[9]; 59. 11H-Danny Hieber[19]; 60. 25R-Erick Rudolph[42]; 61. 87-Neil Stratton[48]; 62. 71-Jimmy Zacharias[61]; 63. 21A-Peter Britten; 64. 7-Rick Laubach; 65. 15G-Duane Howard

 
 
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