9/25/2022
RacinBoys
Sheppard claims sixth win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway heading into Super DIRT Week
By Michelina Friss, Super DIRTcar Series PR (Malta, NY) -- Matt Sheppard reminded fans and competitors why he is the eight-time and defending Super DIRTcar champion by claiming his first Series win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Saturday night.
Starting from 15th –after missing the redraw – Sheppard stayed out of the purview of onlookers for the first half of the Feature. While the focus was on the frontrunners, he gradually made his way up the field taking over 10th place by the halfway point.
With 17 laps left in the 100-lap matchup, things became interesting. Adam Pierson, who had led every lap besides the first up until that point, unexpectedly left the track with mechanical issues. Anthony Perrego moved into the top spot and was then tasked with holding off the advances of Billy Decker and Jeremy Pitts. As he held his focus there, Sheppard took every bit advantage of the extra time offered in the race’s duration to continue putting pressure on his competitors.
With 10 laps to go, the Waterloo, NY driver had made his way into fourth. But with some smooth maneuvering of his machine, he passed Jeremy Pitts and then soon after Billy Decker for the lead, crossing the finish line in first five laps later. It happened so quickly, it even surprised Sheppard himself.
“So, when we had the last caution on Lap 35 give or take, I was still 11th,” Sheppard said. “Adam Pierson was leading, and I know how good Adam runs here and I know Decker was running second. I got by Decker at the end there and I thought to myself we might have got second or third here. Finally, I looked over at the Jumbotron and saw my number on the top and I was like, what?! When they announced it on the one way, I actually believed it then, I guess.”
Second place finisher Decker battled for his runner-up position every step of the way. After starting on the pole, he dropped to third place where he battled to catch Perrego and Pierson. When Pierson left the track, he moved up and momentarily held the lead. But a hard charging Sheppard proved to be too much to handle as he was passed with five laps remaining.
“It got a little hairy over there,” Decker said. “I got facing down the backstretch there. I got a little aggressive getting into three there. I thought I could hook the cushion. Under that caution, it got a little slimy up there. This JSR team has been working really hard. We’ve been sneaking up on this a little bit. Not quite fast enough. The year is closing in. It was pretty close tonight, just not good enough.”
Anthony Perrego finished third, Marc Johnson finished fourth, and Jeremy Pitts finished fifth.
The contention offered the winner $10,000 and a guaranteed starting spot at the 50th Running of NAPA Super DIRT Week. Due to Sheppard having already secured a position at the prestigious race, the spot was then granted to the runner-up.
AROUND THE TURN: The Super DIRTcar Series will travel to Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY for the 50th Running of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, Oct. 3-9.
RESULTS
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[15]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[1]; 3. 4-Anthony Perrego[8]; 4. 3J-Marc Johnson[10]; 5. 27-Jeremy Pitts[4]; 6. 21A-Peter Britten[7]; 7. 111-Demetrios Drellos[18]; 8. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[17]; 9. 99L-Larry Wight[6]; 10. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[13]; 11. 8H-Max McLaughlin[25]; 12. 35-Mike Mahaney[14]; 13. 2L-Jack Lehner[11]; 14. 115-Kenny Tremont Jr[9]; 15. 34-Kevin Root[20]; 16. 19-Tim Fuller[22]; 17. 88-Mat Williamson[12]; 18. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[19]; 19. 21C-Brian Calabrese[23]; 20. 14-CG Morey[26]; 21. 37-Paul St Sauveur[24]; 22. 87-Neil Stratton[21]; 23. 17-Marcus Dinkins[16]; 24. (DNF) 215-Adam Pierson[3]; 25. (DNF) 12S-Darren Smith[2]; 26. (DNF) 44-Stewart Friesen[5]
Hytorc of New York Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller[1]; 2. 21C-Brian Calabrese[4]; 3. 37-Paul St Sauveur[3]; 4. 8H-Max McLaughlin[6]; 5. 43-Keith Flach[12]; 6. 7-Donald Ronca[8]; 7. 14-CG Morey[5]; 8. 3G-Brian Gleason[7]; 9. 28-Michael Trautschold[2]; 10. 1-Richard Ronca[11]; 11. 91M-Josh Marcus[10]; 12. (DNF) 98H-Jimmy Phelps[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2L-Jack Lehner[2]; 2. 21A-Peter Britten[3]; 3. 3J-Marc Johnson[5]; 4. 35-Mike Mahaney[7]; 5. 111-Demetrios Drellos[4]; 6. 19-Tim Fuller[6]; 7. 14-CG Morey[8]; 8. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[2]; 2. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight[3]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[6]; 5. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[4]; 6. 28-Michael Trautschold[8]; 7. 8H-Max McLaughlin[5]; 8. 91M-Josh Marcus[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Anthony Perrego[1]; 2. 91-Billy Decker[2]; 3. 115-Kenny Tremont Jr[3]; 4. 17-Marcus Dinkins[4]; 5. 34-Kevin Root[5]; 6. 37-Paul St Sauveur[7]; 7. 3G-Brian Gleason[6]; 8. 1-Richard Ronca[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 215-Adam Pierson[1]; 2. 12S-Darren Smith[2]; 3. 27-Jeremy Pitts[4]; 4. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[3]; 5. 87-Neil Stratton[5]; 6. 21C-Brian Calabrese[7]; 7. 7-Donald Ronca[8]; 8. 43-Keith Flach[6]
My Place Hotels TT Group 1 (2 Laps): 1. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:15.277[1]; 2. 2L-Jack Lehner, 00:15.285[7]; 3. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:15.340[2]; 4. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:15.466[6]; 5. 3J-Marc Johnson, 00:15.471[3]; 6. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:15.526[5]; 7. 35-Mike Mahaney, 00:15.546[8]; 8. 14-CG Morey, 00:15.710[4]
My Place Hotels TT Group 2 (2 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson, 00:15.420[5]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:15.602[3]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:15.620[4]; 4. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:15.667[8]; 5. 8H-Max McLaughlin, 00:15.671[7]; 6. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:15.708[1]; 7. 91M-Josh Marcus, 00:16.097[6]; 8. 28-Michael Trautschold, 00:16.116[2]
My Place Hotels TT Group 3 (2 Laps): 1. 4-Anthony Perrego, 00:15.483[7]; 2. 91-Billy Decker, 00:15.655[6]; 3. 115-Kenny Tremont Jr, 00:15.765[4]; 4. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 00:15.782[1]; 5. 34-Kevin Root, 00:15.812[8]; 6. 3G-Brian Gleason, 00:15.820[2]; 7. 37-Paul St Sauveur, 00:16.107[5]; 8. 1-Richard Ronca, 00:16.154[3]
My Place Hotels TT Group 4 (2 Laps): 1. 215-Adam Pierson, 00:15.389[7]; 2. 12S-Darren Smith, 00:15.527[5]; 3. 83X-Tim Sears Jr, 00:15.632[8]; 4. 27-Jeremy Pitts, 00:15.731[4]; 5. 87-Neil Stratton, 00:15.766[3]; 6. 43-Keith Flach, 00:15.852[2]; 7. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:15.876[6]; 8. 7-Donald Ronca, 00:16.113[1]
Hot Laps G1 (3 Laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:15.116[5]; 2. 3J-Marc Johnson, 00:15.211[3]; 3. 2L-Jack Lehner, 00:15.334[7]; 4. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:15.340[2]; 5. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:15.373[6]; 6. 35-Mike Mahaney, 00:15.650[8]; 7. 14-CG Morey, 00:15.740[4]; 8. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:15.740[1]
Hot Laps G2 (3 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:15.175[3]; 2. 88-Mat Williamson, 00:15.336[5]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:15.350[4]; 4. 8H-Max McLaughlin, 00:15.390[7]; 5. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:15.514[1]; 6. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:15.640[8]; 7. 28-Michael Trautschold, 00:15.828[2]; 8. 91M-Josh Marcus, 00:15.873[6]
Hot Laps G3 (3 Laps): 1. 4-Anthony Perrego, 00:15.359[7]; 2. 91-Billy Decker, 00:15.464[6]; 3. 34-Kevin Root, 00:15.583[8]; 4. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 00:15.584[1]; 5. 3G-Brian Gleason, 00:15.624[2]; 6. 115-Kenny Tremont Jr, 00:15.782[4]; 7. 37-Paul St Sauveur, 00:15.795[5]; 8. 1-Richard Ronca, 00:15.985[3]
Hot Laps G4 (3 Laps): 1. 215-Adam Pierson, 00:15.360[7]; 2. 12S-Darren Smith, 00:15.470[5]; 3. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:15.540[6]; 4. 87-Neil Stratton, 00:15.622[3]; 5. 43-Keith Flach, 00:15.668[2]; 6. 27-Jeremy Pitts, 00:15.813[4]; 7. 83X-Tim Sears Jr, 00:15.842[8]; 8. 7-Donald Ronca, 00:16.093[1]
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RCIHIE CRANE SCORES FIRST DIRTcar PRO STOCK VICTORY AT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY
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MALTA, NY (SEPT. 24, 2022) – Richie Crane bested a stout field of DIRTcar Pro Stock drivers to claim his first Series win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway during the Malta Massive Weekend Saturday night.
Crane mastered the bottom line around the 3/8-mile track to hold off recent Series winner Nick Stone and claim the victory in the 30-lap event – the sixth Series race of the 2022 season.
“I knew I had a good group behind me,” Crane said. “They’re tough to beat. But I knew I had a good race car. I knew I had to get a good restart, these guys behind me are really good. I beat the best tonight.
“I’m lucky this is my home track, so to have these fans here, I can’t say enough.”
Behind Crane was Stone in second, Rob Yetman in third, Jason Casey in fourth and Josh Coonradt rounded out the top-five.
DIRTCAR PRO STOCK
DIRTcar Pro-Stock Feature (30 Laps): 1. 69-Rich Crane[3]; 2. 8N-Nick Stone[4]; 3. 7-Rob Yetman[9]; 4. 324-Jason Casey[7]; 5. 00X-Josh Coonradt[12]; 6. 33-Zach Seyerlein[8]; 7. 2H-Luke Horning[19]; 8. 9-Shane Henderson[13]; 9. 715-Jason Morrison[2]; 10. 15X-Tyler Bushey[10]; 11. 51-Jason Meltz[20]; 12. 72-Bruno Richard[11]; 13. 28D-Phillip Defiglio[1]; 14. 75-Gary Silkey[5]; 15. 322-Jay Casey[18]; 16. 1X-Justin White[24]; 17. 02-Michael Baker[21]; 18. 56-Jay Fitzgerald[25]; 19. 55-Dave Stckles[27]; 20. 4M-Jordan Modiano[15]; 21. 17-Nick Hilt[22]; 22. 14J-Johnny Rivers[14]; 23. 09J-Shawn Perez[17]; 24. 110-Devon Camenga[23]; 25. (DNF) 25-Chad Jeseo[26]; 26. (DNF) 7D-Chucky Dumblewski[6]; 27. (DNF) 28-Jaxson Ryan[28]; 28. (DNF) 25Y-Kenneth Griffin[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 00X-Josh Coonradt[1]; 2. 715-Jason Morrison[3]; 3. 15X-Tyler Bushey[4]; 4. 9-Shane Henderson[2]; 5. 09J-Shawn Perez[6]; 6. 02-Michael Baker[5]; 7. (DNF) 56-Jay Fitzgerald[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Rich Crane[1]; 2. 75-Gary Silkey[2]; 3. 28D-Phillip Defiglio[3]; 4. 14J-Johnny Rivers[4]; 5. 322-Jay Casey[5]; 6. 17-Nick Hilt[6]; 7. 25-Chad Jeseo[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[4]; 2. 72-Bruno Richard[1]; 3. 324-Jason Casey[2]; 4. 4M-Jordan Modiano[3]; 5. 2H-Luke Horning[7]; 6. 110-Devon Camenga[6]; 7. 55-Dave Stckles[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Rob Yetman[1]; 2. 7D-Chucky Dumblewski[2]; 3. 33-Zach Seyerlein[3]; 4. 25Y-Kenneth Griffin[4]; 5. 51-Jason Meltz[7]; 6. 1X-Justin White[5]; 7. 28-Jaxson Ryan[6]
Hot Lap TT 1 (3 Laps): 1. 00X-Josh Coonradt, 00:18.295[6]; 2. 9-Shane Henderson, 00:18.409[3]; 3. 715-Jason Morrison, 00:18.411[4]; 4. 15X-Tyler Bushey, 00:18.438[5]; 5. 02-Michael Baker, 00:18.533[7]; 6. 09J-Shawn Perez, 00:19.101[2]; 7. 56-Jay Fitzgerald, 00:19.101[1]
Hot Lap TT 2 (3 Laps): 1. 69-Rich Crane, 00:18.078[4]; 2. 75-Gary Silkey, 00:18.189[1]; 3. 28D-Phillip Defiglio, 00:18.266[6]; 4. 14J-Johnny Rivers, 00:18.275[3]; 5. 322-Jay Casey, 00:18.304[7]; 6. 17-Nick Hilt, 00:18.510[2]; 7. 25-Chad Jeseo, 00:18.607[5]
Hot Lap TT 3 (3 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard, 00:18.195[6]; 2. 324-Jason Casey, 00:18.242[3]; 3. 4M-Jordan Modiano, 00:18.254[1]; 4. 8N-Nick Stone, 00:18.314[7]; 5. 55-Dave Stckles, 00:18.401[4]; 6. 110-Devon Camenga, 00:18.454[2]; 7. 2H-Luke Horning, 00:18.679[5]
Hot Lap TT 4 (3 Laps): 1. 7-Rob Yetman, 00:18.002[6]; 2. 7D-Chucky Dumblewski, 00:18.077[5]; 3. 33-Zach Seyerlein, 00:18.197[2]; 4. 25Y-Kenneth Griffin, 00:18.221[1]; 5. 1X-Justin White, 00:18.815[7]; 6. 28-Jaxson Ryan, 00:18.816[4]; 7. (DQ) 51-Jason Meltz, 00:18.353[3]
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
