POTTSVILLE, Pa. — The Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds returned to Big Diamond Speedway after a 13-year hiatus, but it was a familiar driver in victory lane at the end of the night.
Point leader and defending series champion Matt Sheppard was dominant, setting fast time in his group, winning his heat. Sheppard started third for the 75-lap main event.
Ryan Godown took the early lead, while Sheppard quickly moved int second. Sheppard passed Godown for the lead on lap 11. From then on, it became a question of who, if anyone, was going to be able to track down the veteran driver and get within striking distance.
Stewart Friesen tried his hand at the challenge, moving into second place by lap 22. But Sheppard was firing on all cylinders, car lengths ahead of any challengers, and Friesen was only able to put a minimal amount of pressure on him with 10 laps to go.
“He (Sheppard) has been really, really good all year long,” Friesen said. “He could get that thing rotated and get off the corner and put that half car length on us up off the corner every time, and that’s what it took. I could kind of stay with him the first couple laps on a restart but then (he got) that quarter half up on us, and that was it.”
Friesen finished second, followed by Godown.
“I just felt like I was too good, too early,” Godown said. “It was lap 15, or 20, and it just felt like it was starting to go away. In the Heat Race I was too tight. I was trying to battle that, and we just kind of went too far one way…it’s just trying to get the balance of the car and it just seemed like I couldn’t get it all night. But when you finish in the top three to Sheppard and Friesen, it’s never a bad night.”
Series regular and Pennsylvania native Alex Yankowski charged from 12th to finish fourth. Adam Pierson finished fifth.
The finish:
Feature (75 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[7]; 3. 26-Ryan Godown[1]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[12]; 5. 215P-Adam Pierson[4]; 6. 33-Louden Reimert[18]; 7. 6S-Matthew Stangle[2]; 8. 32-Brandon Grosso[6]; 9. 88-Mat Williamson[8]; 10. 4-Anthony Perrego[15]; 11. 3J-Marc Johnson[16]; 12. 2A-Mike Gular[14]; 13. 2L-Jack Lehner[22]; 14. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[10]; 15. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[17]; 16. 21A-Peter Britten[5]; 17. (DNF) 12S-Darren Smith[23]; 18. (DNF) 14W-Ryan Watt[20]; 19. (DNF) 88C-Jared Umbenhauer[21]; 20. (DNF) 6L-Tanner Van Dohren[24]; 21. (DNF) 29-Ryan Krachun[11]; 22. (DNF) 19K-Brett Kressley[19]; 23. (DNF) 126-Jeff Strunk[9]; 24. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[26]; 25. (DNF) 34-Kevin Root[27]; 26. (DNF) 91-Billy Decker[25]; 27. (DNF) 8H-Max McLaughlin[13]
Keyword: It’s All Sheppard At Big Diamond