(BREWERTON, NY) July 15, 2010 - Matt Sheppard took the lead from Jimmy Phelps on lap 11, and from there was never headed as he took the Longhorn Trucking 50 Modified Super DIRTcar Series Thursday night at the Brewerton Speedway to open night one of the All-Star weekend. The win was anything but easy for the Waterloo, NY driver as he had to hold off repeated challenges from Phelps right down to the checkers. Brewerton Speedway regulars took three of the top-five finishing positions. For Sheppard it was his third series win and fourth Brewerton win of the 2010 season.
Other winners on Longhorn Trucking night were, Dale Caswell in both the IMCA Modified and NAPA Late Models and Chuck Powelczyk took yet another win in the Four-Cylinder Super Stocks.
Jimmy Phelps outraced the 30 car starting field to lead the opening lap of the Longhorn Trucking 50, within 5 laps Phelps built up a quarter of a straightaway lead. The car on the move early was Matt Sheppard who moved past cars quickly from his 8th starting spot as he set his sights on Phelps.
A quick yellow on lap 10 for a tangle between Danny Johnson and Willy Decker would erase the early advantage Phelps built up in his Wave Energy Drink No.98H Troyer. On the restart Sheppard would drive around Phelps to be scored the new leader on lap 11 in his Xtreme Lubricants No.9s Bicknell.
With 15 laps on the SUNY Canton scoring tower Sheppard and Phelps ran the bottom bumper to bumper for the lead. Behind the top-two Brett Hearn, Pat Ward and Shawn Donath fought for third through fifth.
On lap 20 Sheppard built up a few car advantage as he started to close in on back markers. Phelps, Hearn, Ward and Decker used all grooves of the speedway trying to draw in on the leader.
At the halfway point Sheppard built up an almost full straightaway lead as he started putting lap cars between himself and Phelps. Hearn ran alone in third on the cushion, while Gypsum Racing teammates Ward and Decker ran side by side for fourth and fifth.
With 30 laps completed Phelps started closing in on Sheppard in heavy traffic as the rest of the top five spots remained the same. A quick yellow on lap 42 for a spinning Jason Rood would tighten up the field for a dash to the finish.
Over the remaining laps Phelps would use every part of the speedway trying to find a way around Sheppard, pulling even a few times in turns one and two. With the bottom having the best bite Sheppard was the first across the line with Phelps right behind. Ward, Hearn and Steve Paine rounded out the top-five. Billy Decker, Ryan Phelps, Larry Wight, Jim Witko and Chris Hile completed the top-ten.
“This is a big weekend for us and it’s already starting out great,” Sheppard said after exiting his Jeff Brownell owned Bicknell. “This is the way you want to start it out, hopefully it ends the same way too. The car was amazing as soon as the first green flag dropped. I didn’t think it was going to be very good early, I thought it would be better later on but it was pretty much the opposite of what I thought. When the green came out it just went anywhere I wanted it to go.”
Jimmy Phelps was happy starting out the All-Star weekend with a second place finish, but wondered what might have happened if the late caution didn't come out.
“We were fair in the beginning but need the race to go green longer. We were decent on the longer runs yet with a short race there at the end as the yellows got rid of the traffic, there just wasn’t enough time.”
Going into the next two days of Series racing Phelps finished up his run by saying, "We were both about the same on the bottom so the only way I was going to get past him was to go around him. I probably was going to need a little help from traffic to do that. We’re still happy, second-place isn’t so bad, it’s already been a great year so far. We’re just going to keep on working to get better in time for tomorrow. We’re not out of the Series hunt yet, the guys on this team are really focused and working hard. There’s still a long ways to go."
Pat Ward not a series regular, but a tough competitor every week at Brewerton Speedway in his Gypsum Express No.42p Bicknell talked about his third place finish, “The car was good but these two guys here are the hottest on the circuit, so if you finish right behind then you’re getting closer and closer."
“We haven’t been very consistent this year, we’re trying though and hopefully we’ll continue to make progress. Third is a good start to the weekend, maybe we can tweak things a little more. Get a little bit better instead of a little worse, then hopefully race for a win against them tomorrow and Saturday,” At Cayuga County Fair Speedway.
JJ Courcy went from the 5th starting spot to lead the opening 7 laps of the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature before a caution slowed the field. On the restart, Dale Caswell drove by Courcy to be the scored the new leader on lap-eight. Once in the lead Caswell cruised to his 6th win of the season. Jerry Lobdell, Tom Page, Mike Smith and Chris Flemming rounded out the top-five.
Dale Caswell also dominated the 15 lap NAPA Late Model feature. It was also Caswell’s 6th win of the year in the Late Models. Gordy Button, AJ Kingsley, Tim Sears Jr and Dave Talbot finished second through fifth.
Coming this Friday July, 23, Syracuse.Com presents Family Autograph Night featuring, Big Block Modifieds (Dig Safely NY Bonus Bucks), IMCA Modifieds, NAPA Late Models, Beaver River Distribution ESDCA Mod Lites, Four-Cylinder Super Stocks. Adult grandstand admission is $12, with everyone 18 years old and younger FREE. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with racing starting at 7:30 p.m.
For more information please go on line to www.brewertonspeedway.com. The track office number is 315-668-6906 with the race line reached at 668-RACE.
(Modified Super DIRTcar Series Longhorn Trucking 50 Laps) – MATT SHEPPARD, Jimmy Phelps, Pat Ward,Brett Hearn, Steve Paine, Billy Decker, Ryan Phelps, Larry Wight, Jim Witko Jr., Chris Hile, Shawn Donath, Tom Sears Jr., Dale Planck, Rich Scagliotta, Tim McCreadie, Michael Storms, Billy Dunn, Tim Fuller, Stewart Friesen, Randy Chrysler, Chuck Bower, Danny Johnson, Lance Willix II, Gary Tomkins, Jason Rood, Vic Coffey, Alan Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Mike Bowman, Willy Decker.
(IMCA Modified 20 Laps) – DALE CASWELL, Jerry Lobdell, Tom Page, Mike Smith, Chris Flemming, Kevan Cook, Brad Weaver, Jason Amidon, JJ Courcy, Howard Jones, Jeff Cardinale, Rob Keller, Wayne Wideman, Jim Walsh, Mike Jones, Jeff Amidon, Pete Neff, Stephen Colt, Brandon Carvey, Matt Roberts, Becca Eastman, Josh Van Tassell.
(NAPA Late Models 15 Laps) – DALE CASWELL, Gordy Button, AJ Kingsley, Tim Sears Jr., Dave Talbot, Jim Southard.
(Four-Cylinder Super Stocks) – CHUCK POWELCZYK, Keith Shay, Stephen Denton, Jessica Herbert, Aaron Backus, Sam Curcie, Jacob Palmiter, Jerry Herbert, Matt Bullen, Tim Dunn, Sam Carista, Richard Leahey, Lorriane Powelczyk, DNS Brett Johnson.