BECHTELSVILLE, P.A. - July 14, 2016 - From green-to-checkered, it was
Matt Sheppard who dominated Thursday night's Traffic Jam at Grandview
Speedway and captured his fourth Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block
Modifieds victory of the season.
Sheppard, who started the feature on the front row with Pete Britten,
jumped out to the lead early. Despite lapped traffic, Sheppard was
strong from the start to finish.
Sheppard, driver of the No. 9s FX Caprara Big-Block Modified was all smiles in victory lane.
"This car has been so good," Sheppard said. "We were a little tight
tonight but it's still a great racecar. It had enough grip to keep it
going. Starting position was key tonight and starting on the pole
helped."
Sheppard was running the top lane early on but chose the bottom lane
on a lap 22 restart with Craig Von Dohren beside him; it was Sheppard
who powered forward.
There was a tough battle forming behind Sheppard as Britten and Von
Dohren battled hard for the second spot. After several laps of
side-by-side action Britten was able to take back the second spot on lap
24.
At the halfway mark the scoreboard saw Sheppard, Britten, Von Dohren, Stewart Friesen, and Billy Decker.
Sheppard caught the back of the pack on lap 34. As Sheppard caught lapped traffic, Britten closed the gap in a hurry.
Running hard on the top to catch Sheppard, Britten got sideways
between turns three and four causing him to lose his momentum and almost
spinning. Britten though was able to save his No. 18H machine.
Friesen found the top side and was in third on lap 51 but it didn't seem like the outside groove was the place to be.
Sheppard was very proud of his crew.
"I don't know if I've ever had a stretch like this," Sheppard said.
"It's unbelievable with a tour like this with as many guys following the
tour this year it's incredible. I can't thank my guys enough."
Second place finisher Britten was satisfied with his podium finish.
"Congratulations to Matt tonight, he's been running good. I feel real
good for finishing second. We want to be able to push a little harder.
The car got good midway through. We're getting there."
For Friesen, he has several podium finishes this season so far but is still digging.
"I think the cautions killed us there in the beginning. We got to
them in lapped traffic but there wasn't much of an outside groove
tonight to challenge him. We're consistent just not getting the
balance."
The Super DIRTcar Series takes on Eldora Speedway July 19 and 20, and
Sharon Speedway July 21. For more information, visit EldoraSpeedway.com
and SharonSpeedway.com
Notebook: The 60-lap Traffic Jam at Grandview
Speedway paid seven thousand dollars to win. 30 cars attempted to
qualify and 30 cars started the field. Billy Decker set fastest time
overall in time trials with a 14.309.
For more information on the Super DIRTcar Series, visit SuperDIRTcarSeries.com. Follow the Super DIRTcar Series on Twitter at Twitter.com/SuperDIRTcar.
Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report; July 14, 2016; Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville, P.A.
A-Main (60 laps) - 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 2. 18h-Pete
Britten; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen; 4. 66-Duane Howard; 5. 91-Billy Decker;
6. 98h-Jimmy Phelps; 7. 14s-Craig Von Dorhen; 8. 88m-Mike Mahaney; 9.
43h-Jimmy Horton; 10. 14w-Ryan Watt; 11. 19-Tim Fuller; 12. 55-Anthony
Perrego; 13. 126-Jeff Strunk; 14. 27j-Danny Johnson; 15. 747-Ryan
Godown; 16. 20-Brett Hearn; 17. 6w-Mat Williamson; 18. 43-Keith Flach;
19. 42p-Pat Ward; 20. 8-Rich Scagliotta; 21. 6h-Max Mclaughlin; 22.
28p-Eldon Payne; 23. 15-Billy Pauch Jr; 24. T3-Tom Sheetz; 25. 44j-John
McClelland; 26. 19b-Brett Kresley; 27. 51m-Dominic Buffalino; 28.
17-Marcus Dinkins; 29. 99L-Larry Wight; 30. 35-Frank Cozze
Heat 1 (8 Laps) - 1. 91-Billy Decker; 2. 88-Mike
Mahaney; 3. 66-Duane Howard; 4. 27j-Danny Johnson; 5. 20-Brett Hearn; 6.
42p- Pat Ward, 7. 14w-Ryan Watt, 8. 19b-Brett Kressley, 9. 6h-Max
McLaughlin; 10. 44j-John Mclelland
Heat 2 (8 Laps) - 1. 44-Stewart Friesen; 2.9s-Matt
Sheppard; 3. 18h-Pete Britten; 4. 19-Tim Fuller 5. 15-Billy Pauch Jr; 6.
T3-Tom Sheets; 7. 43-Jimmy Horton; 8. 6m-Mat Williams; 9. 51m-Doninic
Buffalino; 10. 8-Rich Scagliotta
Heat 3 (8 Laps) - 1. 99L-Larry Wight; 2. 98h-Jimmy
Phelps; 3. 14s-Craig Vondohren; 4. 747-Ryan Godown, 5. 43-Keith Flach;
6. 126-Jeff Strunk; 7. 35- Frank Cozze; 8. 55-Anthony Perrego; 9.
28p-Eldon Payne; 10. 17-Marcus Dinkins
Qualifying Group 1 - 1. 91-Billy Decker, 14.309; 2.
6h-Max Mclaughlin, 14.519; 3. 88-Mike Mahaney, 14.607; 4. 42p- Pat Ward,
14.666; 5. 66-Duane Howard, 14.695; 6. 27j-Danny Johnson, 14.705; 7.
20-Brett Hearn, 14.762; 8. 14w-Ryan Watt, 14.790
Qualifying Group 2 - 1. 44-Stewart Friesen, 14.481;
2.9s-Matt Sheppard, 14.531; 3. 18h-Pete Britten, 14.609; 4. 19-Tim
Fuller, 14.647 5. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 14.821; 6. 43-Jimmy Horton, 14.851;
7. 51m-Doninic Buffalino, 14.929; 8. T3-Tom Sheetz, 15.178; 9. 15-Billy
Pauch Jr, 15.413
Qualifying Group 3 - 1. 99L-Larry Wight, 14.560; 2.
43-Keith Flach, 14.570; 3. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 14.708; 4. 55-Anthony
Perrego, 14.738; 5. 14s-Craig Vondohren, 14.740; 6. 35-Frank Cozze,
14.766; 7. 747-Ryan Godown, 14.810; 8. 126-Jeff Strunk, 15.052; 9.
28p-Eldon Payne, 15.244; 10. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 15.406