Wins First Ever Big-Block Modified Race at Eldora Speedway
Story By: MANDEE PAUCH / SUPER DIRTcar SERIES MEDIA Photos By:DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
ROSSBURG, O.H. – July 20, 2016 – The 25-lap Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds invitational exhibition at Eldora Speedway Wednesday night saw Matt Sheppard lead the field from green to checkered to score his first ever Big-Block modified feature at the ‘Big E.’
“It means a lot to win here. I mean, after last night anything that could go wrong went wrong,” said Sheppard about his sixteenth place finish the night before. “Turning it around tonight just shows how great this team is and how fast this race car is.”
As the special feature kicked off at the legendary half-mile, Sheppard jumped out to a sizable early lead as Brett Hearn followed in second.
The first caution of the night was brought out on lap four as second place runner, Hearn, slowed to a stop in turns one and two for a shredded tire.
On the restart, the crowd saw Rich Scagliotta, Frank Cozze, and Peter Britten battling for the second spot.
Britten was running up against the outside wall trying to gain some ground on Scagliotta in second place and was able to charge to the outside and chase him down for the second spot.
Britten was closing but had hopes of a yellow to help close up the gap between him and Sheppard.
“It really surprised me how good the bottom was. I thought the groove was going to be around the top. I just followed Scagliotta around the bottom there. We passed as many cars as we could,” said 11th place starter, Peter Britten.
“We dropped a cylinder last night. We changed motors completely with the spare we had in the trailer. I think I was just as good tonight. I think a caution would have given us a crack at him. I think wherever he was running I would have been able to at least pull beside him.”
Larry Wight charged from his 10th starting spot to drive his No. 99L machine to a podium finish.
“We had a good car. We were able to slide up through quick enough. We wasted probably about five laps running in the middle waiting for the top or bottom lane to open up,” Wigh said. “After that we were able to get up to third but just ran out of time. I think a caution would have helped because Peter had a left rear flat. I know we would have gotten him. I think we had something for Matt.”
Sheppard was excited with his first place finish after his misfortune from the night before. “I got caught up with a lapped car last night that tore up the car inside and out. I got a couple of flat tires as well.”
“We qualified horrible but we were good in the heat race and drove up through. We really turned this car around. We had a lot of work to do today and it was really good tonight. We had a terrible last night but we’re just happy to rebound tonight. ”
Matt Sheppard scored his very first Super DIRTcar Series race at Eldora Speedway in style, green to checkered.
The Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds return to action on Thursday, July 21 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, O.H. after an 11-year absence.
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 20, 2016; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, Ohio.
A-Main (100 Laps) – 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard; 2. 18H-Peter Britten; 3. 99L-Larry Wight; 4. 8-Rich Scagliotta; 5. 43H-Jimmy Horton; 6. 35-Frank Cozze; 7. 88-Mike Mahaney; 8. 14W-Ryan Watt; 9. 42P-Pat Ward; 10. 98H-Jimmy Phelps; 11. 84-Gary Tomkins; 12. 28P-Eldon Payne; 13. 32C-Vic Coffey; 14. 43-Keith Flach; 15. 91-Billy Decker; 16. 76-Bobby Varin; 17. 6M-Mat Williamson; 18. 5H-Chris Hile; 19. 21K-Erick Rudolph; 20. 6h-Max McLaughlin; 21. 18b-Dave Blaney; 22. 20-Brett Hearn; 23. 19-Tim Fuller; 24. 27J-Danny Johnson
Heat 1 (10 Laps) – 1. 35-Frank Cozze; 2. 14w-Ryan Watt; 3. 88-Mike Mahaney; 4. 28p-Eldon Payne; 5. 8-Rich Scagliotta; 6. 18h-Peter Britten; 7. 42p-Pat Ward; 8. 6m-Mat Williamson; 9. 6h-Max McLaughlin; 10. 32-Vic Coffey; 11. 98h-Jimmy Phelps; 12. 5h-Chris Hile
Heat 2 (10 Laps) – 1. 91-Billy Decker; 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard; 3. 20-Brett Hearn; 4.19-Tim Fuller; 5. 99L-Larry Wight; 6. 43h-Jimmy Horton; 7. 84-Gary Tomkins; 8. 76-Bobby Varin; 9. 43-Keith Flach; 10. 21K-Erick Rudolph; 11. 27J-Danny Johnson; 12. 18b-Dave Blaney
Group 2 Qualifier – 1. 35-Frank Cozze, 17.329; 2. 28p-Eldon Payne, 17.383; 3. 14w-Ryan Watt, 17.404; 4. 8-Rich Scagliotta,17.404; 5. 88-Mike Mahaney, 17.433; 6. 42P-Pat Ward,17.440; 7. 32c-Vic Coffey,17.448; 8.18H-Peter Britten,17.493; 9. 5H-Chris Hile, 17.676; 10. 6m-Mat Williamson, 17.736; 11. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 17.743; 12. 6H-Max McLaughlin, 18.347
Group 1 Qualifier – 1. 35-Frank Cozze,17.329; 2. 28p-Eldon Payne,17.383; 3. 14w-Ryan Watt,17.404; 4. 8-Rich Scagliotta,17.404; 5. 88-Mike Mahaney; 17.433; 6. 42P-Pat Ward, 17.440; 7. 32c-Vic Coffey, 17.448; 8.18H-Peter Britten, 17.493; 9. 5H-Chris Hile, 17.676; 10. 6m-Mat Williamson, 17.736; 11. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 17.743; 12. 6H-Max McLaughlin,18.347
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts and NAPA Auto Parts; in addition to contingency sponsors, including: ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, Henry’s Exhaust Systems, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mike’s Racing Heads, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD, Pole Position Raceway, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.
