Coming into the final point night of the 2011 season, Matt Sheppard knew he had an uphill battle to be crowned the 2011 Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified Champion. Being 12 points behind Stewart Friesen, Sheppard had to go out and win the 35 lap feature and let the points fall where they may.
Sheppard started seventeenth, worked his way into the top-five on lap 14 then on lap 22 took the lead from Chad Phelps. Once in the lead, there was no slowing down Sheppard as he outran Jimmy Phelps to the checkers by over three-seconds.
With his second place finish, Phelps went from third in the points to second in the final rundown, nine points behind Sheppard. Stewart Friesen who came into the night the point leader could only muster an eleventh place feature finish that dropped him to third on the final points night.
Other winners on The Waterfront, Calypso Cay Restaurants, and Syracuse Crunch Night were, Keven Cook Nationwide Insurance IMCA Modifieds, Mike Mullen Beaver River Distribution ESDCA Mod Lites and Stephen Denton Metalico Four Cylinder Super Stocks.
Jim Davis and Roy Bresnahan would lead the field down to the green with Bresnahan grabbing the early advantage in the 35 lap Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified feature.
With 10 laps complete, Bresnahan and Chad Phelps ran nose to tail with Davis, Willy Decker and Rich Scagliotta running third through fifth. Two laps later, Phelps would work his way by Bresnahan to be scored the new leader just before a quick yellow.
On lap 15 Phelps and Bresnahan still set the pace, as Decker, Davis and now Matt Sheppard who started seventeenth now showed in the top-five.
As the laps kept clicking off, Sheppard kept working his way forward, finally ducking under Phelps on lap 22 to be scored the new leader using the extreme bottom of the speedway.
With 10 laps to go, Sheppard started pulling away with Chad Phelps, Jimmy Phelps, Bresnahan and Alan Johnson fighting for third through fifth.
Over the remaining laps, Sheppard was the class of the field as he outran Jimmy Phelps to the checkers by 3.212 seconds. Chad Phelps, Alan Johnson and Billy Decker rounded out the top-five. Dan Vauter, Jim Davis, Mike Mahaney, Roy Bresnahan and Ryan Phelps completed the top-ten.
Matt Sheppard being crowned the American Racer Cup Brewerton Speedway Track Champion will receive ten American Racer tires for his efforts.
After doing the roof dance in his XTREME Lubricants, No.9s, Bicknell, Matt Sheppard talked about his win and the 2011Brewerton Speedway Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified Track Championship.
“All I can say is wow, this car has been unbelievable. To come out of here with the championship tonight, it was a pretty big long shot. We definitely did it the hard way. I never heard of anybody winning a championship with four DNF’s before. We were able to overcome it with just speed and winning races.”
After winning a lot of races and championships all over the place, Sheppard was asked what it was like to win the title at the Brewerton Speedway.
“This is great; this is the toughest place around. We did it a few years ago, but this is my first ever, come from behind on the last night with everything stacked against you. You just got to go out and perform; we were able to do that tonight.”
In the 20 lap Nationwide Insurance IMCA Modified feature, Kevan Cook put a exclamation point on his season taking the lead with one lap to go from Rob Keller for his tenth win of the 2011 season and with it the track championship. Rob Keller, Jim Walsh, Glen Erwin and Brandon Carvey rounded out the top-five.
Mike Mullen was the class of the field in the 20 lap Beaver River Distribution ESDCA Mod Lites. Mullen took the lead on lap 5 from Terry Lapham and never looked back. Joe Isabell, Tim Devendorf, Doug Williams and Joe Garafolo chased Mullen across the line.
With his third place finish, Tim Devendorf was crowned the 2011 champion by 27 points over Joe Isabell.
Stephen Denton went out a claimed his tenth feature win of the 2011 season in the Metalico Four Cylinder Super Stocks and the track championship. Keith Shay, Jim Money, Chuck Powelczyk and Jim Money and Wendell Washington finished second through fifth in the final feature of the season in the division.
With the final points night now in the record books, the countdown is on for the 19th Annual Hurricane 100 presented by SUNY Canton on Thursday night October 6th. With the race paying at least $7,500 to the winner and for the first time including Big Block Modifieds, look for the Brewerton regulars to defend their turf against what promises to be a stout field of invaders.
Get your tickets now for what competitors and fans alike are calling “The Race Of The Week” by contacting Cory Reed at 315-668-6906 orcory@brewertonspeedway.com.
Laps for the SUNY Canton Hurricane 100 are for sale. Contact Cory Reed at the above number or email address.
Don’t forget to follow Fulton Speedway on Facebook and on Twitter at twitter.com/Fultonspeedway. Brewerton Speedway is also active on both Facebook and Twitter at twitter.com/BrewertonSpdway).
(TRACEY ROAD EQUIPMENT BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS 35 LAPS) – MATT SHEPPARD, Jimmy Phelps, Chad Phelps, Alan Johnson, Billy Decker, Dan Vauter, Jim Davis, Mike Mahaney, Roy Bresnahan, Ryan Phelps, Stewart Friesen, Pat Ward, Chuck Bower, Pat O’Brien, Gary Tomkins, Mike Bowman, Willy Decker, Matt Fink, Larry Wight, Jim Witko Jr., Joe Augut Jr., Chad Homan, Chris Hile, Steve Hulsizer, Rich Scagliotta.
(NATIONWIDE INSURANCE IMCA MODIFIEDS 20 LAPS) – KEVAN COOK, Rob Keller, Jim Walsh, Glen Erwin, Brandon Carvey, Becca Eastman, Jason Amidon, Jake Rabetoy, Wayne Wideman, Jeff Amidon, Mike Jones, Rich Keller, Phil Loosen, Andy Kieffer, Greg Blair, Lee Smiedy, John West.
(BEAVER RIVER DISTRIBUTION ESDCA MOD LITES 20 LAPS) – MIKE MULLEN, Joe Isabell, Tim Devendorf, Doug Williams, Joe Garafolo, Jamie King, Clayton Brewer III, Terry Lapham, Nick Graziano, Sterling Miller, Paul Klager, Rick Demo, Jim Bogett, Frank Sobotka, Roger Angers, Josh Prentice, Cody Fleming, Jessica Redhead, Lorrie Herbert, Zach Babcock, Kelly Skinner, Jeff Isabell Jr., Chris Harvey, Rob Grzelka, Lowell Zehr, Ricky Yelle, Gary Jeffries, Lane Bush, Jeff Blackburn.
(METALICO FOUR CYLINDER SUPER STOCKS 15 LAPS) – STEPHEN DENTON, Keith Shay, Jim Money, Chuck Powelczyk, Wendell Washington, Lorraine Powelczyk, Bill Shay, Loren Redhead, Richard Leahey, Bill Carista, Art Dupra, Sam Carista, Brian Jewell, Matt Fay, Kelly Smith, Sam Curcie, Corie Locke.