Elbridge, NY –  September 26, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, Super DIRTcar Series PR Director

Three weeks earlier Matt Sheppard had paced the field for 87 laps at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park and came away empty. Saturday night Sheppard led the final 57 circuits and this time it was good enough to give ‘Super Matt’ his Super DIRTcar Series-high sixth win of the season as rain shortened the ‘World Series 100’ to 68 laps.

And maybe more valuable than the $6,000 winner’s share and 100-points towards the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship, Sheppard was rewarded with a guaranteed seventh starting position in the 38th running of the Rite Aid 200 Presented By Ferris & Snapper Mowers that brings the curtain down on Super DIRT Week Oct. 11 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

“Man, I wanted it to pour (after lap 50) out there,” remarked Sheppard, 27, who nosed ahead of front row starter Jimmy Phelps on a lap 12 restart, then was the first under the checkered flag when forecasted showers finally hit the Elbridge oval to make the racing surface unsafe for both man and machine. “Thought this place owed me one after the last time here.”

“Never won a Big-block race here before, but I’ve been close so many times it seems. Feels real good to finally get that first one done,” beamed Sheppard, following his DIRTcar Northeast-leading 19th open-wheel feature win of the season.

Fellow Waterloo, New York driver Steve Paine took advantage of an ignition problem from near race-long runner-up Phelps that forced out the sixth and final caution to cross the line in second, followed by current Mr. DIRTcar points leader Brett Hearn, May winner at Rolling Wheels Tim Fuller, and 18th-place starter Justin Haers.

Himself a three-time series winner during the 2009 campaign, Hearn’s third-place finish proved to be as significant as a win after Sheppard drew his number allowing the Sussex, N.J. speedster to join him on row four to kick off the richest Big-Block Modified race in the country in October.

“It’s a huge luxury to be starting 7th or 8th in that race and not have to worry about how you time trial,” said Hearn, 51, a five-time winner of DIRTcar NE’s prized jewel, although the ‘Corporate Jet’ has not pulled into victory lane on Sunday at the Syracuse Mile since 1995. “That really takes a lot of pressure off us.”

Sheppard’s second straight tour triumph coupled with Hearn’s third-place tally cuts the deficit to 83 points going into the Rite Aid finale over Columbus Day Weekend. With the 150-point schedule intact for the only 200-lap event of the year, Hearn needs to finish in 21st-place or better to lock up an unprecedented seventh overall Mr. DIRTcar title and close out DIRTcar’s 34th consecutive season of operation all alone at the top.

Teamed this year with JB Motorsports in the no. 9s Xtreme Lubricants/Bicknell entry, Sheppard has done almost everything in his power to close the gap on Hearn. Just one more dose of good fortune could be the difference as the 2000 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman champion awaits a final chance to take top honors in the highest Modified class.

“This car was just awesome tonight,” said Sheppard, who leads all title contenders with 689 laps led, nearly double that of Hearn, while posting series-high totals of eight qualifying heat race wins and six Integra Shocks Fast Times. “We hemmed and hawed about which car we were gonna run tonight, whether the car we used the last time we were here or this one. I think we made the right choice.”

Heat four winner Phelps out-gunned pole-sitter Alan Johnson to open the scheduled 100-lap feature while sixth-place starter Sheppard shared the third row, two spots behind Hearn on the 30-car grid. At the end of the opening circuit Sheppard was already on the move, and the second-generation pilot cruised into second just as a slowing Mike Ward machine was enough to bring out the first caution on lap three.

Sheppard’s teammate Jeff Brownell Jr. suffered a blown right-rear tire to require a second yellow flag with 10 in the books and with threatening skies overhead the ensuing lap 12 restart was the perfect time for ‘Super Matt’ to forge the final lead change. Three more caution periods slowed the action during the first half of the race, with Tom Sears Jr., Lance Willix II and top-five running Billy Decker ---lost his breaks on lap 37 and flew off the track in turn three--- the primary culprits.

By lap 50 Sheppard continued to drive away at will from his nearest challengers Phelps and Hearn while ninth and tenth-place starters Paine and Fuller could do no better in their attempt to run down the leaders. Just as Sheppard rode under head flagman Matt Burdick’s crossed flags to signal halfway home, the first wave of rainfall arrived and every drop was easily visible in the track-wide lights overhead.

Talented teenager Larry Wight looped his Gypsum mount in turn one after frontstretch contact with Brownell to incur the sixth caution period on lap 54. By this time the rain had grown steadier and gusting winds carried the flags sideways as the lamp posts teetered in the wake. When Phelps slid off the track high in turn two for the final slowdown on lap 63, the green lights would never return as only dangerous conditions prevailed during the closing stages and forced officials to stand by their call.

“Getting the Syracuse spot is huge,” added Sheppard, last year’s Rite Aid 200 runner-up, who recently captured Big-Block point championships at both Brewerton and Canandaigua speedways, and settled for third on the final chart at Cayuga County Fair Speedway. “If you go (SDW) and something stupid happens or you have a bad day in time trials, you know you’re starting 7th no matter what. That takes away a lot of stress right there, which carries through to the weekend and hopefully we can take advantage.”

Quietly finding his way into second in the feature, it was Paine’s best finish by far this season on tour aboard the familiar yellow Tallmadge Tire no. 7x Swarthout Recycling-Instant Heat Wood Pellets/Bicknell Modified machine.

“The longer the green was out the better compared to the guys in front of me,” figured Paine, 51, after registering just his fourth top-five finish in the opening 19 SDS shows, with his third-place showing at Rolling Wheels on Labor Day the best previous outcome. “Think Matt was just too fast all night, 2nd is probably as far as we were gonna go so its okay.”

“I like to run the bottom and hate to go to the top early but if I have to, I have to. If it kept raining I was going to have to because I was slipping really bad on the bottom with the water. But in the end it all worked out, we were able to save 40 laps on the race car and take it home in one piece,” Paine said.

Although owning half as many series wins (3) as Sheppard this season, Hearn was still upbeat about his 13th top-five series finish of the season steering the potent Madsen Motorsports no. 20 Wentworth Custom Homes-Kruger-WLR-BPG/TEO entry.

“Matt’s got a really good hot rod right now, certainly tough to catch it,” said Hearn, who added his all-time series best 103rd victory at Rolling Wheels back on Labor Day. “So the points deal is gonna come down to Syracuse like we expected it would.”

“I guess two of the guys (Phelps & Decker) got eliminated mathematically tonight, so we’ll just keep truckin’ on for the stretch run. Got a lot of preparation to do this week, a lot of work to do to get ready for Syracuse and we’re looking forward to it.”

With Hearn (1,973 pts) doing his best to pull away from his closest challengers, runner-up Sheppard (1,890) remains the only outside threat in his bid for a record seventh career Mr. DIRTcar Championship heading into Super DIRT Week at the State Fairgrounds. The 38th Annual Super DIRTcar Series Rite 200 Presented By Ferris & Snapper Mowers is set for Sunday, October 11 and Hearn is already a five-time race winner in the Salt City showdown.