LAKE CITY, Fla. — In a fantastic 30-lap affair between two of the best, Matt Sheppard outlasted Larry Wight for his second consecutive Sunshine Swing victory at All-Tech Raceway.
Sheppard is now two-for-two to open the week of racing – presented by Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers – and now has 40 wins to his credit with the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco.
The battle between Sheppard and Wight was one for the ages, changing the lead back-and-forth on several occasions, before Sheppard took the lead for good on lap 29.
“We’re only two races into the season and probably just had the race of the year,” Sheppard proclaimed. “Hats off to the track crew, it was awesome and what a race for me and Larry.”
While Sheppard rolled off from the pole starting position following the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw, the Savannah, N.Y. native earned every bit of the $6,000 paycheck for the win.
Matt Caprara fired alongside Sheppard and Wight missed the redraw, firing from the 13th position.
Sheppard quickly raced out to the lead but after a yellow on the second lap, the field was reset with Larry Wight up to the eighth spot.
Wight used a key restart, stepping out of line and up against the wall when the green flag dropped. Wight found moisture on the top side of the speedway and used the grip to drive all the way to second before the field went into turn one.
From that point on, the battle began between two rivals in Modified racing. Sheppard led Larry until a lap-six yellow fell and restacked the field.
When racing resumed, Wight continued to chase Sheppard until the 16th circuit, when the Phoenix, N.Y., native made a move in lap traffic around Sheppard for the lead.
Wight paced Sheppard for the next several laps until Wight caught two lapped cars side-by-side. Francois Bellemare and Peter Britten were battling for position in front of the leaders, forcing Wight to press the issue.
With 14 laps to go, Wight entered turn three trying to split the slower traffic but made contact with Britten sending him up the track and allowing Sheppard to move back by.
Two laps later another yellow flag came out for Bubba McPhee getting turned into the outside wall in turn three.
The green flag flew once again, and the battle was on again between the lead duo. Wight resumed his prowess on the outside groove, racing back around Sheppard and stealing the lead away with just 12 laps left.
Wight began to struggle as the track changed, and Sheppard closed quickly on the leader. With seven laps remaining, Sheppard got alongside, breaking his momentum and stealing the preferred bottom groove going into the third turn.
Sheppard used the move to his advantage, taking the lead away from Wight for good. A late race yellow gave Wight another chance, but Sheppard was too much.
“My tires finally fired, and I was able to slip back by him,” Sheppard explained. “From there I was able to hold on to the end.”
Wight settled for the runner-up spot for the second consecutive night.
“We’re able to pass Matt now, so we’re getting better,” Wight laughed. “That restart I got from eighth to second made our night.”
Bobby Hackel IV rounded out the podium, his second career STSS podium finish.
“We’re going to enjoy it for sure,” Hackel smiled. “We’ll come back tomorrow and try to do a little better.”
In STSS Crate 602 Sportsman competition, James Friesen claimed his first career win on the series, topping the 25-lap event.
Payton Talbot came home second with Dylan Madsen, Kenny Peoples Jr., and Brian Calabrese rounding out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[1]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[13]; 3. 97H-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 4. 25R-Erick Rudolph[5]; 5. 12S-Darren Smith[10]; 6. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 7. 9-Marc Johnson[25]; 8. 70A-Alex Payne[6]; 9. 7-Rick Laubach[17]; 10. 35C-Chris Curtis[20]; 11. 16X-Dan Creeden[3]; 12. 6B-Danny Bouc[8]; 13. 01VD-Tanner Van Doren[21]; 14. 34-Rusty Smith[24]; 15. 7Z-Zach Payne[19]; 16. 35-Francois Bellemare[11]; 17. 3-Seth Zacharias[26]; 18. 65-Austin Hubbard[9]; 19. 28T-Michael Trautschold[23]; 20. 21A-Peter Britten[16]; 21. 22J-Bubba McPhee[15]; 22. 6S-Matt Stangle[7]; 23. 6-Mat Williamson[18]; 24. 11-Matt Caprara[2]; 25. 01-Danny Varin[22]; 26. 5*-Tyler Siri[14]