“One advantage he has is that he’s good everywhere,” Britten continued. “Some guys are good at their home track and here and there on the road but he’s good everywhere. He has nights when he misses the set-up, just like everyone else, but a miss for him is a sixth- or seventh-place finish where the rest of us are totally out to lunch. I’ve noticed that he doesn’t usually make major changes at the track, but I’ve seen nights where they changed four shocks and springs because they know their cars so well.”
Britten and Sheppard put on one of the best Super DIRT Week shows in its half-century history in 2017 when Britten discovered there was a fast outside lane developing on a locked-down Oswego track and jumped to the top, blowing by everyone to take the lead and an apparent win only to be passed by Sheppard on the last lap.
“People say you have to lose one before you can win one,” Britten said. “Matt went through the same thing at Syracuse. Now he’s won three DIRT Week big-block races. It hurt when he passed me, but I guess it’s better to complain about being second than running 20th. As usual, Matt’s strategy was perfect. He wasn’t good so they threw a Hail Mary at it and got tires with 30 laps remaining and started chasing me with 120 laps on mine.
“Randy and Matt have been at this a long time and it helps them make better decisions in situations like that. They make mistakes, too, but when they do, they’re little ones. And he can pull himself out of holes that others couldn’t. That’s why he’s the best in the business right now.”
Another keen observer of Sheppard’s success is a relative beginner in the business, Jack Lehner. While he looks more like a college basketball player, Lehner has become a steady racer after only a handful of seasons for which he gives Sheppard a great deal of credit.
“I bought some cars from him when I first started and we developed a friendship,” said the lanky redhead. “And he still helps me even though I run the series now. If I’m unsure about an idea, I can run it by him and pick his brain. And if something happens to my car, I ask him if he’s ever seen that before.
“Now we go to concerts and things like that together and have a great time. He races for a living, so he’s wound pretty tight at the track but at concerts he relaxes a little and you see a different side of him.
“He’s a really good driver who makes good decisions,” Lehner continued. “He doesn’t make mistakes and I swear, he sees holes before they even open up. I guess it helps that he is so involved with his equipment and really understands how the cars work. He’s an engineer and understands the physics involved, plus racing has been his main focus over a lot of years and he knows how everyone else drives and what they’re going to do before they do it. Big winners all seem to share that trait.”
Indeed, they do. That’s why Sheppard’s name will go in the history books alongside Hearn, Bob McCreadie, Richie Evans, Dick Trickle and other short trackers who dominated their segments of the sport.
This story appeared in the August 2, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
