The opening night of the 2025 Super DIRTcar Series season turned into a historic moment for Matt Sheppard.
With his 11th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals victory Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park, the 10-time champion has more Series wins than any other driver at the track.
The $5,000 victory is his third win in his last four starts at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile,” a win he said came down to track position.
“The way my car was and the way the track was tonight, the key was getting out front and following your car wherever it wanted to go,” Sheppard said. “This is definitely a tricky place, and I didn’t really know where I wanted to be, and I was having trouble steering like everybody does. I was able to utilize as much of the racetrack as I could to keep my speed up.
“Thankfully, it all worked out, and we made it to the end, and we got a gator. It’s a good way to start the trip off.”
Sheppard, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the 30-lap Feature, pulling away from Billy Pauch Jr. and Justin Haers, who battled for second down the backstretch.
The first of several yellow flags slowed the field on Lap 2, as Anthony Perrego and Darren Smith both went to pit road with damage.
When the race resumed, Sheppard took over the lead again. But behind him, reigning SummerFAST champion Alex Yankowski pulled into second, trying to chase the No. 9S down.
A caution for Jeff Taylor on Lap 4 began a string of restarts where Sheppard and Yankowski fired from the front row. Sheppard held off Yankowski’s challenges for most of the race, except for one occasion when Yankowski took the lead on Lap 13. However, that pass was negated when Garrett Krummert flipped in Turn 1, bringing out the caution before they completed another lap.
At that point in the race, Sheppard changed his restart strategy, choosing to fire from the inside lane.
“It got to the point where I really wanted to restart on the top, but every time I did, he’d jump me on the bottom, and I was kind of screwed,” Sheppard said. “It was kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Both drivers remained in the top two positions until Jack Lehner got a right-rear flat tire on Lap 23. On the next restart, Sheppard and Yankowski made contact coming down the front stretch. As they reached the start/finish line, Sheppard pulled away, and Haers took advantage of the open inside lane to wrestle second away from the No. 84Y.
However, that was as close as Haers got to the front as Sheppard led all 30 laps to earn his 98th career Super DIRTcar Series victory.
Haers finished second, narrowly missing out on his third DIRTcar Nationals win. The Phelps, NY driver, who also earned the JAM Performance Fastest Hot Lap award, said he was thrilled with his performance.
“We got this motor last year,” Haers said. “We ran it at Charlotte, and it runs really well here. It’s the first race of the year. To come out in second, I love Volusia, Daytona, and the vibe. I’ve been coming here a long time. I have two awesome wins here, and another one would be awesome.”
Yankowski grabbed the final spot on the podium after running second for most of the Feature. The Covington Township, PA driver said he knew restarts were an essential key to victory.
“I had a pretty good race car,” Yankowski said. “It was tough for everyone to turn. I think me and Sheppard was tight on entrance almost all night. I thought we did a good job of doing what we could do, and hopefully, we can just get that little bit better tomorrow.”
Billy Pauch Jr. finished fourth, earning his best DIRTcar Nationals finish, and Jimmy Phelps rounded out the top five.
Up Next: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Volusia Speedway Park on Thursday, Feb. 13, as Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals continues. Joining the Beasts of the Northeast will be the World of Outlaws Late Models.
TICKETS: DIRTcarNationals.com
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every race live on DIRTVision – either at DIRTVision.com or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
DIRTcar Nationals Night 1 (30 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[1]; 2. 3-Justin Haers[4]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[3]; 4. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[2]; 5. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[8]; 6. 70A-Alex Payne[13]; 7. 21A-Peter Britten[15]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 9. 88-Mat Williamson[7]; 10. 4-Anthony Perrego[22]; 11. 15X-Justin Stone[9]; 12. 99L-Larry Wight[20]; 13. 91-Felix Roy[24]; 14. 9-Will Thomas[6]; 15. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[27]; 16. 35C-Chris Curtis[21]; 17. 2-Jack Lehner[11]; 18. 58-Louden Reimert[19]; 19. 8-Rich Scagliotta[16]; 20. 5H-Amy Holland[17]; 21. 20-Rick Laubach[18]; 22. (DNF) 25-Erick Rudolph[10]; 23. (DNF) 29-Garrett Krummert[5]; 24. (DNF) 11T-Jeff Taylor[25]; 25. (DNF) 51-Ryan Krachun[23]; 26. (DNF) 11C-Matt Caprara[14]; 27. (DNF) 12-Darren Smith[26]
Contingency Awards:
JAM Performance Fastest Hot Lap Award: Justin Haers ($100)
Billy Whittaker Cars Quick Time Award: Billy Pauch Jr. ($100)
VP Racing Fuels Award: Stewart Friesen ($50)
ARP Bolts Award: Billy Pauch Jr. ($50)
ASI Racewear Award: Justin Stone ($50)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Award: Matt Sheppard ($50)
Cometic Gasket Award: Larry Wight ($50)
Comp Cams Award: Anthony Perrego ($50)
DIG Racing Products: Justin Stone ($50)
Fox Factory Award: Anthony Yankowski ($50)
MSD Award: Jimmy Phelps ($50)
Swift Springs Award: Alex Payne ($50)
Weld Racing Wheels Award: Justin Haers ($50)
SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award: Matt Sheppard ($100)
