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Super Matt Sheppard Sets Track Record En Route to Unique eCigs Pole Award

SheppardPole

Top-six for NAPA Super DIRT Week Billy Whittaker Cars 200 Set

OSWEGO, NY — Oct. 5, 2017 — Matt Sheppard’s assault on the 2017 Super DIRTcar Series continues into the 46th annual NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway, earning him the Unique eCigs pole award. Rick Laubach, Billy Decker, Keith Flach, Dom Buffalino and Tim McCreadie all locked themselves into Sunday’s Billy Whittaker Cars 200 for their top-six qualifying efforts.

With a field of 55 cars taking time Thursday afternoon, all were vying to make the rest of their NAPA Super DIRT Week a little less stressful. Coming into NAPA Super DIRT Week, Sheppard has wrapped up 10 Series wins and is on pace to eclipse the single-season win total that he set last year. After going out in group seven, of 14, Sheppard set a blistering lap of 21.210 seconds, setting a new track record by over one and a half seconds.

“We found some grip down there in turns three and four, and the [car] stuck really good,” said Sheppard, who took to the track halfway through the qualifying seesion. “We figured the track would either stay the same or get faster, and it got faster so it worked in our favor.” 

Turning a lap of 21.334, Hellertown, PA’s Rick Laubach took home the Dig Safely Outside Pole Award.

“We just went out there, kind of didn’t know what to expect,” said Laubach. “The guys were in the grandstands telling me what lines they were running and what they were doing, and we made some decisions on where to go on the track and hit the marks perfect. The track conditions took to our favor.”

After placing 22nd on the practice sheets, the Keith Flach No. 43 team went to work before qualifying and was able to secure the fourth starting spot for Sunday’s Billy Whittaker Cars 200.

“Anytime you can get into the top six you can obviously breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief,” said Flach. “Sunday is a different animal. We’ll start worrying about that, but definitely being inside the top six makes you breathe a little bit easier for Friday and Sunday. I’ve got to thank my guys; we were not very good in practice. We fluttered around 16 through 20th — just really kind of struggled — but they kept after and feeling really blessed to come out with a fourth-place result.”

Next up for the Big-Block Modifieds is practice on Friday at 3:35 p.m., followed by Camping World Friday Night Lights, featuring the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 Triple 30s.

Tickets for NAPA Super DIRT Week can still be purchased at Oswego Speedway. Visit SuperDIRTWeek.com for pricing and gate schedule.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Pos

No.

Name

Best Tm

Best Speed

In Lap

Diff

2nd Best

2nd Spd

2nd Lap

 

1

9s

Matt Sheppard

21.21

106.082

1

 

21.873

102.867

2

 

2

8a

Rick Laubach

21.344

105.416

2

0.134

22.019

102.184

1

 

3

91

Billy Decker

21.434

104.973

2

0.224

21.491

104.695

1

 

4

43

Keith Flach

21.551

104.404

1

0.341

22.869

98.386

2

 

5

51m

Dom Buffalino

21.616

104.09

1

0.406

22.32

100.806

2

 

6

39

Tim McCreadie

21.623

104.056

1

0.413

21.703

103.672

2

 

7

109

Billy Whittaker

21.731

103.539

2

0.521

22.042

102.078

1

 

8

6h

Max McLaughlin

21.854

102.956

2

0.644

22.632

99.417

1

 

9

115

Kenny Tremont

21.858

102.937

1

0.648

22.381

100.532

2

 

10

19

Tim Fuller

22.027

102.147

2

0.817

22.595

99.58

1

 

11

7x

Steve Paine

22.084

101.884

2

0.874

22.142

101.617

1

 

12

49

Billy Dunn

22.103

101.796

2

0.893

22.267

101.046

1

 

13

43h

Jimmy Horton

22.133

101.658

2

0.923

22.32

100.806

1

 

14

14J

Alan Johnson

22.163

101.521

2

0.953

22.612

99.505

1

 

15

25R

Erick Rudolph

22.199

101.356

2

0.989

22.927

98.138

1

 

16

151

Brian McDonald

22.218

101.269

2

1.008

22.373

100.568

1

 

17

3

Justin  Haers

22.25

101.124

2

1.04

22.307

100.865

1

 

18

21

Yan Bussiere

22.259

101.083

2

1.049

22.36

100.626

1

 

19

93

Danny Varin

22.277

101.001

1

1.067

22.362

100.617

2

 

20

88

Mike Mahaney

22.283

100.974

2

1.073

22.544

99.805

1

 

21

8

Rich Scagliotta

22.291

100.938

2

1.081

23.276

96.666

1

 

22

711

JaMike Sowle

22.326

100.779

1

1.116

22.978

97.92

2

 

23

99L

Larry Wight

22.329

100.766

2

1.119

22.572

99.681

1

 

24

22

Brandon Walters

22.359

100.631

1

1.149

22.397

100.46

2

 

25

21g

Kody Graham

22.421

100.352

1

1.211

22.676

99.224

2

 

26

42p

Pat Ward

22.433

100.299

1

1.223

22.466

100.151

2

 

27

98h

Jimmy Phelps

22.474

100.116

1

1.264

22.538

99.831

2

 

28

84

Gary Tomkins

22.491

100.04

1

1.281

22.639

99.386

2

 

29

28p

Eldon Payne

22.511

99.951

1

1.301

22.812

98.632

2

 

30

18

Bodie Bellinger

22.536

99.84

1

1.326

23.493

95.773

2

 

31

27J

Danny Johnson

22.563

99.721

1

1.353

22.65

99.338

2

 

32

21a

Peter Britten

22.585

99.624

2

1.375

22.916

98.185

1

 

33

7m

Michael Maresca

22.635

99.404

2

1.425

22.801

98.68

1

 

34

0

Dan Humes

22.656

99.311

2

1.446

23.676

95.033

1

 

35

66x

Carey Terrance

22.673

99.237

2

1.463

22.757

98.871

1

 

36

44

Stewart Friesen

22.687

99.176

2

1.477

22.899

98.258

1

 

37

37s

Tommy Flannigan

22.7

99.119

1

1.49

22.962

97.988

2

 

38

3J

Marc Johnson

22.708

99.084

1

1.498

22.727

99.001

2

 

39

48T

Dave Rauscher

22.773

98.801

2

1.563

22.915

98.189

1

 

40

19m

Jessey Mueller

22.91

98.21

1

1.7

23.102

97.394

2

 

41

5*

Tyler Siri

22.933

98.112

2

1.723

23.263

96.72

1

 

42

5

Ryan Godown

23.062

97.563

1

1.852

23.669

95.061

2

 

43

7s

Michael Sabia

23.063

97.559

1

1.853

 

0

 

44

20

Brett Hearn

23.108

97.369

2

1.898

24.158

93.137

1

 

45

35

Frank Cozze

23.18

97.066

1

1.97

23.809

94.502

2

 

46

2

Roy Bresnahan

23.327

96.455

1

2.117

23.357

96.331

2

 

47

34h

Cody Bleau

23.396

96.17

2

2.186

23.842

94.371

1

 

48

27w

Nick Webb

23.648

95.145

1

2.438

24.058

93.524

2

 

49

63

Adam Roberts

23.799

94.542

2

2.589

24.01

93.711

1

 

50

14

Brian Swartout

23.92

94.064

1

2.71

24.359

92.368

2

 

51

28

Mike Trautschold

24.057

93.528

1

2.847

25.134

89.52

2

 

52

36

Brian Whittmore

24.261

92.741

1

3.051

24.598

91.471

2

 

53

9

Daniel Johnson

24.331

92.475

2

3.121

24.588

91.508

1

 

DQ

74

J.R. Heffner

22.751

98.897

2

 

22.877

98.352

1

Light at Scale

DQ

47s

Corey Wheeler

22.549

99.783

1

1.339

22.67

99.25

2

Light at Scale