RANSOMVILLE, NY – August 8, 2017 – Matt Sheppard was the third and final leader after he took the point position from Billy Decker on lap 49 and led the remaining 52 laps to win his third straight Super DIRTcar Series race in the 33rd Summer Nationals at Ransomville Speedway. It was Sheppard’s first career Series win at Ransomville and prevented rival Stewart Friesen from winning his third straight Summer Nationals at his home track. Billy Decker threw everything he had at Sheppard to try and retake the lead following a restart with five laps to go, but fell 0.923 seconds short of a victory. Decker did manage to hold off a late challenge from Larry Wight to extend his point lead, which was just two markers entering the event. Ransomville regular Erick Rudolph and Friesen rounded out the top-five.

Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report – 33rd Summer Nationals at Ransomville Speedway – Ransomville, NY –August 8, 2017

Feature (100 Laps) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard [5]; 2. 91-Billy Decker [3]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight [10]; 4. 25-Erick Rudolph [6]; 5. 44-Stewart Friesen [7]; 6. 19-Tim Fuller [4]; 7. 88m-Mike Mahaney [11]; 8. 42p-Pat Ward [13]; 9. 42-Pete Bicknell [16]; 10. 21a-Peter Britten [14]; 11. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [2]; 12. 20-Brett Hearn [12]; 13. 38s-Ryan Susice [21]; 14. 6h-Max McLaughlin [8]; 15. 109-Billy Whittaker [9]; 16. 20m-Jeff McGinnis [19]; 17. 43-Keith Flach [17]; 18. 111-Allan Wills [27]; 19. 37s-Tommy Flannigan [26]; 20. 26-Rick Richner [22]; 21. 22-Brandon Walters [18]; 22. 8-Rich Scagliotta [15]; 23. 27-Jim Zimmerman [24]; 24. 56-Steve Schumacher [25]; 25. 21-Kenny Wills III [1]; 26. 7-Scott Kerwin [23]; 27. 11s-Steve Lewis Jr. [28]; 28. 55c-Steve Cotriss [20]; 29. 678-John Smith [29]; 30. DNS 7m-Mike Maresca

Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 91-Billy Decker, 16.151; 2. 88m-Mike Mahaney, 16.436; 3. 42p-Pat Ward, 16.601; 4. 19-Tim Fuller, 16.612; 5. 38s-Ryan Susice, 17.062; 6. 43-Keith Flach, 17.314; 7. 27-Jim Zimmerman, 18.622; 8. 111-Alan Wills, No Time

Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 99L-Larry Wight, 16.402; 2. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 16.533; 3. 21a-Peter Britten, 16.663; 4. 20-Brett Hearn, 16.744; 5. 22-Brandon Walters, 17.112; 6. 26-Rick Richner, 17.519; 7. 678-John Smith, 18.119; 8. 26g-Scott George, 18.306

Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 16.626; 2. 109-Billy Whittaker, 16.938; 3. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 16.980; 4. 21-Kenny Wills III, 17.337; 5. 20m-Jeff McGinnis, 17.413; 6. 37s-Tommy Flannigan, 17.437; 7. 7-Scott Kerwin, 17.689; 8. 7m-Mike Maresca, No Time

Qualifying Group 4 – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 16.709; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph, 16.751; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen, 16.900; 4. 42-Pete Bicknell, 17.214; 5. 55c-Jesse Cotriss, 17.678; 6. 777-Tyler Willard, 17.718; 7. 11s-Steve Lewis Jr., 18.031; 8. 56 Steve Schumacher, 18.514

Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 91-Billy Decker [1]; 2. 88m-Mike Mahaney [2]; 3. 19-Tim Fuller [4]; 4. 42p-Pat Ward [3]; 5. 43-Keith Flach [6]; 6. 38s-Ryan Susice [5]; 7.  27-Jim Zimmerman [7]; 8. 111-Alan Wills [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 99L-Larry Wight [1]; 2. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [2]; 3. 20-Brett Hearn [4]; 4. 21a-Peter Britten [3]; 5. 22-Brandon Walters [5]; 6. 26-Rick Richner [6]; 7. 678-John Smith [7]; 8. 26g-Scott George [8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard [1]; 2. 109-Billy Whittaker [2]; 3. 21-Kenny Wills III [4]; 4. 8s-Rich Scagliotta [3]; 5. 20m-Jeff McGinnis [5]; 6. 7-Scott Kerwin [7]; 7. DNF 37s-Tommy Flannigan [6]; 8. DNF 7m-Mike Maresca [8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin [1]; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph [2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen [3]; 4. 42-Pete Bicknell [4]; 5. 55c-Jesse Cotriss [5]; 6. 56-Steve Schumacher [8]; 7. 11s-Steve Lewis Jr. [7]; 8. DNS 777-Tyler Willard [6]

Last Chance Qualifier 1 (10 Laps – All Transfer to A-Feature) – 1. 38s-Ryan Susice [1]; 2. 26-Rick Richner [2]; 3. 7-Scott Kerwin [3]; 4. 27-Jim Zimmerman [5]; 5. 56-Steve Schumacher [4]; 6. 37s-Tommy Flannigan [7]; 7. 111-Alan Wills [9]; 8. 11s-Steve Lewis Jr. [8]; 9. 678-John Smith [6]; 10. DNS 26g-Scott George; 11. DNS 7m-Mike Maresca; 12. DNS 777-Tyler Willard

CONTINGENCY WINNERS: VP Racing Fuels ($50 Cash): Pat Ward; Fast Qualifier ($100 Cash): Billy Decker; Bicknell Racing Products ($100 Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; Cometic Gasket ($50 Cash): Jeff McGinnis; Comp Cams ($50 Cash): Peter Britten; Comp Cams ($50 Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; Edelbrock ($50 Cash): Peter Britten; Fox Racing Shocks ($50 Cash): Erick Rudolph; JE Pistons ($50 Cash): Stewart Friesen; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Jeff McGinnis; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Brandon Walters; KSE Racing Products Inc. ($50 Product Certificate): Larry Wight (+7); MSD Ignition ($50 Cash): Matt Sheppard; MSD Ignition ($25 Cash): Kenny Wills III; SuperFlow Dynos & Flowbenches ($50 Cash): Jeff McGinnis; Wrisco Aluminum (Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; JRI Shocks ($50 Cash): Max McLaughlin; Dig Safely 811 Redraw Bonus ($100 Cash): N/A; Speedy First Aid Hard Luck Award (Product Certificate): Max McLaughlin; ASi Racewear ($50 Cash): Mike Mahaney.

SEASON WINNERS

  • Matt Sheppard – 4 (Five Mile Point Speedway on June 11; Autodrome Granby on July 25; Autodrome Drummond on July 26; Ransomville Speedway on August 8)
  • Billy Decker – 3 (Fulton Speedway on April 29; Outlaw Speedway on June 20; Eldora Speedway on July 18)
  • Stewart Friesen – 2 (Utica-Rome Speedway on July 2, Weedsport Speedway on July 11)
  • Ryan Watt – 1 (Bridgeport Speedway on May 16)
  • Tim McCreadie – 1 (Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 27)
  • Larry Wight – 1 (Airborne Park Speedway on July 6)
  • Peter Britten – 1 (Sharon Speedway on July 20)