MERRITTVILLE, ON, CAN – August 9, 2017 – Matt Sheppard drove past Gary Lindberg in the outside lane following a lap 81 restart to take the lead on lap 85 and then paced the final 16 laps to win his second straight Bob St. Amand Memorial 100 at Merrittville Speedway on Wednesday night. The victory was also his fourth straight with the Super DIRTcar Series and second in as many nights. Lindberg, a Merrittville weekly 358 (Small Block) Modified regular, gave everything he had to keep pace with Sheppard, but came up 1.203 seconds short. Billy Decker finished third, his second straight podium finish.
Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report – Bob St. Amand Memorial 100 at Merrittville Speedway – Thorold, ON
Feature (100 Laps) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard [6]; 2. 28z-Gary Lindberg [2]; 3. 91-Billy Decker [11]; 4. 6m-Mat Williamson [7]; 5. 3-Chad Brachmann [8]; 6. 71-Mike Bowman [13]; 7. 3rs-Ryan Susice [10]; 8. 21a-Peter Britten [9]; 9. 99L-Larry Wight [24]; 10. 25-Erick Rudolph [3]; 11. 6h-Max McLaughlin [1]; 12. 19-Tim Fuller [12]; 13. 15J-Tim Jones [5]; 14. 44-Stewart Friesen [23]; 15. 42-Pete Bicknell [14]; 16. 20-Brett Hearn [20]; 17. 1-Todd Gordon [4]; 18. 38-Scott Wood [16]; 19. 42p-Pat Ward [22]; 20. 16-Brent Beggolo [17]; 21. 43-Keith Flach [19]; 22. 109-Billy Whittaker [28]; 23. 7m-Mike Maresca [26]; 24. 37s-Tommy Flannigan [29]; 25. 96-Fred Carleton [15]; 26. 08-Mark D’Ilario [21]; 27. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [18]; 28. 88p-Shayne Pierce [27]; 29. 8-Rick Scagliotta [25]; 30. DNS 22-Brandon Walters
Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 16.708; 2. 19-Tim Fuller, 16.904; 3. 16-Brent Beggolo 17.067; 4. 21a-Peter Britten, 17.139; 5. 71-Mike Bowman, 17.169; 6. 7m-Mike Maresca, 17.530; 7. 08-Mark D’Ilario, DQ; 8. 22-Brandon Walters, No Time
Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 16.692; 2. 3-Chad Brachmann, 16.779; 3. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 16.974; 4. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 17.011; 5. 42-Pete Bicknell, 17.105; 6. 44-Stewart Friesen, 17.184; 7. 42p-Pat Ward, 17.211; 8. 37s-Tommy Flannigan, No Time
Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 3rs-Ryan Susice, 17.331; 2. 15j-Tim Jones, 17.373; 3. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 17.443; 4. 1-Todd Gordon, 17.485; 5. 43-Keith Flach, 17.486; 6. 96-Fred Carleton, 17.554; 7. 88p-Shayne Pierce, 17.774
Qualifying Group 4 – 1. 91-Billy Decker, 16.823; 2. 38-Scott Wood, 17.082; 3. 99L-Larry Wight, 17.106; 4. 6m-Mat Williamson, 17.232; 5. 109-Billy Whittaker, 17.259; 6. 20-Brett Hearn, 17.312; 7. 28z-Gary Lindberg, 17.442
Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard [1]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller [2]; 3. 21a-Peter Britten [4]; 4. 71-Mike Bowman [5]; 5. 16-Brent Beggolo [3]; 6. 08-Mark D’Ilario [7]; 7. 7m-Mike Maresca [6]; 8. DNS 22-Brandon Walters
Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin [1]; 2. 3-Chad Brachmann [2]; 3. 25r-Erick Rudolph [4]; 4. 42-Pete Bicknell [5]; 5. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [3]; 6. 42p-Pat Ward [7]; 7. 37s-Tommy Flannigan [8]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen [6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 3rs-Ryan Susice [1]; 2. 15J-Tim Jones [2]; 3. 1-Todd Gordon [4]; 4. 96-Fred Carleton [6]; 5. 43-Keith Flach [5]; 6. 8-Rich Scagliotta [3]; 7. 88-Shayne Pierce [7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top-5 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. 91-Billy Decker [1]; 2. 28z-Gary Lindberg [7]; 3. 6m-Mat Williamson [4]; 4. 38-Scott Wood [2]; 5. 20-Brett Hearn [6]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight [3]; 7. 109-Billy Whittaker [5]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (8 Laps – All Transfer to A-Feature) – 1. 08-Mark D’Ilario [1]; 2. 42p-Pat Ward [2]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen [9]; 4. 99L-Larry Wight [4]; 5. 8-Rich Scaglotta [3]; 6. 7m-Mike Maresca [5]; 7. 88-Shayne Pierce [7]; 8. 109-Billy Whittaker [8]; 9. 37s-Tommy Flannigan [6]; 10. DNS 22-Brandon Walters
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: VP Racing Fuels ($50 Cash): Peter Britten; Fast Time ($100 Cash): Max McLaughlin; Bicknell Racing Products ($100 Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; Cometic Gasket ($50 Cash): Stewart Friesen; Comp Cams ($50 Cash): Erick Rudolph; Comp Cams ($50 Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; Edelbrock ($50 Cash): Larry Wight; Fox Racing Shocks ($50 Cash): Chad Brachmann; JE Pistons ($50 Cash): Chad Brachmann; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Scott Wood; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Keith Flach; KSE Racing Products Inc. ($50 Product Certificate): Larry Wight; MSD Ignition ($50 Cash): Matt Sheppard; MSD Ignition ($25 Cash): Jimmy Phelps; SuperFlow Dynos & Flowbenches ($50 Cash): Scott Wood; Wrisco Aluminum (Product Certificate): Matt Sheppard; JRI Shocks ($50 Cash): Scott Wood; Speedy First Aid Hard Luck Award (Product Certificate): Erick Rudolph; ASi Racewear ($50 Cash): Ryan Susice.
SEASON WINNERS
- Matt Sheppard – 5 (Five Mile Point Speedway on June 11; Autodrome Granby on July 25; Autodrome Drummond on July 26; Ransomville Speedway on August 8; Merrittville Speedway on August 9)
- 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)
- Larry Wight – 1 (Airborne Park Speedway on July 6)
