Battle for the Fairgrounds, PART 2
Orange County Fair Speedway | Middletown, New York
Wednesday, July 05, 2023
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Tickets can be purchased at the gate.

For more information, call the track at (845) 342-2573

Event Info

Battle for the Fairgrounds, PART 2
2023-07-05
Orange County Fair Speedway
239 Wisner Avenue
Middletown, New York 10940 

Event Description
The Super DIRTcar Series complete their rained out Battle for the Fairgrounds race from May 7 with Last Chance Showdowns and a $7,500-to-win Feature, followed by another 30-lap, $5,000-to-win DIRTcar Big Block Modified race and a 20-lap, $1000-to-win Sportsman race.

series Racing
Super DIRTcar Series

Late Model Track Record
20.072 seconds by Bryan Bernheisel

Big Block Modified Track Record
20.278 sec. set by Matt Sheppard on June 17, 2009

To Win Amount
$7,500.00

Feature Laps Length
75

Frequently Asked Questions
To Win Amount
$7,500.00

Track Info
Track Phone
(845) 342-2573

Late Model Track Record
20.072 seconds by Bryan Bernheisel

Big Block Modified Track Record
20.278 sec. set by Matt Sheppard on June 17, 2009

Competitor Info
DIRTVision Highlights
Race Recap
BATTLE OF THE TITANS: Sheppard wins battle against Hearn at Orange County for second season win

Sheppard uses second half surge to power past Larry Wight, Brett Hearn on the way to victory

Two generations of the most successful talents in Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified racing faced off at Orange County Fair Speedway Wednesday night to battle for a $7,500 payday.

Nine-time and defending Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard, of Waterloo, NY, and Hall of Famer Brett Hearn, of Sussex, NJ, who has more than 300 wins at Orange County, went toe-to-toe in the closing laps with “Super Matt” besting the legend for his second Series win of the season – 91st of his career.

The Battle for the Fairgrounds saw Larry Wight start pole with Sheppard to his outside. Behind them, two legends – Billy Decker in third and Hearn in fourth.

At the start of the Feature, Sheppard slipped to third on the first lap, leaving Wight and Hearn to wage a war for the lead. However, Sheppard stayed within striking distance of the front two, saving his equipment as he waited for the perfect time to strike.

Wight led the first nine laps before Hearn drove around the outside of him through Turns 3 and 4. However, Wight didn’t give up on the bottom. Holding his line lap after lap, he snuck back by Hearn for the lead on Lap 17. Their battle wasn’t done yet, though.

While Wight worked low, Hearn continued searching up top, inching further and further back alongside the #99L. His persistence finally paid off on Lap 40 when he reclaimed the lead by a bumper at the flag stand.

However, at the same time, Sheppard was surging forward. A lap after Hearn passed Wight for the lead, Sheppard passed him for second. Then, all eyes were on the heavyweight fight between Hearn, the all-time winningest driver at Orange County and with the Super DIRTcar Series, and Sheppard, the current Orange County and Series points leader.

While Hearn searched for grip high through Turns 3 and 4, Sheppard dove his #9 machine into the corner and slid ahead of Hearn’s #20 off the corner to officially take the lead on Lap 44.

From there, he built a healthy lead with intensions of holding it until the end. But one more chance for Hearn to attack came on Lap 66 when the second caution of the 75-lap race came out.

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Lined single file, Sheppard led the field back to green with 10 laps to go. Hearn and Wight tried to keep Sheppard within reach down the front stretch but lost Sheppard once he swung his car high and powered back to the throttle off Turn 2. “Super Matt” then soared to the Battle for the Fairgrounds victory.

“[The car] didn’t really seem to like a full tank of fuel,” Sheppard said. “It seemed like the more fuel burn off we had, the car started driving better and better. It was quite a battle there for a while. I fell back. I lost a lot of ground, probably a straight away or more behind those guys. I really thought I was in trouble. It kept getting a little better, a little better. I think it helped a little bit when we got in traffic because I have a lot of experience here.”

While Sheppard has become the most recent star at Orange County, Hearn’s legacy at the track wasn’t lost on him.

Yeah, I mean, this is his sandbox, that’s for sure,” Sheppard said about Hearn. It’s great to see him out there competing, still battling for wins. He keeps retiring, then unretiring. He’s definitely shown that he’s still got it. I felt like we turned back the clock.

After being passed by Sheppard, Hearn fended off Wight in the closing laps to hold on to second and score his first top five with the Series since his win at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in 2021.

“I think we just had a good car right from the get-go,” Hearn said. “I got by Matt, and then I got by Larry. But Larry got back by me. I was probably a little quicker than he was most of the time. It just took me a while to find a way to get a good run on him. But Matt just does what he does and comes on late in the race.”

Wight scored the final podium spot but knew what could’ve been done to further challenge the two powerhouse drivers.

“I think if we could have stayed in lapped traffic, I could have probably kept them behind me,” Wight said. “It seemed once we got in a clear track, they were able to make that top work. We just gotta look at our notes and see what we did right, what we did wrong, and capitalize on it next time.”

Billy Decker finished fourth and Peter Britten finished fifth to round out the top five finishers.

While legends battled at the front of the field, rising stars made their names known in the top 10. Fifteen-year-old Tanner Van Doren dueled with the likes of Jimmy Phelps and Chris Hile in the top 10 and even battled Peter Britten for fifth in the closing laps before settling for sixth – his first top 10 with the Series in his fifth start. And in Tyler Boniface’s fourth Series start, he raced from 11th to seventh – his first career Series top 10.

Further rounding out the storylines in the top 10, Jack Lehner (eighth) earned his first top 10 of the season, while Anthony Perrego (ninth) and Max McLaughlin (10th) earned their second.

UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series Big Blocks will head to Pottsville, PA to compete in a 75-lap, $7,500-to-win, spectacular at Big Diamond Speedway.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

Battle At the Fairgrounds 75 
1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[2]; 2. 20-Brett Hearn[4]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight[1]; 4. 91D-Billy Decker[3]; 5. 21A-Peter Britten[6]; 6. 22-Tanner Van Doren[10]; 7. 69-Tyler Boniface[11]; 8. 2-Jack Lehner[9]; 9. 44P-Anthony Perrego[17]; 10. 8H-Max McLaughlin[23]; 11. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 12. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[7]; 13. 3J-Marc Johnson[16]; 14. 88-Mat Williamson[20]; 15. 5H-Chris Hile[8]; 16. 215-Adam Pierson[24]; 17. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[21]; 18. 12-Darren Smith[19]; 19. 35-Mike Mahaney[18]; 20. (DNF) 16X-Dan Creeden[5]; 21. (DNF) 34-Kevin Root[25]; 22. (DNF) 32R-Ronnie Davis III[14]; 23. (DNF) 88T-Tyler Jashembowski[15]; 24. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[27]; 25. (DNF) 93X-Craig Mitchell[13]; 26. (DNF) 43-Jimmy Horton[28]; 27. (DNF) 4V-Billy VanInwegenJr[22]; 28. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[26]



Results
Feature Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
12+19SMatt Sheppard 750.00033Running150$7,500
24+220Brett Hearn 75-3.56111Running146$4,000
31-299LLarry Wight 75-4.66032Running144$2,500
43-191DBilly Decker 75-5.8540Running142$1,800
56+121APeter Britten 75-7.8420Running140$1,600
610+422Tanner Van Dohren 75-11.3800Running138$1,400
711+469Tyler Boniface 75-12.7890Running136$1,300
89+12Jack Lehner 75-13.4360Running134$1,200
917+844PAnthony Perrego 75-13.9960Running132$1,100
1023+138HMax McLaughlin 75-14.4700Running130$1,000
1112+144Stewart Friesen 75-15.6020Running128$800
127-598HJimmy Phelps 75-16.0940Running126$700
1316+33JMarc Johnson 75-16.6950Running124$600
1420+688Mat Williamson 75-17.1050Running122$575
158-75HChris Hile 75-17.8080Running120$550
1624+8215Adam Pierson 75-18.2970Running118$525
1721+483XTim Sears Jr75-19.5930Running116$500
1819+112Darren Smith 75-20.2590Running114$500
1918-135Mike Mahaney 74-1 Laps0Running112$500
205-1516XDan Creeden 65-10 Laps0DNF110$500
2125+434Kevin Root 49-26 Laps0DNF108$500
2214-832RRonnie Davis III45-30 Laps0DNF106$500
2315-888TTyler Jashembowski 37-38 Laps0DNF104$500
2427+314CG Morey 30-45 Laps0DNF102$500
2513-1293XCraig Mitchell 25-50 Laps0DNF102$500
2628+243Jimmy Horton 9-66 Laps0DNF102$0
2722-54VBilly VanInwegen Jr8-67 Laps0DNF102$500
2826-217Marcus Dinkins 4-71 Laps0DNF102$500
Hard Charger: Max McLaughlin
Last Chance Showdown Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
12+112Darren Smith 100.00010Running0$0
24+283XTim Sears Jr10-0.5700Running0$0
31-28HMax McLaughlin 10-3.4830Running0$0
43-119JRRoger Henion Jr. 10-4.0090Running0$0
55037MMathieu Desjardins 10-4.6620Running90$0
66017ZDillon Steuer 10-5.8330Running90$0
77017Marcus Dinkins 10-7.7000Running0$0
89+110Rich Eurich 10-8.8520Running90$0
914+526RCorey Cormier 10-8.8900Running90$0
1013+320BJoey Bonetti 10-10.8540Running90$0
1111088LSteve Dodd 10-11.6210Running90$0
1212017WMichael Weslowski 10-14.4930Running90$0
138-534Kevin Root 10-15.2430Running90$0
1410-476John Brown 9-1 Laps0Running90$0
Last Chance Showdown 2 Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
11088Mat Williamson 100.00010Running0$0
2204VBilly VanInwegen Jr10-1.6740Running0$0
330215Adam Pierson 10-2.2230Running0$0
4405LCharles Loiodice 10-4.2160Running90$0
59+443Jimmy Horton 10-4.7230Running0$0
66021MBob Mcgannon 10-5.6820Running90$0
7701JMatt Janiak 10-6.7890Running90$0
88024Chris Shultz 10-7.3320Running90$0
95-414CG Morey 10-8.5570Running0$0
1010033.3Tommy Meier 10-8.9690Running90$0
1113+225Michael Kolka II10-10.2750Running90$0
121204SLBob Hentschel 10-10.9110Running90$0
1311-221CBrian Calabrese 10-12.7330Running90$0
Heat 1 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
10-121APeter Britten Brisbane, QLD0.0005
20-298HJimmy Phelps Baldwinsville, NY-2.4464
30-393XCraig Mitchell Poughkeepsie, NY-4.9713
43-119Tim Fuller Watertown, NY-5.8182
50-52AMike Gular Harleysville, PA-7.2111
60-614CG Morey Rutland, VT-8.0000
70-71JMatt Janiak Warwick, NY-8.8310
80-824Chris Shultz Pawling, NY-10.2500
90-933.3Tommy Meier Waldwick, NJ-12.1150
107-351Jerry Higbie Newburgh, NY-3 Laps0
Heat 2 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
10-191DBilly Decker Unadilla, NY0.0005
20-25HChris Hile Oswego, NY-1.0774
30-332RRonnie Davis IIISyracuse, NY-2.8693
40-412Darren Smith Binghamton, NY-4.9252
50-583XTim Sears JrCentral Square, NY-5.3441
60-621MBob Mcgannon Garnerville, NY-6.1500
7707DTyler Dippel Wallkill, NY-7.1660
80-843Jimmy Horton Bridgewater, NJ-7.7680
98-120BJoey Bonetti Goshen, NY-8.6320
Heat 3 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
10-199LLarry Wight Fulton, NY0.0005
20-22Jack Lehner Saratoga Springs, NY-2.5734
30-388TTyler Jashembowski Middletown, NY-3.8113
40-48HMax McLaughlin Mooresville, NC-5.3012
56+119JRRoger Henion Jr. Montgomery, NY-6.9641
67+117ZDillon Steuer Bohemia, NY-7.4270
70-728Michael Trautschold ROSCOE, NY-10.1870
80-815XJustin Stone Middlebury, VT-12.8910
90-988LSteve Dodd Middletown, NY-13.1390
Heat 4 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
12+120Brett Hearn Sussex, NJ0.0005
20-222Tanner Van Dohren Allentown, PA-1.5824
30-33JMarc Johnson Guilderland, NY-2.7713
40-466Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY-3.9512
57+25LCharles Loiodice Otisville, NY-7.8851
60-691Felix Roy Napierville, QC-8.7010
76-19JFJF Corriveau Montreal, QC-9.7030
80-854Steve Bernard Granby, QC-11.2120
90-921CBrian Calabrese Johnstown, NY-13.6510
Heat 5 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
10-116XDan Creeden Middletown, NY0.0005
20-269Tyler Boniface Pine Bush, NY-0.4944
30-344PAnthony Perrego Walden, NY-1.4193
40-488Mat Williamson St. Catharines, ON-2.6012
50-5215Adam Pierson East Corinth, VT-3.7251
60-684YAlex Yankowski Covington Township, PA-4.3880
73-434Kevin Root Geneva, NY-5.2390
80-810Rich Eurich Pine Island, NY-7.3550
90-920RNick Rochinski Dickson city, PA-9.8750
Heat 6 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverHometownDifferencePoints
12+19SMatt Sheppard Waterloo, NY0.0005
20-244Stewart Friesen Sprakers, NY-2.5474
30-335Mike Mahaney Kings Ferry, NY-3.1843
40-44VBilly VanInwegen JrPort Jervis, NY-5.3582
50-537MMathieu Desjardins Yamaska, QC-5.7771
65-117Marcus Dinkins Watkins Glen, NY-8.5840
70-770AAlex Payne Canandaigua, NY-10.8640
80-876John Brown Danbury, CT-12.3980
90-917WMichael Weslowski Pine Island, NY-17.1200
Qualifying Flight 1 Results
POSStartCarDriverTimeDifferencePoints
11298HJimmy Phelps 21.7860.0000
2175HChris Hile 21.801-0.0150
31621APeter Britten 21.842-0.0560
41591DBilly Decker 21.940-0.1540
5893XCraig Mitchell 22.039-0.2530
6932RRonnie Davis III22.053-0.2670
7419Tim Fuller 22.087-0.3010
81812Darren Smith 22.133-0.3470
91014CG Morey 22.193-0.4070
10721MBob Mcgannon 22.218-0.4320
11132AMike Gular 22.266-0.4800
121983XTim Sears Jr22.276-0.4900
13141JMatt Janiak 22.362-0.5760
14243Jimmy Horton 22.473-0.6870
151151Jerry Higbie 22.531-0.7450
1637DTyler Dippel 22.555-0.7690
17124Chris Shultz 22.649-0.8630
18620BJoey Bonetti 22.690-0.9040
19533.3Tommy Meier 22.702-0.9160
Qualifying Flight 2 Results
POSStartCarDriverTimeDifferencePoints
1799LLarry Wight 21.7740.0005
263JMarc Johnson 21.861-0.0870
382Jack Lehner 21.992-0.2180
41020Brett Hearn 22.048-0.2740
51688TTyler Jashembowski 22.188-0.4140
61166Tim McCreadie 22.213-0.4390
798HMax McLaughlin 22.293-0.5190
81422Tanner Van Dohren 22.382-0.6080
91519JRRoger Henion Jr. 22.419-0.6450
1029JFJF Corriveau 22.428-0.6540
11117ZDillon Steuer 22.561-0.7870
12135LCharles Loiodice 22.605-0.8310
131788LSteve Dodd 22.639-0.8650
141891Felix Roy 22.668-0.8940
151215XJustin Stone 22.806-1.0320
16521CBrian Calabrese 22.840-1.0660
17428Michael Trautschold 23.062-1.2880
18354Steve Bernard 23.115-1.3410
Qualifying Flight 3 Results
POSStartCarDriverTimeDifferencePoints
11016XDan Creeden 21.8410.0000
229SMatt Sheppard 22.084-0.2430
31188Mat Williamson 22.100-0.2590
4644Stewart Friesen 22.141-0.3000
51334Kevin Root 22.145-0.3040
61869Tyler Boniface 22.174-0.3330
7837MMathieu Desjardins 22.243-0.4020
81744PAnthony Perrego 22.310-0.4690
9154VBilly VanInwegen Jr22.323-0.4820
101217Marcus Dinkins 22.364-0.5230
111484YAlex Yankowski 22.378-0.5370
12970AAlex Payne 22.465-0.6240
13776John Brown 22.778-0.9370
141620RNick Rochinski 23.064-1.2230
15535Mike Mahaney 24.100-2.2590
164215Adam Pierson 25.000-3.1590
17310Rich Eurich 26.000-4.1590
18117WMichael Weslowski 27.000-5.1590