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From 21st, Matt Sheppard Roars to ‘Anthracite Assault’ Victory Tuesday at Big Diamond Speedway; Nathan Brinker Crate 602 Sportsman Star

Written by
Chris Moore

MINERSVILLE,
PA – Drawing 75 of 75
available numbers for his heat race. Starting 21st in the feature.

None of the
above deterred ‘Super Matt’ at Big Diamond Speedway Tuesday night.

Matt Sheppard
of Savannah, N.Y., parlayed an 11th-row starting position in the
50-lap ‘Anthracite Assault’ to a $5,000 victory in the Bob Hilbert Sportswear
Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco ‘Civil War’ at the Schuylkill
County track.

The event
offered points toward both the STSS Halmar International North Region and
Velocita-USA South Region presented by Design for Vision and Sunglass Central.
A talented roster of drivers flocked to Big D to challenge for a pay structure
of $25,670 plus cash and product bonuses.

Sheppard
qualified for the 50-lap feature by winning one of two B-Mains to put his
Hurlock Auto & Speed-sponsored No. 9s in the field.

A true ‘North
vs. South’ front row was comprised of New Jersey’s Ryan Godown and New Yorker
Mike Mahaney. Godown shot into the lead at the outset, while Brandon Grosso, a Garden
State resident, raced from seventh to second before a lap-10 caution.

The next
green flag run was when Matt Sheppard’s charge became noticeable. He had gone
from 21st to 11th in the opening 17 laps. Following
another yellow and another great restart, Sheppard was to the sixth position in
the blink of an eye.

“We had a
little bit of luck, we were in the right groove on a lot of restarts and things
like that,� said Sheppard said, recounting his charge.

Working both
the inside and outside lanes, Sheppard had climbed to the third position by lap
23.

On the
ensuing green flag, the battle was on for the runner-up spot and Brandon Grosso
was more than up for the challenge. Grosso was working the outside lane of the
red clay surface and holding off Sheppard.

Meanwhile,
the second-place battle was closing on Godown.

Just before
the three-way battle was ready to begin, Mahaney came to a stop on the
backstretch.

On the
ensuing green, it was Grosso taking the spotlight - going high and low - looking
for racing room to get by Ryan Godown.

“They were
going at it pretty good,� Sheppard said of Godown and Grosso. “I could barely
keep up with them.�

On a lap-35
restart, the story changed. Sheppard wasn’t going to wait around this time.
Sheppard motored underneath Grosso for second and went to work on Godown.

Godown had
been running the bottom all race, but after seeing the pressure Grosso put on
him from the top, the Ringoes, N.J., resident decided to try the top. That was
all Sheppard needed.

Sheppard worked
below Godown and take the lead on lap 42 of the 50-lap affair. The 21st-to-first
clinic was cemented, and Sheppard took home his eighth career STSS victory.

“We really
didn’t change a whole lot after the heat race,� Sheppard said. “We waited for
the track to come around to us.�

Godown
finished second, taking home $3,200 after leading the $200 Superior Remodeling
Halfway Lap with the Searock Motorsports No. 26.

Driving the
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse No. 3, Mat Williamson of St. Catharine’s, Ont.,
roared from 25th starting position – a North Series provisional – to
finish third. Williamson received the $200 Precision Hydraulic & Oil Hard
Charger Award for his efforts.

“We weren’t
very good in the heat race, but my guys worked their butts off and we were a
lot better in the feature,� offered Williamson, who was making his Big Diamond debut.

Billy Pauch
Jr. of Milford, N.J., drove Rick Holsten’s No. 96 to a fourth-place finish and
Mike Gular of Boyertown, Pa., guided Terry Fasnacht’s No. 2A to fifth at the
checkered.

Milford, Del.’s
Jordan Watson wheeled his family owned No. 1J to a sixth-place finish, followed
by Andy Bachetti of Sheffield, Mass., recovering from an early flat tire;
Grosso, of Montgomery, N.J., with a slowly deflating right-rear tire; Jeff Strunk
of Boyertown, Pa., in Glenn Hyneman’s No. 126; and Danny Creeden of Wurtsboro,
N.Y., up from 20th on the grid.

Rob Sherlock Roofing
heat winners, each receiving $100 cash, were Rick Laubach, Mahaney, Gular and
Strunk. Sheppard and Craig Von Dohren split the consolations.

Thirty-seven
Modifieds checked into the pit area.

Pulling a car
virtually out of mothballs, young Nathan Brinker of Allentown, Pa., annexed the
‘North vs. South’ STSS Crate 602 Sportsman 20-lap feature to earn a $1,500
payday. The event was historic as the first-ever Crate 602 Sportsman event at
Big Diamond Speedway.

Brinker,
driving a 2004 Bicknell with the No. 62 on its doors, led from start-to-finish
in a race that spun off caution-free.

Lansing, N.Y.’s
Tommy Collins, a proven traveler in Crate 602 Sportsman competition, ran within
striking distance of Brinker in the final laps but settled for a $700
second-place result. Jimmy Johnson of Bloomingburg, N.Y., was a strong third.
Like Collins, he was tight with the leader as the distance wore down.

A pair of
Empire State drivers – Bobby Flood and Tim Hartman Jr. – completed the front five
finishers.

An impressive
32-car STSS Crate 602 Sportsman field signed in at a facility that does not
host the division. Cole Stangle, Corey Cormier, Johnson and Flood took the
heats. Joe Toth won the consolation.

COAL NUGGETS: A picture-perfect night for racing
drew out the largest crowd to date for the ‘Anthracite Assault’ event, run for
the first time on the new red clay surface applied to the speedway by promoter
Jake Smulley during the off-season….

After
breaking through with a series win at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle,
N.Y., on Memorial Day Sunday, Billy Decker was the first car out at Big
Diamond, pulling to the infield on lap three….

Duane Howard’s
Norm Hansell-owned No. 357 appeared poised for a podium effort until the
right-rear tire went down on the 46th lap of the main….

The event
started on time at 7:30 p.m., with the STSS Modified 50 completed by 10 p.m. in
a quickly paced program….

Mike Gular
now has four consecutive top-five finishes with the STSS dating back to Orange
County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., April 7 (fifth), Delaware
International Speedway in Delmar, Del., April 30 (fifth), Thunder Mountain
Speedway May 26 (fifth) and again Tuesday night at Big Diamond (fifth)….

Next up for
the STSS is Halmar International North Region Event No. 4 on Wednesday, June 19
at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, N.Y., where the ‘Outlaw Showdown’ will reward the
winning driver with more than $5,000 to win for 50 laps in the Finger Lakes.

To learn
more about the 2019 Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco, visit   e-mail www.shorttracksuperseries.com, by e-mail at bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com, check out ‘Short Track
Super Series’ on Facebook or @ShortTrackSS on Twitter or Instagram.

The Short Track Super
Series is presented by American Racer/Lias Tire, Sunoco Race Fuel, Insinger
Performance, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Halmar International, Velocita-USA, Design
for Vision/Sunglass Central, Rob Sherlock Roofing, ATL Racing Fuel Cells,
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing
Products, Dirt Track Digest, EIBACH Springs, Escape RV, Fast Axle, Fox Racing
Shocks, Henry’s Exhaust, Hig Fab, HyperCo, Kirkey Racing Fabrication, Land Hoe
Maintenance, K&N, MJK Home Maintenance, Precision Hydraulic & Oil, QA1,
Racing Optics, Superior Remodeling, Teo-Pro Car, VAHLCO, Velocita, WELD Racing
& Wilwood.

‘ANTHRACITE
ASSAULT’ RACE SUMMARY – BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY JUNE 4, 2019

Bob
Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco ‘Combination
North/South Event’ Feature Finish (50 laps): MATT SHEPPARD, Ryan Godown, Mat Williamson, Billy Pauch
Jr., Mike Gular, Jordan Watson, Andy Bachetti, Brandon Grosso, Jeff Strunk,
Danny Creeden, Ryan Watt, Craig Von Dohren, Alex Yankowski, Craig Hanson, Rick
Laubach, Frank Yankowski, Jimmy Horton, Duane Howard, Dan Bouc, Stewart
Friesen, Allison Ricci, Ryan Krachun, David Van Horn, Mike Mahaney, Jeremy
Smith, Anthony Perrego, Jared Umbenhauer, Doug Manmiller, Billy Decker.

Did Not
Qualify: Brian
Malcolm, Matt Stangle, J.R. Hurlburt, Billy Van Pelt, Frank Cozze, Mike Kolka,
Brett Kressley, Tim Hartman Jr.

American Racer/Lias Tire Bonuses (FREE Tire): Jeff Strunk (ninth) & Craig Hanson (14th)ATL Fuel Cell Bonus ($200 Certificate): Mike Gular (fifth)Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Bonuses ($50 Gift Cards): Billy Pauch Jr. (fourth) & Jeff Strunk (ninth)Bill Brown & Company Inc. Move of the Race ($50): Matt SheppardEIBACH Springs Bonus ($100 Certificate): Jordan Watson (sixth)Henry’s Exhaust Power Position ($50 Certificate): Ryan Watt (11th)MJK Home Maintenance Heat-Race Hard Charger ($125): Brandon Grosso (advanced four positions)Precision Hydraulic & Oil Hard Charger Award ($200): Mat WilliamsonRacing Optics Bonus (Tear-Off Sleeve): Mat Williamson (third)Rob Sherlock Roofing Heat Winner Awards ($100 each): Rick Laubach, Mike Mahaney, Mike Gular & Jeff StrunkSunoco Race Fuels Bonuses ($50 Certificates): Ryan Godown (second), Craig Von Dohren (12th) & Ryan Krachun (22nd)Superior Remodeling Halfway Leader Bonus ($200): Ryan GodownWELD Wheels Hard Luck Award (FREE Wheel): Doug ManmillerWilwood ‘Lucky 7’ Bonus ($50 Certificate): Andy Bachetti (seventh)

Bob
Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco ‘Combination
North/South Event’ Crate 602 Sportsman Feature Finish (20 laps): NATHAN BRINKER, Tommy Collins, Jimmy
Johnson, Bobby Flood, Tim Hartman Jr., Cole Stangle, Daniel Morgiewicz, Ryan
Macartney, Ryan Kunkle, Trent Van Vorst, Corey Cormier, Blaine Klinger,
Jonathan Swift, Sammy Martz Jr., Dylan Swinehart, Jim Housworth, Joe Toth,
Aaron Bowes, Stacy Jackson, Dustin Jordan, Mike Schane, Travis Green, Mark
Pettyjohn, Samantha Muller, Justin Grosso, Tim Guild, Joel Smith, Craig
Whitmoyer.

Did Not
Qualify: Cole Youse,
Tom Princiotta, Kevin Brady, Dakota Kohler.

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