Set On Go: Matt Sheppard Wins Fifth Utica-Rome Modified Victory of 2024
Written by Chris Moore
VERNON, NY – Set on go.
For the fifth time this season, Matt Sheppard claimed the 3 Bastards Brewing Modified feature win, this time on Tom Cole’s Lexi LLC and Parker Excavating Night at Utica-Rome Speedway.
Sheppard came from the 10th starting position on Friday night, racing to the lead on lap six and leading the final 25 laps of the main event.
“This car was really good tonight,” Sheppard proclaimed. “We were trying some things, but we put the car back to when we were good in the slick, and it came right back to life.”
The Savannah, N.Y., resident encountered a restart with eight laps remaining that put Sprakers, N.Y.’s Stewart Friesen alongside him, but Sheppard was up to the task.
“Whenever you see the 44 (Friesen) pull up next to you at Utica-Rome, you get a little nervous,” Sheppard said. “Luckily, we were really good tonight and able to hold him off.”
The win was also a special one for Sheppard, picking up the win on his mom’s birthday.
“Happy birthday to mom, happy Father’s Day to my dad,” he smiled. “Good to start this big weekend of racing with a win for mom and dad.”
Stewart Friesen settled for the runner-up spot after starting in 12th and Vernon, N.Y.’s Willy Decker completed the podium.
Genoa, N.Y.’s Pat Ward came from the 17th starting position to finish fourth and Mexico, N.Y.’s Addison Bowman rounded out the top five.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Roscoe, N.Y.’s Michael Trautschold, who went to the pits and came from the back for sixth; Johnstown, N.Y.’s Rocky Warner, Unadilla, N.Y.’s Brandon Walters, Covington Township, Pa.’s Alex Yankowski; and York, N.Y.’s Justin Wright.
Rotterdam Junction, N.Y.’s Clayton DuMond claimed his first career Taylor’s Trailers LLC Crate 602 Sportsman feature win at Utica-Rome Speedway.
DuMond, fresh off a win last weekend at neighboring Fonda (N.Y.) Speedway, raced from the outside of the front row and led the final 22 laps for the win.
DuMond even fought off a restart with Matt Janczuk alongside to pick up the victory.
Janczuk settled for second with Payton Talbot, Allan Hodge, and Josh Amodio rounding out the top five.
Troy, N.Y.’s Devon Camenga took home his second Next Generation Graphix Pro Stock feature win in the last three races.
Camenga came from the 11th starting position, avoiding early chaos in the 20-lap feature to make his way to the front.
Camenga and Bret Belden settled it amongst themselves once the race got going, but Camenga outdueled the defending champion for the victory.
Belden finished in second with Ivan Joslin – who started 20th – Hunter Keith, and Jason Morrison rounding out the top five.
Fort Johnson, N.Y.’s Josh Coonradt took advantage of a late race restart to come from third to pick up the Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman victory.
Coonradt raced around Andrew MacFadden for second and then used a slide job to take the lead away from Jayden Wust with just two laps to go.
Wust settled for second and MacFadden, Eric Jensen, and Carson Rothwell completed the top five.
West Winfield, N.Y.’s Kyle Simmons picked up his first Fonda Fair Four Cylinders victory after winning last night at Brookfield (N.Y.) Speedway.
Wayne Russell Jr. finished fourth, good enough to be the highest finish Single Cam driver, awarding him the win.
Brett Putnam put on a dominant performance to win his third All-Star Slingshot feature and Addisyn Roger claimed her fourth Junior Slingshot feature victory.
Racing continues next Friday, June 21 for Parks Companies Night at Utica-Rome Speedway. The night serves as Round No. 4 of the F.X. Caprara Car Companies Thunder on the Thruway Series for the 3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds, Taylor’s Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman, and Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks. The Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman, Fonda Fair Four Cylinders, and Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modifieds complete the program for a full night of racing.
The event will be broadcast live on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv).
Utica-Rome Speedway is located at 5591 NY-5 (Seneca Turnpike) Vernon, NY 13476. The official website is www.uticaromespeedway.com and the speedway can be reached by phone at 315.953.4097. Like Utica-Rome Speedway on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @UR_Speedway.
TOM COLE’S LEXI LLC & PARKER EXCAVATING NIGHT RESULTS SUMMARY – UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2024
3 Bastards Brewing Modified Feature Finish (30 laps): 1. 9S-MATT SHEPPARD[10]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 3. 1X-Willy Decker[5]; 4. 42P-Pat Ward[17]; 5. 12B-Addison Bowman[1]; 6. 28T-Michael Trautschold[6]; 7. JS98-Rocky Warner[9]; 8. 22W-Brandon Walters[3]; 9. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[11]; 10. 19W-Justin Wright[14]; 11. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[7]; 12. 23-Brandon Loucks[2]; 13. 76-Jamike Sowle[20]; 14. 77-Alan Barker[4]; 15. 44C-Ed Downing[19]; 16. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[15]; 17. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[8]; 18. 97S-Randy Shantel[16]; 19. 82H-Ron Holmes[13]; 20. 16-Aaron Jacobs[21]; 21. 369-Jim Walsh[18]
Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Bonus ($100): Matt Sheppard (20.242)
Taylor’s Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. 314-CLAYTON DUMOND[2]; 2. 10A-Matt Janczuk[12]; 3. 14T-Payton Talbot[11]; 4. 7H-Allan Hodge[8]; 5. 2K-Josh Amodio[7]; 6. 23-David Dickey[5]; 7. 22X-Mike Richmond[10]; 8. 10-Jim Nagle[14]; 9. 44C-Stephen Denton[4]; 10. 9K-Blaine Klinger[6]; 11. 31J-John Dumond[9]; 12. 67W-Zack Welch[3]; 13. 262-Matthew Richardson[1]; 14. 11Z-Nick Zielinski[24]; 15. 621-Seth Martin[17]; 16. 63-Chip Constantino[16]; 17. 82H-David Hackett[13]; 18. 20K-Kyle Perry[23]; 19. 4C-Michelle Courcy[22]; 20. 4J-JJ Courcy[21]; 21. 40D-Butchie Irwin[18]; 22. 69-Blake Sarpriacone[19]; 23. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[15]; 24. 77L-Ed Lukas[20]
Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Bonus ($100): Mike Richmond (21.592)
Next Generation Graphix Pro Stock Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. 110-DEVON CAMENGA[11]; 2. 81-Bret Belden[9]; 3. 49-Ivan Joslin[20]; 4. 14H-Hunter Keith[1]; 5. 715-Jason Morrison[5]; 6. 22-Tim Wood[7]; 7. 74N-Jim Normoyle[8]; 8. 6-Shane Playford[10]; 9. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[3]; 10. 28H-Johnny Holmes[2]; 11. 101-Ed Kotary[4]; 12. 94-Ryan Denton[17]; 13. 28G-Gus Gould[14]; 14. 14K-Mike Keith[15]; 15. 44-Ray Richer[22]; 16. 81A-Michael Achzet[6]; 17. 7-Eric Stumpf[16]; 18. 2H-Luke Horning[12]; 19. 13-George Cushman[13]; 20. 63-Matt Rose[18]; 21. 22W-AJ Walters[21]
Did Not Start: 11-George Wright, Sr.
Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Bonus ($100): Ed Kotary (23.424)
Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman (15 laps): 1. 00X-JOSH COONRADT[8]; 2. 43J-Jayden Wust[4]; 3. 10-Andrew MacFadden[3]; 4. 57-Eric Jensen[5]; 5. 4-Carson Rothwell[6]; 6. 12-Hayden Coons[2]; 7. 26-Maddy Broedel[10]; 8. 5-Eymarah Bowman[7]; 9. 24-Kirsten Swartz[9]; 10. 17S-Ernie Staelens[1]; 11. 44D-Kadyn Depasquale[12]; 12. 55-Kolton Weiler[14]; 13. 60-Brad Poppleton[11]; 14. 0-Kyle Coley[13]
Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Bonus ($100): Jayden Wust (21.616)
Fonda Fair Four Cylinder Feature Finish (12 laps): 1. 13D-KYLE SIMMONS[2]; 2. 09D-Kamrin Krause[3]; 3. 31D-Jeff Connolly[9]; 4. 54S-WAYNE RUSSELL JR[8]; 5. 35S-Hank Wedgren[4]; 6. H35S-Hank Wedgren Jr[6]; 7. 666D-Rudy King Jr[1]; 8. 212S-TJ Marlitt[5]; 9. 33D-John Haman[10]
Did Not Start: 17RD-Joseph Bouck
All-Star Slingshot Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. 6B-BRETT PUTNAM[2]; 2. 115-Paul Holic[1]; 3. 85X-Jason Dufel[4]; 4. 56-Ayden Goodier[6]; 5. 8-Tadd Granger[3]; 6. 29-Billy Richardson[5]; 7. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[8]; 8. 54-Sullivan Dickey[7]; 9. 83-Corbyn White[9]
Junior Slingshot Feature Finish (15 laps): 1. 28RS-ADDISYN ROGER[1]; 2. 20-Preston Trautschold[3]; 3. 22-Parker Fowler[2]; 4. 33X-Brody Janczuk[5]; 5. 27-Blake Banek[4]; 6. 67X-Jaxx Welch[6]