DRUMMONDVILLE, QC – With a guaranteed spot at Super DIRT Week on the line, Matt Sheppard delivered a Super performance Tuesday night at Autodrome Drummond. “Super Matt” drove from eighth to first, thundering past Tim Sears Jr. with five laps remaining to win the King of the North finale—his first points-paying win of 2024.
“It feels good to get the monkey off our back,” Sheppard said. “I don’t feel like we’ve been bad this year; I just feel like we haven’t put it all together for a night. Whether it be something little on the car, or somebody being really good that night, a bad draw, or whatever.”
“Tonight, we overcame all obstacles. A bad draw and everything. I think we were a couple of hundred-thousandths of a second in [Qualifying] off a perfect night.”
Sears, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner led the field to the green in the 75-lap Feature, quickly pulling away from outside pole-sitter Jack Lehner.
“Timmer” went unchallenged for most of the race, as several restarts allowed him to keep pulling away. But as he continued to lead, Sheppard also used the restarts to his benefit.
Running sixth on a Lap 23 restart, the 10-time defending Series champion gained two spots, getting by Anthony Perrego and Felix Roy for fourth down the backstretch. Seven laps later, he moved past Sebastian Gougeon for third.
When the caution came out for Perrego on Lap 38, it was another opportunity for Sheppard to gain a position. Restarting third, Sheppard got a monstrous run down the backstretch, and tried to slide Alex Payne in Turns 3 and 4 for second.
His momentum wasn’t enough for him to take the position away. But when Payne’s right rear quarter panel hit the outside wall in Turn 4, Sheppard switched lanes to the middle and passed him on the inside lane for second on the front stretch.
Sheppard needed seven laps to catch Sears for the lead, reaching Sears’ bumper as they raced down the backstretch on Lap 49. Like the move he used on Payne, Sheppard switched lanes down the front stretch trying to pass Sears, but he couldn’t get by when he tried to slide him in Turns 1 and 2.
After another caution for Perrego on Lap 56, Sheppard had another opportunity to wrestle the lead from Sears.
When the race resumed, Sheppard kept pace with Sears in Turns 1 and 2. But when they reached Turns 3 and 4, Sheppard drove his Bicknell Chassis deeper in the corner, sliding in front of Sears’ nose to take the lead.
But Sears was ready for it. “Timmer” immediately dove to the bottom to reclaim the top spot as they completed Lap 57.
Then, on Lap 58, Sheppard tried one more slide job for the lead. But when he slid up the banking in Turns 1 and 2, Sears had just enough momentum to retain the top spot down the backstretch.
It looked like Sears would be in line for his first Series victory, until he ran into traffic with six laps to go.
As they completed Lap 70, Sears passed Justin Stone on the inside lane and slid in front of the No. 15x as they exited Turn 2. However, that opened the door for Sheppard, who used another monstrous run off Turn 2 to pass Sears as they entered Turn 3.
Like on Lap 57, Sears dove to the bottom again, but Sheppard was too strong, holding onto the lead as they completed Lap 70.
From there, Sheppard held on to win the $10,000 prize—his 97th Super DIRTcar Series triumph.
Sheppard said his ability to pass on restarts was vital for winning.
“Restarts are the easiest time to pass cars,” Sheppard said. “It didn’t matter where I restarted. I could pick off a car here and there and advance through the field.
“I was following Timmer, and I thought I was faster. But he had the clean air and the clean racetrack and that was enough to keep him out front. I wanted to see some traffic, and finally, when we got into traffic, he got hung up in [Turn 2]. I got a big run down the backstretch, and that won it for us.”
Sheppard extended his points lead to 27 over Mat Williamson, who finished ninth.
Sears crossed the line second, earning his fifth top five in his last six Series starts. Despite losing the lead with five laps to go, he smiled from ear to ear in after the race, matching his best Super DIRTcar Series finish.
“At the end, it was just lap traffic,” Sears said. “I couldn’t quite clear the lap car, so I slid him. And when I slid him, I killed all my momentum down the backstretch and Matt went right by me.
“I left all of the cards out there, and it’s definitely nothing to hang your head about.”
Payne finished third, scoring his best Series finish for the second consecutive night. The Hopewell, NY driver, who started ninth said that how well his car ran early played a significant role in his first Series podium.
“I made a lot of ground early on the bottom,” Payne said. “I got to second in a hurry, and from there, the restarts inside and outside made a difference. I think we had a solid second to third-place car.”
Jimmy Phelps finished fourth, and Quebec’s David Hebert rounded out the top five.
