DRUMMONDVILLE, QC – It’s only fitting that Matt Sheppard’s quest for 100 Super DIRTcar Series victories ended where it all began. Twenty-one years after he won his first Series Feature at Autodrome Drummond, the Waterloo, NY driver led all 75 laps on Monday night to win night one of King of the North, joining Brett Hearn as the only two drivers to reach 100 Series wins.
“My first win here was an unexpected one,” Sheppard said. “And I kind of built momentum from there. For whatever reason, some tracks are just better to you than others. I’ve had some tracks that’ve been a thorn in my side, even though I’ve run good there, and this just seems like one of those places where a lot of times things go right. It’s definitely fitting that the 100th came at the same track as the first one.”
Sheppard, who started on the pole, led the field to the green in the 75-lap Feature, driving away from Alex Payne on the race’s opening lap. Any momentum Sheppard had stalled immediately, though, as Peter Britten brought out the race’s first caution on Lap 2.
On the ensuing restart, Sheppard resumed his pace out front, while Payne and Felix Roy battled for second. However, Roy’s charge to the front ended on Lap 12, when he stopped on the backstretch with mechanical issues, ending his night.
When the race resumed, Sheppard got out in front of Payne again, while Stewart Friesen tried charging around Turns 1 and 2 to get by Steve Bernard for fifth on Lap 15.
However, Friesen continued to use the outside line entering Turns 3 and 4. He hit the outside wall in Turn 3 hard, sending his car flipping in the air and landing on the track, where two more cars collided with the No. 44, bringing out the red flag.
After the incident, Friesen was alert and talking to safety officials. He was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. In a Facebook post, on Tuesday morning, Stewart’s wife Jessica Friesen said he sustained multiple fractures to his pelvis and a broken right leg. He’s being transferred to another hospital, this morning, for surgeries. “His vitals are stable, and after receiving additional pain medication, he is in better spirits and resting,” said Mrs. Friesen.
On the next restart, Sheppard drove away from Payne again until he reached traffic on Lap 28. That’s when Payne gained momentum on the outside line and started closing in on the No. 9S. The Hopewell, NY driver got within a few car lengths of the lead until a caution came out on Lap 38, giving the clean air advantage to Sheppard.
“Super Matt” pulled away from Payne when the race resumed, cruising out front until he reached traffic with 10 laps to go. That’s when Payne started closing in on the No. 9S, knowing another opportunity was ahead of him.
Using the outside lane, Payne got within two car lengths of the top spot with two laps to go but couldn’t find enough momentum to get by. He switched to the bottom lane on the final lap, trying one more time to get by. But it wasn’t enough as Sheppard held on for his third Series win of 2025, and eighth career Series victory at Drummond.
Despite leading every lap, Sheppard said he was racing on the edge while using the outside.
“I really wanted to move down on the track, but I know Alex is so good on the top,” Sheppard said. “I didn’t want to have him drive right around me. Then we’d get racing those lap cars and they’re racing side-by-side, you get into dirty air, and they break your momentum, and this is such a momentum track that once you get in traffic, you have your hands full.”
The $10,000 victory also earned him a guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 at Super DIRT Week 53.
Payne crossed the line second, matching his best finish of the 2025 season. The 2024 Series Rookie of the Year said he wished he had moved around a little bit and searched for a different lane.
“I felt like the last two laps I really closed in,” Payne said. “Which could’ve been me being better or him caught up in traffic. I felt like, in clean air, he was better until the tires got going, and then I’d kind of reel him back in. It was a good run, and it was a good run overall.”
Quebec driver David Hebert crossed the line third, his eighth top five in 25 Series starts at Drummond.
“The car was really good on the bottom at the start of the race,” Hebert said. “When we were on the top, the car was a little bit tight. I was faster on the long runs and just finished third.”
Bernard crossed the line fourth, and Tim Sears Jr. rounded out the top five.
With a sixth-place finish, defending Series champion Mat Williamson took over the points lead for the first time in 2025. He now holds an eight-point lead over Alex Yankowski, who finished 10th.
King Of The North (75 Laps):
- 9S-Matt Sheppard[1]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 3. ONE-David Hebert[12]; 4. 54-Steve Bernard[8]; 5. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[13]; 6. 88-Mat Williamson[11]; 7. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[21]; 8. 25-Erick Rudolph[20]; 9. 1M-Mathieu Desjardins[27]; 10. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[18]; 11. 44G-Sebastien Gougeon[10]; 12. 54R-William Racine[15]; 13. 91JR-Jeremy Roy[3]; 14. 2-Jack Lehner[7]; 15. 41-Samuel Charland[24]; 16. 35-Mike Mahaney[16]; 17. 12-Darren Smith[5]; 18. 6-Matt Stangle[23]; 19. 35B-Steve Bernier[22]; 20. 4-Anthony Perrego[9]; 21. 25P-Michael Parent[26]; 22. (DNF) 66X-Carey Terrance[28]; 23. (DNF) 44-Stewart Friesen[6]; 24. (DNF) 4K-Mario Clair[14]; 25. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone[19]; 26. (DNF) 91-Felix Roy[4]; 27. (DNF) 21A-Peter Britten[25]; 28. (DNS) 15B-Brianna Ladouceur
By Mike Warren / DIRTcar
