The Headline(s)
“Superman” Matt Sheppard ran away with the final 40 laps of the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, marking his second career sweep of Super DIRT Week’s major feature races.
How it Happened
2022 Billy Whittaker Cars 200 (Super DIRTcar Series)
Where: Oswego Speedway – Waterloo, N.Y. (streamed on DirtVision)
Winner’s Purse: $50,000
A lap 182 caution for Brian Calabrese’s expired engine gave defending Billy Whittaker Cars 200 champion Mat Williamson the shot he was looking for, but he had absolutely nothing in the final laps for Matt Sheppard, who scored what DirtVision labeled his 39th feature win of 2022 in the $50,000-to-win finale of Super DIRT Week Sunday night (Oct. 9).
. @dirtvision WINNER: the @theNAPAnetwork 50th Super DIRT Week is capped off with another Win for “Super” Matt Sheppard!!! @Williamson6 takes 2nd and @MaxMcLaughlin_ rounds out the Podium!! @OswegoSpeedway pic.twitter.com/U3cKkNtBtG
— NAPA Super DIRT Week (@SuperDIRTWeek) October 10, 2022
It took a while for Sheppard, the heavy favorite ending Sunday’s race, to take the race lead for good after leading more than 40 laps to start the feature, but he was finally able to prevail over Marc Johnson after sustained pressure on a restart following a lap 156 yellow for Jackson Gill’s engine failure. From there, the only drama facing Sheppard was contact with the lapped car of Adam Pierson seven laps from the checkered flag.
Sunday’s race played out very differently from the 2021 edition, as the racing surface lacked the canyon-esque divots that plagued last year’s race. Though it was a sketchy start with a track that rubbered immediately and led to a single-file opening half, lapped traffic eventually spiced up the event.
Success Stories
There’s no debate, Matt Sheppard is king of the big-block modifieds in 2022, and he’s sneakily built a campaign that could rival even late model giant Jonathan Davenport for driver of the year consideration. 39 wins in 2022 and the last week was massive, with Sheppard winning the $20,000 Fulton Outlaw 200 a week ago, then winning both the Salute to the Troops 150 Saturday and the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 victory this weekend.
$90,000 winnings in a week is decent money. And here’s a stat of note for the 2022 season. One thing’s for sure, just like Davenport, Sheppard’s worthy of the nickname “Superman.”
It’s a good year to have a 9 in your number!!! 9S, 49, 49, 19M, 39M, 69K! 🏁🏁
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