During the dog days of summer, it seemed like a Super DIRTcar Series championship was out of the question for Matt Sheppard in 2017. A two-race suspension after an altercation with Larry Wight dropped him more than 100 points out of the lead. When the final checkered flag waved on Saturday night at the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (NC), Sheppard won the championship by more than 70 points over Billy Decker.
Entering Saturday night’s final feature of 2017, Sheppard led Decker by more than 30 points, but the title was still within Decker’s reach.
That was until the redraw for starting positions for Saturday’s feature. Sheppard drew the pole position, making his quest for the championship much simpler.
Sheppard immediately jumped out into the lead and never looked back. The No. 9s of “Super Matt” was never challenged out front as he led every single one of the 40 laps.
Sheppard went on to score the victory while Decker finished in the seventh position. Unofficially, Sheppard is the 2017 champion by a margin of 71 points over Decker.
“This place is so crazy,” said Sheppard over the public address system at The Dirt Track. “You can’t take a lap off here. You’ve got to be on the gas every lap. It’s awesome to put on a show in front of a big crowd like this. This makes our season.”
Saturday’s season finale was not the only time Sheppard put on a show. In just 25 starts, Sheppard scored 12 wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10 finishes. The next closest in wins on the season was Decker with four victories in 27 starts.
Keith Flach finished Saturday’s feature in second, ahead of Mike Mahaney, Danny Johnson and Tim Fuller.
In the 2017 points standings it was Matt Sheppard ahead of Billy Decker, Larry Wight, Pat Ward and Jimmy Phelps.
Speed51.com will have more from Saturday’s season finale including video interviews still to come on the Speed51.com Video Network.
For an on-demand replay of Saturday’s Trackside Now coverage presented by PFC Brakes, click here.
-By Rob Blount, Speed51.com Southeast Editor – Twitter: @RobBlount
-Photo Credit: Speed51.com/Mojo Photos
Super DIRTcar Series World Finals Saturday
The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Unofficial Results
Pos # Driver
1 9s Matt Sheppard
2 43 Keith Flach
3 88 Mike Mahaney
4 27J Danny Johnson
5 19 Tim Fuller
6 21A Peter Britten
7 91 Billy Decker
8 66 Ryan Godown
9 42P Pat Ward
10 25R Erick Rudolph
11 3 Justin Haers
12 98H Jimmy Phelps
13 19 Tim Fuller
14 7M Michael Maresca
15 99L Larry Wight
16 20 Brett Hearn
17 66X Carey Terrence
18 84 Gary Tomkins
19 6H Max McLaughlin
20 6M Mat Williamson
21 111 Demetrios Drellos
22 5 Tyler Siri
23 5H Chris Hile
24 109 Billy Whittaker
25 25 Chad Jesso
26 22 Brandon Walters
27 83 Brian Swartzlander
28 19W Justin Wright
29 18B Dave Blaney
