WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — In a battle between two of the most effective in Huge Block Modified racing, Stewart Friesen got here out on high in Sunday’s SummerFAST opener.
The Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, driver outdueled 10-time Tremendous DIRTcar Collection champion Matt Sheppard and held on for the ultimate 10 laps to win the Corridor of Fame 100 at Weedsport Speedway.
Friesen additionally added one other milestone to his storied profession, tying Alan Johnson for fifth on the all-time wins listing along with his 57th collection triumph.
“What an incredible observe right here at Weedsport tonight,” Friesen stated. “I can’t thank the observe crew sufficient. The Corridor of Fame 100 with Chris Larsen, our automotive proprietor going within the [Hall of Fame] this 12 months, is absolutely, actually cool.
“Shoutout to the entire Halmar group. They had been cool, calm, and picked up all evening lengthy, and gave me an incredible 100-lap automotive tonight.”
Jack Lehner led the opening two laps of the Function earlier than Alex Payne roared previous him for the lead on Lap 3. The Hopewell, N.Y., driver pulled away from the sphere early, utilizing the skin lane to open a four-second lead over the remainder of the sphere within the first 50 laps.
Nonetheless, on a lap-54 restart, Payne’s possibilities to win the race dwindled. Lehner nosed forward of Payne as they raced to the inexperienced flag. However as they entered Flip 1, they each fought for the underside of the racetrack, forcing Payne to hit the brakes arduous by the nook, sending him sliding into the skin wall.
When the race resumed, Lehner led the sphere over the following 10 laps, utilizing the center lane. However behind him, Sheppard was on the transfer from his eleventh beginning spot. After restarting fourth on Lap 55, the Savannah, N.Y., driver dove to the underside, passing Alex Yankowski for third, and Mat Williamson for second.
“Tremendous Matt” wasn’t stopping there both. Whereas Lehner tried retaining him at bay for 3 laps, Sheppard’s momentum was an excessive amount of for the “Ginja Ninja,” as he took the lead away on Lap 63.
Nonetheless, simply as Sheppard appeared destined for his first Collection win of the season, a warning on Lap 65 for Darren Smith added one other contender for the checkered flag.
Friesen restarted sixth on Lap 68 and wanted three laps to drive to second. Then, the battle was on as Friesen used the skin line to chop the deficit between him and the No. 9s.
As Sheppard continued inching ahead on the within, Friesen was constructing momentum on the highest however couldn’t achieve sufficient velocity on the exit of Flip 4 to get the lead. Nonetheless, Friesen was higher in Flip 2, having the ability to use the cushion to energy off the nook and down the backstretch. That’s the place he nosed forward for the primary time within the battle with Sheppard, holding the benefit as they accomplished Lap 79.
However Sheppard wasn’t going away but. As Friesen continued to work the skin, Sheppard discovered momentum once more and inched ahead to wrestle the lead again. The 2 waged battle once more side-by-side till there have been 11 laps to go once they caught the again of the sphere.
Tanner Van Doren and Logan Watt had been combating for place in entrance of Friesen and Sheppard, which in the end performed a task within the race’s final result. When the 2 drivers approached the site visitors, they impeded Sheppard’s lane on the underside, permitting Friesen a transparent path on the highest.
The 2 drivers nonetheless stayed even till Lap 89, when Sheppard caught Watt’s again bumper. As they battled off Flip 2, Sheppard tried sliding in entrance of Friesen as they exited the nook, however couldn’t clear him, permitting the No. 44 to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
From there, Friesen held on to earn the $10,000 prize and his fifth win of 2026.
“I used to be simply approach too tight in the beginning,” Friesen stated. “It’s often about tire administration, however then I received a run on the highest, and I used to be like, now that’s out the window. We needed to take these Hoosiers for all they might take, and that one took numerous abuse.
“I believed if we may get to the highest 5, it was going to be evening for us. Loads of guys had been higher than us early. The restarts form of performed into our favor. There have been some mix-ups on the restarts we had been capable of keep away from and be there when it counted.”
Sheppard settled for second, incomes his second consecutive collection podium end.
“I form of cleared Stewie on the entrance stretch, and I believed if I may clear him off of (Flip) 2 on the skin and pin him behind the lap automobiles, that will’ve been the distinction within the race,” Sheppard stated. “He received only a ok run that I couldn’t get to the highest with out wrecking him, so we needed to form of settle in there for second.
“We’ve been knocking on the door; we simply need to get to victory lane.”
Defending SummerFAST champion Mat Williamson crossed the road third however was mild on the scales after the race was over, relegating him to a Twenty seventh-place end.
That moved up Lehner to the ultimate spot on the rostrum.
Yankowski, the collection factors chief, crossed the road fourth, and Anthony Perrego completed fifth.
With Williamson’s last-place end, Sheppard moved into second within the standings, 65 factors behind Yankowski.
The end:
Function (100 laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[10]; 2. 9S-Matt Sheppard[11]; 3. 2-Jack Lehner[1]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[6]; 5. 4-Anthony Perrego[13]; 6. 91-Felix Roy[8]; 7. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[7]; 8. 21A-Peter Britten[12]; 9. 25-Erick Rudolph[16]; 10. 35-Mike Mahaney[15]; 11. 28-Michael Trautschold[26]; 12. 3M-Chris Mackey[19]; 13. 7Z-Zachary Payne[23]; 14. 27-Tanner Van Doren[17]; 15. 15X-Justin Stone[25]; 16. 4M-Logan Watt[21]; 17. 6-Matt Stangle[3]; 18. 12-Darren Smith[4]; 19. 21C-Brian Calabrese[18]; 20. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 21. 19-Tim Fuller[20]; 22. 11-Matt Caprara[27]; 23. 9-Tim McCreadie[14]; 24. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[9]; 25. 14B-Brendan Darrah[24]; 26. 15-Todd Root[22]; 27. 88-Mat Williamson[5]
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