Danny Johnson Steals Super DIRTcar Series Win Tuesday At Airborne Park; Speshock Takes Sportsman

Story By: ROBBY KNOWLES / AIRBORNE PARK SPEEDWAY – PLATTSBURGH, NY – Waterloo, NY driver, Matt Sheppard was two laps away from his fourth Super DIRTcar Series victory of the season, when a yellow flag slowed the pace and setup a green-white-checkered finish at Airborne Park Speedway.

The lap-98 yellow for Sussex, NJ native, Brett Hearn pulled veteran driver, Danny Johnson to Sheppard’s rear bumper for a restart.

Sheppard drove the car high into turns one and two on the restart, while Johnson used the inside lane to pull even down the backstretch. Into the third turn, Sheppard slid up the track and Johnson found bite on the bottom of three and four to complete the pass. Sheppard again looked high on the final lap, but didn’t find the line to make a move.

Johnson’s win was his second of the season with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds.

“It feels great to get this win,” Johnson said. “The car was good on the inside and it was great on the final laps.”

Sheppard held on for the second spot, while Max McLaughlin completed the podium. Erick Rudolph and Jimmy Phelps finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Our car was really good all night for it being our first time here,” Sheppard said. “I bet this will probably be the last time you see Danny thanking Brett for that yellow.”

Jack Speshock picked up his first career win in the Poirier’s True Value Sportsman Modified feature.

Speshock took the lead on lap-9, but had to hold off racing veteran, Bucko Branham on a lap-22 restart. Speshock selected the inside for the restart and drove away to victory.

Patrick Picotin charged late to finish second, while Branham settled for third. Lonnie Rivers and Devin Willis completed the top five.

The Ernie’s Discount Tools Super Stocks found a familiar face in victory lane, as Tylor Terry scored his fifth win of the year. Brent Jarvis, Jim McKiernan, Josh Terry and Michael Wright completed the top five.

Cam Gadue picked up the Mini-Mod win, his third of the year.

SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES BATTLE OF PLATTSBURGH 100: (100 LAPS): DANNY JOHNSON, Matt Sheppard, Max McLaughlin, Erick Rudolph, Jimmy Phelps, Peter Britten, Carey Terrance, Steve Bernier, Jack Lehner, Rich Scagliotta, Dany Gagne, Louie Jackson Jr., Demetrios Drellos, Adam Roberts, Brett Hearn, Greg Atkins, Dave Rauscher, Jackie Brown, Tim Fuller, Jessey Mueller, Matt Woodruff, Marc Johnson, Yan Bussiere, Mikael Labreche, Stewart Friesen(DNS)

SPORTSMAN FEATURE: (25 LAPS) JACK SPESHOCK, Patrick Picotin, Bucko Branham, Lonnie Rivers, Devin Willis, JAoey Scarborough, Chris Frennier, Nick Heywood, Codie Aubin, Jeremy Roy, Jamy Begor, Dylan Rabtoy, Mike Palmer, Jason Bruno, Rico Hernandez, Richie Simmons, Brian Calabrese, Jamie LaFountain, Tyler Atkins, Zack Daniels, Mike Phinney, Jason McClatchie, Chris Cayea, Daryl Nutting, Cory McCoy