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KUTZTOWN, PA – At the line.
Matt Sheppard, at literally the last second, squeezed out a $5,000 payday on Tuesday night at Action Track USA in Kutztown, Pa., besting Mike Gular at the line in the ‘Berks County Brawl’ for the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco.
The Savannah, N.Y. resident added the Kutztown Fairgrounds facility to his list of conquered venues in Round No. 3 of the STSS Modified NJ Quality Drywall South Region.
Sheppard was the 52nd of his career with the series, tying Stewart Friesen on the all-time
The win came at the expense of Keystone State talent Gular, who appeared to have the victory in slights before his pace was slowed in the final circuits when he caught the tail-end of the field.
With Gular behind another car on the final lap, Sheppard powered to the extreme outside and swept past Gular with the Sunoco checkered flags flying, bringing the standing-room-only crowd to its feet.
“What a crazy race!” Sheppard said afterward. “I tried to make that middle to top (groove) work a few times during the race. It seemed like if you could bounce through it, it was good.
“He (Gular) committed to the bottom and the lap car definitely jammed him up. I said, ‘I’ve got one shot here’ and I got lucky. It was just enough to beat him to the line.”
Gular, driving his self-owned No. 53, secured the lead on lap seven with a pass of pole starter Cole Stangle.
From there, the native of Harleysville, Pa., appeared to be in position for a fourth career STSS victory, surviving numerous mid-race restarts by selecting both the outside and inside lanes.
Sheppard, meanwhile, was swapping positions with Brandon Grosso and Anthony Perrego as the trio battled for second, third and fourth, respectively.
Once Sheppard secured the runner-up spot, Gular’s lead seemed insurmountable.
That all changed, however, when the leader encountered Paul Mancini’s No. 7M, which was about to be lapped. Gular tucked in behind Mancini’s car on the final two laps, allowing Sheppard to roll past on the outside coming to the checkered.
Gular settled for a disappointing $3,000 runner-up finish.
“Matt (Sheppard) ripped it and hit it perfect like he does,” Gular surmised.
Alex Payne of Canandaigua, N.Y., surged late in the event to complete the podium, finishing third after starting ninth in the Todd English-backed No. 70a.
Perrego, of Walden, N.Y., guided the Vinnie Salerno-owned No. 4 to a fourth-place finish and Grosso, of Montgomery, N.J., completed the front five aboard the family fielded No. 32.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were 10th-starter Alex Yankowski of Covington Township, Pa., Billy Pauch Jr. of Frenchtown, N.J., who started 12th in the Breitenstein Motorsports No. 14; Ryan Godown of Ringoes, N.J., up from 14th; 15th-starter Cale Ross of Lambertville, N.J.; and Louden Reimert of Oley, Pa., who started 16th.
Tanner Van Doren of Schnecksville, Pa., won the “Rocky 20” B-Main, bursting into the lead with a pass of Eddie Strada. Van Doren elected to keep his $1,000 and not transfer into the A-Main.
Reimert was the ATL Fuel Cells Hot Lap Hero, earning $100.
Heat winners were Gular, Sheppard, Payne and Danny Bouc.
Thirty STSS Modifieds signed in to compete in the first-ever full-points-paying event at Action Track USA.
The STSS returns to competition at Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Thursday, May 29 with the ‘Adirondack Invasion’ paying $7,000 to the winner for 70 laps to kick off the HYTORC of New York North Region championship battle.
To learn more about the Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco, visit www.shorttracksuperseries.com, e-mail bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com, check out ‘Short Track Super Series’ on Facebook or @ShortTrackSS on (X) or Instagram.
The Short Track Super Series is presented by Bob Hilbert Sportswear, FloRacing, American Racer, Lias Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, BDR Speed, NJ Quality Drywall, HYTORC of New York, Ollie’s, Penske Racing Shocks, Saint Lawrence Radiology, Capitol Custom Trailers & Coaches, Bicknell Racing Products, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Madsen Overhead Doors, Belmont’s Garage, Wegner Automotive, DIG Race Products, ATL, Dirt Draft, Swagger Factory Apparel, F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Algonkin Motel LLC, Beyea Custom Headers, Design for Vision, Sunglass Central, Dirt Track Digest TV, DKM Fabrication, EIBACH, Fastline Performance, Flach Performance Products, Henry’s Headers & Exhaust Systems, JK Signworks, JLR Technologies, Dave Prime Jr. MAC Tools, MD3, PEM Engineering, Schultz Racing Fuel Cells, SRI Performance, Superior Remodeling, Swift Springs, The Exotic Brand, TV 12 Racing Products, VAHLCO Wheels & Wilwood Disc Brakes.
‘BERKS COUNTY BRAWL’ RACE SUMMARY – ACTION TRACK USA MAY 27, 2025
Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco Modified NJ Quality Drywall South Region Round No. 3 Feature Finish (50 laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[7]; 2. 53G-Mike Gular[2]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[9]; 4. 4P-Anthony Perrego[3]; 5. 32-Brandon Grosso[6]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 7. 14P-Billy Pauch Jr[12]; 8. 26-Ryan Godown[14]; 9. 112-Cale Ross[15]; 10. 16-Louden Reimert[16]; 11. 4M-Logan Watt[17]; 12. 6D-Dillon Steuer[8]; 13. 51-Ryan Krachun[18]; 14. 7M-Paul Mancini[11]; 15. 6S-Matt Stangle[13]; 16. 20C-Cole Stangle[1]; 17. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 18. 6B-Danny Bouc[5]
B-Main Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. 27-Tanner Van Doren[8]; 2. 33-Eddie Strada[6]; 3. 51-Ryan Krachun[3]; 4. 4*-Brian Hirthler[14]; 5. 9-Joe Toth[10]; 6. 77-Kyle Smith[11]; 7. 9L-Jimmy Leiby[9]; 8. 4M-Logan Watt[4]; 9. 5-Jack Butler[5]; 10. 97T-Danny Tyler[1]; 11. 73H-Paulie Hartwig III[7]; 12. 13T-Anthony Tramontana[2]; 13. 53-Geoff Quackenbush[13]; 14. 14-Logan Bauman[12]
American Racer/Lias Tire Bonuses (FREE Tire Certificate): Alex Yankowski(sixth) & Matt Stangle (15th)
ATL Fuel Cell Hot Lap Hero ($100): Louden Reimert (11.176 seconds)
Beyea Custom Headers Redraw Bonus ($50): Billy Pauch Jr. (Redrew 12th)
Design for Vision Sunglass Central Bonus (Oakley Sunglasses): Matt Sheppard
Henry’s Exhaust Power Position ($50 Certificate): Logan Watt(11th)
MD3 Most Laps Led ($100 Certificate): Mike Gular(41 laps)
Penske Racing Shocks Bonuses: Matt Sheppard(first – $150 certificate); Mike Gular (second – $100 certificate); Alex Payne (third – $75 certificate)
Swift Springs Hard Luck Award (FREE Spring Certificate): Danny Bouc
Wilwood Brakes ‘Lucky 7’ Bonus ($100 Certificate): Billy Pauch Jr.(seventh)
