Battle for the Fairgrounds, PART 2

Sheppard uses second half surge to power past Larry Wight, Brett Hearn on the way to victory Two generations of the most successful talents in Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified racing faced off at Orange County Fair Speedway Wednesday night to battle for a $7,500 payday. Nine-time and defending Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard, of Waterloo, NY, and Hall of Famer Brett Hearn, of Sussex, NJ, who has more than 300 wins at Orange County, went toe-to-toe in the closing laps with “Super Matt” besting the legend for his second Series win of the season – 91st of his career. The Battle for the Fairgrounds saw Larry Wight start pole with Sheppard to his outside. Behind them, two legends – Billy Decker in third and Hearn in fourth. At the start of the Feature, Sheppard slipped to third on the first lap, leaving Wight and Hearn to wage a war for the lead. However, Sheppard stayed within striking distance of the front two, saving his equipment as he waited for the perfect time to strike. Wight led the first nine laps before Hearn drove around the outside of him through Turns 3 and 4. However, Wight didn’t give up on the bottom. Holding his line lap after lap, he snuck back by Hearn for the lead on Lap 17. Their battle wasn’t done yet, though. While Wight...