McCreadie, Fuller can't catch up with Sheppard

Matt Sheppard of Waterloo accomplished what no other DIRT motorsports driver has ever done during Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

By winning the prestigious Rite Aid 200 Sunday, Sheppard completed a trifecta.

Earlier in his career, Sheppard had won the Syracuse 150 (small-block modified) in 2003. In 2000, Sheppard won the sportsman feature.

In Sunday's race, north country drivers Tim McCreadie and Tim Fuller finished second and third, respectively. McCreadie, a Watertown native, was naturally disappointed by not winning Sunday's race. McCreadie started 28th in the feature.

"The track was a little icy and rough,'' McCreadie said following the race. "We changed tires on about lap 50. I was running around fifth when we came in for a pit stop. We came in at around 100 laps for a pit stop and I got boxed in by two cars and when I did get back out on the track again I was running around 15th.''

McCreadie said he wasn't sure if he could have caught Sheppard even if there were extra laps.

"We did have a real fine car, and that was the first time that I've finished that race, so we are proud of that.''

The second-place finish paid $25,000 for the McCreadie race team.

Fuller, an Edwards native who resides in the Watertown area, was seeking his second prestigious Rite Aid 200 victory. He won the race in 2004 and had the pole for Sunday's race.

Fuller held the lead for the first 72 laps. Gary Tomkins grabbed the lead until lap 121 when Jimmy Phelps took command. He held the lead until lap 190 when Sheppard took the lead for good on lap 191.

"Nobody had anything for Sheppard at the end,'' Fuller said after the race. "As the race wore on, the track was getting slippery. I came in for a pit stop at around the halfway point and got fuel and changed tires. Actually the car ran worse with the new cold tires. I was losing at least a second on restarts and couldn't hold off Timmy (McCreadie).''

Rounding out the top five were Frank Cozze of Wind Gap, Pa., and Richie Tobias Jr. of Anneville, Pa.

Pete Stefanski of Wheatfield, won the pro stock championship Sunday at the fairgrounds.