Aug 15, 2026 03:12 PM EDT
SUPER MATT SHEPPARD SECURIES MODIFIED FEATURE WIN 5 ON THE SEASON AT OUTLAW SPEEDWAY
Chris Fisher takes win number one on the 2026 campaign in Crate Sportsman. Jerry Lobdell JR. makes it win number two in Street Stock action. Mr. Smooth Marc Minutolo wins third Hobby Stock Feature in a row making it seven in the season and Craig DeCamp back in Mini Stock Victory Lane after a month of going without a victory and pushes his win total to 6 on the year.
Story by Kenny Shupp Jr.
(Dundee, NY) With the weeks now winding down and the Race for the Championship in each weekly division at a fever pitch with just one Double Point Show remaining on Friday, August 28 the stars are beginning to align themselves in every class.
Nineteen Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Modifieds reported to the opening grid for their traditional thirty -lap feature with Brian Swarthout of Beaver Dams along with third generation Waterloo pilot Tommy Paine bringing the field to green.
Swarthout would get the early jump and lead the opening circuit with the first of four caution flags waved on lap one. On the double file re-start, Jeff Daugherty would shoot past Swarthout and assume control with the second caution flying on lap two.
With Daugherty leading the charge the third yellow flag slowdown would come on lap seven, but once back to action it would go green for the next nine circuits, and it was on the lap sixteen restart that Matt Sheppard would work past Daugherty after dogging the Elmira native for ten laps.
Once at the point Sheppard who started ninth on the grid in car number nine would stretch his advantage to a full straight away as the event would go non-stop from lap sixteen through the double checkered flags on lap thirty with Super Matt claiming win five on the season.
Alex Payne put on another one of his patented come from behind rallies as the Hopewell young gun would begin in spot eleven, got shuffled back in an early event altercation with another car and would rally to claim second at the finish perhaps passing more cars than another driver over the entire distance and with the second place run still gives him a shot at claiming his second Outlaw Speedway Point Championship in the last three years, however he still trails Sheppard heading into the August 28 Point Finale.
Perhaps the drive of the night was put on by Jeff Daugherty who has suffered through a rollie coaster season with enough ups and downs to last a career. Most recently Daugherty lost his main power plant and had to purchase a used, but reliable piece and the driver and new motor combo never skipped a beat as the second-generation pilot would complete the top three podium finishes; a third-place finish that felt like a win after all the ongoing issues.
Completing the top five were Brian Swarthout who drifted to fourth after starting on the pole with infrequent competitor, Pat Kelly of Fowlerville giving chase.
For Kelly it was only his fifth start at Outlaw as he continues to impress lining up fourth on the grid he raced within the lead pack throughout the entire distance in route to well- deserved fifth place finish.
With Sheppard’s victory coupled with an eighteen-place finish for last season’s Track Champion, Mike Maresca it has changed the entire complexity of the championship chase, but not only did Maresca have problems. Others in the hunt including The Breeze Bobby Varin and Tommy Collins had their own problems with the pair of veterans showing DNF at the end of the event.
Currently it looks like a five-horse race for the title between Sheppard, Payne, Maresca, Daugherty and Collins with just fourteen markers separating Sheppard and Payne.
In Knapp and Schlappi Lumber Crate Sportsman action twenty machines took the opening green flag for their twenty-five lap A Main with a pair of veteran drivers, Tim Guild of Rathbone and Chris Fisher of Bluff Point leading the charge to the opening green flag.
Several caution flags plus a full course red on lap thirteen eliminated no less than five cars in a turn one bone jarring crash including Guild, Bryan Rhodes, Brandon Grover, Justice Mayo and Mikenna Buchanan.
Once back to green multi time Outlaw Speedway Sportsman Track Champion including last seasons title, Chris Fisher had things under control for the duration as he came home for his first trip to victory lane in 2026 running a very limited schedule.
Quintin Buchanan, who entered the night with a pair of feature wins lined up sixth on the grid and came home second and like a dozen other drivers is still in the running for the coveted 2026 Track Championship and the $2,500 that goes along with it.
Completing the podium was Collin Brown who started fifth and advanced two positions from start to finish.
July 3 feature winner, Daryl Krebs would move from tenth at the start to claim fourth with current high point man, Blake Parsons moving forward from eleventh on the opening grid to complete the top five finishers.
The point battle in the Knapp and Schlappi Lumber Crate Sportsman is still way to close to call with Parsons of Beaver Dams holding onto the top spot by a slim margin over Brent Ayers entering the final point night in just two weeks.
Jerry Lobdell of Freeville has made Outlaw his weekly Friday night dirt track race place in 2026, and it has paid off well as he started seventh on the grid in the Swarthout Recycling Street Stock twenty-lap feature and cruised to his second victory backing up his June 12 win.
Eli Mangiarelli along with Axsel Jensen would bring the eleven-car Street Stock field to green with Lobdell and current high point man, Jimmy Grant of Penn Yan moving through the field as the pair made up row four at the start and at the completion it was Lobdell holding off a hard charging Grant for the “W” with last seasons Rookie of the Year Willy Easling finishing third.
Fourth place went to Gene Sharpsteen of Chemung who lined up fourth on the grid and maintained throughout with Aksel Jensen drifting from his front row starting spot to complete the top five.
With just one Double Point Show left in 2026 Grant maintains a comfortable yet not insurmountable advantage over Lobdell, Easling, Sharpsteen, Joe Giardina, Mangiarelli and Brett Crawford with the top seven all with a mathematical chance.
The Addison, Corning, Hornell, Wellsville NAPA Auto Parts Stores found a very stout field of fifteen competitors go to the post for their twenty-lap feature with most eyes on the top two-point contenders, Marc Minutolo of Phelps and last season’s point Champion, Danny Kerrick of Stanley as the pair would comprise starting row four.
Mr. Smooth (Minutolo) would get the jump and make it to the point first and from there go on to his seventh feature win on the campaign and third in a row as Kerrick would once again had to settle for the bridesmaid spot as he entered the night with five feature wins most coming in the first half of the season.
Third at the double checkered flags was July 17 winner, Brighton Grant of Penn Yan who started sixth and advanced to complete the podium.
Completing the top five were The Nature Boy, Mike Stone of Cambell who has focused strictly on Hobby Stock action in 2026 after a great career in the Mini Stocks and his decision has paid off with another great run as he was chased across the line by third gen pilot Jake Karlnoski of Dundee who began the feature in the fifteenth and last starting spot.
With just one lone point show remaining Mr. Smooth has a slim thirty-point lead over Kerrick with Grant, Stone and Jared Hill all with a shot at the title.
The MR Grafix Mighty Mini Stocks completed the Fast 5* Show on this night with fifteen cars reporting to the staging area with Rookie contender, Kolston DeCamp of Corning and Mike Ayers of Prattsburgh leading the field to green for their twenty-lap A Main Event.
Craig DeCamp of Beaver Dams who entered the night with five feature wins to his credit started six on the start and as he has done all season very methodically worked his way through a field of really good drivers and equipment to pick-up win six on the year and strengthen his point lead over last seasons title holder, Zach Daugherty of Elmira who finished second at the finish after starting fourth.
Completing the podium was Jack Ormsby of Penn Yan started third and that is right where he would finish.
Fourth and fifth were claimed by Shorty Lee Fritz of Rockstream as he was chased across the line by Glen Vancise who came from tenth to wrap up the top five.
DeCamp has a forty-six-point advantage over Daugherty, entering the last point night with Kenneth Evans, Jayson Smart and Jack Ormsby all still with a mathematical chance of claiming the title.
Congratulations to all competitors.
Outlaw Speedway will remain silent on Friday, August 21 giving all drivers, race teams, employees and fans a night off in preparation for the August 28 Double Point Season Championship Event which will crown all the 2026 Track Champions prior to entering the Post Season Specials Only format beginning on September 18 with the Arthur and Cynthia MacMillan Memorial featuring the return of the ULMS Super Late Models for their second and final appearance of 2026.
For continual updates heading into the August 28 show stay abreast by going to www.Facebook.com/OutlawSpeedwayLLC/.
For a complete look at the point standings in all the FAST 5* Divisions go to www.outlawspeedwayllc.com.
FRIENDLY CHRYSLER, DODGE, JEEP, RAM MODIFIEDS. 19 cars
Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 9S-MATT SHEPPARD[9]; 2. 19G-Alex Payne[11]; 3. 22JZ-Jeff Daugherty[3]; 4. 14-Brian Swarthout[1]; 5. 57-Pat Kelly[4]; 6. 19-Eldon Payne[17]; 7. 5*-Tyler Siri[5]; 8. 47-Kreg Crooker[12]; 9. 42P-Pat Ward[15]; 10. 1P-Billy Paine[19]; 11. 21P-Derrick Podsiadlo[6]; 12. 70-Brady Fultz[14]; 13. 1-Tommy Collins[8]; 14. 18V-Bobby Varin[7]; 15. B2-Bob Henry Jr[13]; 16. 6-Tommy Paine[2]; 17. 007-Christain Thompson[18]; 18. 7MM-Mike Maresca[10]; 19. M13-David Matwiejow[16]
KNAPP AND SCHLAPPI LUMBER CRATE SPORTSMAN. 20 cars
Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 37-CHRIS FISHER[2]; 2. 27B-Quintin Buchanan[6]; 3. 87-Collin Brown[5]; 4. 13K-Daryl Krebs[10]; 5. 55-Blake Parsons[11]; 6. 5-Brent Ayers[8]; 7. 41-Josh Nobriga[7]; 8. 714-Chris Darling[16]; 9. 84-Colton Coots[3]; 10. 34S-Reid Stiles[18]; 11. 123-Dale Welty[12]; 12. 22K-Kevin DeCamp[15]; 13. 06-Tim Guild[1]; 14. 4R-Bryan Rhoads[9]; 15. 36-Brandon Grover[14]; 16. 181-Justice Mayo[13]; 17. 17-Mikenna Buchanan[19]; 18. 88T-Nate DeGraw[20]; 19. 1F-AJ Lloyd[4]; 20. 14G-Craig Gardner[17]
SWARTHOUT RECYCLING STREET STOCKS. 11 cars
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2L-JERRY LOBDELL JR.[7]; 2. 36-Jimmy Grant[8]; 3. 28-Willy Easling[5]; 4. 7-Gene Sharpsteen[4]; 5. 9-Aksel Jensen[2]; 6. 57J-Ely Mangiarelli[1]; 7. 6-Zach Teed[9]; 8. 12-John Burritt[10]; 9. 45-Sparky Hills[11]; 10. 25J-Joe Giardina[6]; 11. 8-Brett Crawford[3]
ADDISON, CORNING, HORNELL, WELLSVILLE NAPA HOBBY STOCKS. 15 cars
Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25B-MARC MINUTOLO[8]; 2. 61-Danny Kerrick[7]; 3. 36X-Brighton Grant[6]; 4. 23-Mike Stone[3]; 5. 4-Jake Karlnoski[15]; 6. 3-Jesse Ballance[1]; 7. 9X-Alecia Towner[10]; 8. 3X-Meadow Dgien[5]; 9. X30-Don Slover[11]; 10. 18-Wayne Ellison[13]; 11. 420-John Cogswell[12]; 12. 23D-Eric Dorn[9]; 13. 36K-Keegan Smith[2]; 14. 93-Jared Hill[4]; 15. (DNS) 21B-William Bradley
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Jared Hill[3]; 2. 9X-Alecia Towner
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3X-Meadow Dgien
MR GRAFIX MINI STOCKS. 15 cars.
Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22C-Craig Decamp[6]; 2. 22-Zach Daugherty[4]; 3. 52J-Jack Ormsby[3]; 4. 19-Lee Fritz[8]; 5. 11X-Glenn Vancise[10]; 6. 9-Kolston DeCamp[1]; 7. 21X-Mike Ayers[2]; 8. 27-Kenneth Evans[7]; 9. 22E-Eric Inman[13]; 10. 40-Ricky VanZile[11]; 11. 926-Michael Abbey[15]; 12. 8-Jayson Smart[5]; 13. 88-Marvin Jenkins[12]; 14. 63-Gavin Hall[14]; 15. 96X-Dodge Smith[9]
