Boyertown’s Watt wins STSS opener at Georgetown
GEORGETOWN, DEL. » Finally, after a handful of runner-up finishes at Delaware’s Georgetown Speedway, Ryan Watt outgunned Matt Sheppard to capture the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial on Saturday night, the series opener for the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Presented by Sunoco.
Watt’s triumph was his fourth career win on the STSS tour, but his first at Georgetown Speedway in series history. The 2017 STSS Velocita-USA. South Region champion began his title defense with a win in the 50th race of the series’ history, and in the first of eight races scheduled for six tracks in the southern faction of the tour.
“We’ve been so close to winning here and got second every race here last year,” Watt said in Victory Lane. “It’s awesome to finally get over the hump.”
Watt and Sheppard waged a war for the top spot, switching posts on the leaderboard on multiple occasions, before the Boyertown driver jumped ahead for good with three circuits remaining. “We were so equal all race,” Watt mentioned. “Lapped traffic is so tough sometimes, and I was just able to take advantage of my opportunity.”
Watt took the early lead from his outside pole starting position ahead of Friday night’s winner Craig Von Dohren and Sheppard, who started outside of the
second row.
After a few early-race restarts, Sheppard wiggled second from Von Dohren before another caution flag on lap 12 of the 49-lap main event. This time, Sheppard, aboard the Hurlock Auto & Speed-sponsored No. 9s, plunged ahead of the field, taking his first lead of the race. By this time, David Van Horn had moved into third from his 11th-place starting spot, cementing himself as the one to watch coming through the field.
When the caution flag flew on lap 19, Van Horn beat Watt to the line to grab a front-row position on the restart alongside Sheppard. With 30 to go, Watt stole second back from Van Horn on the next green flag lap and set his sights on Sheppard. He pulled even down the backstretch but was unable to complete the pass.
With 20 laps to go, Watt, who was utilizing the ultratop lane to his advantage, entered a bit too hard and a bit too high, sending him over the banking between turns three and four. His lead over third-place running Van Horn, however, allowed him to roar back on the racing surface without losing a position. Throughout the next few circuits, he seemed to unleash another level of speed, quickly closing back in on the leading Sheppard, who was battling through lapped traffic.
“The track was awesome,” Watt said. “The top widened out to the very edge and we were running so hard, I slipped up once and then I was just hoping for a caution for another opportunity.”
On lap 34, he got it. Jordan Watson slowed with 15 tours around the banked half-mile oval left to go. Still, on the ensuing restart, Sheppard sped ahead with Watt close behind, followed by Van Horn, Billy Decker and Von Dohren, who battled side-by-side for consecutive laps, Duane Howard and Friday night’s runner up Billy Pauch Jr. Howard and Pauch Jr. would slide past Von Dohren on the next few circuits.
Sheppard still held a solid, albeit close, lead on Watt with under five laps to go as he entered lapped traffic yet again. This time, however, it wasn’t so easy. Two cars battled door-todoor just ahead of him, and Sheppard was unable to find a clear path. Meanwhile, Watt concocted his plan. As Sheppard dove to the bottom of turn three, Watt blew it in on the outside, driving by for the lead.
Another caution would fly with two laps to go, setting up a green-whitecheckered finish, but Watt crossed the line first for the win, followed by Sheppard, Van Horn, Decker and Pauch Jr.
“It was really a great battle,” Sheppard said in front of a packed grandstand. “I thought we had a good shot at it, but just got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I’m happy with the performance, though,” he said. “We had a lot of speed tonight, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do down here.”
Van Horn, who shot through to the top three early on in the race, wasn’t complaining.
“I love racing down here in Delaware,” he said. “The fans are diehard racing fans and really care about what we are doing.
“I think I used up my tire coming through, so I was just trying to hold my spot and hope for the best, but I’m really happy to take third behind guys like Ryan and Sheppard.”
Rounding out the top ten were: Howard, who scored a pair of top-six finishes on the weekend; Von Dohren, following up his seasonopening victory aboard the Dick Biever-owned No. 14s; Billy Pauch Sr., who bounced around inside the top ten through much of the night; Stewart Friesen and Anthony Perrego, respectively.
Watt’s victory was worth $6,949.
A field of 48 STSS Modifieds signed in for the opener. Heat winners were Billy Pauch Jr., Joseph Watson, Sheppard, Howard and Watt. Danny Creeden and Mike Gular split the consolations.
Teenager Alex Yankowski of Throop, Pa., dominated the 25-lap L&J Sheet Metal Crate 602 Sportsman main. Yankowski earned a victory in his first appearance at the Sussex County half-mile oval. Yankowski received a $1,049 winner’s share plus a $149 bonus from Rent Equip in Ocean View, Del.
*** Craig Von Dohren used a restart with 18 laps remaining to cruise to a season-opening victory on Friday night’s portion of the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial weekend at Georgetown Speedway.
Von Dohren, of Oley, jumped ahead of Billy Pauch Jr. on lap 12, and secured the lead before the caution flag flew again just two laps later in front of a packed grandstand despite a chilly evening to capture a $4,049-payday.
The pit area was jammed to capacity despite frigid temperatures with a solid crowd on hand.
“It’s really a great feeling to win right off the bat,” Von Dohren said in Victory Lane. “We found some things at the end of the season last year at Bridgeport, and it seemed to carry over tonight.”
Billy Pauch Jr. led from the opening lap, pushing ahead of Jeff Strunk and Von Dohren from his outside pole starting spot. The lead trio joined in a heated scuffle, with Von Dohren and Strunk trading positions on almost every lap. The first 10 laps clicked off without a stoppage until H.J. Bunting brought out the first yellow.
The first caution led to a few more, including a nasty flip for top-five running Jamie Mills. On the restart with 11 laps in, Strunk ran off the top of the banking coming off of turn two, dropping from the runnerup spot to the tail of the field. A lap ticked off before the next yellow on lap 12, sending him outside the top 20 on the next restart.
Von Dohren jumped in front of Pauch Jr. on the ensuing restart, using the outside lane to his advantage, and when Danny Bouc sat facing the other way on lap 14, Von Dohren was in control. He led Pauch Jr., Duane Howard, Jared Umbenhauer, Stewart Friesen, Doug Manmiller, Anthony Perrego, Mike Gular, Danny Creeden and Matt Stangle.
The next 16 laps went out without a hitch, with Von Dohren opening his lead to over half a straightaway. Pauch Jr. held on for second, outdueling Howard in a spirited battle for the runner-up position. Howard was third, Umbenhauer took fourth and Friesen concluded the top five.