Gypsum Racing.com

Aug 22, 2020
Pepsi Big-Block Modified hotshot Larry Wight topped tour rival Matt Sheppard on Saturday to score a narrow victory and pad his division lead heading into the final scheduled points event next weekend at Land of Legends Raceway.

With the 2020 season championships coming down to the wire, Wight wheeled his way ever closer to the coveted Big-Block crown as the Phoenix NY pilot proved worthy holding off perennial points king Sheppard in a late race duel to score the dramatic win by a mere .176-sec.

“I couldn’t really tell what the better line was running up front and not knowing how Matt got up through there so I just stuck with what I thought worked,” remarked Wight, 27, who now holds a 28-point (392-364) advantage over north country campaigner Tim Fuller. “We bobbled a little bit getting through the holes in (turn) three and lost the nose but had enough drive to come off and beat him to the line.”

A solid 30-car field took chief starter Scott Hixson’s opening green flag with qualifying heat race winner Wight filing in 12th to begin the 35-lap finale. Front row partners Jimmy Maier and Justin Wright swapped the lead early while Wight rolled his red hot #99L FX Caprara Honda-Tracey Road Equipment/Bicknell ride into the top-5 before 10 laps were complete.

James Sweeting suffered a right front flat tire to incur a yellow flag on lap 18, and only Billy Dunn separated Wight from leader Wright at the halfway mark. Sheppard began 17th and methodically carved his way to the front, riding into 7th on the lap 18 restart, cracking the front-five just one more time around the fast-half-mile oval before dropping Dillon Groover to fourth on lap 21.

Dunn grabbed the lead between turns one and two yet before the lap could be scored Wight charged from third to first, relegating Wright into the show position as the trio crossed the line with 22 complete. ‘Super Matt’ passed Wright over the next half-mile but needed five more circuits to duck under runner-up Dunn and focus on front-runner Wight.

With Sheppard closing in fast using the low lane as ‘Lightning Larry’ continued to chase the high line, red lights suddenly flashed around the speedway after Jeff Lawrence’s yellow #1 Bicknell entry mount sat disabled following a turn three rollover that required immediate assistance. No injuries were reported.
“When everything stopped there, you start thinking which tire is going to seal first,” divulged Wight, after waiting out the 10-minute delay to safely clear the Lawrence car. “We rode the bottom in the beginning of the race so I knew my tires weren’t too hot but you always have that in the back of your head wondering if one is going to seal up on you.”

Sheppard shadowed Wight on the ensuing lap 33 restart while Dunn, Tim Fuller, Erick Rudolph and Jimmy Phelps waited for any opening further back. With the top two again close to trading paint, Russell Morseman slowed down the back straightaway to set up a one lap dash for cash with $2,000 awaiting the victor.

Sheppard pulled underneath exiting turn four in a last-lap effort but Wight maintained his momentum, taking the checkers in a bumper-to-bumper finish with the pair even making contact immediately after as the adrenaline carried into turn one. Dunn settled for third ahead of Fuller, Rudolph, Phelps, Justin Haers, Wright, Ryan Susice and Alan Johnson, the only driver to post Top-10 finishes in all 11 events to date.

“Billy was running the top and we were coming up through,” added Wight, on the heals of his fifth career Big-Block win at LOLR, all coming since June 9. “I was able to get underneath enough guys and stay with him. Figured I’d just stay down there and try to conserve (tires) for the first 10 laps at least. It turned out to be enough.”

LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY EVENT SUMMARY – AUGUST 22, 2020

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS PAINT STORE OF CANANDAIGUA PRESENTS SATURDAY SPECTACULAR

PEPSI BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED

Feature (35 laps)
1. 99L-Larry Wight ($2,000), 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 49-Billy Dunn, 4. 19-Tim Fuller, 5. 25-Erick Rudolph, 6. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 7. 3-Justin Haers, 8. 19w-Justin Wright, 9. 82-Ryan Susice, 10. 14j-Alan Johnson, 11. 83x-Tim Sears Jr., 12. 12x-Dillon Groover, 13. 23-Kyle Coffey, 14. 4*-Kevin Root, 15. m1-Dave Marcuccilli, 16. 63-Adam Roberts, 17. 11j-James Sweeting, 18. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 19. 88-Joe August, 20. 21x-Eric Williams, 21. 28p-Eldon Payne,Jr., 22. 31m-Jimmy Maier, 23. 44-Russell Morseman, 24. 14ny-Daniel Johnson Jr., 25. 1L-Jeff Lawrence(SB), 26. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 27. 42p-Pat Ward, 28. 7z-Zach Payne, 29. 33j-Robbie Johnston(SB), 30. 77-Lance Dusett, 31. 7f-Matt Farnham(DNS).