Gallo, Shepard Capture Career First, Points Battles Heat Up : Raceway Media

It's been a long time coming for Rich Shepard, as the flamboyant driver of the Camosse Motorsports #62 machine took down his first career 270cc victory on Saturday night. In the 250cc sportsman class, Matt Gallo took down his first ever feature win.

In the 270 cc feature, Rich Shepard bolted into the lead on lap one from his fourth starting position. Shepard maintained the lead over a number of tough competitors on a number of restarts as he was closely followed by John Morgillio and Brandon Igo. Shepard would go on to maintain his advantage on a number of restarts taking down the win over Aaron Wall, RTS Chassis man Terry Schaeffer, Brandon Igo, Wade Mattesen, Sam Christie, Tim Bertrand, Mark Irving, John Agor and Glen Clark.

In the 250 cc Youth Sprints, Matt Gallo jumped out into the lead from his outside pole starting position. Gallo went on to lead the feature wire to wire in a caution free event. Gallo's Guida Farms #7 crossed the line first ahead of Brian Boudreau, who has been very impressive as of late with a number of wins and top three finishes, Joe Gaudiosi, William Wall, Stephanie Doty, Mike King, Joe Champagne, Brian Rondeau and Brian Hurd.

In the 600 cc feature event, Jim DeCambra jumped out into the lead from the pole. In his best run, DeCambra looked impressive until the tenth lap, when Jay Coppo blasted from the seventh position into the lead in his JAC Enterprises PMP Chassis. Coppo was quickly followed by last year's champion Chad Gaudiosi in his #04 King Chassis. Coppo went on to stretch out his lead and take down the win over Gaudiosi, Mitch Griswold, Jim DeCambra, Mark Irving, Jody Tripp, Jeff Amaral, Brandon Artibani, Ricci Hirth and Brett Mancieri.

In the 750 cc event, Marc Guerard bolted from his twelfth starting position to take the lead away from R.J. Tufano on the sixth lap. Following Guerard up through the pack was John Lieto in the Ken Latour #36 machine. Guerard went on to take down the win over John Lieto, who gained valuable points, and tightened up the points race between himself and Anthony Montesi. Lieto finished second and was followed by Anthony Montesi, Jon Moore, R.J. Tufano, Jamie Beaudry, Bubba Broderick, Richard Gemme, Jack Walts and Dan Schaubert.

In the 360 ci Sprint Car division, Mark Cole jumped out into an early lead from the pole. Cole would lead the first fifteen laps until John Lieto took over the lead on lap fifteen. At that point, B.J. Guertin, who won the last feature, also moved into second position. Lieto would go on to string out his lead and take down the win over B.J. Guertin, Richard Lemelin, Warren Alexson, Clay Dow, Mark Cole, Aaron Thayer, Rich Hart, Jim McCaffrey and Ron Zagata.

In the Modified Lites, perhaps one of the night's most exciting features took place. Brian Peterson jumped out into an early lead from the pole. Peterson was followed closely by John Durst for the first twelve laps. It appeared as if Peterson was on his way to victory, but disaster struck in a multi car malay on lap eighteen, taking out a number of top running cars. At that point, Durst took the lead on the restart with Ryan Charland hot in tow. Charland would move past Durst to take the lead and go on to take down the victory. He was followed by Durst, Stephen Travinski, Brett Crowther, Christopher Travinski, Ryan Nicewicz, John Thomas, Mark Lataille, Peter Sorrentino and Roert Poloski.

In the 1200 cc race, Dennis Lamke jumped out into the lead from the pole. By lap ten, Lamke quickly found himself in a battle with John Lieto and Paul Corazzo Jr. who are battling for the division championship at the moment, only separated by a handful of points. Lieto would go on to take down the victory by a slim margin over Paul Corazzo Jr., Dennis Lamke, Glenn Pressel, Ed Baillargeon, Paul Corazo Sr, Robert Dance, Ed Adametz, Fremont Dickerman, and Matthew Pravia.

Due to time constraints, the 750 cc Sportsman and Quad 4 divisions did not run.

The karting results were as follows:

Novice: Andrew Mattesen
Turquoise: Christopher Weeks
Junior: Kimberly Rivet
Lite: Ryan Rivet
Heavy: Michael Ciamella
Two-Stroke: Jason Wood
Micro: Joe DiUlio

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