“The Flying Squirrel” Rocky Warner from Gloversville, NY should have stocked a few acorns in his cheeks before crossing the scales after apparently winning the Modified feature at Utica-Rome Speedway. Unfortunately, Warner’s win was stripped for being light, and “Super” Matt Sheppard inherited his eighth win of the 2023 season at the historic Vernon, NY half-mile oval. 

The large NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Racing crowd had mixed reactions to Matt Sheppard’s unexpected arrival to Victory Lane. 

🏁 Rocky Warner light on the scales at @UR_Speedway handing the Modified Feature win to Matt Sheppard!

📺 https://t.co/UXOzDD3siL pic.twitter.com/ZJ1oK22Ngx

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 29, 2023

On the initial start, Warner took the green flag from the outside pole position and dueled at high speed with the No. 76 of JaMike Sowle on lap one. Sowle, who has one feature win to his name in 2023, claimed an early advantage only to lose it before the start-finish line to a flying slide job from Warner. 

The pilot of the no. JS98 found the top to his liking and powered away while the field furiously sorted themselves out in his wake. While Warner fell into a rhythm it was time for the No. 9S of Matt Sheppard to gash his way through the field. A series of cautions aided Sheppard’s drive to the front as the field bunched up for restarts. 

Sheppard found himself in second and in chase mode with 17 laps remaining but Warner was hooked up on the lip and could not be caught when the checkered flag fell. But after post-race weigh-ins, Warner was disqualified and Sheppard was awarded the win.

“I’ve lost them this way. I don't know if I’ve won one this way. This is totally unexpected. Tough deal for Rocky. He had the car to beat obviously. Tonight he had the field covered. I think he was about out of fuel on the scales. We had a ton of cautions and the track was real fast. I drove up through the field pretty good on the bottom. The track was real fast and the bottom burned off. The top was so good and Rocky was really flying around there. I didn’t have nothing for him. I guess we won this one by default.”

Watch every lap of Friday night's Modified feature here.

The Waterloo, NY multi-series champion Matt Sheppard is now in full command of the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series Big Block Modified points at Utica-Rome Speedway. The legendary Billy Decker rides second in points while young gun Alex Yankowski is third. 

Need more Northeast Dirt Modified races to look forward to? One of this year’s most unique Modified races takes place Tuesday, August 1 when the Short Track Super Series visits Kutztown, PA’s Action Track USA for the “Berks County Brawl”.