Brett Hearn didn’t have high expectations before hopping into his No. 20 car at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY, on Tuesday for the seventh Super DIRTcar Series race of the season.

Just three days prior, he finished outside of the top 20 in what he called a “terrible run” at Utica-Rome Speedway and now he found himself heading to a track he’d only visited a handful of times in recent years to little success.

But despite his misgivings, everything seemed to go right for “The Jet” as he outlasted a field of 25 other Big-Block Modifieds to win the Ultimate Outlaw 100 and collect his first SDS victory since August 2017. 

Starting on the outside pole, Hearn led from the green flag before being passed by Stewart Friesen on lap 30. The NASCAR Trucks Series driver stayed out front until lap 89 when he made a stunning exit from the track due to car troubles—his second straight DNF—freeing Hearn to reclaim the top spot.

After drawing a caution two laps later in lapped traffic, Hearn looked back to see SDS points leader and local favorite Matt Sheppard in second place on the restart. However, the Sussex, NJ, driver was able to keep the Outlaw Speedway track regular at bay for the final nine laps.

“Finally a car that stayed good for 100 laps,” Hearn said. “Stew got by me but I’m not sure he was any better than I was. I don’t know what happened to him there at the end but sometimes you’ve got to get lucky and you’ve got to be in second to get lucky and win one like that.

“And of course, you’ve got Matt Sheppard, who’s got a lot of local knowledge here, and he’s sitting on your heels with nine to go and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, man, I feel really good but I don’t know if I’ve got enough.’ But apparently, I did so I couldn’t be happier.”

For Sheppard, the runner-up result was his sixth top-five finish in seven SDS starts this season, including a pair of wins at Brewerton Speedway (NY) on June 15 and Cornwall Motor Speedway (Ontario) on July 1. 

Sheppard had won 6 of 9 weekly races at Outlaw Speedway so far in 2018, but he faced a tougher-than-usual draw on Tuesday evening after starting 12th from the pole.

“We had a pretty good race car,” Sheppard said. “There were two things that I didn’t need tonight and one of them was drawing 12 and the other one was that last caution. I think, just knowing this place a little bit better than Brett, when we got into lapped traffic there he kind of got bottled up and I just got under him and saw my shot and the yellow flag came up.”

The top five was rounded out by Danny Johnson, Erick Rudolph, and Tim Fuller. Billy Decker, who was last year’s Ultimate Outlaw 100 winner, finished sixth.

Along with Friesen, Utica-Rome winner Jimmy Phelps was notably absent from the top of the leaderboard after spinning out on lap 51 and exiting the race.

Meanwhile, Johnson saw his recent hot streak continue, with his third straight podium finish after winning at Land of Legends Raceway last Thursday and finishing in second behind Phelps on Sunday.

“I’ve got to thank the Shakelton NAPA car for giving me a great ride here,” Johnson said. “We came up a little bit short but we’ll keep trying. … I don’t know if it was me or the car but it just missed a little bit. I was good but not quite good enough.”

After completing three races in six days, the Super DIRTcar Series takes a short break this weekend before returning next Thursday for the Battle on the Midway at Orange County Fair Speedway (LIVE on FloRacing) in Middletown, NY, which is a Super DIRT Week Qualifier event.

Ultimate Outlaw 100