MALTA – Even though Matt Sheppard had two bumpers on his car Saturday night, the only one most of the competitors at Albany-Saratoga Speedway got a good look at was the one on the rear of his car.

After getting the pole position in the redraw, Sheppard put on a dominant show, leading flag-to-flag to win the 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series race that highlighted the second night of Malta Massive Weekend.

Sheppard took home the top prize of $10,000 for the win and became the first two-time modified winner during Malta Massive Weekend, as he also won the 100-lap season-closer in 2022.

Because Sheppard already had a guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 next month at Oswego, that reward went to Jimmy Phelps, who finished second after a race-long battle with Anthony Perrego, who earned the final spot on the podium.

Sheppard, who finished second in last year’s Malta Massive Weekend Super DIRTcar feature, put on a clinic Saturday night. The only time anyone was really close to him was on restarts, but his restarts were nearly flawless.

The only time he ran into a minor problem was when he got into slower traffic on lap 32 and found his path blocked by Brian Calabrese and Rich Scagliotta. That allowed Perrego, who was running second at the time, to quickly close the gap on Sheppard.

But once Sheppard cleared Calabrese, Perrego needed almost 10 laps to find a way around Calabrese and by that time, Sheppard was comfortably in front.

Phelps, who had started fourth, got a good run on the top out of turn four on lap 57 to take the No. 2 spot away from Perrego, who had started on the outside pole, and although Phelps got three more shots at Sheppard on restarts, Sheppard couldn’t be stopped.

“We had talked about it earlier, how the track was going to change and it did a little but not as much as I thought,” said Sheppard after the win. “It slicked up and I couldn’t steer through the middle of one and two, so I was just driving it in and taking it to the top. I had good speed all night.

“On the restarts, I didn’t really want to start on the top, but I wanted to be back to the top going into one, so it made me a little nervous,” he added.

“I thought my car was good,” said Phelps, whose only win at Malta came in the Brett Hearn-promoted “Big Show 7” in 2015. “At least I could run with him.”

Invaders occupied the top five spots in the final rundown, and all of them started in the top six. Peter Britten, the 2024 Albany-Saratoga champion, came from 10^th to finish sixth while Matt DeLorenzo finished seventh, after starting 16^th.

Tim Sears Jr. set fast time during time trials, earning a $100 bonus. Andy’s Speed Shop put up $100 bonuses to the modified heat winners, and those bonuses went to Sears Jr., Alex Payne, Phelps and Sheppard.

The list of drivers who failed to qualify for the 100-lap feature included Ronnie Johnson, Jack Speshock and Don Ronca, who all won modified features at Malta during 2025.

Brandon Emigh held off Kyle Hoard to win the 30-lap DIRTcar Pro Stock Series race. The win was Emigh’s second of the year.

Kim Duell drew the pole and had the lead for the first 14 laps, with Hoard and Emigh right on his tail. Emigh charged into second on lap 12, when Hoard drifted too high in the second turn and two laps later, the leaders and a lapped car came out of the fourth turn four wide, with Emigh, who was on the inside, taking the lead.

But Emigh only led that one lap, as Hoard then got a big run out of the fourth turn on lap 15 to take over the No. 1 position.

The first yellow of the race came out on lap 22, bunching the field, and then things got wild. Emigh, who was hugging the bottom, and Hoard, who loves the outside, ran side-by-side for a number of laps. They rocketed by flagger Dave Farney dead even, and Hoard had the lead by inches to complete lap 26. But the next time around, Emigh came out of turn four with momentum and grabbed the lead for good.

He then had to survive two nerve-wracking restarts on lap 29 to get the win.

“You can’t let that (the restarts) get into your head,” said Emigh after his win. “You just have to keep doing what you were doing before the yellows came out.”

Following Emigh and Hoard across the finish line were Chris Stalker, who had started 10^th, Marc Lalonde and Duell.

The limited sportsman were also on the Saturday night card and were racing for a $1,000 bonus in the memory of Amy Lee Jennings, courtesy of Scott Jennings and the Mesothelioma Warrior Alliance.

Running the final race on a slicked-over track, the limited sportsman looked like Bambi trying to cross a frozen pond, Because of one yellow and one red, 13 minutes passed before one lap was even completed.

Alex Smith took advantage of the multi-car, red-flag incident, which involved pole-sitter Adam Tranka, to get the lead on the first lap and that’s where he stayed to win the 30-lap feature and the top prize of $1,000.

Sloan Cherko took advantage of her front-row starting spot to finish second, while Mike Block Sr, was third, after starting ninth.

Tranka put on a show, ripping the top and coming from the rear of the field to finish fourth, while Cordell Younger, who was involved in a spin on lap two and also had to restart at the rear of the field, charged back to finish fifth.

SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES MODIFIEDS: MATT SHEPPARD, Jimmy Phelps, Anthony Perrego, Alex Yankowski, Erick Rudolph, Peter Britten, Matt DeLorenzo, Mat Williamson, David Schilling, Mike Mahaney, Tim Sears Jr., Jack Lehner, Felix Roy, Marc Johnson, Darren Smith, Zachary Payne, Matt Caprara, Neil Stratton, Matt Stangle, Justin Stone, Rich Scagliotta, Jeremy Pitts, Brian Calabrese, Alex Payne, Ryan Behrent, Jackson Gill.

DIRTCAR PRO STOCK SERIES: BRANDON EMIGH, Kyle Hoard, Chris Stalker, Marc Lalonde, Kim Duell, Caden Dumblewski, Tyler Bushey, Pete Stefanski, Jason Casey, Zach Sorrentino, Jordan Modiano, Nick Stone, Shawn Perez Jr., Jocelyn Roy, Tommy Lizotte, Chris Wemple, Eric Jean-Louis, Brian Carter, Phil Difiglio, Hugh Page, Dakota Sharp, Chris Crane Sr. Doug Sheely, Devon Camenga, Roxanne Roy, Shane Henderson, Jaxson Ryan, Chucky Dumblewski, Jay Casey, Rich Crane.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: ALEX SMITH, Sloan Cherko, Mike Block St., Adam Tranka, Cordell Younger, Cam Van Zandt, Matt Humes, Dan Odell, Craig Coons, D.J. Brundige, Devon Palmer, John Santolin, Trevor Houghton, Dave Zelker, Mike Baker, Zach Delaney, Dana Palumbo, Scott Jennings, Braxton Martin, Wesley Sutliff, Garrett Biagiarelli, James Galarneau, Chayton Young, Josh Mondak, Matt Yorker, Daniel Joubert, Bodie Marks, Noah Carlo, Jordan Hill, Mike Mondak, Dan Seguin, Joe Venditti.