Hometown: Waterloo, N.Y.
Born: July 12, 1982
Team: JB Motorsports
Entry: No. 9s Xtreme Lubricants/Bicknell
Owner: Jeff Brownell Sr.

2009 Season Review: In his seventh full season campaigning a Big-Block Modified, Central New York standout Sheppard emerged as the hottest driver in the entire Northeast region. The career year for ‘Super Matt’ opened ominously with a last-place tour finish in April at Big Diamond (Pa.) Raceway yet culminated with a late-season flurry that put him just four points back in the bid for his first overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block crown. In between, the 2nd-generation chauffeur from Waterloo, N.Y. scored a Super DIRTcar Series-best seven victories, including the final three shows, with an exclamation point added in the Super DIRT Week ‘Rite Aid 200’ finale on the famed Syracuse Mile. While logging a dozen top-5 feature finishes aboard the potent JB Motorsports no. 9s XTreme Lubricants/Bicknell entry, he led almost every other major category, with 6 Integra Shocks Fast Time awards, 8 qualifying heat race wins and 699 laps led during his first 20-win season on the demanding DIRTcar Northeast circuit that also netted him track titles at Canandaigua and Brewerton speedways.

2009 Super DIRTcar Series Stats
Points Diff Money Wins Top-5 Top-10 Starts
2,040 -4 $101,850 7 12 14 20

Series History: Since garnering his first-ever Super Series victory at Autodrome Drummond (Que.) in July of 2004, Sheppard further solidified his status in the Modified mainstream with a lucrative 2009 triumph at the Moody Mile to cap off the Northeast’s most prestigious event --- Super DIRT Week, in between pulling off a thrilling last turn-last lap pass of veteran Jimmy Horton at New Egypt Speedway in ’05 and authoring a late-race charge to overtake Duane Howard in the ‘08 Series thriller at Virginia Motor Speedway. Partnership with the Albany, New York-based Ross Motorsports operation helped him figure into the top-10 of the overall Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block point standings four straight years while the most recent affiliation with JB Motorsports has maintained his stature among top teams following DIRTcar racing Northeast’s premier traveling show. Sheppard has also earned 15 career Integra Shocks Fast Time awards, three of which stand as track records heading into DIRTcar Racing’s 35th successive season of speed.

DIRTcar Big-Block Modified Diary 
            DIRTcar         Super DIRTcar         Hoosier-VP Racing Fuels
Year Circuit Wins       Series Wins                 Mr. DIRTcar Points
2009 20                               7                                             2nd
2008 6                                 1                                             6th
2007 8                                 1                                             7th
2006 7                                 1                                             8th
2005 7                                 1                                             5th
2004 5                                 1                                             6th
2003 1                                 --                                             16th
Totals: 54                            12

DIRTcar Racing Record: Continuing his rampant rise to the top of the DIRTcar Racing circuit, Sheppard is just one step away from establishing himself as the newest heir to the Big-Block throne in DIRTcar Northeast's premier open-wheel touring division. The 2000 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Champion won DIRTcar 358-Modified Rookie of the Year honors in '01 with a Small-Block points title earned at Fulton, captured the DIRTcar Small-Block season championship at Utica-Rome in 2002 en route to securing a runner-up finish in the overall Mr. DIRTcar 358 points race, and was named DIRTcar Big-Block Modified Rookie of the Year in '03. Sheppard landed a ride in Ross Motorsports’ top-flight entry in 2004 and rewarded owner Randy Ross with his first career Super Series win at Drummond, returning to victory lane one time each year through 2008. Last season he more than doubled his output on tour, amassing seven Super DIRTcar Series wins while taking 11 more checkered flags in DIRTcar weekly racing at 10 tracks in Canada and the U.S. He has posted 54 Big-Block wins, 13 Small-Block victories and 28 in DIRTcar Sportsman competition since his DIRTcar debut in 1999.

Fun Facts: Sheppard and ’08 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin share in common the same hometown of Waterloo, New York and a collegiate experience at the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology, with each taking full advantage of a career opportunity that came their way in 2004 --- Coughlin’s hiring by the Giants’ front office as well as Sheppard’s inaugural season behind the wheel of owner Randy Ross’ high-profile entry to officially launch his Big-Block career. ‘Super Matt’ earned his Mechanical Engineering Technology degree from RIT in 2006.