HAGERSTOWN, MD
 Jeff Shepard said he hasn’t had that much fun in a race car in a long time.

 The Upperco, Maryland driver raced wheel to wheel with Fast Freddie Rahmer during Wednesday night’s Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek event at Hagerstown Speedway and came out on top for his first career win at the Hub City oval.

 Shepard lost the lead to Rahmer on lap eight but kept the Salfordville racer in his sites and then drove back by Rahmer on lap 20 and then held on despite losing a motor over the final laps for the $5,000 victory.

 “That was the most fun I’ve had in a while,” said Shepard, a five-time winner this season in the John and PeeWee Zemaitis owned Zemco Speed Equipment, Rider Racing Engines Maxim. “He came from eighth and he was good no doubt about it. Lapped traffic played a hell of a roll tonight and I thought he was gonna pass us back. We blew the motor up with about eight to go and I thought for sure he was going back by us. But I’ve got two words for ya, Fred Whoooo.”
 Shepard’s comments drew a loud applause from the big crowd on hand that had to wait out an over hour delay before the program could be completed due to wet track conditions.

 Mark Smith led the first three laps before a red flag for Doug Esh slowed the pace.

 Smith was taken to school on the restart as Shepard and Rahmer blew by him at the green with Shepard going out front. Hagerstown doesn’t use a cone on the front stretch for restarts.

 Rahmer and Shepard traded slide jobs on laps seven, eight and nine before Rahmer took the upper hand and drove into the race lead.

  Shepard made a bold move entering turn one to steal the lead from Rahmer and then was able to put some distance between himself and Rahmer, who now had Todd Shaffer applying pressure.

 Shepard’s motor showed heavy smoke over the final three laps but Rahmer was unable to gain any ground and settled for second, but opened a commanding lead in the Speedweek point standings.

 “On the way down here, I thought to myself, I’ve never won at this track before and it always seems to have bit me,” he stated. “I’ve ended up in the infield, out of the ballpark but never here on the front stretch. It was really fun racing wheel to wheel. We haven’t done that in a long, long time and I love it. There isn’t a better racer out there than Fred Rahmer and to get the chance to race wheel to wheel with him is priceless.”

 Rahmer’s runner-up finish pushed him to a 144-point lead in the Speedweek points.

 Shaffer nursed an ill motor home in the third spot with Mark Smith fourth and Brian Leppo taking fifth at the checkered flag.

 Chad Layton was sixth over Lance Dewease, Cody Darrah, Brian Paulus and Stevie Smith.

 Shepard’s win was his third career Speedweek win.

 Rahmer has 512 points entering tonight’s event at Port Royal Speedway. Shepard (368), Darrah (353), Leppo (347) and Layton (332) are the top five in Speedweek points. Esh (318), Hodnett (316), Mark Smith (310), Dewease (253), Montieth (243) and Paulus (234) are the top 10.

 Rahmer paced the 30-car field in time trials with a lap of 15.268 seconds.

 Heats were won by Layton, Stevie Smith and Esh with Craig Keel winning the B-Main. Layton set a new 10-lap record with a time of 2:37.00 seconds.