What won the race: Sliding ahead of early leader Kyle Bronson after he slipped over the cushion in turns three and four, second-starting Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., rolled to the $4,000 victory in Friday’s World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series preliminary feature at 81 Speedway.

Quotable: "We knew we need to be out front tonight for tomorrow's big money," Sheppard said. "We had a really good car tonight. We didn't change a lot since that's a brand new Longhorn Chassis. Hats off to them guys, they build a great race car."

Key notes: Brandon Sheppard said he found a hole in the radiator following Friday's prelim victory and that his No. B5 machine lost power as he left victory lane to return to his transporter in the backstretch pit area: "I don't know what happened there exactly. ... We’re going to go through (everything on the car) and eliminate all the factors it could have been, and hope for the best tomorrow.” ... Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., will start from the front row of Saturday’s first heat while Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., lead the second heat to green. … Chase Junghans of Manhattan, Kan., was running third when he lost the handle of his No. 18 machine through turns one and two, bouncing off the cushion and into the wall, breaking the right-front suspension; he finished 16th. … Blair Nothdurft of Renner, S.D., said he employed the wrong sized radiator cap and therefore lost water pressure running 12th with six laps to go. … Two cautions (lap 13 for Chris Kratzer’s loose wheel and lap 15 for Junghans) slowed the semifeature that lasted 18 minutes. … Thirteen of 19 starters finished on the lead lap. … The World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series kicked off the inaugural World of Outlaws Heartland Speedweek with a pair of 25-lap split-field preliminary features paying $4,000-to-win each at 81 Speedway. … The weekend wraps up with a stop at Off Road Speedway in Norfolk, Neb., on Sunday, the tour’s first trip to the Cornhusker State since visiting Boone County Speedway in Albion on July 21, 2008. … The tripleheader weekend begins a stretch of seven races in nine days for WoO competitors.

On the move: Ethan Dotson of Bakersfield, Calif., started 11th and finished sixth.

Winner's sponsors: Sheppard’s Longhorn Chassis is sponsored by Valvoline, TrueTimber Camo, Budweiser, Wild Gear, Riggs Drilling Solutions, Dennis G. Woodworth Attorney at Law, Allgaier Performance Parts, Keyser Manufacturing, Budda Dirt Car Transmissions, Guse’s Pub & Eatery, Sheppard Auto Sales and Salvage, Speedwerx, Shepp’s Bar & Grill, Speed Stampz, Sunoco Race Fuels, Corrigan Race Fuels and Nightowl Design.

Points chase: Before 81: 1. Chris Madden (2,328); T2. Bobby Pierce (2,288); T2. Kyle Bronson (2,288); T2. Nick Hoffman (2,288); 5. Brian Shirley (2,226); 6. Ryan Gustin (2,252); 7. Brandon Sheppard (2,242); 8. Tanner English (2,180); 9. Dennis Erb Jr. (2,114); 10. Gordy Gundaker (2,108).

Current weather: Clear, 82°F

Car count: 38

Fast qualifier: Bobby Pierce

Time: 16.057 seconds

Polesitter: Kyle Bronson

Next series race: June 24, 81 Speedway (Park City, KS) $30,000