PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Aug. 19) — Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., sure was glad Port Royal Speedway officials waited out the storm on Saturday night.

After a heavy downpour filled with thunder and lightning struck the half-mile oval at the end of hot laps and caused the start of the evening’s program to be delayed over three hours, Sheppard burst off the outside pole to assume command at the initial green flag of the 40-lap feature and paced the field from wire-to-wire to add another flourish to his spectacular 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series campaign.

Sheppard, 24, pulled into victory lane just before 1 a.m. to celebrate his 13th WoO triumph of the season and collect a $10,000 check. He survived a brief challenge from Jason Covert while working lapped traffic on lap 36 and beat the York Haven, Pa., driver to the finish line by 1.836 seconds.

Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., battled forward from the seventh starting spot to finish third in his first-ever start at Port Royal. Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who won Port Royal’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event on April 23, advanced from the 11th starting slot to place fourth and ninth-starter Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., finished fifth after being overtaken by Eckert racing to the white flag.

While Sheppard’s latest WoO success didn’t boost his already commanding lead in the national tour’s points standings — officials decided to give only show-up points to all entrants because it was feared the track surface would be super-fast and hard on equipment after the rain — it provided more proof of how strong he has become this season as the full-time driver of the Rocket Chassis house car. The sprawling Port Royal layout isn’t the type of speedway that B-Shepp feels most comfortable running.

“All the crew, I’m sure they all know that half-miles haven’t been my best tracks,” said Sheppard, who grew up competing on the Midwest’s bullrings. “It’s been a big learning curve this year, and I feel like we’ve (improved) leaps and bounds on the half-mile stuff for me. (Former Rocket house car driver) Josh (Richards) was always really good at them so I had some big shoes to fill there, but we’re definitely getting better.”

Sheppard outgunned polesitter Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, for the lead on the opening circuit and had little trouble putting space on his nearest rivals following four restarts in the first 24 laps, but he experienced one anxious moment in the race’s late stages. On lap 36 he had some trouble lapping Nick Dickson of Lewistown, Pa., and lost his momentum, allowing Covert to close in and slid within inches of Sheppard’s rear bumper between turns one and two.

“(Crewman) Dan (White) was showing me I didn’t have much of a lead so I knew (Covert) was probably catching me on the bottom,” said Sheppard, who registered his 19th career WoO victory. “I knew I just had to get to lapped traffic and start getting through them as quick as I could.

“The longer the race went, it got a little bit black in the groove and we stayed a little bit freed up to run the cushion. I think a little bit of an adjustment and we would’ve been a lot better.”

Covert, 47, was unable to pull alongside Sheppard, however, and on lap 37 he came together with Dickson in turn one, causing Dickson to slide into the cushion and barrel-roll once before landing on all four wheels against the outside wall between turns one and two. A red flag was thrown for Dickson, who wasn’t injured, and on the restart Sheppard pulled away and left Covert to repel pressure from Madden to preserve a runner-up finish that matched his career-best performance on the WoO circuit.

“When (Sheppard) would get out on me I’d try to run pace not to kill my tires in case I got an opportunity when we got into lapped traffic,” said Covert, who won the 2017 season opener at Port Royal. “I felt that would be my only opportunity to maybe outmaneuver him. I needed to get him where he maybe had to let off at the wrong spot or I could drive by him and then I get to the lip.

“I don’t know if you’re gonna pass that blue 1 — he’s so good — but I thought I had an opportunity there (on lap 36). We felt like we were OK there — I come across his spoiler, got real close — but it just didn’t work out.”

The race’s four caution flags were triggered by Matt Cosner of Ridgeley, W.Va., who slowed in turn two on lap three; Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, who fell off the pace with a flat tire on lap four; Andy Haus of Hamburg, Pa., who spun in turn four on lap 14 (Covert had to take evasive action to avoid Haus); and Coleby Frye of Dover, Pa., who stopped at the turn-four entrance to the pit area in a cloud of steam because his Larry Baer-owned car’s radiator developed a hole.

Notes: Sheppard’s first-ever appearance at Port Royal came earlier this season when he finished 12th in the Lucas Oil Series A-main. … With qualifying not beginning until nearly 11 p.m., officials reduced the preliminary races to 8 laps and the feature from 50 to 40 circuits in an effort to quicken the show’s pace because the WoO teams faced a 4-and-a-half-hour overnight haul to Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa. … Tyler Erb was running in third place on lap 26 when he apparently ran over something and blew a right-rear tire. He pulled into the pit area under green-flag conditions. … Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., opted to simply take the green flag at the rear of a heat, B-main and the feature because the event offered only show-up points. He completed 10 laps in the A-main and was credited with a 20th-place finish. … Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., also decided to save his equipment; after using a provisional to start the feature, he ran just two laps. ... Twelve cars were running at the finish of the A-main.