ASHLAND, Wis. — It’s as easy as ABC, right Brandon Sheppard?

Making the first World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series visit to ABC Raceway, Brandon Sheppard didn’t have any trouble spelling the word he’s spelled 11 other times this season: V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.

Undaunted by a 35-minute rain delay after the 18th lap, the WoO points leader from New Berlin, Ill., led all 50 laps Tuesday at the 3/8-mile oval to notched his fourth consecutive series victory and 12th of the season.

Along with thanking the crew and sponsors of his potent Rocket Chassis house car that’s based in Shinnston, W.Va., Sheppard thanked the track workers for making sure he could complete his $10,000 victory.

“I’ve gotta thank the promoters for giving us a new track to race at. It was a lot of fun to race on,” said the 26-year-old Sheppard, who notched his 49th career series victory. “They stuck it out through the rain for us. The radar definitely didn’t look the best, but they did a good job and kept the track sealed up for us and let us get that race in there.”

Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba, pressured Sheppard before the rain delay, and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., proved pressure after the precipitation, but no one could stop Sheppard’s blue No. 1 machine.

“This thing is awesome, a lot of fun to drive,” Sheppard said, adding thanks to his crew. “They stay on top of it and make sure I’m up front every night.”

Clanton nosed under Sheppard to draw within three-tenths of a second with 12 laps remaining, but Sheppard eased away late amid traffic to win by 1.262 seconds. Clanton was followed across the line by Weiss and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who held the third spot from laps 39-46 but settled for fourth. Series rookie Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., was fifth for his first top-five finish on the tour.

Sheppard jumped into the lead from the outset with his fellow front-row starter Weiss giving chase through the race’s early stages. When rain began to fall, forcing officials to drop a yellow flag on lap 18, Sheppard’s opportunity to complete his victory appeared in doubt.

The rain subsided and the green flag reappeared a few minutes later, but another caution fell on the restart when sixth-running Darrell Lanigan made an infield foray in turn one and pulled up lame with steering issues.

On the ensuing restart, a four-car pileup entering turn four — before the race officially went back to green — brought out another yellow with Boom Briggs, Donny Schatz, Jeffrey Massingill and Steve Laursen involved.

After the third caution, officials brought out a red flag about 8:05 p.m. as rain increased, but when racing resumed about 8:40, competitors ripped off the final 32 laps without a slowdown.

Sheppard pulled away from Weiss, who gave up the second spot to Clanton on the 22nd lap as the leader cruised front. Any changes to the track surface during the rain delay didn’t both Sheppard one bit.

“Our car was really balanced right from the get-go tonight, so we didn’t really have to change a whole lot,” he said. “We just scuffed the tires up a little bit, changed a tire and pretty much went back at it.

“The track was awesome. You guys put in a lot of work to keep it good through the rain and everything. It stayed racy all night and I could pretty much run all over it.”

Clanton, still adjusting to last month’s switch to Iowa car owner Greg Breuning, fell short of his second series victory of 2019.

“We’re just getting dialed in here. Hopefully we can just make better improvements (like we have) the past couple of weeks, and just build on what we’re doing, and maybe we can catch (Sheppard). We’re getting closer. We’re just a little bit short here,” he said. “Greg Bruening and Tyler (Bruening) there gave me an opportunity to drive their car, and I think it’s going to pay off. We’ve got more help and overall it’s a good package here. Hopefully we can just keep going.”

Weiss, after giving chase to Sheppard over the first 17 laps, didn’t want to see the rain delay.

“We had a real good run going,” said the leading series rookie, who is looking for his first tour victory while racing in his home region. “I would’ve like to have seen it go all 50 laps before the rain fell. My driving style, my car just seems to work a lot better in the slick (conditions), and for us to go around as quick as we did after it rained, we’re pretty happy with that. It was a good points night.

“We get to go home for about 48 hours, so that’ll be nice. It’s an early night tonight and we’ll pack up and we’ll go home and finally get to wash (the car) in my own shop, and see my family, and head on back to North Dakota.”

The series shifts to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., on Friday while Ogilvie (Minn.) Speedway hosts the tour Saturday and Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wis., hosts Sunday’s action. Each event pays $10,000-to-win.

Notes: Sheppard became the first driver to have two four-race winning streaks in a single WoO season. … His first streak came at Volusia Speedway Park during Florida Speedweeks. … Sheppard is two races shy of the longest win streak in tour history; Darrell Lanigan won six in a row in 2012. … Lanigan wasn’t among Sheppard’s challengers at ABC, but he caught a break with the rain delay in getting his crew time to repair steering woes that struck on lap 18; he ended up a lap down in 13th. … Jimmy Mars lowered the track record in qualifying with a 14.388-second lap. … Fifth-place finisher Cade Dillard’s first WoO top-five run came two nights after his $3,000 DiscountShopTowels.com Dirt Kings Tour victory at Eagle Valley Speedway in Jim Falls, Wis.