World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series
WoO title chase reaches Charlotte's World Finals
By Matt Skipper
World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series
Brandon Sheppard is chasing his fifth WoO title. (joshjamesartwork.com)
Three of Dirt Late Model racing's best drivers are set to compete for three pressure-intensive nights to conclude the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series championship chase.
Four-time WoO champion Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., is leading the charge into the World of Outlaws World Finals, looking to finish his quest for a record-breaking fifth series championship during the Nov. 6-9 event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. | Fast Facts
Reigning champion Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., who has a series-leading 12 victories and is trying to overcome an early-season points penalty for a tire violation, sits 44 points behind Sheppard in series points with Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., 50 points behind in third with five victories and 18 top-five finishes.
B-Shepp touts his consistency this year as a key factor to maintaining his points lead. He's finished outside the top 10 five times in 37 feature starts.
“The consistency we’ve been able to have is really the thing that’s kept us in the lead,” the 31-year-old Sheppard said. “We were able to capitalize on guys having tough nights and put some wins together at crucial times that helped us keep the lead. We’ve been able to maintain through the latter portion of this season. Cedar Lake (Speedway with a 27th-place finish at the USA Nationals) was probably what hurt us the most really. We’ve tried to maintain solid runs, putting ourselves in a position to get some crucial points. But it’s still tighter than I’d like it to be, that’s for sure.”
Pierce’s season has been a story-filled with triumphant moments. With lucrative WoO victories at the NAPA Gopher 50, Prairie Dirt Classic and USA Nationals among 37 overall victories in 2024, the 27-year-old Pierce spreads the credit to the people he’s surrounded by.
“It’s been an incredible year,” Pierce said. “All the credit goes to everyone on this team, my dad, Austin, Jeff and Brad. All the sponsors and supporters that have gotten us through the year and helps make this car go fast. It’s crazy that last year was my first one with Longhorn, and it was gonna be my learning year, then popped off and won 34 Late Model races. The mindset changed from going for a top five to tasting a championship and wanting to win all the time. When you have a car that good, you wanna capitalize on it.
“This year has been a wild ride itself, and I’d say it’s better than last year. Last year, I won three crown jewels. This year, I won eight races that pay $50K or more. It’s incredible, I never really imagined being in this situation. I think back to when I first won (at Volusia and Farmer City), then you go down the schedule and we won the Prairie Dirt Classic, USA Nationals, Knoxville, the World 100, and others. You think when this winning thing gonna end because you don’t want it to stop since it feels so great. It’s all my own team, so it’s great to have built up a program to go win out there.”
Hoffman cited the spark to get his season started on the right foot at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., was winning his first Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Golden Gator trophy in a Super Late Model. That confidence helped drive him to four more feature victories and the ability to contend for a championship.
“A lot of things changed this year,” Hoffman said. “Right off the bat, winning at Volusia, which is my best and dominant track from my modified days, was huge for my confidence level. Because it’s not just an Outlaw race, you’ve got every big hitter in the country there. Knowing you can beat these guys is huge, but trying to get my program better through racing, testing, and all the stuff to get better, and we’ll go at it with what we know best about Charlotte.
“Then, building the new shop has helped the last few months, keeping all the business under one building. For instance, I could be working on my modified one day, but the Late Model crew are on the other side so if they got questions or need help, I can do it right there. Different shops were a balancing act for which one I needed to be at, so that’s only going to help my program as time goes on, so that was also a big deal for me.”
Though he has two World Finals victories, Sheppard’s last time finishing inside the top 10 came in a 2021 podium finish that secured his fourth Series title. He’s mostly preparing for the effects he’ll experience in the track’s changing conditions.
“As far as how we’re preparing, it’s not too different to how we normally do things,” Sheppard said. “Charlotte’s just a track that can be typical for the area. It’s hard on our tires, and it wears out quicker. It doesn’t get slick; it slows down then all the grip comes back a little bit. It’s different, but a lot of it is where it is and the characteristics of the surface. The sprint cars and big blocks make the track dusty, but it’s one of them deals that you get when you enter (World Finals).”
Hoffman tested at the 4/10-mile Charlotte oval recently. On the first night of testing, he drove his Tye Twarog Racing Late Model. On the second night, he helped out Cody Sommer by driving his new DRT Late Model chassis to point him in the right direction.
“Any laps around a racetrack is so vital to have, especially with a title to chase,” Hoffman said. “I was able to take my car out for some laps the first day, then ran Cody’s car the next day just to help him out more than anything. To learn how the track and grip changes since I’ve raced the modified there for World Short Track. I’ve been decent in the times I’ve ran a Late Model there, and it’s close to home so being able to sleep in your own bed definitely can’t hurt either.
“I felt like my car was really close in comparison to the guys that were there and we’ll be up against. I think we can be just as good as any of them, so that’s the nicest thing is being able to test there. One is for tire wear, to learn how tough it will be on them, what we’re gonna have to do every night. I crashed my car the first night because there was a transition that was higher up the entrance of turn three, so that helps to know before you go racing.”
Pierce also practice at Charlotte and will try to improve on a career-best finish of third in World Finals competition.
“I always love to race because it always keeps me fresh,” Pierce said. “Though it’s nice to have the week off to prepare for Charlotte, get both cars ready to go 100 percent. We go straight into qualifying on Wednesday. We’re really fast right now, coming off of two big wins. We tested at Charlotte and felt pretty good. I don’t think we were the best one, but I feel all right with its level of toughness. I’ve only been to Charlotte three times to race before, so I’m still trying to learn that track and what it’s gonna do. So hopefully, we can qualify well and place ourselves for a good run.”
On the cusp of breaking the all-time title record in WoO history, Sheppard said that winning his fifth title will make the perfect headway to enter the Late Model offseason as he departs the Longhorn Factory Team.
“It’s going to mean so much to be able to win (the championship) this year,” Sheppard said. “I feel like as bad of a season we’ve had, to still be able to win the championship will be the pick-me-up that we need to get us through the offseason. It’ll keep me excited going into next year to show how we persevered through tough situations we had to overcome.”
Pierce knows fully how to make a rewarding comeback in 2024. In July, he had to pass 41 cars for position to win his first career Prairie Dirt Classic. If he can breakthrough, he’ll join Billy Moyer and Josh Richards as the third driver to win his first two WoO titles consecutively.
“It’ll definitely be huge for us,” Pierce said. “It’s what we’ve been trying to do all year is making that comeback. If it wasn’t for some setbacks ourselves, we’d already be there. Back in the summer, we had two engine mishaps in a row. I know it’s happened to other guys, but it was damaging to us. It’s a long season, we knew that we were capable of making it work, and we’ve gotten ourselves in position.
“If things go right, it can fall our way. It’s gonna take us being really good and take a little luck along the way. If we don’t, we don’t. You definitely can’t count us out because we’ve been in situations this year like the Prairie Dirt Classic, where we had to come from the back twice. We don’t give up, that’s for sure. We’re gonna give it our best and see what we got. But it’s just cool to be back in position where we can do something with it, and see how the cards fall.”
