All-Tech Raceway
All-Tech win another key step for Rocket1 gang
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
The Rocket1 team (plus Tony Stewart. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
ELLISVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 19) — Instant reaction and analysis from Thursday’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season opener at All-Tech Raceway, a $10,000-to-win Wieland Winternationals event won by Brandon Sheppard (RaceWire):
GOOD TIMES ROLLING: After a second straight convincing victory, it’s fair to ask whether Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing are officially back to form. As Speedweeks rolls on, it’s certainly starting to look that way. Even team owner Mark Richards quipped afterward with a grin that “we’re closer than ever,” while Sheppard added, “I like to think so anyway,” when asked if he feels back to his best. The theme of Sheppard’s first two victories has been clear: an exceptionally maneuverable Rocket XR2. He drove underneath Nick Hoffman with little resistance Saturday in capturing the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., then delivered again Thursday when his car came alive on lap 15, surging from fourth to first in the span of a single lap. The defining moment came on lap 16, when Sheppard rocketed off the bottom of the backstretch and erased Brandon Overton’s multicar lead in one decisive charge into turn three, a vivid snapshot of just how strong the Rocket1 machine has been. After missing the playoff hunt last season, Sheppard and Richards appeared to experiment more than usual before finding their rhythm late in the year, stringing together four straight top-four finishes at the DTWC and World Finals. If this consistency carries forward, the wins will take care of itself. “We’ve had a really good car all of Speedweeks, just tweaking, fine-tuning on stuff, getting everything dialed in the way we like, I guess you would say,” Sheppard said. “I guess we’ve just been process of elimination on a few things. We have a really good balance now for early and for late.”
NO SHAME: Clay Harris of Jupiter, Fla., was so effective winding his No. 6 machine around the top of All-Tech’s gnarly cushion that he had only one mission in mind. “I didn’t want to run second. I was trying to run down Sheppard,” Harris said. “I think I was for a little while.” But with 11 laps remaining, Harris entered the top groove “a tire-width too high and four-wheel-slid” into the wall. Just like that, his bid for a would-be first Lucas Oil Series victory went by the wayside. Harris had justifiable reasons for going for broke rather than settling for a solid points night. Under the Lucas Oil format, only a driver’s five best Speedweeks finishes count toward the standings, giving Harris some insurance to race a little more aggressively. Just as important, he enters this Speedweeks far better equipped than a year ago, with multiple cars and six engines at his disposal instead of nursing a single powerplant through the early season stretch. Harris, who had a single top-five finish last season while finishing 13th in Lucas Oil points, believes he’ll remain a factor as Speedweeks continues.
REGIONAL RESPECT: Typically if a regional racer shines in some form at All-Tech, it’s someone leaning on local knowledge and home-track familiarity. But Justin Weaver? The Clear Spring, Md., racer won a heat race and battled, albeit briefly, with Brandon Overton and Hudson O’Neal for the lead only a night after taking his first laps around the half-mile. Although he didn’t finish the feature (he actually ran out of tearoffs and parked it on lap 29), the performance from the Shaun Jones-led Pennsylvania team demanded respect. In a sport increasingly defined by technology, data and national touring juggernauts, it’s fair to wonder whether a regional team can still pull off a true Speedweeks upset (among Florida events, you could argue that hasn’t been done since Kenny Pettyjohn, Casey Roberts and Ivedent Lloyd Jr. all won at Volusia in 2014). Still, flashes like Weaver’s are enough to keep hope alive — and energize a regional team making a significant two-week commitment away from their 9-to-5 jobs to chase a long-held Speedweeks ambition.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Brandon Sheppard’s victory Thursday moved him into a tie for eighth in all-time Lucas Oil Series triumphs with Rocket1 predecessor Josh Richards at 33 wins. It was Sheppard’s 24th career Georgia-Florida Speedweeks victory as well, which ties him with Don O’Neal for fourth all-time. Who’s Sheppard chasing down next in the Speedweeks record books? That’d be Richards, whose 29 victories trail only Billy Moyer (62) and Scott Bloomquist (30).
