After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis from Silver Dollar opener
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
Brandon Sheppard pulls away in the final laps. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
HARLAN, Iowa (July 16) — Instant reaction and analysis from Thursday’s Malvern Bank Go 50 at Shelby County Speedway, a $15,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned preliminary to the Silver Dollar Nationals captured by Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill. (RaceWire):
WHAT A DIFFERENCE: OK, so Thursday’s heat races were utterly forgettable; with the 3/8-mile oval’s surface hard and dried out by the day’s hot weather (a high in the 90s) and a blazing sun that was still baking the track throughout the qualifiers, all six were a battle for the bottom groove on the opening lap and then essentially single-file. But that doesn’t mean many people at the track and especially on social media needed to summarily declare that the Silver Dollar Nationals shouldn’t have been moved to Shelby County this year. It was unfortunate that the weekend began on a down note, but the 50-lap feature reminded everyone to let the night play out. After the track was reconditioned, the action was faster and certainly more furious in the headliner as the outside lane came alive, and, as the race wound down and the cushion pushed to the wall, drivers were able to maneuver lower through the corners as well. The stretch run of that feature — Ryan Gustin and Devin Moran crossing each other repeatedly for the lead, Brandon Sheppard sneaking up on the inside to make a winning pass on lap 45, Nick Hoffman sliding into second with two to go — made it a candidate to rank among the best races of 2026. “We redeemed ourselves,” said the very satisfied Lucas Oil Series director Rick Schwallie, who couldn’t help smiling as he stood in front of the Jumbotron during victory lane ceremonies watching the highlights of the race.
HEATED BATTLE: Ryan Gustin led 42 laps of the feature but settled for a third-place finish. Devin Moran nosed ahead for two circuits (laps 40 and 43) but placed fourth. Neither driver was very pleased. They engaged in a flurry of sliders and crossover countermoves that had them trading paint several times and ending the race with ill feelings toward each other. Gustin said Moran was “flipping me off” after the race and Moran’s crew guys had words for Gustin’s team members, but he felt he was just giving back was he was getting from Moran and, ultimately, he was hampered in the closing laps by homestretch contact with Moran that bent his steering. Moran, meanwhile, told me he’d need to watch the video before commenting. He did that in his hauler and took to Facebook: “We got run OVER. More than once.”
STILL A BRIDESMAID: Nick Hoffman knew that the bottom lane was the place to be late in the race. The problem for him, though, was that he was behind Brandon Sheppard as the two drove past the tussling Gustin and Moran. That was a result of the race’s lone restart, on lap 12, when the third-running Hoffman allowed Sheppard to slip past in a move that proved critical later. “Sheppy gets in front of me, and that was pretty much the race. you know?” Hoffman said. “After that restart I tried peeling through the middle and then he come blitzing by me and slid me into (turn) three.” It was Hoffman’s 12th runner-up finish of the season; many of them have come to Bobby Pierce, but he still couldn’t break through even with Pierce absent because he spent the night with his father and crew chief, Bob, at an Omaha, Neb., hospital where Bob is recovering from emergency surgery. “It wouldn’t be bad to run second Saturday — it pays more to run second,” he said, noting that the SDN finale’s unique purse structure offers a $52,000 winner’s prize but $53,000 for second. “But yeah, it still sucks. We're here to try and win races and we keep proving we’re the second best car to somebody every single night, whether it's Sheppy or Bobby or whoever.”
THINKING OF BOB: The medical emergency that sent Bob Pierce to the hospital on Wednesday morning had the 74-year-old Hall of Famer on everyone’s mind at Shelby County. Brandon Sheppard was especially concerned about a man whom he respects deeply. When I interviewed B-Shepp during postrace technical inspection, he went from talking about his 11th overall victory of ’26 to making sure he offered his thoughts on the elder Pierce. “I said it (in victory lane), and I’ll say it so you can write it down too — sending my prayers to the whole Pierce family,” he said. “Bob took me under his wing when I first started (as a teenager) and I had Pierce cars. Heck, I used to ride up-and-down the road sitting in between Bob and (his wife) Angie, and he was just talking my ear off, you know, trying to figure out what I knew and teaching me along the way. He was super great influence to me in the beginning stages of my career for sure. I just wish him and his family the best.”
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Sheppard recorded the 38th full-field victory of his career on the Lucas Oil Series. With his 89 career World of Outlaws Late Model Series triumphs, he now has 127 wins combined on the two national tours, which ties him with the late Scott Bloomquist for the most Lucas Oil and WoO checkered flags all-time.
