Cedar Lake Speedway
Hell Tour champ takes opener at USA Nationals
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Brandon Sheppard(B5) takes command. (chrisburback.com)
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (Aug. 1) — The greatest summer of Brandon Sheppard’s life grew even better on Thursday night at Cedar Lake Speedway.
Building on the UMP DIRTCAR Summernationals title he clinched less than two weeks ago, Sheppard drove to a convincing $6,000 victory in the 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series event that kicked off the 26th annual USA Nationals weekend. | Slideshow | Video
Sheppard, 20, of New Berlin, Ill., started from the pole position and controlled the entire distance. He hammered his family-owned Rocket car around the top side of the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval to register his second career WoO LMS triumph without receiving a single serious challenge.
“We’ve been working hard a lot of years, me and my dad (veteran racer Steve Sheppard Jr.), to try and accomplish that Summenationals deal,” said Sheppard, who became the youngest champion in the history of the famed Hell Tour. “To finally do it was really uplifting for me. It was almost like a weight lifted off my shoulders. There’s not as much pressure now. We can go out there and know we can run with them all the time.”
WoO points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., crossed the finish line 2.051 seconds behind Sheppard in his Rocket Chassis house car after slipping by Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., for the runner-up spot on lap 37. Babb settled for third place in his Victory Circle mount, Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., placed fourth in Larry Moring’s MasterSbilt car and World of Outlaws rookie Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., finished fifth after starting from the outside pole.
The night belonged to Sheppard, who two years ago made a stirring run into the top five in the USA Nationals 100 before breaking and last year entered the event in the Rocket Chassis house car that he drove for much of the 2012 season while Richards raced on the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Driving a 2007-vintage car that his team purchased two years ago from fellow Illinois driver Brian Shirley, Sheppard thrust himself onto the list of favorites to capture the $50,000 top prize on the line in Saturday night’s 100-lap USA Nationals finale.
“This is by far my favorite racetrack,” said Sheppard, who reached victory lane for the first time at the Badger State facility. “Since the day I came here, I’ve loved it. It’s super racing. It’s hammer-down, get-up-on-the-wheel, run-the-cushion — just like our Midwest tracks. I definitely get along with it pretty good, so we’re looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday.”
Sheppard dominated the preliminary event, leading by as much as a straightaway when not slowed by lapped traffic. Caution flags on laps 18 and 29 cleared slower cars out of the picture for B-Shepp and then he took care of the rest.
“I just knew that I had to stay up on the wheel and run every lap as hard as I could — just stay consistent and not mess up,” said Sheppard, whose previous WoO LMS victory came behind the wheel of the Rocket Chassis house car on Sept. 14, 2012, at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill. “That’s what you gotta do when you’re running against this much competition.
“Now that we know that we can do it, there’s gonna be the same amount of competition tomorrow night and Saturday night — and maybe a couple more (drivers) — so we’re real confident.”
Richards, 25, was able to slice more than a half-second off Sheppard’s lead after finally grabbing second place from Babb on lap 37, but the two-time WoO LMS champion didn’t have enough time to catch his rising-star understudy.
“At end of the race I was way too tight to run the top so it forced me to work with the bottom,” said Richards, who started fifth. “I found a pretty good line there slow on the bottom and I felt like we were pretty good. I feel like if it was a 50-lapper we might have had something for him.
“But Brandon did a great job. If we couldn’t win, he’s the next person I’d like to see win. It’s good to see the young guys win. It’s good for the sport.”
The second-place finish pushed Richards’s WoO points lead to 78 points over Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., who finished sixth after starting 13 th. That gap will not change the rest of the weekend since the USA Nationals 100 offers only show-up points because it will not be run using the normal WoO LMS qualifying format.
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished seventh after starting 14th, falling 98 points behind Richards in the WoO LMS standings. Rick Eckert of York, Pa., used a points provisional to start 25th in the A-Main but battled forward to finish eighth.WoO LMS rookie Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, settled for a ninth-place finish after starting sixth and Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., rounded out the top 10 in his first WoO LMS start following the conclusion of the three-month suspension from WoO and DIRTcar UMP competition he served after a tire he used during April’s Illini 100 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway failed a laboratory test.
Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., brought out the race’s first caution flag on lap 18 when, while running sixth, he stopped in turn two with flames visible under his hood. He said a pressure tube out of his Team Dillon car’s fuel-pressure gauge apparently vibrated and caused the back of the gauge to break, leading to an arc off the gauge light that sent fire into his cockpit. A flame was visible on McDowell’s leg when he climbed out of his car, but it was quickly extinguished and he wasn’t burned.
Later, on lap 29, Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., slowed in turn four with damage to the right-front suspension of his Sweeteners Plus car. It appeared that he got the worst of a Clanton-Feger scrape underneath him as all three drivers battled for a spot inside the top 10.
The USA Nationals weekend continues Friday with Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, heat races and a dash for preliminary winners. The event concludes on Saturday evening with consolation races, a last-chance race and the 100-lap finale.
USA Nationals tuneup: (1) Brandon Sheppard, (2) Josh Richards, (3) Shannon Babb, (4) Don O’Neal, (5) Eric Wells, (6) Shane Clanton, (7) Darrell Lanigan, (8) Rick Eckert, (9) Morgan Bagley, (10) Jason Feger, (11) A.J. Diemel, (12) Bobby Pierce, (13) Tim Fuller, (14) Devin Moran, (15) Chub Frank, (16) Brian Shirley, (17) Tim McCreadie, (18) Bub McCool, (19) Chris Simpson, (20) Tim Isenberg, (21) Jonathan Davenport, (22) Dale McDowell, (23) Dennis Erb Jr., (24) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, (25) Kevin Weaver, (26) Gregg Satterlee, (27) Kent Robinson, (28) Brian Birkhofer, (29) Pat Doar. Fast qualifier (among 52 cars): Babb, 13.237 seconds. Heat race winners: Sheppard, Wells, O’Neal, Babb, Richards, Bagley. Consolation winners: Doar, Hollingsworth, Birkhofer. Provisional starters: Eckert, Frank, Weaver, Erb.
