Hard-Fought Win For Brandon Sheppard At Volusia

Story By: COLBY GORNIEWICZ / DIRTCAR – BARBERVILLE, FL – Brandon Sheppard fought his way to Victory Lane during night eight of the 46th annual DIRTcar Nationals in the 30-lap DIRTcar Racing Late Model Feature. It wasn’t an easy path for Sheppard to get to the front of the pack as Brian Shirley tried to fend him off any way possible.

Sheppard started in the fourth position but found his way to second within the first 10 laps. He passed Shane Clanton, who started the feature third, early on and then had to duel with Tyler Erb. Sheppard then began reeling in Shirley and was at his door knocking by lap 10. They ran side-by-side and the lead position was juggled between the No. 1 and No. 3 machines for several laps. Sheppard finally made the pass on lap 13 but Shirley didn’t surrender as they continued to run side-by-side.

“One of the things I’ve struggled with here a lot is knowing where I need to be on the track,” said Sheppard. “Mark [Richards] talked to me a bunch before we went out for that race and he was giving me pointers on where I need to pick up speed, and where I need to be out of the gas, and how to keep my momentum up… I feel like I learned a lot for later in the week.”

It was Clanton who next found his way to Shirley’s bumper and also found his way around to claim the second position with only five laps to go. Clanton, with his No.25 Capital Racecars chassis, was then gunning for the lead and for Sheppard. Unfortunately for Clanton, he ran out of laps once he was close enough to pass for the lead.

The 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals continues on Wednesday, Feb. 22 and a ‘Big Gator’ will be up for grabs as the DIRTcar Late Model Swamp King Gator Championship will top off the DIRTcar Late Model portion of the event.

Feature (30-lap): 1. 1- Brandon Sheppard[4]; 2. 25- Shane Clanton[3]; 3. 3s- Brian Shirley[1]; 4. 14- Darrell Lanigan[8]; 5. 20- Rodney Sanders[5]; 6.15s- Donny Schatz[7]; 7. 9- Tyler Erb[2];8. 39- Tim McCreadie[16]; 9. 7F- Jason Fitzgerald[6]; 10. 44- Chris Madden[18]; 11. 17M- Dale McDowell[11]; 12. 18- Eric Wells [13]; 13. 7- Rick Eckert [17]; 14.7W- Ricky Weiss[24]; 15. 11- Austin Hubbard[14]; 16. 9- Devin Moran[15]; 17. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck[10]; 18. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr[22];19. 21- Billy Moyer Jr[20]; 20. 99B- Boom Briggs[9]; 21. 7m- Donald Mcintosh[23]; 22. 18c- Chase Junghans[19]; 23. 40B- Kyle Bronson[12]; 24. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[21]

B-Main 1: 1.18c- Chase Junghans [2]; 2. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr [1]; 3. 14M- Morgan Bagley [9]; 4. 15- Steve Francis [3]; 5. 16T- Tyler Bruening [5]; 6. 6- Blake Spencer [4]; 7. 14r- Reid Millard [8]; 8. 27- Jeff Beyers[6]; 9. 116- Brandon Overton [7];10. 21L- Ivedent Lloyd Jr [DNS]

B-Main 2: 1. 21- Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 7m- Donald Mcintosh[3]; 3. 93- Donald Bradsher[2]; 4. 2c- Joey Coulter[7]; 5. B1- Brent Larson[6]; 6. 0v- Coleby Frye[5]; 7. 11B- Stacy Boles[4]; 8. 2F- Dennis Franklin [10]; 9. 3c-Charles LaPlant[DNS]; 10.72-Mike Norris [DNS]

B-Main 3:1. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[1]; 2. 7W- Ricky Weiss[3]; 3. 99j- Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 4. 5- Don O’Neal[2]; 5. 16- Jason Jameson[3]; 6. 71- Hudson O’Neal[10]; 7. 22*- G.R. Smith[6]; 8. 1*- Chub Frank [8]; 9. 16H- Mike Hammerle[9]; 10. 2H- Nick Hoffman[7]

Heat 1: 1.20- Rodney Sanders [2]; 2.15s- Donny Schatz [1]; 3.18- Eric Wells [4]; 4.28E- Dennis Erb Jr [7]; 5.15- Steve Francis [5]; 6.16T- Tyler Bruening [6]; 7.116- Brandon Overton [3]; 8.14M- Morgan Bagley [8]

Heat 2: 1.1- Brandon Sheppard [2]; 2.14- Darrell Lanigan [3]; 3.11- Austin Hubbard [1]; 4.18c- Chase Junghans [4]; 5.6- Blake Spencer [6]; 6.27- Jeff Beyers[8]; 7.14r- Reid Millard [7][ 8.21L- Ivedent Lloyd Jr [5}

Heat 3: 1.7F- Jason Fitzgarald [2]; 2.99B- Boom Briggs [1]; 3.9- Devin Moran [5]; 4. 21- Billy Moyer Jr [3]; 5.7m- Donald Mcintosh [7]; 6.0v- Coleby Frye[6]; 7.2c- Joey Coulter [8]; 8.72- Mike Norris[4]

Heat 4:1. 91- Tyler Erb[1]; 2.4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck[2]; 3.39- Tim McCreadie[4]; 4.93- Donald Bradsher[3]; 5.11B- Stacy Boles[7]; 6.B1- Brent Larson[5]; 7.3c- Charles LaPlant[6]; 8.2F- Dennis Franklin[8]

Heat 5: 1.3s- Brian Shirley[1]; 2.17M- Dale McDowell[2]; 3.7- Rick Eckert[3]; 4.38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[5]; 5.7W- Ricky Weiss[6]; 6.16- Jason Jameson[7]; 7.2H- Nick Hoffman[4]; 8.16H- Mike Hammerle[8]

Heat 6: 1.25- Shane Clanton[1]; 2.40B- Kyle Bronson[3]; 3.44- Chris Madden[2]; 4.5- Don O’Neal[7]; 5.99j- Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 6.22*- G.R. Smith[6]; 7.1*- Chub Frank[5]; 8.71- Hudson O’Neal[8]

Qualifying 1: 1.15s- Donny Schatz, 16.411; 2.20- Rodney Sanders, 16.616; 3.116- Brandon Overton, 16.731; 4.18- Eric Wells, 16.800; 5.15- Steve Francis, 16.810; 6.16T- Tyler Bruening, 17.066; 7.28E- Dennis Erb Jr, 17.112; 8.14M- Morgan Bagley, No Time

Qualifying 2: 1.11- Austin Hubbard, 16.613; 2. 1- Brandon Sheppard, 16.695; 3. 14- Darrell Lanigan, 16.815; 4. 18c- Chase Junghans, 17; 5. 21L- Ivedent Lloyd Jr, 17.063; 6.6- Blake Spencer, 17.407; 7. 14r- Reid Millard, 17.885; 8. 27- Jeff Beyers, 17.933

Qualifying 3: 1.99B- Boom Briggs, 16.333; 2.7F- Jason Fitzgarald, 16.409; 3.21- Billy Moyer Jr, 16.651; 4.72- Mike Norris, 16.673; 5.9- Devin Moran, 16.728; 6.0v- Coleby Frye , 17.562; 7.7m- Donald Mcintosh, 17.59; 8.2c- Joey Coulter, 18.012

Qualifying 4: 1. 91- Tyler Erb, 16.054; 2. 4-D’s-Chad Hollenbeck, 16.267; 3.93- Donald Bradsher, 16.333; 4.39- Tim McCreadie, 16.455; 5.B1- Brent Larson, 16.831; 6.3c- Charles LaPlant, 16.84; 7.11B- Stacy Boles, 16.937; 8.2F- Dennis Franklin, 16.979

Qualifying 5: 1.3s- Brian Shirley, 16.111; 2.17M- Dale McDowell, 16.197; 3.7- Rick Eckert, 16.369; 4.2H- Nick Hoffman, 16.654; 5.38s- Kenny Pettyjohn, 16.754; 6.7W- Ricky Weiss, 16.824; 7.16- Jason Jameson, 17.053; 8.16H- Mike Hammerle, 19.135

Qualifying 6: 1. 25- Shane Clanton, 15.928; 2. 44- Chris Madden, 15.928; 3. 40B- Kyle Bronson, 16.022; 4. 99j- Frank Heckenast Jr, 16.17; 5. 1*- Chub Frank, 16.172; 6. 22*- G.R. Smith, 16.448; 7. 5- Don O’Neal, 16.498; 8. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 16.605