Brandon Sheppard Romps From 19th To Win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Event At Knoxville

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – KNOXVILLE, IA – From nineteenth on the grid, Brandon Sheppard charged through the field to win Friday night’s portion of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store.

Sheppard used a late-race restart to take the top spot from Frank Heckenast Jr. and then sprinted away for his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of 2018 and his first-ever win at Knoxville.

Heckenast led from the onset of the 25-lap main event as he looked for his third victory of the season. A restart with six laps remaining was the ticket for Sheppard, who had climbed through the field for the second night in a row. Sheppard dove to the inside of the race track entering turn one and powered by Heckenast down the back straightaway to grab the lead from his fellow Illini driver.

Sheppard pulled away in the closing laps to clinch the $7,000 victory. Heckenast finished second followed by Don O’Neal in third. Jonathan Davenport came home in fourth after running as high as second in the race. Tim McCreadie, who started tenth, rounded out the top five.

“I can’t believe it,” said the 25-year-old in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “My crew has been working so hard this week. We have had a really fast car the whole time. We qualified good the last two nights, but we started so deep in the heat races. The earlier heat races it’s hard to pass, but the later heats it’s a lot better once the track slicks off. The feature tonight I hope it’s a lot like tomorrow night, because it’s a lot of fun. This is the Knoxville I love coming to.”

“My car was a little tight there for a while, but I made up good time on the bottom. I had a good restart one time and I hit one-and-two just right and I went around a couple of guys. I got to third and then I was hoping on the restart to start on the bottom. I learned from Josh [Richards] here in 2013 about getting the lead. When Frankie [Heckenast] entered turn one on that last restart he drifted up high and that just opened the door on the bottom for me.”

Heckenast, who was seeking his first career Lucas Oil win, held on for the second spot at the finish. “We had a really car tonight. We have been good all weekend. We had a fifth here last night. We are kind of parked over there by ourselves. We were really close tonight. I can’t thank everyone enough. I gave the race away on the restart. On the restarts they would get such a run on me into one. I thought I could hang out there on the top and get a run off of two, but Brandon obviously had a lot of traction. His car was good. I guess if we are going to have one taken away I would rather have it tonight than tomorrow night.”

O’Neal, who won the main event at Knoxville in 2011, finished in third to earn the fourth-starting spot for Saturday night’s finale. “All-in-all it was good run for us tonight. We had a good race there at the end with Davenport and we were able to get by him. We are getting better this week, we just need to get a little better for tomorrow night. We would have liked to have won tonight, but tomorrow night is what really counts.”

Sheppard’s, Mark Richards Racing Rocket Chassis House Car is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by: Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Gunter’s Honey, Ace Metal Works, Sallack Well Service, Sunoco Race Fuels, Keyser and Integra.

Completing the top ten were Jimmy Mars, Tyler Bruening, Jimmy Owens, Chad Simpson and Kyle Bronson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday, September 14, 2018
15th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals – presented by Casey’s General Stores
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA

Miller Welders Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Chad Simpson / 18.130 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Scott Bloomquist / 17.875 seconds (overall)

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Matt Furman, Tyler Bruening, Chad Simpson, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brent Larson, Mike Mataragas, Scott James , Brian Birkhofer, Chase Junghans

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Jonathan Davenport, Brian Shirley, Brandon Sheppard, Shannon Babb, Shane Clanton, Jason Feger, Jonathan Brauns, Rob Toland

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Ward, Jeremiah Hurst, Jesse Stovall, Dennis Erb, Jr., Josh Richards, Brandon Overton, Mason Zeigler, Jared Landers, Mike Fryer, Dave Eckrich

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Austin Rettig, Tim McCreadie, Morgan Bagley, Kyle Bronson, Spencer Diercks, Justin Zeitner, JC Wyman, Nick Marolf, Junior Coover

Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Bobby Pierce, Jimmy Mars, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Chris Simpson, Tyler Erb, Gregg Satterlee, Darrell Lanigan, Jake Neal, Al Humphrey

Casey’s General Store Heat Race #6 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Don O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Justin Duty, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chris Spieker, Zach McMillan, Joey Moriarty, Brian Harris, Lyle Zanker

FAST Shafts C-Main Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer to B-Main): Darrell Lanigan, Jason Feger, Jared Landers, Jake Neal, Brian Birkhofer, Scott James , Mason Zeigler, Joey Moriarty, Rob Toland, Nick Marolf, Brian Harris, Dave Eckrich, Mike Fryer, JC Wyman, Al Humphrey, Justin Zeitner, Jonathan Brauns, Lyle Zanker, Chase Junghans, Junior Coover

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main Finish (15 Laps, Top 6 Transfer to A-Main): Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, Josh Richards, Shannon Babb, Shane Clanton, Ricky Thornton Jr., Spencer Diercks, Dennis Erb, Jr., Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Overton, Darrell Lanigan, Gregg Satterlee, Chris Spieker, Jason Feger, Mike Mataragas, Morgan Bagley, Jake Neal, Brent Larson, Jared Landers, Zach McMillan, Chris Simpson

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (25 Laps):

FINISH
START
CAR #
DRIVER NAME
HOMETOWN
EARNINGS
1
19
1S
Brandon Sheppard
New Berlin, IL
$7,000
2
2
99JR
Frank Heckenast, Jr.
Frankfort, IL
$4,000
3
4
5
Don O’Neal
Martinsville, IN
$3,000
4
3
49
Jonathan Davenport
Blairsville, GA
$2,000
5
10
39
Tim McCreadie
Watertown, NY
$1,500
6
12
28m
Jimmy Mars
Menomonie, WI
$1,000
7
1
16T
Tyler Bruening
Decorah, IA
$900
8
6
20
Jimmy Owens
Newport, TN
$800
9
7
25s
Chad Simpson
Mt. Vernon, IA
$700
10
21
40B
Kyle Bronson ®
Brandon, FL
$600
11
18
32
Bobby Pierce
Oakwood, IL
$580
12
20
91
Tyler Erb
New Waverly, TX
$560
13
15
3s
Brian Shirley
Chatham, IL
$540
14
23
18
Shannon Babb
Mowequa, IL
$520
15
11
58H
Jeremiah Hurst
Dubuque, IA
$500
16
9
21
Billy Moyer
Batesville, AR
$490
17
13
51
Matt Furman
Portland, OR
$480
18
14
15d
Justin Duty
Portland, OR
$470
19
16
94
Austin Rettig
Sikeston, MO
$460
20
5
00s
Jesse Stovall
Billings, MO
$450
21
24
25C
Shane Clanton
Zebulon, GA
$440
22
17
37
Scott Ward
Hayti, SD
$430
23
22
1R
Josh Richards
Shinnston, WV
$410
24
8
0
Scott Bloomquist
Mooresburg, TN
$400

Race Statistics
Entrants

: 57
Lap Leaders: Frank Heckenast Jr. (Laps 1 – 19); Brandon Sheppard (Laps 20 – 25)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Brandon Sheppard
Margin of Victory: 0.909 seconds
Cautions: Austin Rettig (Lap 1); Jesse Stovall (Lap 18); Matt Furman (Lap 19)
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Advanced 18 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Brandon Sheppard
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Kyle Bronson
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Austin Hargrove (Brandon Sheppard)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Frank Heckenast Jr. (Lap #2 – 19.143 seconds)
STEEL-IT Most Laps Led: Frank Heckenast (19 Laps)
Dirty Girl Racewear Farthest Traveler: Justin Duty
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Tyler Bruening
Time of Race: 21 minutes 04 seconds

SATURDAY LINE UPS:

FAST Shafts C-Main Line Up (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer to B-Main):

DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Scott James
83
22
Gregg Satterlee
Morgan Bagley
14m
14z
Zach McMillan
Rob Toland
39T
B1
Brent Larson
Justin Zeitner
1GRT
93J
Jay Johnson
Mike Fryer
54
93
Brian Harris
JC Wyman
4W
6H
Al Humphrey
Jonathan Brauns
22B
9
Lyle Zanker
Joel Callahan
40
10C
Junior Coover
Penske Racing Shocks B-Main Line-Up (20 Laps, Top 6 Transfer to A-Main):
DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Jeremiah Hurst
58H
3s
Brian Shirley
Matt Furman
51
1777
Jared Landers
Justin Duty
15D
94
Austin Rettig
Scott Ward
37
58
Dave Eckrich
Darrell Lanigan
14
14J
Jake Neal
Dennis Erb Jr.
28
29D
Spencer Diercks
Ricky Thornton Jr.
20RT
1M
Mike Mataragas
Joey Moriarty
51M
56s
Chris Spieker
Jason Feger
25F
33
Nick Marolf
Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Feature Line-Up (100 Laps):
DRIVER
INSIDE
OUTSIDE
DRIVER
Brandon Sheppard
1s
1
Earl Pearson Jr.
Scott Bloomquist
0
5
Don O’Neal
Tyler Erb
91
25s
Chad Simpson
Jimmy Owens
20
99JR
Frank Heckenast Jr.
Jonathan Davenport
49
32s
Chris Simpson
Kyle Bronson
40B
76
Brandon Overton
Tim McCreadie
39
16T
Tyler Bruening
Shane Clanton
25c
28m
Jimmy Mars
Shannon Babb
18
25z
Mason Zeigler
Brian Birkhofer
30
18J
Chase Junghans
Josh Richards
1R
32
Bobby Pierce
Jesse Stovall
00s
21
Billy Moyer
B-Main – 1st
25th
26th
B-Main – 2nd
B-Main – 3rd
27th
28th
B-Main – 4th
B-Main – 5th
29th
30th
B-Main – 6th
LOLMDS Prov. 1
31st
32nd
LOLMDS Prov. 2