Turn 2 Blog: 2017 World of Outlaws Late Models Season Preview

*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.

Richard: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series kicked off its 2017 season last weekend at Golden Isles Speedway and has now moved off to East Bay Raceway Park to continue their portion of Gerogia/Florida Speedweeks. Now it’s time for the World of Outlaws Late Models to step up on the stage as they get set to race this weekend at Georgia’s Screven Motorsports Park before heading south into Florida for a series of race dates at Volusia Raceway Park.

This series has a very interesting mix of drivers who appear to be set for a run at a championship. Veteran campaigners such as former champions Shane Clanton and Rick Eckert will no doubt be in contention over the course of the year. At the same time, former Dirt Track World Championship winner Brandon Sheppard will take the reins of the highly competitive Rocket Chassis house car after the somewhat unexpected departure of Josh Richards from that ride. Also, multi-time regional racing series champion Chris Madden appears set to do what many have hoped for years and that is to follow a national tour.

Billy Moyer, Jr. now has a year on this series under his belt as he plans to compete for the title once again. Steve Casebolt, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Devin Moran and Donald Bradsher also appear set to run the full tour.

It would seem going in that literally anything could happen regarding this championship battle, doesn’t it?

Michael: With the departure of Richards, things seem to be wide open in the World of Outlaws in 2017. The Rocket house car is certainly the best ride in the series. Sheppard is a talented driver. The question is whether he can provide the consistency to win a points title. That is the big unknown.

Clanton has had several really good seasons since switching to the Capital chassis a few years back. He certainly took advantage of Richards’ absences piling up wins and a series title.

To me, the most intriguing driver heading into 2017 is Chris Madden. Those of us in this area have seen plenty of Madden over the last 10-12 years. He’s won a lot of races during that time. The question is how will he do when he gets away from the red clay of the south and how will he and his team fare over the course of a grueling season. If he responds accordingly to both of those circumstances, I think he will be in the title hunt until the end.

Richard: I think you make an excellent point regarding Madden when he gets off the Southern red clay. Everyone around this region knows he’s got plenty of talent, but every driver will tell you that there are some places where they feel more comfortable than others. No doubt there will come a time of adjustment for ‘Smokey’ as he gets into the Midwestern and northeastern portions of the WoO Late Models schedule.

But as we have seen in the past, when he gets hot, Madden can score race wins in bunches.

On the surface, it would seem that Clanton and Sheppard are the favorites going into the fray. Clanton has the experience having successfully run this series for several years now. And Sheppard, driving the Rocket house car, would seem to have team depth and the ability to roll out fresh equipment on his side.

However, I’m going to throw another wildcard into the mix. I believe Billy Moyer, Jr. could very well be primed to have a break out year of sorts. After having run the full WoO Late Models schedule in 2016, he now has a year’s worth of experience in his favor. Furthermore, he always seems to be fast early in the evening but has sometimes struggled to maintain that speed throughout an entire race night. This year may see that change.

What I think Moyer has going for him this year over previous seasons is that his legendary father will be more involved in his racing program due to him cutting back on his own driving efforts. That could lead to more consistent runs on behalf of the younger Moyer, and thus, more race wins.

Michael: Despite some mechanical issues, Moyer Jr. was impressive at Golden Isles this past weekend. I agree with you, I think we’ll see big improvements from the Arkansas driver.

Another driver that started of well at Golden Isles that may run the full season with the World of Outlaws is Brandon Overton. He capitalized on Moyer’s misfortunes to win the first Golden Isles race and finished a strong 3rd on the second night. He already has several strong runs with Randy Weaver’s team. With that kind of backing, he could develop into a force.

It seems like in recent years one driver gets hot in the World of Outlaws and is able to carry that into a championship. Madden and Overton are two drivers that could do that, provided both run the full tour.

Richard: Another good point. Perhaps someone who is on the fence about running the full schedule would choose to do so should they achieve a couple of wins and some other good finishes at Screven and Volusia. Of course, I suppose that could work the other way as well. A driver who has mechanical issues or crashes in these first two weekends may call off a potential series run due to starting out in a hole.

All that said, it’s time to make some predictions. I am going to say that Brandon Sheppard will win the most races and will beat out Clanton to win the season championship. I believe that his talents as a driver and the depth of that organization will ultimately win out. But as I stated earlier, I do expect Madden and Moyer to make their presence known throughout the season.

Michael: I also will pick Sheppard to win the most races. But I am picking Clanton to win the title.