Brandon Sheppard claimed his third consecutive checkered flag on Friday
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series once again rolled into the East Bay Raceway Park on Friday evening to continue their participation in the Wrisco Winter Nationals. It was the fourth night of action at the Tampa, Florida facility. When the dust had settled at the ‘Clay by the Bay’, it was Brandon Sheppard who scored the win after an intense night of racing. The Rocket Chassis driver from New Berlin, Illinois earned $12,000 for his efforts in a race shown live by MavTV.
A total of 74 cars were signed in for competition.
Brandon Sheppard was fastest in Group A qualifying with a time of 14.585 seconds around the third-mile clay oval besting Jimmy Owens, Cody Overton, Devin Moran, Chase Junghans, Earl Pearson Jr., Colten Burdette and Kyle Bronson.
Brandon Overton led Group B time-trials when he toured the track in 14.370 seconds topping Ashton Winger, Garrett Smith, Tim McCreadie, Daulton Wilson, Colton Flinner, Mark Whitener and Tanner English.
Brandon Sheppard earned the pole position for the feature after he won the first heat of the night ahead of Devin Moran and Max Blair.
Chase Junghans took the second preliminary by outrunning Kyle Bronson and Boom Briggs just before Earl Pearson Jr. was victorious in the third heat over Cody Overton and Dennis Erb Jr.
Brandon Overton would start the main event from the outside of the front row by winning the fourth heat beating out Tim McCreadie and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Ashton Winger outperformed Daulton Wilson and Tyler Bruening to win the fifth heat while Garrett Smith was the victor of the sixth and final heat beating out Hudson O’Neal and Josh Rice.
Johnny Scott, Mark Whitener and Frank Heckenast Jr. won the three B-main race used to set the remainder of the starting grid for the main event.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Sheppard who bolted to the lead with Junghans, Overton, Pearson and Smith trailing. Pearson got by Overton for third on the second circuit. Overton then fell back into a battle with Smith for the fourth position on lap 4.
Moran entered the top-5 on lap 9 when he passed by Smith. That opened the door for Winger and Bronson who also went around Smith. In the meantime, Junghans closed in on Sheppard as the lead duo fought through slower traffic and took the lead on lap 10.
Junghans and Sheppard exchanged the lead three times before Junghans grabbed the position on lap 13. The top-4 of Junghans, Sheppard, Pearson and Overton found themselves in tight formation on lap 17 as they worked slower traffic as they race continued to remain under green flag conditions.
Those four cars entered into a fierce fight for position which saw Pearson, Overton and Sheppard go three-wide for second as they closed in on Junghans. Overton emerged from that battle with the lead on lap 21 but he would only hold the lead for two laps as Sheppard went by. At the same time, Pearson took third away from Junghans.
Moran began to move forward as he entered the top-3 at the halfway point. However, misfortune would strike Moran on lap 30 when he spun after tagging the slowing car of Frank Heckenast Jr. which brought out the first caution of the night.
On the restart, Winger jumped to third while Sheppard and Overton continued to show the way.
A string of caution flags between laps 33 and 36 caused the action to get a bit disjointed. Finally, the race settled into a rhythm around lap 40. But as the end neared and the leaders again found themselves racing among slower cars, Overton closed in on Sheppard and appeared poised to make a move for the lead.
With just one lap remaining Overton swung his car into the outside groove and pulled alongside Sheppard as they entered turn one. But the machine driven by Smith banged the outside wall then came to a stop in turn two. Spencer Hughes, having nowhere to go, slammed into the prone car then spun and tagged the right side of Overton’s machine.
Overton continued with heavy damage as the race ended with a one-lap dash to the checkered flag. Sheppard was able to maintain his advantage as he drove to his third consecutive victory at East Bay.
Although a regular on the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series, Sheppard remains as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Ashton Winger, 4. Devin Moran, 5. Tim McCreadie, 6. Chase Junghans, 7. Garrett Alberson, 8. Earl Pearson Jr., 9. Hudson O’Neal, 10. Ricky Thornton Jr., 11. Kyle Bronson, 12. Dennis Erb Jr., 13. Stormy Scott, 14. Tanner English, 15. Daulton Wilson, 16. Tyler Bruening, 17. Ross Robinson, 18. Shane Clanton, 19. Garrett Smith, 20. Spencer Hughes, 21. Cody Overton, 22. Boom Briggs, 23 Jimmy Owens, 24. Josh Rice, 25. Johnny Scott, 26. Max Blair, 27. Tyler Erb, 28. Frank Heckenast Jr., 29. Mark Whitener, 30. Colten Burdette
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