Brandon Sheppard won at Farmer City
Brandon Sheppard was in a familiar place at the end of the Farmer City 74 as he pulled his No. B5 machine into victory lane at the end of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Farmer City Raceway on Monday night. But it was no easy win by any means as the home state driver had to come from the 14th starting position to earn the victory in a race that had been continued after Friday night rain put a damper on the track’s original plans.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from New Berlin, Illinois earned a $25,000 payday for his efforts on the track located in Farmer City, Illinois in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 41 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Bobby Pierce(12.556), 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Shannon Babb, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Jimmy Owens, 6. Garrett Smith, 7. Mckay Wenger, 8. Kevin Weaver, 9. Ryan Gustin, 10. Earl Pearson Jr.
Group B Results- 1. Gordy Gundaker(12.472), 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Tim McCreadie, 5. Frank Heckenast Jr., 6. Tanner English, 7. Mike Marlar, 8. Brandon Overton, 9. Brian Shirley, 10. Ricky Thornton Jr.
Heat 1 Results: 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Mckay Wenger, 3. Shannon Babb, 4. Jason Feger
Heat 2 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Earl Pearson Jr., 4. Kevin Weaver
Heat 3 Results: 1. Gordy Gundaker, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Frank Heckenast Jr., 4. Brandon Sheppard
Heat 4 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Tanner English
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Max Blair, 2. Garrett Alberson, 3. Garrett Smith
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Brian Shirley, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr.
Feature Re-cap: The 74-lap main event began with Gundaker leading O’Neal, Owens, Erb and Davenport. By lap 5, the the top-5 drivers were in line around the top side of the track. However, second-running O’Neal would slow with a flat right rear tire to bring out a caution on lap 8. That left Gundaker leading over Owens, Erb, Davenport and Overton.
On the restart, Erb moved into second behind Gundaker followed by Owens, Overton and Davenport. Just a few laps after the restart, multiple grooves began to emerge around the track. McCreadie entered the top-5 on lap 16 when he passed Davenport.
On lap 20, Erb and Owens caught up to Gundaker as the leaders worked through slower traffic. Overton joined the fray as he and Owens fought for third. Just behind the leader, Erb, Owens, McCreadie and Overton were engaged in a fierce battle for position.
McCreadie suffered a flat left rear tire and Owens incurred body damage when those two cars tangled to bring out a lap 28 yellow flag. Owens and Shirley went to second and third on the restart as Sheppard bolted into fourth.
On lap 31, Sheppard moved to third by passing Owens. Robinson slowed on the front straightaway to bring out another caution on lap 34. At the time of caution, Gundaker led Shirley, Sheppard, Owens and Erb.
Sheppard moved to second just after the restart and then moved in to challenge Gundaker for the race lead. Gundaker primarily used the outside line while Sheppard employed the low lane around the track. The efforts of the No. B5 paid off on lap 47 when he took the top spot on the leaderboard.
Hughes slowed to bring out a caution on lap 48. Sheppard led Gundaker, Shirley, Owens and Wenger at that time.
At the back of the top-5, Erb and Wenger exchanged positions on multiple occasions as the lap total moved past 50. Thornton also joined that fight eventually breaking into the top-5. Another yellow flag would wave on lap 58 when Tyler Erb stopped on track.
Thornton moved to fourth on lap 58 restart as Sheppard continued to lead Gundaker and Shirley.
Debris on the track on lap 71 set up a three-lap dash to the finish line. But in the end it would be Sheppard who would maintain control of the race to score his 29th career win on the Lucas Oil tour.
Feature Results: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Gordy Gundaker, 3. Brian Shirley, 4. Ricky Thornton Jr., 5. Hudson O’Neal, 6. Jimmy Owens, 7. Dennis Erb Jr., 8. Daulton Wilson, 9. Max Blair, 10. Devin Moran, 11. Earl Pearson Jr., 12. Jonathan Davenport, 13. Tim McCreadie, 14. Mckay Wenger, 15. Shannon Babb, 16. Brandon Overton, 17. Spencer Hughes, 18. Garrett Alberson, 19. Tyler Bruening, 20. Boom Briggs, 21. Tyler Erb, 22. Tanner English, 23. Ross Robinson, 24. Jason Feger, 25. Frank Heckenast Jr., 26. Kevin Weaver
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