Brandon Sheppard earned the Thursday night win at Brownstown
Although he had won fourteen features throughout 2021 coming into Thursday’s resumption of the weathered out Indiana Ice Breaker at the Brownstown Speedway, Brandon Sheppard had not yet won a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event this season. That all changed after the Rocket Chassis driver from New Berlin, Illinois collected $15,000 by leading all 50 laps of the feature that kicked off a three-race weekend at the historic track.
Qualifying and heat races for this event had been run back March when Josh Richards had established a new track record during time-trials. However, the race had to be postponed due to rough track conditions that had been caused by adverse weather conditions at that time.
Sheppard started from the outside of the front row then bolted to the lead at the start. Richards gave chase to the Rocket Chassis house car owned by his father early on but the Clint Bowyer Racing machine slowed on lap 14 and ultimately retired from the race. At that point, Kyle Bronson emerged as the top threat to the current World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series points leader’s hold on the top spot but he too fell victim to mechanical issues on lap 16.
That attrition elevated Steve Casebolt to second where he would stay for the remainder of the contest. Further back, young stars Devin Moran and Hudson O’Neal fought for the final podium position on a challenging track surface.
After multiple late cautions over the closing laps, Sheppard was able to maintain the lead and eventually sail under the checkered flag to score the win.
“The car was really good,” Sheppard declared in his victory lane interview with MavTV Plus. “I’ve got to thank all the fans for coming out. It’s going to be a long weekend here for us and we’re really looking forward to it. We love coming to Brownstown Speedway. The track had a lot of character to it tonight. If it’s like that all weekend, I won’t be mad about it at all.”
“It’ been an up and down weekend for us for sure but we’ve got a really good car this weekend so hopefully we can keep this thing up front,” Sheppard added. “A little bit of momentum coming into this weekend. We all have a lot of drive. We’re striving to be better, we want to win these races so we’re working our butts off to try to get there. It’s paying off slowly but surely throughout the year.”
Casebolt was happy with the runner-up result in his home state.
“I had a lot of fun out there tonight,” Casebolt said in his post-race interview. “The track was a little rough but considering the rain they had yesterday and during the week, I mean, we got this thing in. It was a lot of fun to race. It was a challenging race for sure. There was a time under one of those yellows my left hand was clinched on the steering wheel and I couldn’t even let go, I about had to pry my fingers off it because I was squeezing so hard. It was nice to get a podium, that’s like a win for us.”
“All of these guys are so good,” Casebolt added of his competition. “Most all of them, that’s all they do all week long and I wash cars, work on rental properties, and go to Menards. These guys think about racing 24/7 and it’s turned into just a hobby for me so to be able to come out here and compete with these guys is huge.”
The racing action continues for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Brownstown Speedway on Friday night with a $10,000-to-win event then on Saturday night with the $20,000-to-win Jackson 100.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Steve Casebolt, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Hudson O’Neal, 5. Jimmy Owens, 6. Josh Rice, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Spencer Hughes, 9. Tanner English, 10. Tyler Erb, 11. Dennis Erb Jr., 12. Earl Pearson Jr., 13. Shelby Miles, 14. Mike Marlar, 15. Robby Hensley, 16. Joe Godsey, 17. Kyle Bronson, 18. Josh Richards, 19. Matt Cosner, 20. Shane Clanton, 21. Devin Gilpin, 22. Brayton Laster, 23. Billy Moyer Jr., 24. Ricky Thornton Jr., 25. Quentin White
