Brandon Sheppard held off Chris Madden in the closing laps
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series continued its run through the upper Midwestern part of the country on Tuesday with an event at the Gondik Law Speedway. At the end of the night, it was series points leader Brandon Sheppard who claimed victory at the Superior, Wisconsin facility. The New Berlin, Illinois driver earned $10,000 for his efforts in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 27 cars were signed in for competition.
Brent Larson led the way in qualifying with a lap of 15.847 around the 3/8 mile clay oval beating out Tyler Bruening, Dennis Erb Jr., Brandon Sheppard, James Giossi and Ricky Weiss.
Brandon Sheppard won the first heat race of the night ahead of John Kaanta, Brent Larson, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jimmy Mars and Ryan Gustin.
Chris Madden took the second preliminary over Tyler Bruening, James Giossi, Pat Doar, Kevin Eder and Harry Hanson.
Dennis Erb Jr. was the victor in the third and final heat as he beat out Steve Laursen, Ricky Weiss, Travis Budisalovich, Derek Vesel and Aaron Lillo.
Chad Mahder, Tim McMann, Darrell Nelson and Sam Mars transferred to the feature out of the lone Last Chance Showdown.
The WoO Late Models redraw set the first three rows of the starting grid as Laursen, Erb, Bruening, Sheppard, Kaanta and Madden.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Erb who took command with Laursen, Sheppard, Madden, and Bruening trialing. Sheppard went on the move quickly as he took second from Laursen on the third circuit. Soon thereafter, Madden closed in and moved Laursen back another spot as the No. 44 grabbed third.
Sheppard and Madden set off in pursuit of Erb and tracked the leader down by lap 10. That top trio separated themselves as they ran in tight formation as they worked through slower traffic and battle for position. However, a caution flag slowed the action on lap 17 and restacked the field.
When the green flag action resumed, Sheppard ran down Erb and began to apply pressure while Madden and Bruening fought over the third position. On lap 26, Sheppard seized the opportunity and moved by Erb to take the top spot on the leaderboard.
A caution for a tangle involving Heckenast and Lillo slowed the pace on lap 29. On that restart, Madden took over the second position then immediately set off to challenge Sheppard. The top-2 cars were never separated by more than one second as the laps clicked away.
Hanson slowed to bring out the final yellow flag of the evening on lap 38. Madden used the opportunity make a run at Sheppard. In turns one and two just after taking the white flag, Madden went to the inside line and briefly pulled in front of Sheppard. However, Sheppard’s momentum on the outside lane prevailed as the No. 1 machine led the way back to the checkered flag for the victory.
It was Sheppard’s third points-paying win of the season and it allowed him to extend his lead in the standings over Madden.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Tyler Bruening, 5. James Giossi, 6. Ryan Gustin, 7. Jimmy Mars, 8. Kevin Eder, 9. Ricky Weiss, 10. Steve Laursen, 11. Pat Doar, 12. Chad Mahder, 13. Brent Larson, 14. John Kaanta, 15. Sam Mars, 16. Darrell Nelson, 17. Frank Heckenast Jr., 18. Boom Briggs, 19. Travis Budlisalovich, 20. Derek Vesel, 21. Harry Hanson, 22. Mike Bellefeuille, 23. Aaron Lillo, 24. Tim McMann
