Brandon Sheppard
Brandon Sheppard has been the full-time driver for the Rocket Chassis house car since 2017. In that time, he has collected three World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series championships. Further, the 28-year-old racer has accomplished more than many who are significantly older by achieving 63 feature wins in the blue No. 1 car on that series alone as well as numerous other victories including crown jewel triumphs such as two Dirt Track World Championships, the Silver Dollar Nationals, and the Dirt Million.
Having not yet achieved a win so early in the season would not necessarily be worthy of attention for most other teams, but getting off to a fast start has been the modus operandi for Sheppard and the Rocket 1 Racing team during their time together. With most racing seasons beginning in the southeastern corner of the country, Sheppard and the No. 1 have made a habit of leaving Florida in February having scored scored multiple victories and building an early lead in the series standings.
Sheppard was so strong early on last year that he left Florida leading both the WoO Late Models and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings. The team has collected a total of 16 winner’s trophies during SpeedWeeks, with the fewest being three in 2018 with the fewest being three in 2018.
So far in 2021, however, the Mark Richards-owned team has not yet rolled into victory lane in its eleven feature starts. But of course, with a full week of racing remaining on the schedule at Volusia Speedway Park, repeating past performances is still a possibility for Sheppard and his team. Such a recovery would not be without precedent.
In 2019, the New Berlin, IL native did not score a win in his first eight starts during Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks. But after that, the wins came in droves. As a matter of fact, he then ran off a streak of six consecutive wins that included the end of the time in Sunshine State then in other races when the “grind” of the season began.
However, there is at least some reason to take notice. Sheppard has scored only two podium results in those first eleven events so far in 2021. Along with that, he has registered the very un-Sheppard-like finishes of 12th, 14th, 15th, and 19th. And looking back at the two WoO Late Models shows held at Volusia back in January, he only managed finishes of 9th and 7th.
Sheppard’s worst finish in all of SpeedWeeks in 2020 was a 10th.
Brandon Sheppard has yet to win in 2021
Compare the No. 1 team’s finishes against last year when Sheppard left Florida with five wins and 13 podium finishes already under his belt(including 3 races held in New Mexico last January). Clearly there has been a drop off from 12 months ago as the number of top-3 finishes is unattainable while in Florida.
Is there reason for concern?
No one believes this Shinnston, WV-based team is going to go on some prolonged losing streak. Further, it would seem highly unlikely that Sheppard’s name won’t be at or somewhere near the top of the heap at season’s end when the points are tallied for the final time. Still, this early season performance is interesting to say the least.
For that matter, the current state of affairs may not last beyond next week. Nonetheless, the fact that there have been such a small number of times in which Sheppard looked like a potential winner is curious and might provide at least some reason for optimism for his rivals.
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