Frank Heckenast Jr. took the lead early then drove to victory
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series continued its swing through the upper Midwest on Saturday night with a stop at I-94 Speedway. When all was said and done, Frank Heckenast Jr. scored the win in the first ever visit to this facility located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The Frankfort, Illinois driver earned a payday of $10,000 in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 27 cars were signed in for competition.
Tyler Bruening was fastest in qualifying by posting a lap of 17.270 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval besting Chris Madden, Chad Mahder, Paul Parker, Boom Briggs, Brandon Sheppard, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Dennis Erb Jr.
Tyler Bruening won the first heat race of the evening by outrunning Frank Heckenast Jr., Cade Dillard, Jimmy Mars, Dave Mass and Kyle Hammer.
Chris Madden took the second preliminary ahead of Boom Briggs, Ryan Gustin, Dennis Erb Jr., Ben Wolden and Brent Larson.
Brandon Sheppard defeated Ricky Weiss, Chad Mahder, Jordan Yaggy, Bryce Sward and Jeff Massengill in the third and final heat of the night.
Cole Schill, Paul Parker, Pat Doar, Blair Nothdurft, Lance Mathees and Shawn Kirwin transferred to the feature out of the Last Chance Showdown.
The WoO Late Models redraw set the first three rows in the main event as Bruening, Heckenast, Madden, Briggs, Sheppard and Weiss.
At the start of the 40-lap feature Heckenast went to the early lead followed by Bruening, Madden, Sheppard and Briggs. A caution flag waved after the completion of the first lap when Schill spun.
Soon after the restart, Heckenast and Bruening went side-by-side for the lead while Sheppard and Weiss fought for the fourth position. Weiss would briefly get by Sheppard on the fifth circuit but Sheppard would regain the spot one lap later. Sheppard kept the high side momentum going as he drove by Madden to claim third on lap 7.
Heckenast continued to hold the lead while Sheppard and Bruening wrestled for the runner-up position on lap 9. At the same time, Gustin and Weiss contested fifth with Gustin eventually taking the position.
As slower traffic began to come into play in a race that would go caution free after that lap 1 spin, the top-3 of Heckenast, Bruening and Sheppard ran in tight formation as they worked to get by lapped cars. However, Heckenast would eventually separate himself from the pack leaving Bruening and Sheppard to battle just after the halfway point.
The three-way fight between Bruening, Sheppard and Madden got physical as the laps clicked away with the three drivers exchanging slide jobs and, at times, coming in contact with each other. All the while, Heckenast set sail and built a relatively comfortable advantage over his pursuers.
In the end, the No. 99 car drove under the checkered flag to score his second WoO Late Models win of 2021 and the third of his career.
Feature Finish: 1. Frank Heckenast Jr., 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Tyler Bruening, 4. Chris Madden, 5. Ryan Gustin, 6. Cade Dillard, 7. Jimmy Mars, 8. Ricky Weiss, 9. Chad Mahder, 10. Pat Doar, 11. Bryce Sward, 12. Dave Mass, 13. Kyle Hammer, 14. Jeff Massengill, 15. Brent Larson, 16. Blair Nothdurft, 17. Cole Schill, 18. Boom Briggs, 19. Jordan Yaggy, 20. Lance Mathees, 21. Dennis Erb Jr., 22. Shawn Kirwin, 23. Paul Parker, 24. Ben Wolden
