8.20.17 World of Outlaws Late Models Results
ERIE, PA— August 20, 2017— Brandon Sheppard conquered his 14th World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series win of the season and his second win in a row in the state of Pennsylvania on Sunday night at Eriez Speedway. While it is no surprise to see Rocket Chassis house car in Victory Lane, the shootout was anything but predictable as three different drivers commanded the lead throughout the 50-lap event including Russ King, Jared Miley and eventual winner, Sheppard.
“We have had a really great car all weekend we just haven’t had luck on our side and tonight the luck was on our side,” said Sheppard.
It was undeniable that luck was on Sheppard’s side especially in the final laps of the 50-lap feature. Unfortunately for fellow Rocket Chassis XR1 driver Miley, his luck was drained and the glimmer of winning his first Outlaw race was wiped clean on lap 48.
Miley had commanded the lead on lap 36 from race long leader King. Shortly after, Sheppard, who had found his way in and out of the battle for the lead position several times throughout the 50-laps, had found his way past King and back to Miley’s bumper. The pair ran door-to-door around the 3/8-mile dirt oval for several laps.
With six laps to go, Sheppard tucked his nose under Miley’s deck trying every which way to make the pass. On lap 46, Sheppard claimed the lead but the No. H1 regained control one lap later. Miley then charged into turn three with two laps remaining trying to escape the grasps of the Rocket1 driver. As he powered through the turn, he spun around to a stop and surrendered the lead to Sheppard on lap 48. A heart-broken Miley drove straight to the pits, never to return to the field.
“I don’t know if we could have gotten by Jared [Miley] if he didn’t mess up there,” said Sheppard.
Mark Richards, Rocket Chassis President, agreed with his driver, “Tonight, that was very unfortunate for Jared. He had a really good run going and I’m pretty sure he might have beat us tonight. He got into a lapped car there and I’m not exactly sure what happened but it turned out lucky for us.”
Miley’s misfortune set the stage for a green-white-checkered scenario with Sheppard leading the way in front of King, Eric Wells, Frank Heckenast Jr. and regional racer, Max Blair.
King, who had led 35 laps of the 50-lap event settled for a second-place finish which is his only top-five of four entries with the Outlaws this season.
“I caught lapped traffic, went the wrong way a couple of times, got my tires hot and I felt myself giving up from there,” said King. “That’s what separates these guys who do this all of the time. They can keep themselves under control and not make mistakes… We’re getting close here. It took me like 10 years to get here so maybe in another 10 years we’ll win one.”
Wells rounded out the podium with a third place finish from a seventh position start. The No. 18 rebounded from the night before at Port Royal Speedway where he experienced issues with his motor after hot laps. The Wells Motorsports team worked tirelessly throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning to get his Longhorn Chassis on the podium.
“I thought we were going to finish this race without breaking anything but we lost brakes about half way through the race so maybe I am better without brakes,” said Wells. “The car was really good. I could run that bottom pretty early but when I lost brakes I had to move up because the hole in [turn] one was messing me up. We are just glad to get a good finish at the end of this swing here.”
Craftsman Club Feature: 1. 1- Brandon Sheppard[4]; 2. 56- Russ King[2]; 3. 18- Eric Wells[7]; 4. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 5. 111- Max Blair[12]; 6. 7- Rick Eckert[9]; 7. 14m- Morgan Bagley[3]; 8. 9- Devin Moran[15]; 9. 1*- Chub Frank[11]; 10. 76- Steve Kania[20]; 11. 44- Chris Madden[5]; 12. 44s- Dave Hess Jr.[16]; 13. 91- Tyler Erb[10]; 14. 25- Shane Clanton[8]; 15. 19- Bob Dorman[14]; 16. 33- Chris Hackett[24]; 17. B22- Bump Hedman[17]; 18. 9s- Breyton Santee[21]; 19. H1- Jared Miley[6]; 20. 22- Greg Oakes[13]; 21. 72- Ward Schell[25]; 22. 20- Doug Eck[18]; 23. 12B- Andy Boozel[19]; 24. 22jr- Cody Egner[23]; 25. 21a- Pete Alspaugh[22]
Heat 1: 1. 1- Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 3. 18- Eric Wells[3]; 4. 91- Tyler Erb[2]; 5. 22- Greg Oakes[6]; 6. 44s- Dave Hess Jr.[5]; 7. 12B- Andy Boozel[7]; 8. 21a- Pete Alspaugh[8]; 9. 72- Ward Schell[9]
Heat 2: 1. 44- Chris Madden[1]; 2. H1- Jared Miley[3]; 3. 25- Shane Clanton[2]; 4. 1*- Chub Frank[4]; 5. 19- Bob Dorman[5]; 6. B22- Bump Hedman[6]; 7. 76- Steve Kania[7]; 8. 22jr- Cody Egner[8]
Heat 3: 1. 56- Russ King[1]; 2. 14m- Morgan Bagley[2]; 3. 7- Rick Eckert[3]; 4. 111- Max Blair[4]; 5. 9- Devin Moran[5]; 6. 20- Doug Eck[7]; 7. 9s- Breyton Santee[8]; 8. 33- Chris Hackett[6]
Qualifying: 1. 1- BrandonSheppard, 14.94; 2. 44- ChrisMadden, 14.956; 3. 56- RussKing, 14.965; 4. 91- TylerErb, 15.034; 5. 25- ShaneClanton, 15.085; 6. 14m- MorganBagley, 15.107; 7. 18- EricWells, 15.113; 8. H1- JaredMiley, 15.218; 9. 7- RickEckert, 15.241; 10. 99jr- FrankHeckenastJr, 15.256; 11. 1*- ChubFrank, 15.388; 12. 111- MaxBlair, 15.401; 13. 44s- DaveHessJr., 15.408; 14. 19- BobDorman, 15.422; 15. 9- DevinMoran, 15.531; 16. 22- GregOakes, 15.551; 17. B22- BumpHedman, 15.589; 18. 33- ChrisHackett, 15.663; 19. 12B- AndyBoozel, 15.835; 20. 76- SteveKania, 15.838; 21. 20- DougEck, 16.051; 22. 21a- PeteAlspaugh, 16.406; 23. 22jr- CodyEgner, 16.536; 24. 9s- BreytonSantee, 16.573; 25. 72- WardSchell, 16.721
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: Craftsman/Sears ($200 Cash): Brandon Sheppard, Eric Wells, Frank Heckenast Jr., Rick Eckert, Morgan Bagley; Craftsman/Sears ($100 Cash): Russ King; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Brandon Sheppard; MSD Ignition ($50 Cash): Brandon Sheppard; Quarter Master ($100 Product Certificate): Brandon Sheppard; Wrisco (Three Sheets of aluminum):Brandon Sheppard; Penske Racing Shocks ($50 Product Certificate): Eric Wells; JE Pistons ($50 Cash): Morgan Bagley; VP Racing Fuels ($50 Cash): Devin Moran; Edelbrock ($50 Cash): Chub Frank; Comp Cams ($50 Cash): Chris Madden; Extended Stay America ($50 Cash): Chris Madden; Cometic ($50 Cash): Dave Hess Jr.; JRI Shocks ($50 Cash): Bob Dorman; Superflow Dyno’s ($50 Cash): Shane Clanton; Quartermaster ($25 Product Certificate): Bob Dorman; JE Pistons (One set of piston rings): Chris Hackett; Quartermaster ($50 Product Certificate): Greg Oakes; Arizona Sport Shirts ($100 Product Certificate): Greg Oakes; JE Pistons (One set of piston rings): Ward Schell; MSD Ignition ($25 Cash): Cody Egner; QA-1 ($50 Cash): Tyler Erb; Rookie Bonus: Devin Moran; Bonus Bucks: Russ King
SEASON WINNERS:
Brandon Sheppard- 14 (Whynot Motorsports Park on March 24, Farmer City Raceway on April 1, Fayetteville Motor Speedway on May 6, Wayne County Speedway on May 27, Senoia Raceway on June 3, Brighton Speedway on June 17, Lernerville Speedway on June 25, Federated Auto Part Raceway at I-55 on July 1, Hibbing Raceway on July 13, Fayette County Speedway on July 26, Fairbury American Legion Speedway on July 30, Oshkosh SpeedZone Raceway on Aug. 1, Port Royal Speedway on Aug. 19, Eriez Speedway on Aug. 20)
Shane Clanton- 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 24, Cherokee Speedway on May 6, Tazewell Speedway on June 3, River Cities Speedway on June 14)
Chris Madden– 4 (Screven Motorsports Complex on Feb. 18, Deer Creek Speedway on July 8, Ogilvie Raceway on July 12, Cedar Lake Speedway on Aug. 5)
Brandon Overton- 2 (Smoky Mountain Speedway on May 13, Lernerville Speedway on June 24)
Rick Eckert– 2 (Screven Motorsports Complex on Feb. 17, Shawano Speedway on Aug. 2)
Devin Moran- 2 (Atomic Speedway on May 26, Georgetown Speedway on August 18)
Don O’Neal- 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 25)
Timothy Culp- 1 (LoneStar Speedway on March 26)
Brian Shirley-1 (Farmer City Raceway on April 2)
Mike Marlar- 1 (Duck River Raceway Park on May 14)
Max Blair- 1 (McKean County Raceway on June 20)