Shepard, Duncan, Stricker and Perdue victorious on night 2 of the Outlaw Invasion
WAVERLY — Actor Tom Hiddleston once said, “You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back, and you’ve climbed a mountain.”
Since 2012, and his first Series victory at Belle-Clair Speedway, Brandon Sheppard has climbed the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series Mountain.
He finally reached the peak of all-time wins Saturday night at Atomic Speedway, holding off a late charge by Dennis Erb Jr. to win the Outlaw Invasion — his 78th Series triumph. He’s now tied with Josh Richards for most wins all-time, a milestone that each four-time champion holds.
For Sheppard, it’s a moment he cherishes, and he is thankful for everyone that’s helped him on his journey.
“When I started, my dad and grandpa gave me everything I needed to get going, “Sheppard said. “I’m just thankful for them and Mark Richards picking me up back in 2012, and everyone that’s backed me for my whole career.
“I think it’s my first win [at Atomic], so that’s exciting, too. I feel like I’ve had a fast car here a lot and just haven’t been able to get the job done.”
Sheppard seemed poised to dominate the $15,000-to-win Feature after wrestling the lead away from Max Blair on a Lap 16 restart. The New Berlin, IL driver, pulled away from the field until he couldn’t carry the same momentum he had early in the race. That’s when Erb set himself up to strike.
The World of Outlaws points leader locked his car to the bottom of the track, pulling even with Sheppard a few times down the backstretch. Erb’s best shot came with three laps remaining as he slid the reigning champion in Turn 2, but Sheppard crossed him back over to keep control. The Illinois veteran may have had another shot, but a caution came out, putting Erb directly behind Sheppard on the restart.
“The Rocket Shepp” held on during the final three laps to win his first World of Outlaws Feature of 2022. Sheppard stated that his charge toward the front early in the race impacted his tires toward the end.
“I think I burned my tires up pretty early in that race trying to get the lead,” Sheppard said. “It was cleaning up and starting to take a little rubber getting into [Turns 1 and 2], and I think I was using a bit too much, and that slowed me down a bunch.
“I was kind of stumped out there, I didn’t know which way to go [in lap traffic], and then Dennis showed me the nose, and I was trying to change what I was doing, but he always races me clean.”
Erb crossed the line second—his fifth top-five of 2022. He felt the last caution took away his opportunity to get by Sheppard.
“The car was working really good while we were under green,” Erb said. “I really didn’t want to see that caution there at the end but [Sheppard’s] car was good too, and we fired off real good and gave it a shot.”
Erb’s runner-up finish extended his points lead for the second consecutive night—44 points ahead of Max Blair, who finished third, rounding out an all-Rocket Chassis podium.
The Centerville, PA driver thundered from his ninth starting position to the lead in 15 laps before falling to third at the checkered flag. Blair’s car got tighter as the race went on.
“If it was a 20-lap race, I feel like we had a car we could’ve won with,” Blair said. “Once the bottom started to give up a little bit, and I had to move up, I was just a little too tight to roll the center as good as what Brandon could.”
Gordy Gundaker crossed the line fourth, his first top-five of 2022. It’s the World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year contender’s best finish of the season.
“At the end, it seemed like we were just better than everyone in front of us,” Gundaker said. “I just had to pick and choose, and I got my way around Josh [Rice] and Devin [Moran] those last few laps to run fourth.”
Dresden driver Devin Moran rounded out the top five.
Brandon Sheppard’s win on Saturday is one of many historical milestones in his career. But this time, it’s at the top of a mountain, cementing his place as one of the best in World of Outlaws Late Model history.
CASE Construction Feature (50 Laps): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[12]; 3. 111V-Max Blair[9]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 5. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 6. B1-Brent Larson[11]; 7. 11R-Josh Rice[5]; 8. 16-Tyler Bruening[23]; 9. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 10. 45-Kyle Hammer[2]; 11. 81E-Tanner English[21]; 12. 29-Darrell Lanigan[16]; 13. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[17]; 14. C9-Steve Casebolt[10]; 15. 44B-Colten Burdette[19]; 16. 71R-Rod Conley[22]; 17. 19R-Ryan Gustin[15]; 18. 99B-Boom Briggs[24]; 19. 1R-Josh Richards[13]; 20. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 21. 53C-Andy Bond[18]; 22. 37-Jacob Hawkins[7]; 23. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[14]; 24. 1AM-Austyn Mills[20]
FOX Factory Hard Charger: Tyler Bruening [+15].
When it came time for the OVSCA/Ohio Heating 410 Sprint Cr feature all eyes were on the front 5 rows, OVSCA runs under a redraw system, this system can make for some great racing action as on this evening it placed the always fast Cole Duncan starting in the 9th position, with people like Hall of Famer Danny Smith and the always fast Brandon Wimmer, Cale Conley and other ahead of him. It was said that bets were being made as to how many laps it would take for Duncan to find the front. When the green flag fell it was like fighter jets in a gymnasium as position were changing multiple time on every lap. While the action was vicious at the front Ryan Broughton who had to come from the 16th starting position worked a flawless race to finish in the sixth position. However, the largest pop of the entire weekend happened when local hall of famer Danny Smith took the lead with just a handful of laps, however it was short lived as Cole Duncan coming off of corner number 2 made the pass for the final lead change of the event. At the end it was Duncan, Smith, Hunter Lynch, Bryan Knuckles and Keith Baxter rounding out the top five.
Sprint 410 Heats
1) Cole Duncan, Brandon Wimmer, Keith Baxter, Nathan Skaggs, Ryan Myers, Ryan Broughton, Brandon Conkel, Cale Stinson, Lee Haskins, Chris Smalley
2) Cale Conley, Kory Crabtree, Hunter Lynch, Zach Hampton Josh Davis, Nate Reeser, Corbin Gurley, Bradley Ashford, Logan
3) Fenton, Bryan Knuckles, Skyler Gee, Danny Smith, Chris Garnes, Jake Hesson, David Dickson, Gary Taylor, Reece Saldana, Ben Webb
B Main: Ryan Broughton, Gary Taylor, Brandon Conkel, David, Dickson, Nate Reeser, Cale Stinson, Reece Saldana, Corbin Gurley, Lee Haskins, Bradley Ashford, Ben Webb, Chris, Smalley, Logan Fenton
Sprint Feature: Cole Duncan, Danny Smith, Hunter Lunch, Bryan Knuckles, Keith Baxter, Ryan Broughton, Kory Crabtree, Zach Hampton, Cale Conley, Chris Garnes, Skylar Gee, Brandon Conkel, David Dickson, Nate Reeser, Josh Davis, Nathan Skaggs, Jake Hesson, Brandon Wimmer, Ryan Myers, Gary Taylor
Fast Time: Cole Duncan
Hard Charger: Ryan Broughton
When Adam Stricker pulled into the pits Saturday evening it seemed that he had one thing on his mind, a three-peat, and just any type of three-peat a three in a row sweep of the evening’s events. Once again Stricker started by setting fast time and then following that up with a victory in his heat race. As the feature event for the Kryptonite Race Cars Modifieds all eyes were on the Stricker number sixty-eight as it once again began to pull away from a stout field of racers behind him, as Stricker pulled away Jason Montgomery, Miles Cook Jr, JP Roberts, Kenny Johnson and others battled all the way to the checkered flag.
Modified Heats
1) Adam Strickler, Jason Montgomery, Jeremy Rayburn, JP Roberts Jr., Seth Daniels, Dave Jamison, Joseph Buskirk, Stee Clemmons, Miles Cook Sr., Brock Chaney no laps, but started
2) Miles Cook Jr., Kenny Johnson, reed Bishop, Travis Dickson, Blake Sheets, Brian Whiteman, Dustin Sword, Kevin Wills
A main: Adam Stricker, Jason Montgomery, Miles Cook Jr, JP Roberts, Kenny Johnson, Travis Dickson, Jeremey Rayburn, Reed bishop, Dave Pinkerton, Blake Sheets, Seth Daniels, Steve Clemmons, Seth Clemmons, Seth Chaney, Brian Whiteman, Joseph Buskirk, Duston Sword, Dave Jamison, Kevin Wills, Miles Cook SR.
Fast Time: Adam Stricker
Hard Charger: JP Roberts
After multiple cautions and time limits the feature event for the Southern Ohio Legend Series, it was Jerren Perdue taking the victory over Blake Skaggs, Aaron Pendleton and Steven Partin
Legend Cars Heats
1) Steven Partin, Blake Skaggs, Ronnie Niehaus, Nathan Young, Anthony Bumgardener, Levi Morris, Quade Schoonover, Greg Arthur
2) Jerren Purdue, Bryce Swango, Nick O’Bryant, John Gutman, Z ach Schultz, Daryl Bumgardener, Cale Maybin
3) Aaron Pendleton, Scott Chaney, Ronold Scurlock, Garrett Schuler, Rob Schuler, Jesse Sines
Legend Car Feature: Legends - A Feature 1 (Results): 1-Perdue.J 2-Skaggs.B 3-Pendleton.A 4-Partin.S 5-Swango.B 6-Niehaus.R 7-Chaney.S 8-Partin.T 9-Obryant.N 10-Schuler.Z 11-Morris.L 12-Schoonover.Q 13-MAYBIN.C 14-Young.N 15-Sines.J 16-Bumgarner.D 17-Arthur.G 18-Gutman.J 19-Scurlock.R 20-Schuler.G 21-Bumgarner.A 22-Schuler.R
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Shepard, Duncan, Stricker and Perdue victorious on night 2 of the Outlaw Invasion
