Wins Spring Shootout at LaSalle
Story By: JEREMEY SHIELDS / LUCAS LM SERIES MEDIA Photos By: HEATH LAWSON / RACERSGUIDE.COM
LASALLE, IL- May 22, 2016- Brandon Sheppard became the second home-state driver in two nights to visit Lucas Oil Victory Lane with his victory at LaSalle Speedway on Saturday Night. The 23-year-old Illinois native led all 60 laps of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned, Spring Shootout.
The driver of the Best Performance Motorsports/Rocket took his first LOLMDS win of the season over Tim McCreadie, who crossed the line in second in his Sweeteners Plus/Longhorn. McCreadie and Don O’Neal had a terrific battle for second for most of the race. O’Neal came home in third as he narrowly beat current LOLMDS points leader, Jonathan Davenport to the finish line. Shannon Babb was fifth.
“The track was pretty good for most of the race. The cushion got a little treacherous, but overall it was pretty racy. Most of the guys I was coming up on were on the bottom. I stayed up top the whole race. Hats off to the track crew for working on this track all night. Thanks to Tony Izzo Jr. for putting on all of these races this weekend.”
“I had a really good car. The Rocket Chassis and Dargie Engine were on point tonight. We have been really good the last few nights. We just haven’t had things go our way. Everything is looking up for us. Last week we had a bottom radiator hose blow out on us at Atomic while we were running in second.”
“Thanks to Randall Edwards and all of the crew for what they do. Eric Brock, my car owner and everyone at Best Performance Motorsports. The traffic was pretty crazy near the end. They were all over the place. It feels amazing to win here in my home state. I wish there could be more Lucas Oil races in Illinois.”
McCreadie got around O’Neal for second on lap 26 and then tried to chase down Sheppard in traffic. McCreadie closed to within four car lengths of Sheppard in the final ten laps, but Sheppard made his way through lapped traffic in a timely fashion to get to the finish line first.
“That was really a fun race,” said McCreadie, who is in his first full year with the LOLMDS. “I could see him up there in traffic, but he made a move on a couple of cars and that was it. I just couldn’t get close enough to throw a slider on him. We’re happy with the result. We love doing this. We love coming to Illinois to race. This year I will get to go to a lot of tracks I haven’t ever been to or been too in a while.”
“There were three guys up front who like to be aggressive. But it’s amazing we never touched each other. To run that hard and not run over each other says a lot about how talented these guys are. We will take second and head to I-80 and Wheatland next week.”
O’Neal, like Sheppard and McCreadie, was looking for his first series win of the season. “We really wanted to win badly for the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil/ Clint Bowyer Team. We thought we had a great chance to win. We started on the pole and rolled the nose underneath the car early on, but we fought back and got a good finish.”
Completing the top ten were Chris Simpson, Brian Shirley, Dennis Erb Jr., Nick Anvelink, and Jason Feger.
In preliminary action, Brandon Sheppard set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group B) amongst the 34 entrants, with a lap of 12.572 seconds. Jared Landers set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 12.577 seconds. Don O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, and Dennis Erb Jr. won their respective heat races. Jimmy Mars and Rich Bell won their respective B-Mains.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, including the latest series standings, 2016 tour schedule, driver information, and more visit the official website at: www.lucasdirt.com.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, May 21st, 2016
Spring Shootout
LaSalle Speedway – La Salle, IL
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Jared Landers / 12.577 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Brandon Sheppard / 12.572 seconds
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Don O’Neal, Brian Shirley, Shannon Babb, Jared Landers, Jimmy Mars, Jimmy Owens, Mike Mullen, Mike Fryer, Colton Flinner
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Scott Schmitt, Chris Simpson, Darrell Lanigan, Ryan Unzicker, Spencer Diercks, Lyle Zanker, Kolby Vandenbergh
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, AJ Diemel, Billy Moyer, Jr., Billy Moyer, Brent Larson, Rich Bell, Guy Volk, Mark Larson, Scott Bloomquist-DNS
QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Dennis Erb, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Nick Anvelink, Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Mike Mataragas, RC Whitwell, Earl Pearson, Jr.
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Mars, Jimmy Owens, Ryan Unzicker, Mike Mullen, Kolby Vandenbergh, Mike Fryer, Spencer Diercks, Colton Flinner, Lyle Zanker
Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Rich Bell, Mike Mataragas, Steve Francis, Brent Larson, Guy Volk, Mark Larson, Scott Bloomquist, RC Whitwell, Earl Pearson, Jr.-DNS
Race Statistics
Entrants: 34
Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1 – 50)
Cautions: Darrell Lanigan, Jimmy Mars, Scott Bloomquist, Ryan Unzicker, Colton Flinner, Jared Landers (Start); Scott Schmitt (Lap 18); AJ Diemel (Lap 22); Debris (Lap 25)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: Colton Flinner
Wrisco Feature Winner: Brandon Sheppard
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Chris Simpson (Started: 11th; Finished: 6th; Advanced 5 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Chris Simpson
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Don O’Neal
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Pro Power Race Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Brandon Sheppard)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Lap #35 – 13.4684 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (50 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Break Award: Jared Landers
Time of Race: 32 minutes 09 seconds
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