10/19/2020
Brandon Sheppard Wins Fourth Dirt Track World Championship
For the second-straight year and the fourth time in his young career, Brandon Sheppard has won the Dirt Track World Championship.
The driver of the Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered Rocket Chassis took the lead on the 24th lap of Saturday’s 100-lapper and led the rest of the way to earn the $100,000 payday.
“I will tell you what, I love this place. As hard as its been all weekend I knew it was going to be around the bottom at the end of the race. I knew when I rolled out there for the race, drive as hard as I could to get to the front as soon as I could. So that was kind of the game plan. We went a little different on tires than we normally do here. We had an early game, but once we got the lead we didn’t know what we were going to do.”
Sixty-three Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series entries converged at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park Friday to kick off the 40th Annual Dirt Track World Championship. After qualifying third in his group, the invert would position Sheppard starting third in his heat race. He went on to finish second behind Scott Bloomquist to earn the 11th starting position for Saturday’s finale.
Quickly marching his way to the front, Sheppard went around polesitter Tim McCreadie to take command on lap 24. Holding off a midrace challenge from Zack Dohm, Brandon earned Dirt Late Model racing’s richest payday of 2020.
“Our car was good just like it has been all year long. I think that’s 31 wins this year so that’s really awesome. During those cautions I had too much time to think about my right rear tire for sure. When I was in lap traffic I tried to pass them one time and I didn’t feel good and so I tucked back in behind them. Zack showed me his nose on the outside and when he showed the line a little bit different in one and two, that got me going a little bit better.”
Sheppard’s victory over Ricky Thornton Jr., McCreadie, Chris Madden, and Tyler Erb was his 31st overall this. He also became the second-winningest all-time driver in the 40-year history of the Dirt Track World Championship.
For complete results from the weekend, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.
Rocket1 Racing will resume the 2020 World of Outlaws Late Model Series campaign this weekend. On Friday, October 23, they’ll return to Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway to finish the inaugural $25,000-to-win Hoosier Dirt Shootout. On Saturday, October 24, they’ll visit Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.
Visit www.WoOLMS.com to learn more about these upcoming events.
Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, FiveStar RaceCar Bodies, Gunters Honey, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts & Decals, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Edelbrock, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, Maxima Racing Oils, MSD, NGK Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Safecraft, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Weld Racing, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services.
Back to News