Sheppard Scores in Friday’s Feature at Charlotte!
CONCORD, NC – November 3, 2018 – The Friday portion of the 2018 World of Outlaws World Finals presented by Can-Am Off Road at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway was finally completed on Saturday afternoon, after it was rescheduled from Friday night due to the city of Charlotte’s curfew.
Brandon Sheppard collected his 13th win of the season and inched closer to a repeat championship, still to be decided in the Saturday portion. 2006 Series Champion Tim McCreadie gave “The Rocket Shepp” a good run through 50 laps, swapping the lead back and forth several times, but was unable to catch and pass Sheppard in the end.
Current points leader Mike Marlar came from outside row four to pickup the final podium spot, minimizing the damage to his points lead, now over Sheppard instead of Chris Madden. Coming into the race only 22 points out of the lead, Madden suffered the worst fate of all early on in the race, dropping out on lap six with a broken oil line. Madden now sits 66 points back from Marlar, officially eliminating him from title contention.
Sheppard started from outside row three and quickly moved into the top three, taking the lead on lap nine away from 2004 Series Champion Scott Bloomquist. He would go unchallenged until the halfway mark, as “T-Mac” shot to the bottom of the track and swiped the lead away on lap 26.
Side-by-side they raced until lap 30, when Sheppard was able to pull away in lapped traffic. A late-but-great restart was the magic he needed to pull away from McCreadie and grab his 37th-career World of Outlaws victory.
“Our car was really maneuverable and that was the key,” Sheppard said. “The track was awesome, just like it always is. Hats off to my team, this thing’s a dream to drive.”
The five-lap battle with the 2018 World 100 Champion McCreadie had Sheppard in a bit of a pinch, losing the lead multiple times over the stretch. But the Defending Series Champion knew how to work the bottom groove to his advantage.
“McCreadie showed me a nose there a few times so I knew I had to get down in [turns] three and four as soon as I could,” Sheppard said. “All in all, it just worked out for us.”
McCreadie also had a solid race, coming from the fourth spot to finish second, giving him his 2nd top-five of the 2018 season.
“First little bit of the race I didn’t really get into second like I was hoping for,” McCreadie said. “Just the way it shook out with the race, I got jumbled up a little bit behind some cars in the first five or sixth laps. Then Brandon immediately got by me… it just made me work a lot more.”
His battle with Sheppard was his biggest highlight of the race, ultimately ending with Sheppard pulling away in traffic, but a great show nonetheless.
“I thought we were just a tick better, well we were probably the same,” McCreadie said “[Sheppard’s] better in three and four, I’m better in one and two, and we just had to work around it as best we could. Brandon’s a hell of a driver.”
Mike Marlar engaged in quite a few passes to work his way up to third from the eighth spot, chasing down leaders McCreadie and Sheppard in the closing laps.
“I passed five [cars] there and when the caution came out, me and Timmy and Brandon were having a really great race in traffic,” Marlar said.
The track may have been slightly slicker than it was the night before, but Marlar seems to shine when the track cleans off.
“Things are always best, to me, when they’re slow and slick and have a little dust laying on them,” Marlar said. “They’re always way more racy.”
The championship situation has now tightened up, as Marlar leads Sheppard by 34 points. Sheppard must win with Marlar worse than 17th to go back-to-back.
See how the final race of the 30th Annual World of Outlaws Late Model Series tour ends tonight in the Saturday feature, live on DIRTvision!
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Craftsman (Official Tool), Sears (Official Home Store), NGK Spark Plugs (Official Spark Plug), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Textron Off Road, Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, MSD, Penske Shocks, PFC Brakes (Fast Time Award), QA1, QuarterMaster, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, N.C., is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
Sources: Jordan DeLucia, World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series PR
11/2/18 – The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Night #1
CONCORD, NC – November 2, 2018 – Brandon Sheppard picked up his 13th win of the season in the Friday portion of the World of Outlaws World Finals presented by Can-Am Off Road over Tim McCreadie and Mike Marlar. Sheppard decreased the size of his points deficit by only six points, but gained a spot over Chris Madden after he broke an oil line early on in the race, ending his championship hopes.
Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 17M-Dale McDowell, 14.642; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 14.698; 3. 15s-Donny Schatz, 14.717; 4. 44-Chris Madden, 14.737; 5. 1P-Earl Pearson, 14.737; 6. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles, 14.754; 7. 7k-Kent Robinson, 14.815; 8. 5-Don O’Neal, 14.851; 9. 101-Casey Roberts, 14.857; 10. 11-Pat Doar, 14.871; 11. 84-Austin Smith, 14.871; 12. 39-Tim McCreadie, 14.884; 13. 72-Jason Covert, 14.927; 14. 51-Joey Moriarty, 14.932; 15. 43a-Tyler Bare, 14.966; 16. 18c-Chase Junghans, 14.977; 17. 89-Justin Williams, 15.017; 18. 17-Zack Dohm, 15.019; 19. 76-Brandon Overton, 15.183; 20. 32-Dustin Mitchell, 15.186; 21. 111-Max Blair, 15.241; 22. 42-Cla Knight, 15.274; 23. O6-Mike Lupfer, 15.289; 24. 99-Kyle Hardy, 15.316; 25. 8-Matt Sponaugle, 15.398; 26. KB-Kerry King, 15.408; 27. 4T8-Colton Flinner, 15.414; 28. 58-Donald McIntosh, 15.422; 29. 4-Amanda Whaley, 15.429; 30. 8a-Austin Holcombe, 15.452; 31. 15-Justin Duty, 15.473; 32. 92-Nick Davis, 15.563; 33. 87-Ross Bailes, 15.745; 34. 6-Blake Spencer, 15.755; 35. 151-Kyle Lear, 15.773; 36. 77-Brian Connor, 16.087; 37. O7-Brian Ledbetter, 16.256; 38. 54-David Breazeale, 16.382
Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 25-Shane Clanton, 14.62; 2. 22-Chris Ferguson, 14.622; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 14.622; 4. 157-Mike Marlar, 14.759; 5. 7-Rick Eckert, 14.835; 6. 21-Benji Hicks, 14.861; 7. 111r-Steven Roberts, 14.88; 8. 4B-Jackie Boggs, 14.881; 9. 91-Tyler Erb, 14.894; 10. 1g-Ryan King, 14.931; 11. 9-Devin Moran, 14.969; 12. 12-Jason Jameson, 15.003; 13. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 15.033; 14. 99B-Boom Briggs, 15.04; 15. 4G-Kody Evans, 15.057; 16. 2-Allen Murray, 15.103; 17. Oh-Dale Hollidge, 15.107; 18. 31-Tyler Millwood, 15.12; 19. 421-Anthony Sanders, 15.127; 20. 79-Michael Brown, 15.129; 21. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 15.153; 22. 28-Dennis Erb, 15.177; 23. 14-Darrell Lanigan, 15.258; 24. F15-Jeremy Conaway, 15.337; 25. 25b-Mike Benedum, 15.439; 26. B1-Brent Larson, 15.494; 27. 66c-Matt Cosner, 15.494; 28. 39c-Greg Clark, 15.516; 29. 14H-Tyler Horst, 15.547; 30. 94-Jason Miller, 15.599; 31. 7r-Ross Robinson, 15.638; 32. 72s-Dan Stone, 15.696; 33. 2c-Joey Coulter, 15.914; 34. 11v-Curtis Teats, 15.955; 35. 57-Adam Yarbrough, 16.008; 36. 2x-John Henderson, NT; DNS. 20-Jimmy Owens, NT; DNS. 23-Jimmy Mac, NT
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 44-Chris Madden [2]; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell [1]; 3. 7k-Kent Robinson [3]; 4. 11-Pat Doar [4]; 5. 72-Jason Covert [5]; 6. 18c-Chase Junghans [6]; 7. 6-Blake Spencer [12]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton [7]; 9. 8-Matt Sponaugle [9]; 10. 42-Cla Knight [8]; 11. O7-Brian Ledbetter [13]; 12. 15-Justin Duty [11]; 13. 58-Donald McIntosh [10]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist [1]; 2. 5-Don O’Neal [3]; 3. 89-Justin Williams [6]; 4. 51-Joey Moriarty [5]; 5. KB-Kerry King [9]; 6. 92-Nick Davis [11]; 7. 1P-Earl Pearson [2]; 8. 4-Amanda Whaley [10]; 9. 84-Austin Smith [4]; 10. 151-Kyle Lear [12]; 11. 54-David Breazeale [13]; 12. 32-Dustin Mitchell [7]; 13. O6-Mike Lupfer [8]
Heat #3 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 39-Tim McCreadie [4]; 2. 101-Casey Roberts [3]; 3. 43a-Tyler Bare [5]; 4. 87-Ross Bailes [11]; 5. 111-Max Blair [7]; 6. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [2]; 7. 15s-Donny Schatz [1]; 8. 4T8-Colton Flinner [9]; 9. 99-Kyle Hardy [8]; 10. 17-Zack Dohm [6]; 11. 77-Brian Connor [12]; 12. 8a-Austin Holcombe [10]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 25-Shane Clanton [1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar [2]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb [8]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens [13]; 5. 421-Anthony Sanders [7]; 6. 25b-Mike Benedum [9]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport [5]; 8. 1g-Ryan King [4]; 9. 2-Allen Murray [6]; 10. 11v-Curtis Teats [12]; 11. 39c-Greg Clark [10]; 12. 7r-Ross Robinson [11]; 13. 111r-Steven Roberts [3]
Heat #5 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 9-Devin Moran [4]; 2. 4B-Jackie Boggs [3]; 3. 14-Darrell Lanigan [8]; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs [5]; 5. 79-Michael Brown [7]; 6. B1-Brent Larson [9]; 7. 72s-Dan Stone [11]; 8. Oh-Dale Hollidge [6]; 9. 23-Jimmy Mac [13]; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson [1]; 11. 7-Rick Eckert [2]; 12. 14H-Tyler Horst [10]; 13. 57-Adam Yarbrough [12]
Heat #6 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1]; 2. 91-Tyler Erb [3]; 3. 12-Jason Jameson [4]; 4. 2c-Joey Coulter [11]; 5. 4G-Kody Evans [5]; 6. 21-Benji Hicks [2]; 7. 7mm-Michael Maresca [7]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood [6]; 9. 66c-Matt Cosner [9]; 10. F15-Jeremy Conaway [8]; 11. 94-Jason Miller [10]; 12. 2x-John Henderson [12]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer: 1. 11-Pat Doar [1][-]; 2. 72-Jason Covert [3][-]; 3. 18c-Chase Junghans [5][$110]; 4. 1P-Earl Pearson [8][$110]; 5. 84-Austin Smith [12][$110]; 6. 8-Matt Sponaugle [11][]; 7. 32-Dustin Mitchell [18][$110]; 8. 6-Blake Spencer [7][$110]; 9. 15-Justin Duty [17][$110]; 10. 92-Nick Davis [6][$110]; 11. 54-David Breazeale [16][$110]; 12. 42-Cla Knight [13][]; 13. 51-Joey Moriarty [2][]; 14. O6-Mike Lupfer [20][]; 15. 151-Kyle Lear [14][]; 16. O7-Brian Ledbetter [15][]; 17. 4-Amanda Whaley [10][]; 18. KB-Kerry King [4][]; 19. 76-Brandon Overton [9][]; 20. 58-Donald McIntosh [19][]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Tranfer: 1. 87-Ross Bailes [1][-]; 2. 111-Max Blair [3][-]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens [2][$110]; 4. 15s-Donny Schatz [7][$110]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport [8][$110]; 6. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [5][]; 7. 4T8-Colton Flinner [9][$110]; 8. 25b-Mike Benedum [6][$110]; 9. 1g-Ryan King [10][$110]; 10. 421-Anthony Sanders [4][$110]; 11. 2-Allen Murray [12][$110]; 12. 111r-Steven Roberts [20][]; 13. 11v-Curtis Teats [14][]; 14. 99-Kyle Hardy [11][]; 15. 17-Zack Dohm [13][]; 16. 77-Brian Connor [15][]; 17. 8a-Austin Holcombe [17][]; 18. 39c-Greg Clark [16][]; 19. 7r-Ross Robinson [18][]
Last Chance Showdown 3 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer: 1. 2c-Joey Coulter [2][-]; 2. 99B-Boom Briggs [1][-]; 3. 79-Michael Brown [3][$110]; 4. 4G-Kody Evans [4][$110]; 5. 22-Chris Ferguson [13][$110]; 6. B1-Brent Larson [5][]; 7. 72s-Dan Stone [7][$110]; 8. 7mm-Michael Maresca [8][$110]; 9. Oh-Dale Hollidge [9][$110]; 10. 23-Jimmy Mac [11][$110]; 11. 94-Jason Miller [16][$110]; 12. 7-Rick Eckert [15][]; 13. 21-Benji Hicks [6][]; 14. 31-Tyler Millwood [10][]; 15. 66c-Matt Cosner [12][]; 16. F15-Jeremy Conaway [14][]; 17. 14H-Tyler Horst [17][]; 18. 2x-John Henderson [18][]; 19. 57-Adam Yarbrough [19][]
Sears Craftsman Feature (50 Laps) 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [6][$12,000]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie [4][$5,000]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar [8][$3,000]; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist [3][$2,500]; 5. 9-Devin Moran [5][$2,000]; 6. 14-Darrell Lanigan [16][$1,700]; 7. 91-Tyler Erb [12][$1,500]; 8. 18c-Chase Junghans [26][$1,400]; 9. 7k-Kent Robinson [13][$1,350]; 10. 17M-Dale McDowell [7][$1,300]; 11. 5-Don O’Neal [9][$1,250]; 12. 2c-Joey Coulter [21][$1,150]; 13. 111-Max Blair [23][$1,100]; 14. 12-Jason Jameson [18][$1,050]; 15. 101-Casey Roberts [11][$1,000]; 16. 89-Justin Williams [15][$1,000]; 17. 28-Dennis Erb [14][$1,000]; 18. 25-Shane Clanton [1][$1,000]; 19. 7-Rick Eckert [25][$1,000]; 20. 87-Ross Bailes [20][$1,000]; 21. 72-Jason Covert [22][$1,000]; 22. 54-David Breazeale [28][$110]; 23. 11-Pat Doar [19][$1,000]; 24. 43a-Tyler Bare [17][$1,000]; 25. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [27][$1,000]; 26. 4B-Jackie Boggs [10][$1,000]; 27. 99B-Boom Briggs [24][$1,000]; 28. 44-Chris Madden [2][$1,000]; 29. B1-Brent Larson [29][$110]
Hard Charger Award: 18c-Chase Junghans[+18]