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Sheppard claims second win of 2021 in Dairyland Showdown

Brandon Sheppard piloted the Rocket1 Racing/ Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered XR1 Rocket Chassis Super Late Model to Victory Lane on Friday night at Wisconsin’s Mississippi Thunder Speedway. (Tyler Rinken photo)

Sheppard’s victory in the opening round of the World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model sanctioned Dairyland Showdown presented by Dynamic Concrete Resurfacing was worth $12,500. The victory marked the team’s second of the 2021 campaign, and Sheppard’s 70th-career WoO triumph.

“Like I’ve been saying for the past few weeks, we’ve just got to get our consistency back. I knew if we could rattle off a few top-three, top-five runs that a win would come eventually. We’re just really fortunate that it worked out for us tonight,” Sheppard noted in Victory Lane.

“Just thank God for this one. We’ve been not necessarily struggling, but we got messed up and turned around in Volusia (Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., during February’s Speedweeks) and it just set us behind for the start of our year. Even though it’s not been a terrible beginning of the year — we’re still leading the points — it hasn’t been up to what we would like it to be. But we’re definitely back on track now. The guys have been working their tails off on this thing … they’ve not given up on me, and I’ve not given up on them for sure. I’m glad to finally get the monkey off my back.”

Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing followed the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series to Mississippi Thunder Speedway (Fountain City, Wis.) on Friday afternoon to kick off the two-day Dairyland Showdown.

Drawing 38 entries, Sheppard broke the track record in time trials to claim the fast time honors before picking up a 10-lap heat race victory. Tracking down race-leader Brent Larson on the high-side on lap 23 of the feature, Brandon turned back Larson’s challenge on the final restart to register his second win of the season and 70th career World of Outlaws triumph. Finishing ahead of Larson, Jimmy Mars, Cade Dillard, and Chris Madden, Sheppard earned $12,500.

On Saturday night, Brandon locked his spot into the $22,500-to-win finale with a heat race win. Starting the feature in second, Sheppard grabbed the lead on the opening lap and paced the field for the first seven circuits. Unable to keep a charging Chris Madden at bay, Brandon went on to place third, trailing Sheppard and Ryan Gustin to the checkers. Kyle Strickler and Tim McCreadie completed the Top-5 finishers in the 60-lap affair.

Brandon holds a 60-point advantage over Chris Madden atop the World of Outlaw point standings.

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