4/21/2025
Brandon Sheppard
Brandon Sheppard Tops Hawkeye Land 40 for Second Consecutive Win
Eastern Swing with Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Up Next
NEW BERLIN, Ill. (04/21/25) – As the heart of the racing season nears, Brandon Sheppard is hitting his stride. The Illinois native secured his second consecutive victory on Thursday evening, capturing the MARS Late Model Championship Series-sanctioned Hawkeye Land 40 at Cedar County Raceway.
Sheppard, who recently claimed his fourth Illini 100 trophy at Farmer City Raceway in the Rocket1 Racing house car, piloted his Valvoline / Sheppard Auto Sales & Salvage / Realtree No. B5 Late Model to the $5,000 victory.
“I feel really good about where we’re at with the cars and everything right now. Mark (Richards) and all the guys back at Rocket Chassis and Fox Shox have been working really hard to put me back up front and I can’t thank all my great crew enough,” Sheppard said. “Anytime you can beat (Bobby Pierce) you know your stuff’s pretty good. So congrats to him, he’s been awesome all year again and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Sheppard opened his three-race weekend with Thursday’s Hawkeye Land 40 at Cedar County Raceway. A heat race victory secured him a spot in the redraw, where he drew the pole position for the 40-lap main event. After Carson Ferguson took the early lead, Sheppard regained the top spot on the third circuit and ran away with his second straight win.
The $5,000 payday marked the seventh MARS Late Model Championship Series victory of his career.
For the two-day Slocum 50 on Friday and Saturday at 34 Raceway (West Burlington, Iowa), Sheppard followed up a second-place finish in his heat on Friday with a sixth-place finish in the 40-lap preliminary.
In Saturday’s Slocum 50 finale, Sheppard squeezed into the $10,055-to-win A-Main with a third-place finish in his heat. However, he struggled to find pace during the 50-lap affair, ultimately slipping to a 19th-place finish at the checkered flag.
Full results from the MARS tripleheader can be found at www.MARSRacingSeries.com.
Sheppard is set to climb back behind the wheel of the Rocket1 Racing No. 1 machine this weekend as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series embarks on an eastern swing with events at three different tracks The team’s weekend itinerary is as follows:
April 25th: Georgetown Speedway
April 26th: Hagerstown Speedway
April 27th: Port Royal Speedway
Full event details are available at www.LucasDirt.com.
Brandon Sheppard would like to thank his marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Rocket Chassis, Fox Racing Shocks, Sheppard Auto Sales & Salvage, Guse's Pub & Eatery, Mark Richards Racing, Paulson & Stussy Construction, American Racing, Corrigan Oil, Sunoco Race Fuel, Ultra Shield Race Products, Realtree, Dennis G. Woodworth Attorney At Law, BSheppGear.com, PeeWee's Wrecker Service, Darrin Wood & Son - Heating & Cooling, Nightowl Design, Bear Graphix, WYLD Gear, Busch Light (Skeff Distributing Company, Inc.), Keyser Manufacturing, XS Power Batteries, Wilwood, Powers Performance, Storm Auto Mall, Gorsuch Performance, Wix Filters, Winters Rearends, Simpson Race Products, Wiles Racing, Strange Oval, Five Star Race Car Bodies, Allgaier Performance Parts, Lomelino Sign Company, and MyRacePass.com Marketing Services.
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