Sheppard Sweeps WoO Wisconsin Double Header

Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing continued their winning ways over the weekend, sweeping the World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series doubleheader in Wisconsin.

Adding to his trail of accomplishments, Sheppard is now the winningest World of Outlaws driver in the state of Wisconsin following a pair of weekend triumphs in the Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered Rocket Chassis House Car.

“I’ve got a little theory: Wherever corn grows good, we’re gonna have a good race,” Sheppard joked on his Wisconsin’s success. “But seriously, we all really look forward to coming up here. This trip north to Wisconsin and then our Western swing, that’s my favorite part of the whole year. We usually get around these tracks really good and they aren’t scared to work on them and give us a good racey place.”

Racing at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour, Wis. on Friday night, Sheppard led the final 18 laps of a wild 50-lapper for his seventh WoO win of the season. After qualifying third in his group and finishing second in his heat race, Sheppard drew the fifth starting position for $10,000-to-win main event.

Sheppard marched forward to assume the lead on the 33rd circuit following a fierce battle with Jason Rauen. Surviving a late-race restart with eight laps remaining, Brandon held off Darrell Lanigan and Nick Anvelink in the closing laps for the win. Closing out the Top-5 was Ricky Weiss and Rodney Sanders.

“We’ve got a great crowd here and had a great track to race on, it doesn’t get much better than this,” Sheppard said in Victory Lane. “I was little worried in the heats when it was bottom dominant, but the track crew stayed right with it and gave us a really racey track for the feature. That was a lot of fun!”

Shifting to Plymouth (Wis.) Dirt Track on Saturday, Sheppard earned a fifth spot on the starting grid via the redraw, after setting QuickTime in his group and winning his heat race.

Cade Dillard took the lead on the opening circuit of the 50-lap affair with Sheppard sliding into second. Sheppard quickly went to work on Dillard, mounting several challenges for the top spot. Dillard was able to keep Sheppard at bay until contact with a lapped car resulted in in a flat left front tire on lap 11, relinquishing the top spot to Sheppard.

“I was pressuring him pretty hard there and he knew he had to go,” Sheppard said of challenging Dillard. “There was a lane for a minute, but then Larson went all the way out to the wall when Cade was trying to stick it in there and he got that flat left front. I hated to see that. Cade and I race so well together; he’s a clean racer and we had a good race going there. I was hanging right with him on the bottom over in turns one and two, I think we could’ve had a great race together.”

From there, Sheppard went unchallenged over the final 39 laps en route to the $10,000 payday, completing a sweep of this night’s activities. Finishing 3.318 seconds behind Sheppard was Jimmy Mars, with Chase Junghans, Ricky Weiss, and Scott Bloomquist rounding out the Top-5.

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series resumes their Northern Swing on Tuesday night with an appearance at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis. From there, the tour will take two nights off before a doubleheader in North Dakota. River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. will host the WoO Late Models on Friday night followed by Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D. on Saturday. All three events will pay $10,000-to-win to the winner.

Rocket1 Racing continues to lead the latest World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Championship Standings. To view the latest standings, complete results, and learn more about upcoming events, please visit www.WoOLMS.com.