Sarver, PA (June 26, 2020) Brandon Sheppard was the class of the field on Friday night as he drove a nearly flawless 25 laps en route to a preliminary night main event win at The Action Track. Starting from the pole, the New Berlin, Illinois driver seemed as if he was in different zip code from the drop of the green flag as he powered to a near half straightaway advantage over the field, then maneuvered through considerable lapped traffic with ease on his way to the $6,000 payday.
The race went caution free, and provided another glimpse into what to expect in Saturday’s $30,000 to win, 50 lap Firecracker weekend finale. And based upon two nights of action, fans can expect to see the best of the best among the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models drivers mixing it up and having to compete hard against a strong and deep pool of local and regional talent.
Sheppard took off as if he’d been shot out of a cannon from the opening green flag and never looked back, while behind him, Boom Briggs, Scott Bloomquist, Cade Dillard and Michael Norris began to sort themselves out. Bloomquist managed to make his way around Briggs for the second spot in the opening laps but was unable to trim little if any margin away from Sheppard even though lapped traffic became a factor. However, Norris methodically began picking off one car after another ahead of him in the early going while using the top side of the speedway to his advantage. Norris made his way past Bloomquist with fifteen laps in the books and began his pursuit of the leader.
He was able to cut Sheppard’s sizable lead in half while lapped traffic became thicker and became more of an issue. However, Norris ran out of laps as Sheppard simply refused to make a mistake or miss a mark the rest of the way. Bloomquist rounded out the podium in another solid performance on the weekend thus far. The win gave Sheppard a front row starting spot in Saturday’s heat races, a benefit shared with Thursday night feature winner Max Blair, and runner’s up Cade Dillard and Norris.
The Lernerville locals went through their ups and downs once again on Thursday night as week one feature winner Russ King made his second feature of the weekend, coming home 12th while Jared Miley salvaged his hopes for a decent chance of making the Saturday field with a 15th place finish despite being tangled in a heat race melee earlier in the night. Weekly warriors, Colton Flinner, Tyler Dietz, Tommy Beck, Ken Schaltenbrand and Mike Pegher Jr. will need to make passes in their heat races on Saturday to have a chance at making the starting Firecracker field.
The final night of the three day speed festival is scheduled for Saturday evening with grandstands opening at 5 PM. Tickets will still be available at the window.
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Main Event (25 Laps- $6,000 to win)
- (1) Brandon Sheppard
- (72n) Mike Norris
- (0) Scott Bloomquist
- (97) Cade Dillard
- (99b) Boom Briggs
- (25z) Mason Zeigler
- (22) Gregg Satterlee
- (29v) Darrell Lanigan
- (18) Chase Junghans
- (0m) Chris Madden
- (18b) Shannon Babb
- (56) Russ King
- (72) Jason Covert
- (28) Dennis Erb Jr.
- (10) Jared Miley
- (12) Ashton Winger
- (1x) Chub Frank
- (20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.
- (111) Max Blair
- (7) Ricky Weiss
- (12d) Doug Drown
- (2s ) Dan Stone
- (B1) Brent Larson
- (0s) Ryan Scott
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 1
- (1) Brandon Sheppard
- (25z) Mason Zeigler
- (0m) Chris Madden
- (22) Gregg Satterlee
- (10) Jared Miley
- (94) Charles Powell Jr.
- (0s) Ryan Scott
- (23) Tony Burke
- (77h) Heath Close
- (12) Ashton Winger
- (2s) Dan Stone
- (91) Tommy Beck
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 2
- (99b) Boom Briggs
- (18) Chase Junghans
- (72) Jason Covert
- (29b) Darrell Lanigan
- (22G) Greg Oakes
- (B1) Brent Larson
- (14) Dan Angellicchio
- (77) Tyler Dietz
- (29) Ken Schaltenbrand
- (25) Mike Benedum
- (44p) Joe Petyak
- (93) Cory Lawler
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 3
- (72n) Mike Norris
- (97) Cade Dillard
- (56) Russ King
- (12d) Doug Drown
- (20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.
- (111) Max Blair
- (7) Ricky Weiss
- (2) Pearson Williams
- (1c) Mike Pegher Jr.
- (0e) Rick Eckert
- (66c) Matt Cosner
- (11) Joshua Powell
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 4
- (0) Scott Bloomquist
- (28) Shannon Babb
- (28) Dennis Erb Jr.
- (4) Alex Ferree
- (48) Colton Flinner
- (7r) Ross Robinson
- (44) Colten Burdette
- (15) Kelvin Kohan
- (B22) Bump Hedman
- (9) Will Thomas
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Last Chance Showdown #1
- (10) Jared Miley
- (0s) Ryan Scott
- (2s) Dan Stone
- (22G) Greg Oakes
- (12) Ashton Winger
- (B1) Brent Larson
- (29) Ken Schaltenbrand
- (14) Dan Angellicchio
- (94) Charles Powell Jr.
- (25) Mike Benedum
- (91) Tommy Beck
- (93) Cory Lawler
- (77) Tyler Dietz
- (44p) Joe Petyak
- (23) Tony Burke
Heath Close- Did Not Start
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Last Chance Showdown #2
- (20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.
- (111) Max Blair
- (7) Ricky Weiss
- (0e) Rick Eckert
- (1C) Mike Pegher Jr.
- (48) Colton Flinner
- (44) Colten Burdette
- (7r) Ross Robinson
- (66c) Matt Cosner
- (2) Pearson Williams
- (9) Will Thomas
- (11) Joshua Powell
- (15) Kelvin Kohan
- (B22) Bump Hedman
- (4) Alex Ferree
RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Heat 1
- (99b) Boom Briggs
- (184) Kyle Lukon
- (60M) John Mollick
- (1Z) Logan Zarin
- (33) Josh Ferry
- (1ST) Christian Schneider
- (42D) Nico Dabecco
- (41B) Collin Burke
- (27T) Tony White
RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Heat 2
- (3J) Jeremy Wonderling
- (15) Chad Sines
- (21L) Matt Latta
- (14A( Dan Angellicchio
- (Z17) Kyle Zimmerman
- (90J) Michael Duritsky Jr.
- (11s) John Oaks
- (21J) Jamie Wrightsman
- (09) Bill Kessler
RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Heat 3
- (111) Max Blair
- (1*) Chub Frank
- (10s) Joe Martin
- (136) David Pangrazio
- (948) Joey Zambotti
- (52) Bryan Benton
- (24C) Colin Casale
- (31) Nathan Smith
- (6) Chuck Recker
RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Heat 4
- (7R) Ross Robinson
- (29J) Jason Genco
- (11F) Ryan Frazee
- (21) Kyle Murray
- (11L) John Waters
- (66) Justin Kann
- (25S) Cory Sines
- (7K) Jared Kane
- (33X) Eric Hamilton Jr.
RUSH Late Models Bill Emig Memorial Dash
- (1) Chub Frank
- (99b) Boom Briggs
- (29J) Jason Genco
- (111) Max Blair
- (7R) Ross Robinson
- (15) Chad Sines
- (184) Kyle Lukon
- (3J) Jeremy Wonderling
World Of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Time Trials Group A
- (1) Brandon Sheppard- 16.007
- (99b) Boom Briggs- 16.002
- (25z) Mason Zeigler-16.080
- (72) Jason Covert-16.263
- (10) Jared Miley-16.290
- (18) Chase Junghans-16.138
- (12) Ashton Winger-16.320
- (29b) Darrell Lanigan-16.328
- (0m) Chris Madden-16.331
- (22G) Greg Oakes-16.353
- (22) Gregg Satterlee-16.361
- (14) Dan Angellicchio-16.485
- (2s) Dan Stone-16.493
- (B1) Brent Larson-16.557
- (0s) Ryan Scott-16.577
- (77) Tyler Dietz-16.591
- (91) Tommy Beck-16.598
- (44p) Joe Petyak- 16.690
- (94) Charles Powell Jr. -16.792
- (25) Mike Benedum-16.807
- (23) Tony Burke-17.250
- (93) Cory Lawler-17.565
- (77h) Heath Close-18.144
- (29) Ken Schaltenbrand- No Time
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Time Trials Group B
- (72n) Mike Norris- 15.941
- (18b) Shannon Babb- 16.214
- (111) Max Blair-16.259
- (0) Scott Bloomquist- 16.482
- (56) Russ King- 16.484
- (48) Colton Flinner- 16.492
- (97) Cade Dillard- 16.494
- (4) Alex Ferree- 16.548
- (20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.-16.602
- (28) Dennis Erb Jr.-16.611
- (12d) Doug Drown-16.618
- (1x) Chub Frank-16.692
- (7) Ricky Weiss-16.790
- (7r) Ross Robinson- 16.885
- (2) Pearson Williams- 16.898
- (44) Colten Burdette- (16.929)
- (1C) Mike Pegher Jr.-16.941
- (B22) Bump Hedman-17.013
- (0e) Rick Eckert-17.035
- (15) Kelvin Kohan-17.096
- (66c) Matt Cosner-17.128
- (9) Will Thomas-17.278
- (11) Joshua Powell- 17.776