Finishes Fifth in Firecracker 100 Finale
SHINNSTON, W.Va. (06/28/21) – Brandon Sheppard recorded a $6,000 prelim feature win on Thursday night and a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s finale during Lernerville Speedway’s 15th annual Firecracker 100 weekend. He added an additional Top-5 finish in Friday’s prelim.
His strong performances came behind the wheel of the Rocket1 Racing / Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered XR1 Rocket Chassis Super Late Model.
“It seemed like we got different track conditions every night, and as a racer that keeps you on your toes. We got the win on Thursday night, and backed it up with a Top-5 finish on Friday, which put us in a good position on Saturday. We were able to get the heat race win on Saturday night, but then drew the fifth-starting position for the feature in the redraw. We rode in the Top 5 throughout the feature, and ultimately crossed the finish line in fifth,” Sheppard said. “Again, not a bad weekend for the team. Now we’ll get ready for the World of Outlaws western swing.”
On Thursday evening, Rocket1 Racing and Brandon Sheppard headed east to Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, Pa.) to lift the lid on the 15th annual Firecracker 100 weekend. Drawing a stout field of 53 World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series entries, Sheppard qualified second fastest in his group before picking up a heat race win.
Leading flag-to-flag in the night’s 30-lap preliminary feature, Brandon cruised to his third win of the season with Rocket1 Racing, which came over Chris Madden, Scott Bloomquist, Tyler Bruening, and Spencer Hughes. His 71st career World of Outlaws triumph was worth $6,000.
The following night with another $6,000-to-win preliminary feature on the docket, Brandon topped his group in time trials before placing second in his heat race. Starting the A-Main in eighth, Sheppard improved three spots in the 30-lapper to register a fifth-place finish. He trailed Brandon Overton, Michael Norris, Mark Whitener, and Dennis Erb Jr. to the checkers.
With Saturday’s heat race line-ups being determined by preliminary night performances, Sheppard started on the pole before scoring a 10-lap heat race victory, which transferred him to the redraw.
Rolling off fifth for the 100 lapper, Brandon maintained steady momentum throughout the finale, scoring a fifth-place finish when the checkered flag flew. He followed Brandon Overton, Chris Madden, Dennis Erb Jr., and Darrell Lanigan across the line.
Brandon sits atop the latest World of Outlaws point standings with a 58-point advantage.
For complete results as well as the latest series standings, please visit www.WorldofOutlaws.com .
The Rocket1 Racing camp is back in West Virginia preparing for a busy WoO Western Swing, which will see six events contested in eight days as shown below:
July 9: Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex – $10,000-to-win
July 10: Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex – $20,000-to-win
July 13: Gondik Law Speedway (Superior, Wis.) – $10,000-to-win
July 16: River Cities Speedway (Grand Forks, N.D.) – $10,000-to-win
July 17: I-94 Sure Step Speedway (Fergus Falls, Minn.) – $10,000-to-win
July 18: Red Cedar Speedway (Menomonie, Wis.) – $10,000-to-win
Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, FiveStar RaceCar Bodies, Gunters Honey, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts & Decals, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Edelbrock, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, Maxima Racing Oils, MSD, NGK Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Safecraft, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Weld Racing, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services.
For the latest information on Rocket1Racing please visit the team website at www.Rocket1Racing.com as well as their social media channels at www.facebook.com/Rocket1Racing, www.twitter.com/Rocket1_Racing, and www.instagram.com/rocket1racing .
Ben Shelton, Owner
MSR Mafia Marketing Services – www.MSRmafia.com
Midsouth Racing Scene – www.MidSouthRacing.com