SHEPP-TACULAR: Sheppard Passes Pierce for the Win After Big Battle at Highland
Winger goes 15th-5th, Pierce extends points lead again
HIGHLAND, IL – Aug. 13, 2021 – Highland Speedway never fails to show why it’s a staple of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, and the next chapter in its book of exciting, wheel-to-wheel racing was scribed Friday night by two of the sport’s brightest stars – Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce.
For the entire second half of the Feature, the two Illinois boys battled and chased each other non-stop, with Sheppard making the final pass for the lead on Lap 37 and fending off Pierce’s charge over the final 13 laps to score the $10,000 victory.
“Me and Bobby raced really clean. It’s a lot of fun racing with him, for sure,” Sheppard said.
Sheppard rarely pulls into Victory Lane with body damage, but the close-quarters racing in the early going crumpled his left-rear quarter-panel on the start after a stack-up in the bottom lane.
“[Blaze Burwell almost] looped it in front of me and I slowed down and got hit from behind. I thought we were done – I thought for sure the left-rear tire was flat, because [Michael] Kloos got up on my tire,” Sheppard said.
But all four tires stayed inflated, and Sheppard was able to restart toward the front. With Pierce in the lead from the pole, Sheppard knew he was going to give an A-plus effort if he wanted to see the front by the end of 50 laps.
Over a caution-filled event, Sheppard used the green-flag stretches and restarts to his advantage, making passes under green and the yellows to help catch the next car in line. When he finally reached Pierce, the battle was on.
For over 15 laps, Sheppard hounded Pierce, inside and outside. Until one particular restart on Lap 36, where Pierce left the door open on the top for Sheppard to get by, and it cost him.
Sheppard swung it to the high line in Turns 3-4 on Lap 37 and just barely nosed Pierce by inches at the line to take the lead. Pierce got him back down low in Turns 1-2, but a tangle in Turns 3-4 brought out the caution. With Sheppard being scored as the leader on that lap, that meant he would bring the field back to green on the restart.
With the ball now in his court, Sheppard hit the jets and never looked back. Pierce struggled behind him, nearly looping it in Turn 4 on Lap 39 and getting held up by slower traffic in the final laps, which gave Sheppard the room he needed to park it in Hell Tour Victory Lane for the 27th time in his career.
“We know there’s a lot of tough competition here, and Bobby’s one of the best-of-the-best. To pass him when he’s leading is really tough. But I found a little bit of a different line when I was racing with them guys that he probably didn’t see, just because he was leading,” Sheppard said.
Pierce came home second and again extended his points lead over third-place finishing Tanner English. Garrett Alberson crossed in fourth as Ashton Winger drove it back to fifth from 15th.
UP NEXT
The Summer Nationals next head to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 for Race #25 of the season on Saturday, Aug. 14. Catch all the action live on the newly redesigned DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
29 entries
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
Feature (50 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[4]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 12-Ashton Winger[15]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[6]; 7. 14G-Joe Godsey[12]; 8. 25-Jason Feger[13]; 9. 44-Blaze Burwell[2]; 10. 78-Chad Zobrist[10]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[8]; 12. 17-Todd Rehg[16]; 13. 16-Rusty Griffaw[14]; 14. 5-Brian Wolfmeier[21]; 15. 87-Jason Zobrist[11]; 16. 14R-Jeff Roth[22]; 17. 7-Dan Jacober[17]; 18. T4-Adam Tischauser[9]; 19. 14-Paul Kuper[18]; 20. 6K-Michael Kloos[7]; 21. 10-Daryn Klein[20]; 22. 248-Brandon Lance[19]
Consolation Race (10 Laps): 1. 17-Todd Rehg[1]; 2. 7-Dan Jacober[2]; 3. 14-Paul Kuper[5]; 4. 148-Tim Lance[3]; 5. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 6. 38-Thomas Hunziker[9]; 7. 4-Jason Suhre[6]; 8. 1H-Josh Heuiser[8]; 9. 18M-Jimmy Miller[10]; 10. 5-Brian Wolfmeier[11]; 11. 26M-Brent McKinnon[7]; 12. 248-Brandon Lance[12]; 13. 10-Daryn Klein[14]; 14. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Blaze Burwell[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 3. 6K-Michael Kloos[6]; 4. 78-Chad Zobrist[3]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[7]; 6. 17-Todd Rehg[5]; 7. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[8]; 8. 26M-Brent McKinnon[9]; 9. 18M-Jimmy Miller[10]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth[4]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 74-Mitch McGrath[3]; 4. 87-Jason Zobrist[8]; 5. 16-Rusty Griffaw[6]; 6. 7-Dan Jacober[10]; 7. 14-Paul Kuper[7]; 8. 1H-Josh Heuiser[9]; 9. 5-Brian Wolfmeier[5]; 10. (DQ) 10-Daryn Klein[4]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 3. T4-Adam Tischauser[2]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey[3]; 5. 12-Ashton Winger[7]; 6. 148-Tim Lance[6]; 7. 4-Jason Suhre[5]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[9]; 9. 248-Brandon Lance[8]
Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 44-Blaze Burwell, 00:13.203[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.257[12]; 3. 59-Garrett Alberson, 00:13.309[2]; 4. 81E-Tanner English, 00:13.343[11]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:13.420[10]; 6. T4-Adam Tischauser, 00:13.430[7]; 7. 78-Chad Zobrist, 00:13.510[9]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:13.529[24]; 9. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:13.532[5]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:13.562[8]; 11. 10-Daryn Klein, 00:13.568[18]; 12. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.580[15]; 13. 17-Todd Rehg, 00:13.588[6]; 14. 5-Brian Wolfmeier, 00:13.676[4]; 15. 4-Jason Suhre, 00:13.677[27]; 16. 6K-Michael Kloos, 00:13.687[26]; 17. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:13.692[13]; 18. 148-Tim Lance, 00:13.753[16]; 19. 25-Jason Feger, 00:13.802[21]; 20. 14-Paul Kuper, 00:13.802[19]; 21. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.860[20]; 22. 41-Jeremiah Hurst, 00:13.879[14]; 23. 87-Jason Zobrist, 00:13.881[29]; 24. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:13.927[25]; 25. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:13.982[23]; 26. 1H-Josh Heuiser, 00:14.037[28]; 27. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:14.085[17]; 28. 18M-Jimmy Miller, 00:14.109[3]; 29. (DNS) 7-Dan Jacober
HOMETOWN HERO: Harrison Wins ‘Drive For 25’ at Highland
Mike Harrison once again found himself doing what he does best at his home track of Highland Speedway Friday night, leading flag-to-flag for the win in the special Drive For 25 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals event.
“I grew up here, all my life, so what else do I say… coming home in front of a packed stands. Ain’t nothing better than winning in front of you guys – that’s what it’s all about,” said Harrison, of Highland, IL, with a look to the capacity crowd.
The six-time Summit Modified champion started on the pole and led all 30 laps unchallenged, repeating the success he found in last year’s edition of the event – one run in memory of the late Brett Korves, a local Modified driver at the quarter-mile.
“This race means a lot to me,” Harrison said. “I knew when we got here – Brandon drew a number 25, so that was just something from up above coming down and telling us to keep our heads screwed on and do what we need to do for the race.”
UP NEXT
The Summit Modifieds next head to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 for Race #25 of the season on Saturday, Aug. 14. Catch all the action live on the newly redesigned DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
23 entries
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 28-Rodney Standerfer[4]; 3. 9H-John Demoss[10]; 4. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[3]; 5. 21M-Willy Myers[9]; 6. 59R-Jacob Rexing[5]; 7. 63E-Bret Eilerman[15]; 8. 36-Kenny Wallace[6]; 9. 14C-Rick Conoyer[14]; 10. 55-Marty Smith[16]; 11. 88-Chris Bolyard[17]; 12. 4M-Tim Monroe[21]; 13. 14K-Shane Kelley[23]; 14. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia[19]; 15. 23B-Michael Barrett[22]; 16. 84-Tyler Deibert[13]; 17. 5T-Rob Timmons[18]; 18. 88L-Rob Lee[8]; 19. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[12]; 20. 19-Jimmy Cummins[20]; 21. 70-Brian Bielong[7]; 22. 87Z-Zeb Moake[2]; 23. 242-Brandon Bollinger[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[2]; 2. 28-Rodney Standerfer[1]; 3. 70-Brian Bielong[3]; 4. 9H-John Demoss[5]; 5. 84-Tyler Deibert[4]; 6. 55-Marty Smith[6]; 7. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia[8]; 8. 23B-Michael Barrett[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 87Z-Zeb Moake[2]; 2. 59R-Jacob Rexing[1]; 3. 88L-Rob Lee[5]; 4. 242-Brandon Bollinger[3]; 5. 14C-Rick Conoyer[4]; 6. 88-Chris Bolyard[7]; 7. 19-Jimmy Cummins[6]; 8. 14K-Shane Kelley[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[2]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace[1]; 3. 21M-Willy Myers[3]; 4. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[4]; 5. 63E-Bret Eilerman[5]; 6. 5T-Rob Timmons[6]; 7. 4M-Tim Monroe[7]
Qualifying (3 Laps): 1. 28-Rodney Standerfer, 00:13.926[3]; 2. 59R-Jacob Rexing, 00:13.956[18]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace, 00:14.014[22]; 4. 24H-Mike Harrison, 00:14.022[5]; 5. 87Z-Zeb Moake, 00:14.058[14]; 6. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:14.088[13]; 7. 70-Brian Bielong, 00:14.114[20]; 8. 242-Brandon Bollinger, 00:14.124[12]; 9. 21M-Willy Myers, 00:14.218[6]; 10. 84-Tyler Deibert, 00:14.238[16]; 11. 14C-Rick Conoyer, 00:14.247[7]; 12. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig, 00:14.279[9]; 13. 9H-John Demoss, 00:14.306[10]; 14. 88L-Rob Lee, 00:14.330[19]; 15. 63E-Bret Eilerman, 00:14.408[1]; 16. 55-Marty Smith, 00:14.550[23]; 17. 19-Jimmy Cummins, 00:14.560[17]; 18. 5T-Rob Timmons, 00:14.691[21]; 19. 23B-Michael Barrett, 00:14.771[11]; 20. 88-Chris Bolyard, 00:14.802[2]; 21. 4M-Tim Monroe, 00:14.862[8]; 22. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia, 00:15.137[4]; 23. (DNS) 14K-Shane Kelley
22 entries
UMP PROMODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 5-Owen Steinkoenig[2]; 2. 92K-Tom Krankel[1]; 3. 17E-Matthew Edler[6]; 4. 29H-Cale Hartnagel[3]; 5. 81-Garett Schumacher[4]; 6. 787-Cody Zobrist[10]; 7. 52-Billy Knebel[11]; 8. 3-Ryan Eilers[13]; 9. 14G-Tommy Gaither[8]; 10. 14N-Nathan Lynch[17]; 11. 25K-Denny Tribout[7]; 12. 74-James Hileman[15]; 13. 88D-Justin Durbin[12]; 14. 88-Steven Wolf[19]; 15. 49-Jack Marion[21]; 16. 12-Stephen Kalb[18]; 17. 23-Ryan Timmons[14]; 18. 52J-Andrew Johns[16]; 19. 34-John Holzhauer[20]; 20. 1-Cole Cygan[9]; 21. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[5]; 22. (DNS) 94-Mark Clary
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Owen Steinkoenig[3]; 2. 29H-Cale Hartnagel[5]; 3. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[7]; 4. 74-James Hileman[1]; 5. 88D-Justin Durbin[6]; 6. 12-Stephen Kalb[2]; 7. 52J-Andrew Johns[8]; 8. (DNS) 94-Mark Clary
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 92K-Tom Krankel[4]; 2. 14G-Tommy Gaither[1]; 3. 787-Cody Zobrist[3]; 4. 52-Billy Knebel[5]; 5. 3-Ryan Eilers[6]; 6. 88-Steven Wolf[2]; 7. 34-John Holzhauer[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17E-Matthew Edler[2]; 2. 81-Garett Schumacher[5]; 3. 1-Cole Cygan[4]; 4. 25K-Denny Tribout[7]; 5. 23-Ryan Timmons[6]; 6. 14N-Nathan Lynch[3]; 7. 49-Jack Marion[1]
21 entries
STREET STOCKS
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 98-Gary Walker[1]; 2. 9X-Trevor Isaak[2]; 3. 36-Eric Harris[5]; 4. 70M-Marty Smith[4]; 5. 68-Terry McCann[6]; 6. 81-Joe Schumacher[9]; 7. 11-Alex Cygan[21]; 8. 30-Gage Walker[8]; 9. 93-Kaleb Stajduhar[10]; 10. 72-Dustin McClintock[7]; 11. 74S-Jamis Staten[13]; 12. 3G-Brett Graham[20]; 13. 16E-Todd Eyman[15]; 14. 45-Chandler Smith[17]; 15. 8-Austin Dorris[11]; 16. 7-Ashton Zobrist[14]; 17. 20-Tiffany Cory[16]; 18. 70-Marc McClintock[3]; 19. 16C-Chris Cowden[12]; 20. (DNS) 43R-Austin Roach; 21. (DNS) T2-Austin Tettaton
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9X-Trevor Isaak[3]; 2. 36-Eric Harris[4]; 3. 93-Kaleb Stajduhar[2]; 4. 81-Joe Schumacher[6]; 5. 8-Austin Dorris[7]; 6. 43R-Austin Roach[1]; 7. T2-Austin Tettaton[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 98-Gary Walker[7]; 2. 30-Gage Walker[2]; 3. 72-Dustin McClintock[5]; 4. 7-Ashton Zobrist[1]; 5. 16C-Chris Cowden[6]; 6. 20-Tiffany Cory[3]; 7. 11-Alex Cygan[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 70-Marc McClintock[3]; 2. 68-Terry McCann[4]; 3. 70M-Marty Smith[7]; 4. 16E-Todd Eyman[1]; 5. 74S-Jamis Staten[6]; 6. 45-Chandler Smith[2]; 7. 3G-Brett Graham[5]