4/30/2023
Brandon Sheppard
Brandon Sheppard tops MARS Red Hill Rumble at Red Hill Raceway
Brandon Sheppard raced to his first win with Sheppard Riggs Racing (SRR) on Sunday evening at Illinois’ Red Hill Raceway.
His Midwest Auto Racing Series (MARS) triumph in the Red Hill Rumble was worth $5,000 and gives the team momentum as Sheppard prepares to resume his pursuit of an unprecedented fifth World of Outlaws (WoO) CASE Late Model Series title.
The victory came aboard his Valvoline / TrueTimber No. B5 WYLD GEAR / Riggs Drilling Solutions / Bilstein / Longhorn Chassis / Cornett Racing Engine Super Late Model.
“Yeah it feels awesome to finally get this first win out of the way man, me and the guys have been working really hard,” Sheppard said. “It’s been a lot of fun this year so far, it’s been tough and there’s been a lot of ups and downs, but we’re getting rolling here and we’ve been really good the past couple of weeks, so it feels really good to get the first win out of the way. Hopefully we got some more to come, we’re finally getting some consistency.”
Brandon Sheppard invaded the Brownstown (Ill.) Bulllring on Friday evening to pilot his Sheppard Riggs Racing No. B5 Super Late Model in the inaugural MARS Late Model Championship event at the newly refreshed facility.
With the 37-car field split into two groups, Brandon qualified fifth-fastest in his group before placing third in his heat race. Moving forward three spots in the 40-lap feature, Sheppard nearly stole the lead from Tyler Erb in the closing laps but went onto finish second.
For another $5,000-to-win event on Saturday afternoon at Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, Ill.), Sheppard’s runner-up run in his heat race placed him on the third row for the feature. In contention for the win again late in the 40-lapper, Brandon tracked down Shannon Babb amid lapped-traffic but was never able to overtake the eventual race-winner. He trailed 0.227-seconds behind Babb as the pair crossed the line.
After topping the 22-car field in time trials on Sunday at Red Hill Raceway (Sumner, Ill.), Brandon outdueled Ryan Unzicker in his heat to pick up the 8-lap victory.
Leading flag-to-flag in the 30-lap main event, Sheppard claimed his first win of the 2023 campaign and a $5,000 prize aboard his Longhorn Chassis Late Model. He finished ahead of Tanner English, Drake Troutman, Ryan Unzicker, and Jason Feger.
Full results from the events are available at www.MARSRacingSeries.com.
The upcoming weekend – May 4-6 – finds Sheppard resuming competition with the World of Outlaws (WoO) CASE Late Model Series as the third annual Dairyland Showdown roars to life at Mississippi Thunder Speedway (Fountain City, Wis.). The weekend includes dual $5,000-to-win programs on Thursday and Friday followed by a $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday.
Brandon currently sits fifth in the latest series standings, just 52 markers out of the top spot.
For full event details, please visit www.WoOLMS.com .
Article Credit: Josh James image
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