Ready to Defend Prairie Dirt Classic Crown
SHINNSTON, W.Va. (07/26/21) – Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing tackled five days of action at I-80 Speedway last week with their Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered XR1 Rocket Chassis Super Late Model.
The team’s extended racing weekend culminated with a sixth-place finish in the $53,000-To-Win Silver Dollar Nationals.
“It was a long and hot week of racing in Nebraska. We had our ups and downs. Overall it wasn’t a bad week, we just weren’t quite where we needed to be, but it was still great to see a lot of fans and sponsors in Nebraska that we don’t get to see the rest of the year,” Sheppard said. “This weekend is maybe my favorite of the whole year. Fairbury (Speedway) is a special place for me, and we’ve won the Prairie Dirt Classic twice. We’re geared up to go after a third title this weekend.”
Embarking on a five-night swing with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS), Rocket1 Racing and Brandon Sheppard visited I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, Neb.) on Tuesday afternoon for the opening round of the I-80 Nationals. With passing points determining the starting lineup for the preliminary feature, Sheppard came in second in his heat before placing second in his B-Main. With $7,000 on the line, Brandon was an early retiree from the 30-lapper with a mechanical issue.
For another $7,000-to-win preliminary feature on Wednesday, Brandon followed up the 11th fastest time in his group with a heat race victory. Starting the feature in 15th, Sheppard clawed forward two spots to finish 13th.
With results from Tuesday and Wednesday lining up Sheppard 15th on the starting grid for the $30,000-to-win Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals A-Main, Brandon improved two positions in the 53-lap affair to place 13th.
On Friday afternoon double heat races to kicked off the Silver Dollar Nationals prelims, and Brandon recorded a pair of third-place finishes.
Locked into the 12th-starting position for Saturday night’s $53,000-to-win A-Main, Sheppard advanced forward six spots in the 80-lapper to bring home a sixth-place finish.
For complete results from these events, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.
Rocket1 Racing now has their sights set on the upcoming weekend’s 31st annual Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway. The event kicks off on Friday night with the field being divided into one-of-four $3,000-to-win, prelim features. On Saturday night, B-Mains, the Non-Qualifier’s Race, and the 100-lap $50,000-to-win finale are all on the docket.
While the event wasn’t held in 2020 due to the pandemic, Brandon won the event in 2019 and enters the weekend as the defending champion. He also picked up an event title in 2017.
Entering the weekend, Brandon Sheppard leads the latest series standings by 88 points.
For more information on the weekend’s event, please visit www.FairburySpeedway.com .
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