Rocket1 Racing Has Sights Set on Firecracker 100
SHINNSTON, W.Va. (06/22/20) – Brandon Sheppard streaked to his third-straight World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series win on Friday night at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls, Gap, Tenn.
Becoming the fourth different leader of the race, Sheppard took advantage of a wild restart on lap 34 to take the top spot. Never looking back, Sheppard parked the Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered Rocket Chassis in Victory Lane for the eighth time this season.
“It feels good to get another win, especially here at a place that I typically don’t run too well at,” said Sheppard after his first career win at Volunteer Speedway. “This track was hammer down and up on the wheel tonight, just the way I like it. We should’ve won the heat race there after we qualified so good, but I just didn’t get a good start. It made us have to work a lot harder than we wanted, but my guys didn’t give up on me.”
After a three-hour rain delay, the night started strong for Rocket1 Racing when they set QuickTime over the 33-car field. From there, Sheppard went on to finish second in his heat race and later drew the seventh starting spot on the feature grid.
Sheppard had made his way into contention for the lead by the halfway mark. On lap 34, Brandon used his high-side momentum off turn two to make the eventual winning pass on race leader Dennis Erb Jr. down the backstretch.
Sheppard survived two additional restarts in the closing laps before finishing 1.311 seconds ahead of Erb Jr. at the checkered flag for a $10,000 payday. Cade Dillard, Ashton Winger, and Scott Bloomquist completed the Top-5 finishers.
“We definitely had to some slicing and dicing in that one,” noted Sheppard on the hectic battle at the front. “I don’t know what happened to Overton, but man, I hated to see that. I would’ve liked to race him for the lead. That was a good battle with Dennis though, he did a great job tonight. The guys at Volunteer Speedway did a great job with this race track today. It widened out a lot more in that feature and made it a lot of fun.”
Returning on Saturday to Volunteer Speedway, Sheppard again posted the overall QuickTime in qualifying. After winning his heat race, Brandon earned the third spot on the feature grid via the redraw. In the $10,000-to-win finale, Sheppard ran as high as fourth before settling to an eighth-place finish in the final rundown.
The team will now turn their focus to the annual Firecracker 100 weekend – June 25-27 – at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series weekend is highlighted by $6,000-to-win preliminary programs on Thursday and Friday nights with a $30,000-to-win finale on Saturday night.
Rocket1 Racing continues to lead the latest World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Championship Standings. To view the latest standings, complete results, and learn more about upcoming events, please visit www.WoOLMS.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.