Sheppard Wins In Dramatic LOLMDS Finish At Ocala

Brandon Sheppard (center) scored Sunday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature victory at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park. Scott Bloomquist (left) finished in second, followed by Dennis Erb, Jr. (right) in third. Photo: PhotosByTrace.com

Brandon Sheppard took the lead on the final lap from Scott Bloomquist to win Sunday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida.

Sheppard charged from his 11th starting spot to take the victory and pick up the $10,000 winner’s payday with his second victory of the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks.

Bloomquist finished in second, followed by Dennis Erb, Jr. in third, Earl Pearson, Jr. in fourth and Frank Heckenast, Jr. in fifth.

In victory lane for the sixth time in his career, the 24-year-old Sheppard was at a loss for words.

“Anytime you can pass Scott (Bloomquist) for the lead, it’s pretty big,” he said. “He is probably one of the greatest in our sport. I guess you could say it was an honor to pass him on the last lap for the win.

“It was crazy out there. Turns three and four and down the front stretch were pretty slippery. You had to make sure you hit the little bit of brown on the bottom of three and four.”

At the start of the race Josh Richards and Bloomquist led the field to the green flag. Bloomquist led the first lap and Richards took over the point on lap two. Richards then started to receive heavy pressure from Don O’Neal, who had moved into second place.

As Richards and O’Neal exited off turn four on lap 20, a car spun directly into front of them, leaving those two drivers with nowhere to go. They came to a halt with heavy damage to both cars. Richards went pit-side and made repairs to rejoin the field while O’Neal was done for the night.

Bloomquist inherited the lead, which he held until a caution with two laps to go for a slowing car in turn two. That bunched up the field for a green-white-checker finish. Erb, who had been stalking Bloomquist in the final five laps of the race, charged to the bottom trying to get by Bloomquist as Sheppard swung out wide and went by both to take the win.

“The caution with two laps to go let us pack the top of one and two and made it so we could roll around on the top better,” Sheppard said. “Scott (Bloomquist) was running on the top before that caution come out. I kind of expected him to go to the top and then he went to the bottom on the restart. I guess I just grinned a little bit and got on the gas and went right by him on the outside.”

Bloomquist crossed the line in second even though it wasn’t the result he was looking for.

“We were pushing badly at the end, especially in three and four,” Bloomquist said. “The tire was starting to give-up a little bit. The crew guys pointed to get to the bottom on the restart. I didn’t expect him (Sheppard) to get a run like that, and the car didn’t feel as good at the end, it was just one of those things. We had a good race and I am sure that everybody enjoyed watching that one.”

“We had a good car all night long,” said third place finisher Erb. “From the time we hot lapped, qualified, ran the heat, this car stayed good and to be running up front near the end, we are real pleased with that. We worked on this car all week-long and finally brought it out tonight, we made a lot of changes on this car, but at least we are going in the right direction.”

Tim McCreadie, Chub Frank, Boom Briggs, Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport and Josh Richards rounded out the top ten.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is off until March 17, when the tour will travel to Ohio’s Atomic Speedway for the Buckeye Spring 50.

For more information, visit LucasDirt.com.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Lucas Oil Winternationals – Feb. 19, 2017

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