Brandon Sheppard celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday’s Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway. Photo: WoO LMS/Twitter
They say home-field advantage really does make a difference.
Rocket1 Racing pilot Brandon Sheppard made quite a backing to that statement on Saturday night, as he played his cards perfectly through the 75-lap World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature to win the 12th annual Illini 100 at Illinois’ Farmer City Raceway.
Jimmy Mars had a very strong run inside the top-10 all night, fending off Scott James and Bobby Pierce in the closing stages to grab the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Pierce had a stellar run on the topside, coming all the way from his 16th starting spot to complete the podium.
As for Sheppard, he has now collected the $15,000 top prize in three out of the last five years. His predecessor in the Rocket Chassis house car, Josh Richards, swept the weekend in 2016, adding to the Rocket1 Racing team’s dominance at Farmer City in World of Outlaws competition. The Mark Richards-owned No. 1 has now won the last four completed editions of the Illini 100.
This weekend, Sheppard’s presence at the 1/4-mile was nothing short of impressive. A new track record established, breaking one set by Billy Moyer that stood for over nine years, two heat race wins and two top-two finishes in Morton Buildings Feature action. All with his big family on hand, cheering him on and very proud to see him in Victory Lane by the end of 75 laps.
“We’re only an hour and a half from my house,” Sheppard, of New Berlin, Illinois, said. “All of my family, friends and fans come out to see this one.”
Sheppard redrew the fourth spot and took his time getting to the head of the field, taking the lead on lap 32. Lane choice at any point in the race was crucial, Sheppard pointed out.
“It was just kind of hard to tell where you needed to be on the racetrack at the beginning of the race,” Sheppard said. “The bottom was really rough and treacherous, and I was just kind of moving around, trying to figure out what line I needed to be in.”
But once he made the passes around Rookie contender Ricky Weiss and Tanner English for the lead, it was game over for the rest of the field.
“Tanner was doing a good job there and then Weiss got rolling on the top and I got rolling on the top,” Sheppard said. “For about ten laps there, we were all dicing it up pretty good, and it was a really fun race.”
Sheppard’s work certainly was not done once he grabbed the lead, however. The race was littered with a total of 11 cautions and even a red-flag period with 11 laps to go, ultimately forcing the 2017 Series champ to make good restart after good restart. But he came prepared.
“I didn’t mind seeing the cautions,” Sheppard said. “I had a little bit different tire than some of the guys. It allowed my tires to cool off a little bit, and then my car would come back to me. In the long runs, I was pushing a little bit.”
Next on the Outlaws’ schedule is Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina on Friday, May 3 and Georgia’s Lavonia Speedway on May 4.
For more information, visit WoOLMS.com.
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series
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Illini 100 – April 6, 2019
1. 1-Brandon Sheppard
2. 28m-Jimmy Mars
3. 32p-Bobby Pierce
4. 28-Dennis Erb
5. 29-Darrell Lanigan
6. 99jr-Frank Heckenast
7. 44-Chris Madden
8. 7r-Kent Robinson
9. 18-Chase Junghans
10. B12-Kevin Weaver
11. 25w-Allen Weisser
12. 4G-Bob Gardner
13. 36v-Kyle Hardy
14. 7-Ricky Weiss
15. 83-Scott James
16. 25-Shane Clanton
17. 22-Tanner English
18. 99B-Boom Briggs
19. 3s-Brian Shirley
20. 21-Billy Moyer
21. B1-Brent Larson
22. 24-Ryan Unzicker
23. 10-Scott Schmitt
24. 97-Cade Dillard
25. 18b-Shannon Babb
26. 6-Blake Spencer
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