Saturday, November 7, 2020

Brandon Sheppard Dominates USMTS Run at RPM of Texas

 Night number two of the Southern Nationals for the USMTS Modifieds and USRA cars was held on Friday night, November 6th at the RPM Speedway of Texas just outside Crandall. It was a spectacular day for racing and a continuation of great racing weather here in the Lone Star state as it has been for much of the country. Who would expect that the weather would be in the seventy degree range even in Iowa and they would be adding last minute races to make up for those lost before racing could start this year? No doubt 2020 will go down in the history books as one of the craziest years ever for this country and the world at large. Here in Texas the warm weather is probably not so unseasonable but is still appreciated by everyone, especially those of us that know that the "other shoe" could drop at any moment. 

Night number two of the Southern Nationals would see more money on the line for the drivers in all classes that raced on Thursday night plus the USRA Tuners, mostly in pitch, would join the show for Friday and again on Saturday. 

Car counts were up in all classes with forty eight Mods signing in to race along with thirty nine Limited Mods and thirty eight Factory Stocks with nineteen Tuners also running. 

The most significant addition by far was in the Modified class where Illinois driver Brandon Sheppard, a driver some might recognize for his Late Model exploits, jumped into a Leon Ramirez car for the weekend shows. Sheppard just got done running his Late Model at the Charlotte Motor Speedway dirt track on Wednesday and Thursday, a place where in a normal year we probably would have been ourselves if not for the schedule and format change their due to the Pandemic. 

Sheppard clinches his second straight World Of Outlaws Late Model title on Thursday night and third in the last four years during which time he has proved himself to be the absolute best dirt track Late Model racer on the planet. At only twenty seven years of age, where his career will go and what goals he will accomplish is virtually without limit. 

What is neat about Sheppard is that with all that he had going on this week that he would even be interested in spending his time flying halfway across the country just to run a Modified for the weekend. But apparently he is enjoying racing this class also and of course is offered the best equipment by one of the most well heeled teams in the country for this type of racing. Sheppard does not have a lot of experience driving Modifieds as his career started right out in Late Models and he didn't build up to the Late Model experience like many drivers do, but he has taken to the class very quickly and well, thank you. 

That would be displayed later when he would dominate the forty lap feature race and pocket the top prize of three grand. That would be considered "chump change" to many as he just guaranteed the one hundred grand top prize in the Outlaws point fund but a real racer, as he is getting the reputation of being, just enjoys the experience and it's not all about the money. 

On a race track that was the polar opposite of what it had been on Thursday night, Sheppard trailed another Late Model star, Terry Phillips, for fourteen laps until Phillips suffered a mechanical breakdown and Sheppard inherited the lead. Phillips had been protecting the low groove with Sheppard stalking him when Phillips' car started showing heavy smoke from the rear end and when the car finally broke and spewed debris all over the track, the first yellow waved as Sheppard then took over the lead. 

Brandon's team mate this weekend, Dereck Ramirez, had made a strong run from tenth into second spot and looked to challenge but following the initial yellow and the only other one five laps later, Sheppard was able to slowly pull away both times and Ramirez simply had nothing to offer in the way of a challenge. 

Sheppard's only issue near the end of the race was heavy lapped traffic as he had to negotiate past seven slower cars to keep the gap between himself and Ramirez but he did so seamlessly and he crossed the checkered with three cars between himself and Ramirez. A race long battle for third saw Tyler Davis fight off Jake Gallardo for that spot with Chris Henigan completing the top five. 

Sheppard, who tipped that the Charlotte track was the worst ever this year with dust so bad that the Late Model teams had to redesign their cockpits to try and keep the heavy dust out of the cars as visibility became a serious issue, stated that his car was very maneuverable and he was able to move around on the track to pass slower cars, a major point on this night. For someone with very limited experience in Modifieds, Sheppard seems to know just how to drive them, of course a mark of a very gifted wheel man. 

The Limited Modifieds provided the most exciting finish of the night as they came to the checkered three wide battling for the lead. Early in the race it was Jimmy Day battling with Kale Westover for the lead with the two running look alike cars and confusing most of us with who was who. Cody Smith then moved up to challenge and he used the second groove to take over the lead. This race saw several early yellows and it would seem that on each return to  the green, the running order would get shuffled. 

Westover would then take over the lead and hold the top spot for a number of laps with Smith and then Kaden Honeycutt putting the pressure on. As the race neared its conclusion, Tommy Davis Jr, who would clinch the USRA national Limited Modified title on this night, would try the high side of the track. Not many drivers would try the high side as it didn't seem to working on the dry track but he was able to be productive on that line and he closed on Westover.

Racing down the back chute on the final lap, Davis Jr moved to the high side of Westover and Kale slid just off the bottom as he lost his groove for just a second or so. Honeycutt jumped on this and roared to the inside of Westover and they came to the line three wide. Honeycutt had an open lane on the bottom and he was able to edge into the lead and crossed the line first while Westover blocked the high side and prevented Davis Jr from passing him but at the same time giving up the lead. It was by far the closest finish of the weekend for a main event. 

Walter Hamilton, who is leading the national points in the Factory Stocks but has not clinched the title, certainly helped his own case on Friday night as he led from start to finish after starting on the pole for the Factory Stock feature. The Factory Stocks found the second groove or any higher line to simply not work for their bigger and heavier cars and everyone was battling for the inside line. 

Hamilton guarded that groove for twenty laps as he received some heavy pressure from Cody Myers who spent the entire race trying to root out the leader but being unsuccessful. Only one yellow flag slowed this race which found the field lining up on the inside line and looking for a mistake by fellow competitors to gain a spot. 

Dalton Faulkner, who showed a lot of speed, tried the higher line and very nearly pulled off a pass that would have gotten him second but he just couldn't quite pull it off and it ended up costing him third as Chris Davis ended up taking his place in line. Hamilton continued to block the low line and would go on for the win, a big one for him as he tried to hold off Tommy Davis Jr from becoming a double national champion. 

Nineteen Tuners took the green for their main event, a race that was stopped just once for race car body parts that were deposited on the track. Steven Bevills led from start to finish to take the apparent win. However, well after the fact and not announced to the crowd, Bevills ran into trouble in the tech area and his win was negated and instead he was disqualified for an unnamed violation. Perhaps he was singing out of tune. 

In any event, Bevills' DQ gave the win to Chris Lynn with Daniel Thompson and Bondy Cannon completing the top five. Brian Schoenbaum Jr clinched the national title on Friday night despite a less than stellar night that saw him start dead last in the feature after missing his heat race followed by a quick exit from the main event. 

The show moved along at a rapid pace with not a lot of yellow flags all night. The final checkered flag waved right at 10 pm, giving fans plenty of time to visit the pits afterward. As stated earlier, the track was the polar opposite of what it had been on Thursday with it being hard and very dry and a little dust to boot but for the most part, the large ridges and humps were gone. 

The three night program will wrap up on Saturday with even more money on the line for all classes with the Mods running for five grand to win, the Factory Stocks fifteen hundred and the Limited Mods seventeen hundred thanks to addition bonuses from a sponsor. The program will also be shown on Dirt Vision for those that don't feel the need to jump into their vehicles and drive to Texas for the night. 

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