FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TAMPA, FL (February 13, 2017) Defending Dirt Track World Champion, Brandon Sheppard picked up his first career East Bay Raceway Park victory on Monday night during the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Wrisco Industries Winternationals - Presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Sheppard - who started fourth on the grid - drove the Mark Richards Racing, Valvoline, Rocket Chassis' House Car to the win after taking the lead on the fifth lap.

Trailing Sheppard across the finish line were Earl Pearson Jr., Devin Moran, Kyle Bronson, and Brian Shirley.

Shirley led the first four circuits of the 25-lap main event until Sheppard came from the outside of the second row to take over the top spot. Sheppard then held off Pearson, who had started seventh, for the victory. It was Sheppard's fifth career LOLMDS win.

"It's good to finally get a win at East Bay. We have been coming here for several years and to do it on opening night this year feels great. In a short race like this you must get to the front as soon as you can. The car was good all night long. We could pass cars low and high and then we finally cleared Shirley. It was a good race up front. This Rocket XR-1 Chassis is just fabulous and the Durham Race Engine was flawless."

Once Sheppard had the lead, he had to wait through two caution flags inside the final five laps of the race. Pearson slipped under Moran on a lap 20 restart and held that spot to the finish in the Carlton and Kemp Lamm-owned, Dunn-Benson Ford, Longhorn Chassis.

"These young guys are wearing me out," said Pearson, a 3-time East Bay winner who was among only seven drivers in the starting field who had ever won at the track. "It was a total turnaround from Golden Isles. The crew has worked hard on this car and the Larry Wallace Racing Engine was super-strong tonight as well. To come from where we did in just 25 laps we should be set-up well for the rest of the week."

Moran realized that his slipping out of the groove with five laps to go cost him a shot at the win. "It was driver error. But I had fun tonight running up front like I did. Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season," said the driver of the Tye Twarog Racing entry.

Completing the top ten were Austin Hubbard, Josh Richards, Tyler Erb, Hudson O'Neal, and Gregg Satterlee.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Monday, February 13th, 2017
Wrisco Industries Winternationals - presented by E3 Spark Plugs
East Bay Raceway Park - Tampa, FL

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Brian Shirley / 15.111 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Austin Hubbard / 14.794 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Brian Shirley, Devin Moran, Tyler Erb, Ricky Weiss, Steve Francis, Tim McCreadie, Hudson O'Neal, Stephen Breeding, Kenny PettyJohn, Todd Frank, Bob Gardner   
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Kyle Bronson, Earl Pearson, Jr., Austin Rettig, Dennis Erb, Jr., Tim Dohm , Frank Heckenast, Jr., Boom Briggs, Brent Larson, Gordy Gundaker, Mason Zeigler, Brian Ligon

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Doug Drown, Austin Hubbard, Gregg Satterlee, Jared Miley, Davey Johnson, Corey Conley , David Breazeale, GR Smith, Tyler Carpenter, Craig Wolford, Chad Hollenbeck

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Billy Moyer, Jr., Michael Lake, Josh Richards, Nick Davis, Greg Oakes, Pancho Lawler, Timothy Culp, Jimmy Owens, John Gardner, Dustin Linville

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Tim Dohm , Hudson O'Neal, Tim McCreadie, Steve Francis, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Kenny PettyJohn, Boom Briggs, Gordy Gundaker, Brent Larson, Mason Zeigler, Stephen Breeding, Bob Gardner, Todd Frank, Brian Ligon

Fast Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Nick Davis, Tyler Carpenter, Corey Conley , Greg Oakes, Timothy Culp, Pancho Lawler, Chad Hollenbeck, Craig Wolford, David Breazeale, GR Smith, Davey Johnson, Jimmy Owens-DNS, John Gardner-DNS, Dustin Linville-DNS

Feature Finish (25 Laps):


FINISH

START

CAR #

DRIVER NAME

HOMETOWN

EARNINGS

1

4

1S

Brandon Sheppard

New Berlin, IL

$5,000

2

7

1

Earl Pearson, Jr.

Jacksonville, FL

$3,000

3

5

9

Devin Moran

Dresden, OH

$2,000

4

3

40B

Kyle Bronson

Brandon, FL

$1,500

5

1

3s

Brian Shirley

Chatham, IL

$1,000

6

6

11

Austin Hubbard

Bridgeville, DE

$800

7

16

1R

Josh Richards

Shinnston, WV

$750

8

9

91

Tyler Erb

New Waverly, TX

$700

9

19

71

Hudson O'Neal

Martinsville, IN

$650

10

10

22

Gregg Satterlee

Rochester Mills, PA

$600

11

21

39

Tim McCreadie

Watertown, NY

$550

12

12

27

Michael Lake

Uniontown, PA

$500

13

8

21JR

Billy Moyer, Jr.

Batesville, AR

$500

14

15

28E

Dennis Erb, Jr.

Carpentersville, IL

$500

15

17

6T

Tim Dohm

Cross Lanes, WV

$500

16

23

22G

Greg Oakes

Franklinville, NY

$500

17

26

15

Steve Francis

Bowling Green, KY

$500

18

18

92

Nick Davis

Millsboro, DE

$500

19

2

240

Doug Drown

Wooster, OH

$500

20

22

14c

Corey Conley

Wellsburg, WV

$500

21

13

7w

Ricky Weiss

Headingley, MB

$500

22

14

H1

Jared Miley

South Park, PA

$500

23

24

B1

Brent Larson

Lake Elmo, MN

$500

24

25

20

Jimmy Owens

Newport, TN

$500

25

11

94

Austin Rettig

Sikeston, MO

$500

26

20

k0

Tyler Carpenter

Parkersburg, WV

$500


Race Statistics  

Entrants: 44
Lap Leaders: Brian Shirley (Laps 1 - 4); Brandon Sheppard (Laps 5 - 25)
Cautions: Tyler Carpenter (Lap 7); Jared Miley (Lap 19); Steve Francis (Lap 20)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Winternationals Provisional: Greg Oakes
Strawberry Dash Provisional: Brent Larson
Wrisco Feature Winner: Brandon Sheppard
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Hudson O'Neal (Started: 19th; Finished: 9th; Advanced 10 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: n/a
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Tim McCreadie
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: n/a
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Taylon Center (Earl Pearson Jr.)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Lap #22 - 15.7457 seconds)
Safecraft Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (26 Laps)
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Brian Shirley
Time of Race: 15 minutes 8 seconds

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:


POS

CAR #

DRIVER NAME

HOMETOWN

POINTS

EARNINGS

1

116

Brandon Overton

Evans, GA

480

$13,700

2

1R

Josh Richards

Shinnston, WV

450

$15,250

3

49

Jonathan Davenport

Williamson, SC

410

$5,300

3

39

Tim McCreadie

Watertown, NY

410

$7,850

5

1S

Brandon Sheppard

New Berlin, IL

375

$9,475

6

20

Jimmy Owens

Newport, TN

370

$5,800

7

0

Scott Bloomquist

Mooresburg, TN

355

$7,300

8

7m

Donald McIntosh

Dawsonville, GA

345

$2,075

9

91

Tyler Erb

New Waverly, TX

335

$2,825

9

7

Rick Eckert

York, PA

335

$2,075

9

14

Darrell Lanigan

Union, KY

335

$3,200

12

240

Doug Drown

Wooster, OH

320

$2,400

12

38

Kenny PettyJohn

Millsboro, DE

320

$2,400

12

5

Don O'Neal

Martinsville, IN

320

$2,925

15

1

Earl Pearson, Jr.

Jacksonville, FL

305

$5,950

15

9

Devin Moran

Dresden, OH

305

$3,300

17

99B

Boom Briggs

Bear Lake, PA

295

$1,500

18

71

Hudson O'Neal

Martinsville, IN

275

$1,825

19

3s

Brian Shirley

Chatham, IL

270

$3,850

19

28E

Dennis Erb, Jr.

Carpentersville, IL

270

$3,000

19

15

Steve Francis

Bowling Green, KY

270

$1,500