FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ben Shelton (msrmafia@gmail.com) August 3, 2021 Top-5 Run in Prairie Dirt Classic for Rocket1 Racing Four Nights of WoO Wisconsin Action on Tap this Week SHINNSTON, W.Va. (08/03/21) – Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing rolled into the famed Fairbury Speedway over the weekend for the 31st edition of the Prairie Dirt Classic. Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win finale found Sheppard recording a fifth-place finish in his Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered XR1 Rocket Chassis Super Late Model. “Really late in the race when my car came to me, I was a few spots too far back,” Sheppard said. “We just had to make the most out of it and made a few passes on the restarts and just came up short. It’s disappointing because we had a better car than where we finished. We’ll head to Wisconsin this week to go after some more big checks. Thanks as always goes out to all of our marketing partners and supporters.” Taking part in one the biggest weekends of the year with the World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series, Rocket1Racing and Brandon Sheppard invaded Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, Ill.) on Friday afternoon for the 31st annual Prairie Dirt Classic. With the massive 74-car field split into two separate groups for time trials, Sheppard recorded the 11th fastest time in his group. Starting his $3,000-to-win preliminary feature in sixth, Brandon improved three spots in the 25-lapper to register a third-place finish. With his third-place finish in preliminary action on Friday placing him 11th on the starting grid for Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic, Sheppard advanced six spots in the 100-lap affair to finish fifth. He followed Kyle Larson, Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb, and Chris Madden across the line. Brandon now sits 86 points ahead of Chris Madden atop the World of Outlaws point standings. For complete results from these events, please visit www.WorldofOutlaws.com . The upcoming week has the team set for four nights of WoO action in Wisconsin. The week opens on Tuesday evening at Outagamie Speedway with a $10,000-to-win event, which is co-sanctioned with the Dirt Kings tour. On Thursday evening three rounds of WoO action kicks off at Cedar Lake Speedway with a $6,000-to-win affair. On Friday and Saturday the 2021 USA Nationals take center stage with double heat races on Friday evening followed by B-mains and the $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday night. 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 . Official Internet Home of The Midsouth Racing Scene
 

THE THRILL OF THE CHASE: Dillard scores pole for 34th annual USA Nationals 
16 drivers are locked in for Saturday's 100-lap finale
NEW RICHMOND, WI– August 6, 2021 – A Louisiana driver will lead some of the best Late Model drivers in the country to the green flag for the 34th annual USA Nationals. Cade Dillard led all eight laps of Friday’s pole dash at Cedar Lake Speedway to earn the first starting position for the 100-lap finale. 
The Robeline, LA driver survived double Drydene Heat races under a passing points format to lock himself into one of the top eight spots for the $50,000-to-win event. It also earned him the chance to race his way onto the front row. 

The “Thriller” drew the pole for the dash and never looked back, thundering ahead of Ashton Winger en route to the victory. 

 Even though he’s thrilled with Friday’s performance, he knows there’s a lot of racing left. 

“It’s pretty cool to be locked in and get on the pole of an event as big as this,” Dillard said. “There’s a long way to go, so hopefully, I can make the right changes on my car and hopefully be good at the end. That’s where I’ve struggled in the past with this event.” 

Every driver racing at USA Nationals saw a different format on Friday than what they’re used to with the World of Outlaws. Drivers earned passing points in their two Heat Races, locking the top 16 into the show. 

It’s a format that didn’t faze Dillard one bit because he’s familiar with it.  

“I come from Modified racing,” Dillard said. “The USMTS; that’s what we do every night so passing points that didn’t really bother me. We just had a couple of lucky breaks in that second [Heat Race] and just had a really good car.” 

Joining Dillard on the front row of the $50,000-to-win Feature is 2020 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year Ashton Winger. 

After cashing in on $6,000 by winning Thursday's held over Morton Buildings Feature, his second-place finish in the dash only added to Friday's accolades.

The USA Nationals has been on the Senoia, GA driver’s bucket list for a while. But Winger knows there’s still work to do if he wants to find Victory Lane again this weekend.  

“We’ve got to be better, and we’re a little bit off whenever the racetrack progresses to the bottom,” Winger said. “At some point, we’re going to need to move to the bottom tomorrow, and we have to make sure we’re not 15th.” 

Despite having a fast car all night, Winger stated he needed some luck to be in a good position for Saturday. 
“I got pretty lucky in my first heat because the guy who was running second, I think something broke on his car, and I went from sixth to fourth and got points without passing anybody,” Winger said. “Racing is so much about being at the right place at the right time. I definitely think we had some stuff go our way today.” 

Kyle Bronson, Jimmy Owens, and Brandon Sheppard rounded out the top five in the pole dash. Max Blair, Brandon Overton, and A.J Diemel made up the rest of the field.  

After the pole dash, 11 drivers battled for a $2,500 prize in the Kyle Koch Memorial F.A.N.S. Fund dash. Mark Whitener of Middleburg, FL, took the lead on the outside of Garrett Alberson and held on to win the event. 

The dash is one of the reasons the Big Frog Motorsports is racing this weekend at Cedar Lake. 

“Ultimately, that’s why we’re here; them guys stepped up and helped us get here financially,” Whitener said. “The Big Frog team pulled this car up here and got me here, and my fans put me on the front row [of the dash], so I have to thank them guys.” 

Garrett Alberson, Bobby Pierce, Jason Feger, and Trevor Gundaker rounded out the top five in the 12-lap dash. 

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday, August 7, for day three of the USA Nationals. A pair of Last Chance Showdowns will help set the field for the 100-Lap, $50,000-to-win finale. 
USA Nationals Pole Dash (8 Laps)- 1. 97- Cade Dillard [1]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger [2]; 3.40B- Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[5], 5. 1- Brandon Sheppard [6]; 6. 111V- Max Blair[4]; 7. 76- Brandon Overton[7]; 8. 10C-A.J. Diemel[8].

F.A.N.S Fund Dash (12 Laps)- 1. 58- Mark Whitener[2]; 2. 58- Garret Alberson[1]; 3. 32- Bobby Pierce[6]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 5. 11-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[7]; 7. 21- Billy Moyer, Jr. [8]; 8. 12- Ashton Winger [10]; 9. 11-Gordy Gundaker[11]; 10. 24-Ryan Unzicker [9]; 11. 32- Chris Simpson [12]; 12. 0-Nick Hoffman [13]; 13. 22-Tegan Evans[3].