Sheppard Cashes Atomic Lucas Late Model Check

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Brandon Sheppard earned his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season on Friday night, taking the Independence 50 at Atomic Speedway.

Sheppard inherited the lead when race leader Carson Ferguson went pit side under a caution after leading the first four laps.

Sheppard led the rest of the way and secure the $25,000 win. It was Sheppard’s 33rd career victory with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, tying him with Josh Richards.

Josh Rice, who recovered after an oil leak was discovered before time trials, came from the 17th starting position to finish second. Jonathan Davenport rounded out the podium in third. Davenport finished five points behind points leader Ricky Thornton Jr., who finished 16th after dropping out of the race while running in second.

Davenport now leads Thornton by 55 points heading into Saturday’s race at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio.

Daulton Wilson finished in fourth, with Donald McIntosh rounding out the top five.

“It feels so good. It’s crazy that this was the place where we got our first Lucas Oil win this year. It’s been a long time since I’ve won here,” Sheppard said. “This place has been tough on me lately, but I can’t thank my team enough for busting their tails this week to get this new car ready for us. Honestly, I’ve had the car messed up most of the year because of some stuff I was feeling in Florida, and we made some changes that caused more issues. I found some pretty good speed in my car during the Summer Nationals, so I told Mark what I did, and he said, well, that’s where we should have been at the start of the year.”

Rice came home second after rallying from the inside of row nine.

“I feel like I won the race about as badly as a comeback could be. It was probably the ugliest podium finish you will ever see from me,” Rice explained. “Like I said, we broke the oil line, my crew was covered in oil and everything else. We were goofing off and everything else six laps in, and I thought about pulling in. I was like, we got our start money. Then, it seemed like about eight cars broke, and more cars kept blowing up. After that long green flag run, I looked up on the board and saw I was in sixth. Daultin Wilson showed me the top down here in three and four. I was kind of decent, really, and then he showed me all the way around the top. That’s when I really started to make up time.”

Davenport, coming off a red-hot month of June, where he won the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway and his first Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway, is positioning himself even better as he seeks his record-tying fourth series title.

“It’s something we’ve been searching for all year—getting the points lead. We got close to him (Thornton), but he pulled away again. I hate to take the points lead while he (Thornton) is having bad luck, but we’ve had our fair share of bad luck this year. In March, we spun out against a lapped car running second. Thanks to all of you fans for coming out and spending your Fourth of July with us. We appreciate it. I hope we put on a good show for you.”

The finish:

Brandon Sheppard, Josh Rice, Jonathan Davenport, Daulton Wilson, Donald McIntosh, Hudson O’Neal, Dan Ebert, Daniel Hilsabeck, Mike Marlar, Clay Harris, Cory Lawler, Devin Moran, Freddie Carpenter, R.J. Conley, Spencer Hughes, Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Matt Cosner, Brandon Overton, Tyler Carpenter, Carson Ferguson, Caiden Black, Shane Greco, Adam Stricker.