TAMPA, Fla. - Brandon Sheppard charged from the 21st starting spot to win Thursday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Tampa, Florida’s East Bay Raceway Park.
Sheppard won the Winternationals opener on Monday night. Thursday night, he took the lead from Tyler Erb on lap 22 and then held off Hall-of-Famer Scott Bloomquist for the win.
Jimmy Owens led the first two laps of the 40-lap main event before Kyle Bronson took the top spot. Bronson led one circuit until ninth-place starter Tyler Erb surged by him for the lead of the race. Erb then held the point until Sheppard’s charge from the inside of row 11 was complete, taking the lead which he never relinquished.
“I was very concerned those last nine laps,” said Owens. “I was having trouble seeing my signal guys. I didn’t really know how close they were to me. I swear I kept hearing a rattling in my left rear. I don’t what that was about. We worked hard to get up there. It was gritty out there on the surface. We qualified a little better than we have been. We got in that wreck in the heat and then we broke a driveshaft and knocked the rear end out of it before having to come out of the B-Main, it was long night for sure.
“My team just never quit on me. Thanks to Mark Richards, Steve Baker, everybody at Rocket Chassis, my crew, Dan, Austin, J.T., Brian, and everyone else. Thanks to my dad and grandpa back home. This race is for my grandpa, he had pretty serious neck surgery this morning. Thanks to them for giving me a racing career to begin with. My girlfriend, son, daughter, and everybody who was watching back home.”
Trailing Sheppard and Bloomquist to the finish line were Devin Moran in third, followed by Josh Richards in fourth, and Tyler Erb in fifth.
Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson, Jr., Chub Frank, and Bobby Pierce rounded out the top ten.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
East Bay Winternationals – February 8, 2018
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 21 | 1s | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $7,000 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $3,500 |
| 3 | 11 | 9 | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $2,000 |
| 4 | 6 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $1,500 |
| 5 | 9 | 91 | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $1,400 |
| 6 | 7 | 116 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $1,300 |
| 7 | 3 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $1,200 |
| 8 | 23 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $1,100 |
| 9 | 22 | 1* | Chub Frank | Bear Lake, PA | $1,000 |
| 10 | 25 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $950 |
| 11 | 2 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $1,000 |
| 12 | 16 | 14m | Morgan Bagley | Gladewater, TX | $850 |
| 13 | 14 | 14 | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $800 |
| 14 | 20 | 7MM | Michael Maresca | Hannawa Fallls, NY | $750 |
| 15 | 12 | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $725 |
| 16 | 17 | C8 | Timothy Culp | Prattsville, AR | $700 |
| 17 | 8 | 22* | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $700 |
| 18 | 4 | 21JR | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR | $700 |
| 19 | 5 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Indiana, PA | $650 |
| 20 | 15 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $625 |
| 21 | 26 | 11 | Austin Hubbard | Bridgeville, DE | $625 |
| 22 | 19 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $600 |
| 23 | 10 | 12J | Jason Jameson | Lawrenceburg, IN | $600 |
| 24 | 24 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $600 |
| 25 | 13 | 99B | Boom Briggs | Bear Lake, PA | $600 |
| 26 | 18 | d8 | Dustin Mitchell | Selma, NC | $600 |
