Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:18AM

Sheppard, Marlar, Madden take WoO LMS weekend wins

By Series PR

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series swept the southeast over the weekend, with two Georgia stops split by a pass through South Carolina.

Brandon Sheppard scored the win on Thursday night at Georgia’s Lavonia Speedway, followed by a victory by Mike Marlar at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina on Friday night. The weekend was topped by a win by Chris Madden at Georgia’s Senoia Raceway on Saturday night.

Sheppard led flag-to-flag in front of a packed house at Lavonia Speedway on Thursday night to claim his third series feature win of the 2018 season.

Sheppard started on the outside of pole sitter Devin Moran for the 50-lap event. On the first lap, Sheppard commanded the lead. Lap one had three separate cautions occur, but Sheppard was able to defend the top spot during the restarts.

Two additional cautions happened later in the feature, on lap four and lap 25, and although it erased the ground Sheppard had created over the field, he was never seriously challenged for the position either time.

“Lapped traffic was tricky,” said Sheppard. “I was trying to move around there and see where I could and couldn’t go. It just depended on how low the guy was getting in front of me and how much dust he was throwing up. I could run high two laps and the third lap it would be cleaned up enough and I could make a good one then the next time I come around it was dirty again.

“I have to thank all of these fans for coming out. It’s a Thursday night and I’m sure a lot of people took off work to come here. It’s cool to be able to race in front of a big crowd at a track that I’ve never been to before.”

Mike Marlar claimed the second position from Moran during the lap 25 restart, and held the position to the end. Moran settled for third, with David Breazeale in fourth and Brent Dixon in fifth.

On Friday night, Marlar claimed his first series win of the 2018 season on at Cherokee Speedway, leading all 50-laps of the Craftsman Club Feature en route to a $10,000 payday.

Marlar held off charges from Shane Clanton, Chris Madden and Brandon Overton. The closest threat for the lead was on lap 34 by a hard-charging Overton on the high-side.

Overton erased Marlar’s one-second lead in just one lap. After passing for the lead, a caution fell so the lap was not completed. Marlar was back in the lead position for the restart and Overton resumed second ahead of Madden. Only two laps later, Overton suffered from a flat right-rear tire and finished 14th.

Marlar finished nearly three-and-a-half-seconds ahead of a close battle for second between Clanton and Madden.

“Getting that first win behind you is a big thing. It’s a confidence booster and lets you know you’re doing the right things,” said Marlar. “Ronny Delk, my car owner, man, he just an awesome guy. He gives me really good equipment. I’d like to thank (my crew guys) Josh Davis and Jerry Spruce and my wife Stacey at home, she is usually here. Those guys worked their tails off this week. Up at Brucebilt, we built us a new car. It’s been a lot of hard work this week and we were fortunate to get to the front.”

Clanton finished second, with Madden in third, Chris Ferguson in fourth and Donald McIntosh in fifth.

On Saturday night, Madden wheeled his way to victory at Senoia Raceway in the 4th annual Billy Clanton Classic. The Gray Court, South Carolina driver collected his second series win of the season.

“Man, what an awesome place and what an awesome race to come and win,” said Madden. “Me and Shane (Clanton) are like best friends out on this tour and he has been so kind to me, him and his family. I just want to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for this race. It means a lot to me.”

The fourth annual Billy Clanton Classic honors Shane Clanton’s late father Billy Clanton and his contributions to racing.

Madden held off charges from a heated battle for second between Mike Marlar, Shane Clanton and Brandon Overton. On lap 21, Michael Page inserted himself into the mix for a podium position from a 14th starting spot in the feature. Just five laps later, Page completed the pass by Marlar for second. Page worked relentlessly to reel in race long leader Madden but was never able to pull the trigger to make the pass.

Dale McDowell, Marlar, and Brandon Overton rounded out the top five.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series heads to North Carolina’s Fayetteville Speedway for the inaugural First in Flight 100 on May 11-12.

For more information, visit WoOLMS.com.

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Lavonia Speedway – Lavonia, GA
Race Results – May 3, 2018

1. 1-Brandon Sheppard
2. 157-Mike Marlar
3. 9-Devin Moran
4. 54-David Breazeale
5. 1D-Brent Dixon
6. 79-Ross Bailes
7. 7-Rick Eckert
8. 25-Shane Clanton
9. 40B-Kyle Bronson
10. 22-Chris Ferguson
11. 18c-Chase Junghans
12. 14m-Morgan Bagley
13. F1-Payton Freeman
14. B1-Brent Larson
15. 42-Cla Knight
16. 116-Brandon Overton
17. 1x-Chub Frank
18. 91-Tyler Erb
19. 6-Blake Spencer
20. 44-Chris Madden
21. 21-Kenny Collins
22. 53-Ray Cook
23. 22x-G.R. Smith
24. C8-Timothy Culp

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Cherokee Speedway – Gaffney, SC
Race Results – May 4, 2018

1. 157-Mike Marlar
2. 25-Shane Clanton
3. 44-Chris Madden
4. 22-Chris Ferguson
5. 58-Donald McIntosh
6. 79-Ross Bailes
7. 1D-Brent Dixon
8. 7-Rick Eckert
9. 9-Devin Moran
10. 54-David Breazeale
11. 2c-Joey Coulter
12. 91-Tyler Erb
13. B1-Brent Larson
14. 116-Brandon Overton
15. 18c-Chase Junghans
16. 32m-Dustin Mitchell
17. 14m-Morgan Bagley
18. 22x-G.R. Smith
19. C8-Timothy Culp
20. 6-Blake Spencer
21. 1-Brandon Sheppard
22. 2-Dennis Franklin
23. O9-Johnny Pursley
24. 1x-Chub Frank

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Senoia Raceway – Senoia, GA
Race Results – May 3, 2018

1. 44-Chris Madden
2. 18x-Michael Page
3. 17M-Dale McDowell
4. 157-Mike Marlar
5. 116-Brandon Overton
6. 9-Devin Moran
7. 25-Shane Clanton
8. 18c-Chase Junghans
9. 7-Rick Eckert
10. B1-Brent Larson
11. 1-Brandon Sheppard
12. 22-Chris Ferguson
13. 14m-Morgan Bagley
14. 9c-Jason Croft
15. 54-David Breazeale
16. 53-Ray Cook
17. 15-Mason Massey
18. C8-Timothy Culp
19. 24-Zach Leonhardi
20. 84-Austin Smith
21. 6-Blake Spencer
22. 58-Donald McIntosh
23. 22r-Will Roland
24. 91-Tyler Erb

  • Associated Categories: Sports, NASCAR News, Other Motorsports
  • Associated Tags: motorsports, Auto Racing, Dirt Track, Stock Car, Short Track, Dirt Late Model, Senoia Raceway, Lavonia Speedway, WoO Late Model Tour, WoO, #GAdrivers
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