Devin Moran and Brandon Sheppard both took trips to victory lane in World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series action over the weekend.
Moran took top honors on Friday night Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track, while Sheppard was the winner on Saturday night at Missouri’s Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
On Friday night, Moran claimed his first win of the 2018 season at Terre Haute Action Track.
Moran charged to the lead ahead of Shannon Babb after a restart from late race caution on lap 24 of the 30-lap feature. Once claiming the lead, Moran remained out front for the final five laps of the event.
“Man, I tell you, I thought that caution was going to kill us,” said Moran in victory lane. “That hurt us last week at Lernerville (Speedway) and I was like ‘man, this cannot be happening again.”
“I was really good on them restarts,” Moran continued. “I actually messed up on the bottom of one and two on that restart and I thought ‘man, that might have been our shot.’ I just got a really good run and I pulled the slider. It was kind of hard because I was pretty tight on entry but I just made sure I got clear and then got all the way to the wall and I just tried to stay in the traction.”
Babb led all but six laps of the feature event, but had to settle for second. Mike Marlar finished in third, with Brian Shirley in fourth and Kent Robinson in fifth.
On Saturday night, Brandon Sheppard denied Devin Moran of a weekend sweep , as he claimed his sixth series win of the season at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
Moran settled for second but it wasn’t for lack of effort, as he pulled a massive slider in front of Sheppard as the pair exited turn four and headed toward the checkered flag.
As they sprinted down the front stretch for the final time, Sheppard snuck between Moran and the wall to steal the $10,000 payday just 0.289 seconds apart.
“I tell you what, I think he was a little bit better than I was at the end,” said Sheppard. “Me and Devin race hard all the time and we rub a lot but it’s one of those deals where he gave me a lane up there and I took advantage of that. It was some hard racing but it was a lot of fun. I wish we would come back to I-55 more often. I like this place a lot.”
After starting fifth in the feature, Sheppard took the lead on lap 37 by using high-side momentum to boost ahead of Brian Shirley, who had held to top spot since lap 16.
“You know, when Shirley was leading it was getting pretty treacherous down here in (turns) one and two,” said Sheppard. “It was starting to run up good and I knew I wasn’t going to pass him on the bottom and the guys told me to go for it. Mark told me I need to start taking more chances since we’re pretty far behind in the points now. At the end of the day, we’re trying to win races. That’s all we’re doing.”
Brian Shirley, Rick Eckert and Mike Marlar rounded out the top five.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series returns to action on Friday, July 6 at Iowa’s Dubuque Speedway. For more info, visit WoOLMS.com.
World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, IN
Race Results – June 29, 2018
1. 9-Devin Moran
2. 18b-Shannon Babb
3. 157-Mike Marlar
4. 3s-Brian Shirley
5. 7r-Kent Robinson
6. 44-Chris Madden
7. 7-Rick Eckert
8. 91-Tyler Erb
9. 22-Chris Ferguson
10. 54-David Breazeale
11. 25f-Jason Feger
12. 18c-Chase Junghans
13. 25-Shane Clanton
14. 11-Gordy Gundaker
15. 76-Shelby Miles
16. 14m-Morgan Bagley
17. B1-Brent Larson
18. 31-Paul Stubber
19. 1-Brandon Sheppard
20. 99jr-Frank Heckenast, Jr.
21. 28e-Dennis Erb
22. 2-Nick Hoffman
23. 80-Duke Mounce
24. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk
25. 25h-Charles Hummer
World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 – Pevely, MO
Race Results – June 30, 2018
1. 1-Brandon Sheppard
2. 9-Devin Moran
3. 3s-Brian Shirley
4. 7-Rick Eckert
5. 157-Mike Marlar
6. 99jr-Frank Heckenast
7. 11-Gordy Gundaker
8. 44-Chris Madden
9. 2-Nick Hoffman
10. 91-Tyler Erb
11. 25-Shane Clanton
12. 7r-Kent Robinson
13. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk
14. 33-Tim Manville
15. B1-Brent Larson
16. 54-David Breazeale
17. 22-Chris Ferguson
18. 18b-Shannon Babb
19. 18c-Chase Junghans
20. 14m-Morgan Bagley
21. 7k-Kenny Rumble
22. 31-Paul Stubber
23. 11h-Jeff Herzog
24. 25f-Jason Feger
25. 16-Rusty Griffaw
