Brandon Sheppard and Jimmy Owens both made trips to victory lane in World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series in the Volunteer State over the weekend.
Sheppard was the winner on Friday night at Duck River Raceway Park in Lewisburg, Tennessee, while Owens earned the victory on Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee.
On Friday, Sheppard scored his 42nd all-time series win and fifth in a row by holding off Chase Junghans and Tanner English to the checkered flag.
Sheppard was strong right out of the trailer. He captured his heat race in convincing fashion, setting him up for a third-place redraw. From inside row two, Sheppard pressured early leader Junghans before making a move for the lead on a restart just before the halfway point in the feature.
Once out front, Sheppard never relinquished the lead despite Junghans doing everything he could over the final 10 laps to retake the top spot.
“Everything’s just been going our way and I’m just riding it out as long as I can,” said Sheppard, of New Berlin, Illinois. “We all know it’s going to come to an end at some point, so we’re just going to keep digging, do the best we can, and do what we always do. Just work hard and hope for the best.”
Junghans finished in second, with English in third, Ricky Weiss in fourth and Kyle Bronson in fifth.
On Saturday night, Jimmy Owens was most definitely among the core of his large home-state Tennessee fan base, and he cashed in big, winning the 13th World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Feature of his career and first since June 2 of last year.
“It’s awesome,” said an elated Owens, who hails from nearby Newport, Tennessee. “When you come home and hear all your people cheering for you in your home state, it’s really humbling. It never gets old.”
Owens was almost flawless the entire night, laying down a solid qualifying lap, winning his heat race and redrawing the outside pole. The only man standing in his way in the feature was the man gunning for a record-tying six wins in-a-row, Brandon Sheppard.
Right from the drop of the green, Owens took command, hugging the low line and gradually pulling away from Darrell Lanigan and Sheppard. It was Lanigan’s six-race win streak Sheppard was trying to tie on Saturday night, and it was lap 17 when Sheppard made his move underneath Lanigan to steal second and start running down Owens.
Sheppard closed the gap in under five laps and immediately showed Owens just how close he was, getting under the leader several times before a number of yellow flags restacked the field.
While Sheppard was sstrong on the low side, Owens was able to hold him off racing one groove higher. Owens consistently hit his marks to lead all 60 laps en route to a $12,000 payday.
It wasn’t easy, as he was under attack and forced to defend his lead almost the entire race.
“It got a little bit more bottomed-out than what we like to see,” Owens said. “But in the end, it was just a pretty good run all night long.”
Sheppard, Weiss, Lanigan and Chris Madden rounded out the top five.
Next up for the World of Outlaws stars is the Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway on April 5 and 6. For more info, visit WoOLMS.com.
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series
Duck River Raceway Park – Lewisburg, TN
Race Results – March 22, 2019
1. 1-Brandon Sheppard
2. 18-Chase Junghans
3. 22-Tanner English
4. 7-Ricky Weiss
5. 40B-Kyle Bronson
6. 29-Darrell Lanigan
7. 14-Josh Richards
8. 25-Shane Clanton
9. 1m-Devin Moran
10. 2-Brandon Overton
11. 28-Dennis Erb
12. 3s-Brian Shirley
13. 50-Shanon Buckingham
14. 33-David Brannon
15. 44-Chris Madden
16. 97-Cade Dillard
17. 99B-Boom Briggs
18. B1-Brent Larson
19. 36v-Kyle Hardy
20. 157-Mike Marlar
21. 32-Bobby Pierce
22. J0-John Ownbey
23. 8-Jacob Hawkins
24. 6-Blake Spencer
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series
Smoky Mountain Speedway – Maryville, TN
Race Results – March 23, 2019
1. 20-Jimmy Owens
2. 1-Brandon Sheppard
3. 7-Ricky Weiss
4. 29-Darrell Lanigan
5. 44-Chris Madden
6. 49-Jonathan Davenport
7. 157-Mike Marlar
8. 5-Don O’Neal
9. 25-Shane Clanton
10. 50-Shanon Buckingham
11. 2-Brandon Overton
12. 18-Chase Junghans
13. B1-Brent Larson
14. 1v-Vic Hill
15. 97-Cade Dillard
16. 36v-Kyle Hardy
17. 99B-Boom Briggs
18. 28-Dennis Erb
19. 4T-Tommy Kerr
20. 1m-Devin Moran
21. 3s-Brian Shirley
22. 14-Josh Richards
23. 9-Cory Hedgecock
24. 97c-Michael Chilton
