Brandon Sheppard, Shane Clanton and Chase Junghans made trips to victory lane in World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series action over the weekend.
Sheppard scored the win on Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota, while Clanton was victorious on Saturday night at Minnesota’s Ogilvie Raceway and Junghans was the winner on Sunday at Red Cedar Speedway in| Menomonie, Wisconsin.
On Friday night, Brandon Sheppard charged from third to his 13th series victory of the season at River Cities Speedway.
Brandon Sheppard’s torrid, unprecedented winning ways continued Friday night at River Cities Speedway when he charged from third to his 13th World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series victory of the season.
Ricky Weiss chased Sheppard around the quarter-mile raceway for half the race, but came up one spot short as Sheppard earned his fifth consecutive checkered flag and the 50th win of his World of Outlaws career.
“Our car has just been so good and maneuverable,” Sheppard said. “That was key right there, to be able to be maneuverable when I got to lapped traffic and so I could get around Shane (Clanton).”
Sheppard originally took the race lead away from Clanton on the ninth lap and held it through the next 41 laps, thanks to a great setup by his crew and car owner Mark Richards. This victory marks Sheppard’s first in the state of North Dakota and Richards’ second at River Cities.
Dennis Erb, Jr. finished in third, with Clanton in fourth and Darrell Lanigan in fifth.
On Saturday night, Shane Clanton outran Sheppard and Jimmy Mars at Ogilvie Raceway to give Skyline Motorsports its first series victory, halting Sheppard’s five-race win streak.
It didn’t come easy for the Zebulon, Georgia racer. He charged up to the front from his ninth-place starting spot and broke into the top-five by the fifth lap. Clanton chose to hug the bottom line throughout the entire race and made it stick better than any of the cars in the field, driving underneath Sheppard for second on lap 22 and polesitter Ricky Weiss for the lead on lap 29.
In lapped traffic, maneuvered to the inside of a pack of four slower cars to keep his lead over Sheppard with under 20 laps remaining.
“We were good in lapped traffic,” Clanton said. “They could scoot and I could feel the gap, that’s how I got by Jimmy (Mars) and (Ricky) Weiss. They slipped and our car was good enough to take advantage and fill the hole.”
Clanton’s biggest challenge came with a restart with 15 laps to go with Sheppard on his rear bumper. Clanton stuck to the low side and drove away from Sheppard and Mars in the closing laps to earn his 44th career World of Outlaws victory and first since Screven Motor Speedway back in early February.
“We just got some better help and the crew is just gelling,” Clanton said. “With as much help as I’ve got, I get to concentrate on making adjustments to, instead of working on, my racecar, so that means a lot.”
Mars finished in third, with Dennis Erb in fourth and Darrell Lanigan in fifth.
On Sunday, Chase Junghans edged out the field to score his first win of the season in the series first visit to Red Cedar Speedway.
“We’ve been close all year,” a tired, but smiling Junghans said after the race. “We just finally got to put a complete night together.”
Junghans took the lead from Clanton on the very first lap and never broke his concentration once throughout the 50 laps he led. Not even a late-race caution that re-stacked the field and put Brandon Sheppard on his rear bumper could shake his poise out front.
For 21 straight laps, Sheppard chased Junghans through lapped traffic, pressuring him to make a mistake on the top side. But that mistake never came, and Sheppard faded back a bit as the laps clicked off. Junghans was flawless.
“I only saw the (Rocket) 1 car one time out of the corner of my eye,” Junghans said. “But those guys are damn good, and it feels really good to beat them. They’ll be on their A-game when we start racing again, so we’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep on chugging along.”
Clanton finished in second, with Weiss in third, Sheppard in fourth and Cade Dillard in fifth.
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series will get a nine day break from competition before the next evet at Iowa’s Davenport Speedway on July 24.
For more information, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
WoO Morton Building Late Model Series
River Cities Speedway – Grand Forks, ND
Race Results – July 12, 2019
1. 1-Brandon Sheppard
2. 7-Ricky Weiss
3. 28-Dennis Erb
4. 25-Shane Clanton
5. 29-Darrell Lanigan
6. 28m-Jimmy Mars
7. 11-Pat Doar
8. 21-Aaron Turnbull
9. 18-Chase Junghans
10. 14-Brody Troftgruben
11. 44-Cole Schill
12. B1-Brent Larson
13. 99B-Boom Briggs
14. 10-Mike Balcaen
15. 4-Shane Edginton
16. C4-Ryan Corbett
17. 97-Cade Dillard
18. 6-Blake Spencer
19. F9-Brandon Fuller
20. 12s-Brad Seng
21. 42s-Don Shaw
22. T1-Tom Corcoran
23. 86-Matt Smith
24. 1R-Travis Robertson
WoO Morton Building Late Model Series
Ogilvie Raceway – Ogilvie, MN
Race Results – July 13, 2019
1. 25-Shane Clanton
2. 1-Brandon Sheppard
3. 28m-Jimmy Mars
4. 28-Dennis Erb
5. 29-Darrell Lanigan
6. 7-Ricky Weiss
7. B1-Brent Larson
8. 58-A.J. Diemel
9. 97-Cade Dillard
10. 49-Jake Timm
11. 6m-Jeff Massingill
12. 99B-Boom Briggs
13. 18-Chase Junghans
14. 86-Matt Smith
15. 21x-Joel Collins
16. 12-Mark Heinle
17. 12h-Ben Heinle
18. 6-Blake Spencer
19. 19-Steve Laursen
20. O6-Dave Smith
21. 10-Paul Parker
22. F19-Marshall Fegers
23. 11-Pat Doar
WoO Morton Building Late Model Series
Red Cedar Speedway – Menomonie, WI
Race Results – July 14, 2019
1. 18-Chase Junghans
2. 25-Shane Clanton
3. 7-Ricky Weiss
4. 1-Brandon Sheppard
5. 97-Cade Dillard
6. 28-Dennis Erb
7. 28m-Jimmy Mars
8. 27-Jake Redetzke
9. 55c-Chad Mahder
10. 15-Nick Anvelink
11. 29-Darrell Lanigan
12. 71-Rick Hanestad
13. 99B-Boom Briggs
14. 85-John Kaanta
15. 68-Mike Prochnow
16. 6-Blake Spencer
17. 11g-James Giossi
18. B1-Brent Larson
19. 11-Pat Doar
20. 10-Paul Parker
21. 942-Terry Casey
22. 6m-Jeff Massingill
23. 7x-Jesse Glenz
24. 44-Darrell Nelson
