Chase Junghans, Brandon Sheppard, and Mike Marlar were all winners over the weekend in World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series competition.
Junghans opened the race weekend with a win at Kansas’ Humbolt Speedway on Friday, while Sheppard was victorious on Saturday at 81 Speedway in Wichita, Kansas, and Marlar took the victory on Sunday at US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri.
On Friday night, Chase Junghans defended his home state’s honor.
The Manhattan, Kansas driver thundered away from Dennis Erb, Jr. on turn 2 of the race’s opening lap and held off an early challenge to earn his fourth career Series victory at Humboldt Speedway.
Junghans and Zebulon, Georgia’s Shane Clanton led the inaugural visit to Humboldt to the green flag, but Erb powered to second off turn 2 on the initial start.
Erb stayed within striking distance of Junghans for several circuits before getting his best chance on lap 12, when he pulled even with Junghans through turns 1 and 2, but Junghans’ carried his speed on the outside to keep the veteran driver at bay.
From there, Junghans cruised through traffic to take the $10,000 prize.
“It’s humbling,” Junghans said. “I thought I had (a win) there at Volusia at the beginning of the year and just ran out of laps. I haven’t gotten to race with (the Series) that much, but I definitely enjoy racing with (the World of Outlaws) and all that.
“We’ll take it. We just have to do it again the next few nights.”
Erb finished in second, with Max Blair in third, Mike Marlar in fourth, and Tyler Bruening in fifth.
On Saturday, Brandon Sheppard earned his fourth series win of 2022 and the 81st of his career with a victory at 81 Speedway.
Sheppard and Billy Moyer led the field to the green before Sheppard slid in front of Moyer to take the lead in turn 2.
Sheppard pulled away until he hit traffic on lap 10, allowing Moyer and a charging Ryan Gustin to close the gap.
Moyer and Gustin had their best shot at Sheppard on lap 17 when they battled three wide for the lead in turns 3 and 4.
Sheppard stayed on the top while Moyer rolled the middle, nosing ahead in the middle of the corner. All this while Gustin used the bottom to try and get by them both. However, Sheppard thundered away from both in turn 4.
From there, Sheppard cruised for the final 23 laps to grab his second $10,000 triumph of 2022.
Despite his dominance in the feature, Sheppard said he was worried about how tricky it would be to run the top.
“This place has got a shelf all the way around the top of it,” Sheppard said. “The only place it doesn’t have a shelf is like right in the middle of (turns) 3 and 4.
“It was kind of a tricky line, and I was kind of overdriving it early in the race, trying to keep my speed up and trying to keep them guys behind me. I was just going and going as hard as I could, and finally, I started to slow down a little bit, and I found a line that was better for me in turns 1 and 2, and I feel like that helped me just not sheer my speed and kill my momentum.”
Moyer crossed the line in second, with Dennis Erb, Jr. in third, Chase Junghans in fourth, and Gordy Gundaker in fifth.
On Sunday, Mike Marlar grabbed his fourth series win of the year at US 36 Raceway.
The Winfield, Tennessee driver stormed past Chase Junghans for the lead on lap 26 and led the final 14 laps to earn his fourth Series win of 2022.
Marlar attributed his win to how well the car ran in the race’s later stages — something he said has been the case for most of the year.
“The longer the race went, the better it got,” Marlar said. “The car, this year, has been doing that quite a bit. So, I was really happy with how the race went for sure.”
Tyler Bruening led the first seven laps before Junghans, on the charge around the top of the track, made the pass for the lead on lap 8.
Junghans quickly pulled away from the field until the race’s only caution came out for Tanner English on lap 18.
On the restart, Marlar started his ascension toward the front. He passed Dennis Erb, Jr. and Bruening to move into the runner up spot. Then, he set his sights on Junghans.
Marlar needed only one more lap to get to the front, as he powered underneath Junghans in turn 2 to take the lead.
From there, Marlar held on to score his 12th career series win.
“(Traffic) was busy, but you know all of them guys were out there doing their thing, and I was doing my thing,” Marlar said. “They were racing each other hard, and there was not one inch of this racetrack that wasn’t having a heck of a race going on.
“It was pretty crazy, there was a lot of stuff going on, but I was able to keep it clean up there.”
Junghans followed in second, with Bruening in third.
Erb, Jr. came home in fourth, helping the Carpentersville, Illinois driver mathematically secure his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series championship. He’ll officially claim that title at the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte November 2-5.
Ryan Gustin rounded out the top five.
The World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series next heads for The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World of Outlaws World Finals, November 2-5. For more information, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series
Humboldt Speedway – Humboldt, KS
Race Results – October 21, 2022
1. 18-Chase Junghans
2. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr.
3. 111V-Max Blair
4. 157-Mike Marlar
5. 16-Tyler Bruening
6. 11-Gordy Gundaker
7. 25-Shane Clanton
8. 81E-Tanner English
9. 19R-Ryan Gustin
10. 21JR-Billy Moyer, Jr.
11. B5-Brandon Sheppard
12. B1-Brent Larson
13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck
14. 76-Blair Nothdurft
15. 10-Jacob Magee
16. 99-Scott Lewis
17. 99B-Boom Briggs
18. 60-Kip Hughes
19. 36-Logan Martin
20. 1-Josh Richards
21. 36D-Mark Daye
22. 21-Billy Moyer, Sr.
23. 11T-Trevor Gundaker
24. 77-Jordan Yaggy
World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series
81 Speedway – Wichita, KS
Race Results – October 22, 2022
1. B5-Brandon Sheppard
2. 21-Billy Moyer, Sr.
3. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr.
4. 18-Chase Junghans
5. 11-Gordy Gundaker
6. 111V-Max Blair
7. 81E-Tanner English
8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker
9. 16-Tyler Bruening
10. 25-Shane Clanton
11. 10-Jacob Magee
12. B1-Brent Larson
13. 21JR-Billy Moyer, Jr.
14. 1-Josh Richards
15. 99B-Boom Briggs
16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck
17. 77-Jordan Yaggy
18. 14W-Dustin Walker
19. 19R-Ryan Gustin
20. B1X-Dustin Bolster
21. 7D-Dusty Leonard
22. 157-Mike Marlar
23. 36-Logan Martin
24. 9-Joseph Gorby
World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series
US 36 Raceway – Osborn, MO
Race Results – October 23, 2022
1. 157-Mike Marlar
2. 18-Chase Junghans
3. 16-Tyler Bruening
4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr
5. 19R-Ryan Gustin
6. 111V-Max Blair
7. 1-Josh Richards
8. B5-Brandon Sheppard
9. 11-Gordy Gundaker
10. 25-Shane Clanton
11. B1-Brent Larson
12. 21-Billy Moyer Sr
13. 99B-Boom Briggs
14. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr
15. 11T-Trevor Gundaker
16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck
17. 77-Jordan Yaggy
18. 33-Paul Glendenning
19. 15C-Curt Schroeder
20. 14W-Dustin Walker
21. 14-Reid Millard
22. 53-Andrew Kosiski
23. 23-Chad Walter
24. 50-Kayden Clatt
25. 81E-Tanner English
26. L88-Larry Clawson
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/10/1141475/junghans-sheppard-marlar-top-woo-lms-weekend