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Brandon Sheppard bags three-straight speedweeks wins at East Bay

Brandon Sheppard and Rocket1 Racing enjoyed a successful week of racing at Florida’s East Bay Raceway Park with their Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.

Sheppard stormed to three feature wins at the storied 1/3-mile oval. (Heath Lawson image)

“We spent all of last year working on a lot of new stuff. We found things that work, and we found things that didn’t, but we made a lot of gains toward this season, and we’ve already seen results with four wins for the Rocket1 Racing entry already. We had a shot at another win on Saturday night, but things didn’t shake out quite right for us, but I’m still pleased with what we accomplished,” Sheppard said. “My team and my sponsors give me every single thing I need to be successful, and it’s so exciting and such an honor to be the guy, who gets to drive this No. 1.

“I’m looking forward to Volusia (Speedway Park), and hopefully we can add more wins to the tally over the course of the next week.”

Rocket1 Racing and Brandon Sheppard were back in action with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) at East Bay Raceway Park (Gibsonton, Fla.) on Monday evening for the Wrisco Winternationals opener. With a massive field of 70 cars entered, Brandon grabbed the third-and-final transfer spot in his heat, which placed him 17th on the starting grid for the $5,000-to-win feature. Breaking into the Top-10, Sheppard gained eight spots in the 30-lap affair to place ninth.

With a rainout on Tuesday shifting action to Wednesday evening, Sheppard topped the speed charts in time trials before cruising to a heat race win. After surrendering the top spot to Brandon Overton on the eighth circuit of the feature, Brandon regained the lead on lap 13 and paced the field in the remaining distance of the 40-lapper to capture his second win of the season and a $7,000 prize. He took his 23rd career LOLMDS triumph ahead of Ashton Winger, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, and Ricky Thornton Jr.

The following night in a field of 75 cars, Brandon’s second-place finish in his heat race positioned him eighth on the starting grid for the A-Main. Gaining ground early, Sheppard worked his way up to fifth by the halfway point and made a nifty move on a lap-21 restart to grab the lead from the third row. Holding off Earl Pearson Jr. after a late-race restart, Brandon raced to his third win of the season and second in as many nights. His 24th career Lucas Oil victory was worth $7,000.

Sheppard kept his winning ways going on Friday night. After starting the night by setting fast time over a 74-car field, Sheppard won his heat race to earn the pole position for the night’s 50-lap feature. He paced the first 11 circuits before surrendering the lead on lap 12. He battled back to the top spot on lap 13, before again relinquishing the lead on lap 14.

Brandon bided his time before retaking the lead on lap 24 en route to the $12,000 victory in the 50-lap affair, which marked the team’s third of the week and fourth of the season.

The week drew to a close on Saturday night with a $15,000 winner’s check on the line. From the fourth-starting spot Sheppard charged to the lead on lap 3 of the 50-lap finale. He would pace the field before relinquishing the top spot on a lap 34-restart. His luck would turn south one lap later, when he was collected in a melee, which brought his night to an early end in the 21st position.

Full results from the week are available at www.LucasDirt.com.

Rocket1 Racing now turns their attention to the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Florida) for six nights of racing, spanning February 14-19. Action begins with a pair of $7,000-to-win DIRTcar UMP Late Model events on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a quarter of $10,000-to-win World of Outlaws (WoO) CASE Late Model Series on Wednesday – Saturday.

For more information on the events, please visit www.WoOLMS.com.

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