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Sheppard’s Patience Leads to Win

By BZ

(Macon, IL) We’ve all heard it before. “Patience is a virtue.� Thursday night at the 40th Annual Herald & Review 100, New Berlin’s Brandon Sheppard had the patience to overcome lapped traffic and Brian Shirley to take his first 100-lapper at Macon Speedway.

Thanks to a lapped car slowing down Shirley, Sheppard made his move and took to the lead with 19 laps remaining. Sheppard showed the patience through the first 80 laps as Shirley knived his way through the traffic that caused chaos throughout the event. As Shirley cleared the traffic, Sheppard was behind him doing the same, waiting his turn, biding his time.

After leading all 80 laps, 2012 Herald & Review 100 Champion Brian Shirley looked like he would take all 100 laps, only the third driver to ever achieve the feat. Throwing his 3S machine into the corners on the top groove, Shirley was in command. Unfortunately for him, like many feature races and drivers before him, lapped traffic caught up to him at the 1/5th mile high banked oval dirt track.

As Sheppard made his move to the lead, the crowd hopped to their feet as “B-Shepp� took off like a rocket. The question became whether or not the tires would wear down after the consecutive green flag laps between lap 6 and 52. And then again from lap 52 to 98.

As the green flag hit the air, a car was moving into the inside line and towards the infield with its front left tire barely hanging on. As the car got into the infield, the tire rolled off and into the first turn. With two laps remaining, the caution came out.

As the final restart led to the green-white-checkered finish, Sheppard commanded his B5 through the corners and into victory lane.

The win was sweet. And Brandon Sheppard enjoyed it all because he had patience.

In the Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds race, Mike Harrison from Highland blasted out to the lead early in the race and would score the 25-lap win. While he was in control of the lead, the battle for second place was filled with anxious moments as the race came to the finish. Former track champions Jeff Leka and Rodney Standerfer along with Ray Bollinger closed in together for their chance at the runner-up spot. Leka made it to the finish line just ahead of Bollinger and Standerfer.

37 BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds and 31 Super Late Models made up the show for the 40th Annual Herald & Review 100. The much anticipated race came through once again for race fans as they got to enjoy a solid night of competition and dirt slinging fun.

Race Recap: The Herald & Review 100 featured one lead change as Brian Shirley led the first 80 laps and Brandon Sheppard took the lead from 81 to the finish line. The start of the race yielded a caution flag. After the restart, lap six saw another yellow flag. Green flag racing took to the track until the yellow waved again on lap 52 and then finally on lap 98. Between the official start of the race and the checkered flag, the race was completed in 31 minutes, 48 seconds.

Macon Speedway prepares for another huge show on Saturday night. Dale’s Southlake Pharmacy presents the 2nd Diane Bennett Memorial with monster bonus incentives for winning and feature finish results. The Pro Late Models and BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds each have first place prizes at $2,500! The Archer’s Alley Street Stocks have the winner receiving $1,000! Additional money is also on the line for the Pro Modifieds, Sportsman, Micro Sprints and Hornets. Gates open at 5pm, racing at 7pm.

Herald & Review 100—1. Brandon Sheppard (New Berlin), 2. Brian Shirley (Chatham), 3. Jason Feger (Bloomington), 4. Shannon Babb (Moweaqua), 5. Dennis Erb, Jr. (Carpentersville)

Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds—1. Mike Harrison (Highland), 2. Jeff Leka (Buffalo), 3. Ray Bollinger (Kewanee), 4. Rodney Standerfer (Summerfield), 5. Jacob Rexing (Brighton)

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