In a survival of the fittest, Brandon Sheppard wins the Late Model feature in the Castrol FloRacing Night in America.
A fast field saw the fast cars take a hit throughout the race as the top qualifier on the night Kyle Larson experienced a flat right rear tire with 30 laps to go. This gave Sheppard second place and he would take the lead from Garrett Alberson. Alberson ended up with a mud packed right rear tire and that put him to the back of the pack.
From that point forward, it was all B-Shepp and he took care of business at Fairbury. The Rocket No. 1 used the cushion for the majority of the 50-lap event to take the lead. He may have not had the fastest car but he was fast when he needed it the most.
Your @CastrolUSA FloRacing Night in America winner at @FALS_NATION is @B_Sheppard_B5! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/38RcLwRB1k
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) September 14, 2021
Things weren’t all smooth sailing for Sheppard while leading. He would see challenges from Tanner English right out of the caution. English would fade back to the hands of Mike Spatola. Spatola cruised by English and chased down Sheppard. However, Spatola couldn’t hang long with Sheppard and would run out of time and car to catch the World of Outlaw champion.
As they came across the line to the finish it was Sheppard leading English who got around Spatola. Spatial then got passed by Bobby Pierce for third,who basically came out of no-where and had one of the most eventful nights. Gordy Gundaker rounded out the top five.
Kyle Larson and Shane Clanton opened the race on the front row and it was Clanton leading lap one. He would take an early lead but a caution slowed things down on lap two. Following a bad restart and another caution, Larson decided to take the bottom on the next start. It would pay off as he ran second. Larson got by Clanton but his lead would’t last long. Alberson was on a rail and found his way to the runner up spot. He got by Larson coming out of turn two when the No. 6 hit the cushion and upset his car.
Another caution flew and that is when Larson found a flat right rear. This would give the lead to Albertan and Sheppard would restart in second. Then the leader Albertan ran into his own troubles with the packed right rear. Another leader and another issue.
Sheppard who took over the lead during green flag laps never trailed again from that point forward. He would lead the final 26 laps for yet another win in his illustrious Late Model career and yet another one at Fairbury Speedway.
Behind him things got crazy and were a challenge. He was battled by English but he faded. Then came Spatola but to no avail. Shepard kept ripping the fence and rode it all the way to victory lane. Things became more interesting as the drivers in second, third and fourth came to the line.
Mike Spatola was running second with two laps to go but ended up in fourth place. Tanner English snuck around Spatola and Bobby Pierce who started at the back of the field made his way to the front and stole the final podium spot from Spatola.
Gordy Gundaker would take fifth place behind Spatola. Kyle Larson ran out of time to make the comeback and wound up sixth on the night. One of the biggest movers outside of Bobby Pierce was Jonathan Davenport.
Davenport had major issues all night long. A poor qualifying effort then fell out of the heat race due to a starter wire fire under the hood. He would end up taking a provisional to the feature event and made the most of it as he climbed up into the top five. Getting as high as fourth but a bobble late forced him back yet still a top-ten for Davenport.
Sheppard grabs another big win and survives the battle at Fairbury, where it was who could survive.
