SEYMOUR, Wis. — Finding victory lane at the right time can turn a driver’s season around. That’s precisely what Cade Dillard did Tuesday to win the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown at Outagamie Speedway.
Dillard jumped on the roof of his car with joy and signs of relief showing from the smile beaming across his face. Dillard made his move on a lap-15 restart. He ran down Brandon Overton in two laps, dove to the bottom in turn three and slid up in front of Overton to take the lead. Dillard used his momentum to drive away from Overton, pounding the cushion with speed to collect the $10,000 prize.
It was his fourth career WoO LMS victory.
“It’s been a really tough year, and things haven’t went our way,” Dillard said. “We’ve been changing a lot on the car just to find something to get it clicking again. I knew [Brandon Overton] and [Brandon Sheppard] would be hard to compete with when we were lined up in staging. So to be able to outrun those guys is very rewarding for us.”
The lap-15 caution, involving then race leader Ryan Gustin changed the entire complexion of the race. Dillard was running third when “The Reaper” spun, putting him on the second row for the restart. That’s when Dillard stated some luck fell his way as Brandon Sheppard chose the bottom lane while running second.
“I really expected [Sheppard] to restart on the top,” Dillard said. “I think there was a little mud on the bottom to kind of get you going, but I think it just so wore out down there, so we were lucky to get a good jump right there because if the roles were reversed and he was upfront, he would’ve been hard to get by.”
Sheppard settled for second, his 16th podium finish of 2021. He also extended his points lead over Chris Madden to 88.
“[Dillard] was in the preferred line there, and once I got to him, I knew he was going to be tough to pass just because he rolled the top about as good as I could,” Sheppard said. “I could turn off of it and keep up with him, but I just wasn’t fast enough down low to be able to pass him.”
Madden followed Sheppard over the line in third after passing Overton late for the podium position. “I know what I need; I just got to figure out how to get it,” Madden said. “We’re missing just a little bit right now, we’re steady and getting podium finishes, but I need just a little bit to get back into victory lane.”
Gustin battled back to finish fourth, with Overton taking fifth.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps)-1. 97-Cade Dillard [4][$10,000]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [7][$6,000]; 3. 44-Chris Madden [6][$3,500]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin [2][$2,800]; 5. 76-Brandon Overton [1][$2,500]; 6. 28M-Jimmy Mars [3][$2,300]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening [10][$2,200]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb [8][$2,100]; 9. 7-Ricky Weiss [5][$2,050]; 10. 0E-Rick Eckert [15][$2,000]; 11. 25-Jason Feger [14][$1,600]; 12. 12-Ashton Winger [12][$1,400]; 13. 66-Ron Berna [19][$1,200]; 14. B1-Brent Larson [9][$1,100]; 15. 99B-Boom Briggs [16][$1,050]; 16. 111V-Max Blair [11][$1,000]; 17. 3-Brett Swedberg [13][$1,000]; 18. 38-Thomas Hunziker [18][$1,000]; 19. 10-Paul Parker [23][$1,000]; 20. D1-Turk Letizia [20][$1,000]; 21. 1st-Johnny Scott [21][$1,000]; 22. 5-Lukas Postl [17][$1,000]; 23. 74-Mitch McGrath [22][$1,000]; 24. O3-Kyle Raddant [24][$1,000]Hard Charger: 66-Ron Berna[+6]