MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Brandon Sheppard completed a clean sweep Friday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway, leading all 40 laps of the opening night of the Mountain Moonshine Classic to earn his fourth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season.
The New Berlin, Illinois driver earned $10,000 for the victory after setting overall fast time, winning his heat race, and capping off a perfect evening in Wieland Victory Lane.
The win marked the 40th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph of Sheppard’s career.
Sheppard crossed the finish line 1.342 seconds ahead of Dale McDowell, who finished second. Garrett Alberson rounded out the podium. Chris Madden and Sam Seawright completed the top five.
With championship points leader Hudson O’Neal finishing eighth, Sheppard trimmed his deficit from 150 points to 80 heading into Saturday night’s $30,000-to-win Mountain Moonshine Classic finale.
“It’s hard to win here. It’s nothing like any place I grew up racing,” Sheppard said. “I think we won a Southern All Stars race here a long time ago, but we haven’t been able to get it done since. Anytime you can run up front with Dale (McDowell) and those guys at a place like this, you know you’ve accomplished something.”
Sheppard admitted navigating lapped traffic was one of the biggest challenges of the race.
“Honestly, while I was leading, I was already thinking about what I was going to do when I got to traffic,” he said. “I know better than to try passing those guys on the outside here, but they were racing three-wide in front of me. When Dale showed me a nose, I knew I had to figure out a way to get back by him and get to the bottom. I just bided my time and made it work.”
McDowell challenged Sheppard on multiple occasions but was never able to complete a pass for the lead.
“I think I had a chance, but I hit the wall once and damaged a spoiler support, and that hurt us,” McDowell said. “I was trying to widen my entry and thought I had an opening going into turn one. It was a good night for us. Once the race stayed green, I thought lapped traffic might give us an opportunity, but Brandon had really good speed in clean air. We’ll work on it and see what we can do tomorrow night.”
Alberson continued his strong season with a third-place finish and an important gain in the championship standings.
“I needed the start to go a little better,” Alberson said. “If I could have gotten to Sheppard’s door at the start-finish line, maybe it would have been a different race. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. We just need a little bit more. This car is really close, and honestly, this feels like a win for us. This place has been tricky for us in the past, so it’s a big confidence boost.”
Mountain Moonshine Classic | Night 1 | Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $10,000
2 – 3 – 17M – Dale McDowell – Chickamauga, GA – $5,500
3 – 2 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $3,500
4 – 4 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $2,700
5 – 5 – 16S – Sam Seawright – Fort Payne, AL – $2,500
6 – 8 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,300
7 – 6 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $2,200
8 – 10 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,200
9 – 17 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $2,050
10 – 12 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $2,100
11 – 7 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $1,600
12 – 14 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $1,400
13 – 16 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,200
14 – 9 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,000
15 – 13 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $950
16 – 21 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $925
17 – 11 – 0 – Jake O’Neil – Tucson, AZ – $900
18 – 19 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $875
19 – 15 – T1 – Todd Morrow – Penton, AL – $850
20 – 23 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $825
21 – 24 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $800
22 – 22 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $800
23 – 20 – 93J – Donovan Jackson – Hope Mills, NC – $800
24 – 25 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $100
25 – 18 – 91 – Heath Hindman – Signal Mountain, TN – $800
