HARLAN, Iowa — Brandon Sheppard capitalized on a fierce battle between Ryan Gustin and Devin Moran, slipping past both drivers with six laps remaining to capture Thursday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Malvern Bank Go 50 at Shelby County Speedway.
Much like the previous two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events at Shelby County Speedway, the outcome wasn’t decided until the closing laps.
Sheppard pocketed the $15,000 winner’s prize while earning his series-leading eighth victory of the season.
Nick Hoffman, who ran fourth for much of the race, charged to second during the closing laps. Gustin, who paced the field for 42 of the race’s 50 laps, rounded out the podium.
Moran, who briefly wrestled the lead away from Gustin on laps 40 and 43, finished fourth, while Brian Shirley completed the top five.
The victory marked the 43rd Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph of Sheppard’s career and extended his championship points lead.
“I was getting a heck of a show watching those two (Gustin and Moran) out front,” Sheppard said. “They were racing each other hard there, and I just felt myself slipping in the top. At some point, I knew I was going to have to move down, and there was no better time than when those two were racing each other like that. I was running around trying to see if there was anything in the bottom because, in turns one and two especially, I was losing time up there.
“Then we got so deep into lapped traffic that it became harder to pass on the top. The bottom started to come in, and that’s when I found a clean spot in turns three and four.”
Hoffman rebounded from a heartbreaking finish Tuesday night at Adams County Speedway, where he led the majority of the race before trailing smoke over the final 10 laps and finishing third.
“It was getting pretty western up there,” Hoffman said. “I looked at the board, and we had about 10 laps to go, and I thought we still weren’t out of this deal. Depending on what they were going to do, they were throwing some haymakers and elbows. It was getting pretty aggressive.
“Sheppy was able to snooker them there to get by them, and then I was there a couple of laps later. I just wasn’t good enough. Once I cleared them, I fell in line behind Sheppy. Our stuff was really good. I don’t know what we could have done differently. We were fast around the top early, and then finally we got to move around. Man, that was one of the funnest races I’ve run all year.”
Gustin, who was looking for his second career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory, settled for third.
“It was just really full-contact late model racing,” Gustin said. “It’s not the way I try to race. I try to race clean, but man, he (Moran) didn’t really do anything wrong. You’ve got to log that stuff in the back of your head when you get run over time and time again, and when it’s time to give it back, you give it back.”
Malvern Bank Go 50 | Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 6 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $15,000
2 – 4 – 9H – Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – $8,000
3 – 2 – 19R – Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – $5,000
4 – 1 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $3,500
5 – 3 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,000
6 – 23 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $2,700
7 – 14 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,500
8 – 24 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $2,400
9 – 5 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,100
10 – 10 – 28 – Dennis Erb Jr – Carpentersville, IL – $2,000
11 – 7 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $1,900
12 – 9 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $1,800
13 – 25 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $600
14 – 11 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $1,600
15 – 20 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $1,500
16 – 22 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $1,450
17 – 19 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,400
18 – 18 – 4 – Tad Pospisil – Norfolk, NE – $1,350
19 – 13 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $1,300
20 – 17 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $1,250
21 – 26 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $100
22 – 28 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $100
23 – 12 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,200
24 – 27 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $100
25 – 8 – 15D – Justin Duty – Molalla, OR – $1,200
26 – 15 – 53 – Andrew Kosiski – Lavista, NE – $1,200
27 – 16 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $1,300
28 – 21 – 18J – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $1,200
