Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Son is fast, but Sheppard not done yet
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Steve Sheppard Jr. is dominating the Midwest Big 10 miniseries. (Jeff Hall)
When it comes to his racing career, Steve Sheppard Jr.’s path to retirement is simple: he’ll race until he’s no longer competitive, and then he’ll enjoy watching his son Brandon Sheppard race.
“Once I’m not competitive, I won’t be out there,” said Sheppard Jr., who after more than 20 years of driving has cut back his own racing in recent seasons to help launch his son’s career. “I love doing it, but I’m not one of them guys that just gets out there and rides around. When I can’t win a race or at least have a good shot at winning a race, I’ll just sit back and watch my son do it.”
Judging by his performance so far this season, Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., won’t be trading his driving suit for a bleacher cushion anytime soon.
He only competes in select events these days, but Sheppard Jr. has managed to post three victories in four starts on the year. He’s won the first three races of the Midwest Big 10 Series — a 10-race UMP-sanctioned miniseries among Macon (Ill.) Speedway, Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway and Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway — including a sweep of the past weekend’s doubleheader at Lincoln and Macon. As his son points out, it’s easy to see that elder Sheppard’s still got it.
“He definitely hasn’t lost his touch,” said Brandon Sheppard, whose young career has taken off in the past three seasons with numerous special event victories and a stint in the prestigious Rocket Chassis house car ride. “He helps me out a lot with my racing, but he can still get out there and race and win against the best of them.”
Sheppard Jr.’s success hasn’t come at the expense of his son’s racing interests. He makes sure of that by using older equipment and even running Brandon Sheppard’s used tires instead of spending the family-owned team’s funds to purchase new ones.
“I wanted to make sure that no matter what I didn’t take anything away from him,” Sheppard Jr. said. “I’ve got a 3-year-old car and a 5-year-old engine, but they’re doing pretty good. That’s the whole reason I’m doing it the way I’m doing it, because I’m not taking anything from him. His racing is most important right now.”
The 3-year-old car Sheppard drives is actually one of his son’s former cars. It’s a Pierce Race Car that Brandon Sheppard drove to a convincing victory in lapping up to the fifth-place finisher in a Northern Allstars Late Model Series event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., in 2011.
“When we decided I would drive it, he told me ‘Dad, you’ll love that car. It drives itself.’ He wasn’t lying. You pretty much just put it on cruise control,” Sheppard Jr. said.
With his scaled-back approach to racing, Sheppard Jr. has found a nice fit competing with the new Midwest Big 10 Series.
“I can’t afford to take away from my business and I don’t wanna take away from Brandon’s racing,” said Sheppard Jr., who owns and operates Sheppard’s Auto Sales and Salvage. “That’s why this series works out perfect for me. It’s not a ton of races and it’s close to home. It just really fits us well.”
His strong start to the season has given Sheppard Jr. plenty of confidence for the rest of the season. After coming close to winning 10 of 10 races in one of the Big 10 Series’ predecessors tours a few years ago, Sheppard Jr. is eyeing a clean sweep of the new series’ inaugural season.
“We won nine of the 10 when we ran (a similar series) a few years ago,” Sheppard Jr. said. “The way we’re running right now, I’m kinda hoping to win all 10 of them this go around.”
Weekly highlights
• With the frontrunners making contact before and after the checkers, Dona Marcoullier of Houghton Lake, Mich., edged Rusty Schlenk of Weston, Ohio, on May 11 at Oakshade Raceway. Marcoullier won the event in Wauseon, Ohio, as the first- and second-place cars spun into turn one after the race’s conclusion.
• Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., stayed undefeated in any division since April 26 with a May 11 Late Model victory at Tularosa (N.M.) Speedway.
• Enjoying a successful weekend in the Crate Late Model division driving Chase Washington’s car, Scott Dedwylder of Vossburg, Miss. scored May 10-11 victories at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway and West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway.
• Skyler Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., earned $2,500 on May 11 at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Ky., at an event that benefitted the American Cancer Society.
• Competing after graduating from Shippensburg University earlier in the day, hometown driver Dylan Yoder of finished second to Jeff Rine on May 11 at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway.
• Driving the No. 57 normally piloted by Shep Lucas, Trak-Star chassis builder Mike Boland of Cuba, Ala., lowered the track record at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway on May 11. Rick Rickman won the feature and Boland finished fourth.
• Winning the season opener at Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D., David McDonald of Huron, S.D., earned $1,571 for his Marilyn Olson Memorial victory, topping Curt Gelling and Kent Arment in a race that drew 22 cars.
• With his May 11 victory at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway, home-state driver Tyler Bruening of Decorah became just the fourth driver (after Ed Sanger, Glen Martin and Curt Martin) in track history to win the first two Late Model points events in a season.
• Brandon Overton of Appleton, Ga., won May 11’s American Crate Late Series event at 441 Speedway in Dublin, Ga., pocketing $2,000.
First things first
First-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Picking up his sixth victory of 2013, Jeremy Hines of Seymour, Ind., won his first career Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway Late Model feature on May 11.
• After lowering the track record (12.958 seconds), Bret Holmes of Munford, Ala., scored his first Super Late Model victory May 11 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala.
• On May 12 at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway, Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., captured his first feature victory at the western Illinois oval.
Weekly points chases
UMP DIRTcar (Super Late Models): Through May 6, Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., leads the way with 676 points followed by Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., with 660 points and Rusty Schlenk of Weston, Ohio, with 651 points.
UMP DIRTcar (Crate Late Models): Following another victory at Tri-City Speedway over the weekend, Aaron Heck of Mount Vernon, Ill., continues to the top the standings with 662 points. He’s followed by Nick Lyons (594) of Centralia, Ill., and Jeff Walson (481) of Paducah, Ky.
IMCA: Nick Marolf of Moscow, Iowa, leads through May 1 with 125 points, followed by Tyler Bruening (117) of Decorah, Iowa, and Todd Cooney (116) of Des Moines, Iowa.
AMRA: Andy Bond of Coolville, Ohio, leads by just five points over defending champion Chris Garnes of Evans, W.Va., with K.C. Burdette of Parkersburg, W.Va., another 25 points back in third.
ULMA: Defending champion Jason Russell of Henley, Mo., remains at the top after winning his second straight event over the weekend. Russell’s 249 points leads Justin Russell (237) and Earl Roark (229).
NeSmith Chevrolet Series: Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, Miss., leads the Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series for Crate Late Models with 341 points while Shannon Lee (330) of Lumberton, Miss., and Noah Daspit (327) of Kiln, Miss., give chase.
RUSH: The first-year weekly points sponsored by Sweeney Chevrolet-Buick-GMC have Michael Lake of Uniontown, Pa., in the lead with 669 points over John Over (624) of Uniontown and Dennis Lunger Jr. (542) of Albion, Pa.
SECA: Mac Owens of Woodruff, S.C., leads the first-year Southeastern Crate Association with 102 points over Joey Phillips (101) and Terry Bullard (100).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events at dirt tracks around the country this weekend:
Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway (May 17): The Mary Lee Standridge Memorial includes the Midwest Big 10 Series for Late Models and Midwest Open Wheel Association sprint cars.
311 Motor Speedway, Madison, N.C. (May 18): The track’s $2,000-to-win Super Late Model event pays $250-to-start. In addition, any driver finishing fifth or 10th on American Racer Tires will receive a free tire from the track’s tire supplier.
Golden Isles Speedway, Brunswick, Ga. (May 18): The southern Georgia oval is paying $2,000-to-win for its Late Model division. The event, sponsored by United Land Clearing includes a $500 coin toss for children during intermission.
Winchester (Va.) Speedway (May 18): The night’s racing sponsored by Mid Atlantic Pro Tel includes a 30-lap Super Late Model race paying $2,000-to-win.
Clayhill Motorsports Park, Atwood, Tenn. (May 18): Round 4 of the King of the Clayhill miniseries for Crate Late Models.
201 Speedway, Sitka, Ky. (May 18): The rain-postponed Walter Peg Memorial pays $3,000-to-win for Super Late Models.
