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The 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion grew up spectating and racing on the \u201cMighty\u201d Macon Speedway, climbing behind the wheel of his father Steve\u2019s backup Late Model at Macon for the first time at just 14 years old. Ever since that day, it\u2019s been his dream to win the big races like the Herald & Review 100. Now, he\u2019s finally achieved it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good, I\u2019ve been trying to win this race for a long time,\u201d Sheppard told Summer Nationals announcer Ruben Mireles in Victory Lane. \u201cI know this place means a lot to me and my family and friends. I\u2019ve got a lot of family here tonight\u2026 that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about for me racing \u2013\u00a0family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheppard played the waiting game through the first 80 laps, trailing leader Shirley through thick lapped traffic and a few caution flags as they weaved in-and-out of numerous waves of slower cars. One thing to note about the gap between the two leaders \u2013 Sheppard never let Shirley get too far ahead in traffic.<\/p>\n
A caution flag just past the halfway mark bought the leaders a breather and erased Shirley\u2019s sizable lead \u2013 one he had used to lap up to the top-six drivers in the running order. Once again, Sheppard took the green on the restart and never forced the issue. Rather, he was patient and got his primetime opportunity in lapped traffic as the leaders approached 20 laps-to-go.<\/p>\n
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Shirley continued to run the high side as he had done all race while Sheppard kept it fast and smooth on the bottom. Shirley then reached the back of the slower Rusty Griffaw and spent one lap too many trying to get around him. That\u2019s when Sheppard pounced.<\/p>\n
The #B5 Rocket Chassis stuck like glue to the bottom lane and drove off of Turn 4 with the lead. But it wasn\u2019t exactly over yet.<\/p>\n
Sheppard\u2019s 3+ second gap over Shirley in the closing laps was erased as the caution came out with two laps remaining. Sheppard stared down the green-white-checkered finish and handled it like all pros do, holding off Shirley and the competition behind him for his second $5,000 Hell Tour<\/em> victory this season and second in three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting our butt whooped here for a long time,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cWe could win a Heat Race and start up front, but we could never seal the deal. Tonight, I was just really patient. I didn\u2019t knock the deck out, not that I know of, maybe a little bit\u2026<\/p>\n
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\u201cI just bided my time there and didn\u2019t use up my tires. I was really easy on them in the first part of the race, then I saw Brian [Shirley] starting to fade a little bit and I knew it was my chance to try and make something happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shirley held onto second and increased his points lead over the rest of the field while Jason Feger crossed the line third, also making up some points in the standings on Frank Heckenast Jr., who had a tough night in 11th. Former Herald & Review winners Shannon Babb and Dennis Erb Jr. completed the top-five.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT<\/strong><\/p>\n
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals action continues Friday night at the Fayette County Speedway for Round #19 of DIRTcar Late Model action. Catch every lap live on DIRTVision<\/a> presented by Drydene<\/a>.<\/p>\n
ABBREVIATED RESULTS<\/strong> (click for full results<\/a>)<\/p>\n
MACON, IL \u2013 If there\u2019s one thing Brandon Sheppard\u2019s perfected in 14+ years of racing Dirt Late Models, it\u2019s how to be patient in long races. On Thursday night at Macon Speedway, he put every bit of that patience to good use, passing DIRTcar Summer Nationals points leader Brian Shirley in traffic for the lead … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[480],"tags":[600,100,101],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recap","tag-600","tag-brandon-sheppard","tag-macon-speedway","has-post-video"],"yoast_head":"\n