Brandon Sheppard looked like he might have something for eventual race winner Ryan Gustin at Cedar Lake Speedway for the $100,000 to-win USA Nationals, but it was not mean to be as he lost multiple spots on a late race restart.
With about 11 laps to go Sheppard had not only cut Gustin’s lead down, but even showed him the nose going through turns 1 and 2 and slightly pulled ahead of him exiting turn 2. However, Gustin powered back on the outside down the back stretch. Gustin then turned up the wick and kept Sheppard at bay until a caution came out on lap 94 after Devin Moran suffered a flat right rear.
On the ensuing restart Sheppard chose the top and went way high coming out of turn 4. The decision cost him a handful of positions as Mike Marlar, Hudson O’Neal, Nick Hoffman, and Chris Madden were able to get around him. He eventually finished the race in sixth.
Sheppard reacted to the finished describing it as a “heartbreaker.”
He then explained what happened, “Every restart before the final caution, I was rolling the top and making it work—but with 7 to go, the top was gone. I didn’t get the run I needed, lost momentum, and it shoved us back to 6th.”
“If I could go back and choose the bottom, I would. But I didn’t know until it was too late. Hate it for our team because this hot rod was bad fast and the results just don’t show that tonight,” he added. ”
Sheppard will be back in action with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the 43rd Annual Sunoco North/South 100 at Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky that will have a total of $325,450 in prize money up for grabs which includes the $75,000 to-win 100-lap feature on Saturday night. If Sheppard wins it will be his first win ever in the event.
What do you make of Sheppard’s comments following the USA Nationals?
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