A new rumor claims that Rocket1 Racing may end their season early after Tim McCreadie’s second place finish at the Dirt Track World Championships at Eldora Speedway and a fourth place finish in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship.
Ricky Thornton Jr. leads Dale McDowell, Tim McCreadie, Mike Marlar, Hudson O’Neal and Scott Crigler at The Topless 100 via FloRacing.com
Justin Fiedler, the host of YouTube channel Dirtrackr, shared in a recent video, “I’ve been told, though, that [Rocket1 Racing] may call it a season after Eldora to begin 2025 preparations.”
He added, “Rumors continue to run rampant about the future for this team with Josh Richards intrigue obviously thrown in here. … They even fueled those rumors by posting a throwback Thursday photo last week featuring both Richards and Brandon Sheppard. It was a solid troll job in my own humble experienced social media guy opinion.”
Next, he shared, “It continues to seem highly possible and likely that McCreadie’s Rocket house car driver time is coming to a close.”
“And multiple friends have told me that Josh Richards could run at least some races next year in the Rocket orbit although a full season every week type of deal is probably not happening,” he concluded.
Tim McCreadie celebrates a win at the Topless 100. Photo Credit: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
While Fiedler notes in the video above that Rocket1 Racing’s schedule shows they will race at the World Finals and the Castrol FloRacing Night in America, their website notes their next event is TBA.
A screenshot of Rocket1 Racing’s website
Furthermore, the team’s schedule ends with Eldora Speedway.
A screenshot of Rocket1 Racing’s schedule on their website.
McCreadie joined Rocket1 Racing after Hudson O’Neal announced he was leaving the driver’s seat to pursue his own race team. McCreadie left Paylor Motorsports to take the Rocket1 ride.
He piloted the car to just a single victory at the Topless 100, but was able to find some chemistry with the team late in the season to fend off Hudson O’Neal and secure a fourth position in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship.
Over the last month, he had some consistent top five finishes albeit a rather big blemish during the CJ Rayburn Memorial at Brownstown with a 19th and a 15th place at Knowxville. With those finishes aside, he finished second in the Dirt Track World Championship, fourth in the Jackson 100 at Brownstown, fourth in the second night of the Pittsburgher, eighth in night one of the Pittsburgher and two fifth place finishes at Knoxville. He also secured a fourth at the World 100.
Brandon Sheppard via FloRacing.com
As for Sheppard’s plans he announced he would be racing his own team for the 2025 season beginning at the Wild West Shootout.
He shared on social media back in September, “I will be parting ways with the Longhorn Factory Team and Riggs Racing at the conclusion of the 2024 World of Outlaws (WoO) CASE Late Model season. It’s been a fun and good run with the Longhorn Factory Team and Riggs Racing, but we’ve amicably decided to go our separate ways at the end of the season.”
Sheppard added, “There’s no hard feelings or drama, we just all are looking to different goals for 2025. Steve Arpin and the Riggs Family have been good to me, and they’ll always be great friends. I wish those guys nothing but the best of luck, and I’m fully focused on ending our tenure together with a World of Outlaws title.”
As for his plans for 2025, he stated, “As we look to the future, I’m actively working on details for our racing program. We are going to open the 2025 season at the Wild West Shootout in New Mexico in my family owned B5, and then past that point we are still looking to lock some things down. I’m open to marketing partners who might be looking to get involved with my racing endeavors.”
Thank you to: Scott & Jason Riggs – & family – for everything they have done for me over the past couple of years – thankful for our longtime friendship over the past 10 years.
Thank you to: Steve Arpin, Paul, John & Mikey Leach – Matt Langston, Kevin Rumley, Tommy Grecco,… pic.twitter.com/y9G8XNoxLh
— Brandon Sheppard (@bsheppb5) September 12, 2024
Given all of the craziness that happened this year with drivers changing rides, it’s quite possible Sheppard returns to Rocket1 Racing.
What do you make of this rumor that Rocket1 Racing might be done for the rest of the season?
NEXT: Ricky Thornton Jr. Reveals Chris Madden Will Not Return As His Crew Chief In 2025