Brandon Sheppard had a solid run going at Ocala Speedway on Saturday night, but it was all upended with just 7 laps left in the 50-lap feature when he suffered a right rear tire.

After starting in third for the feature, Sheppard ran around in fourth most of the night behind Brandon Overton, Hudson O’Neal, and Drake Troutman. He kept testing Troutman’s defenses for much of the beginning half of the race, but was unable to find a weakness and get by.

However, Sheppard would make his way up to second with 14 laps to go following a caution after Brian Shirley suffered a right rear flat tire. Shirley would not be the only one to head to the pits during the caution. Race leader Brandon Overton also went to the hot pit for a left rear flat tire. Dan Ebert also suffered a right rear flat tire.

On the ensuing restart Sheppard would start third and to the inside of Troutman. However, he was able to slide him heading into turn 1 and take the spot. Sheppard would maintain the position until a caution for Carson Ferguson who suffered a flat right rear. On the ensuing restart, Devin Moran was able to get past him on the outside coming out of turn. Just a handful of laps later with 7 left in the race, Sheppard suffered a flat right rear as well. After getting it changed, he was only able to salvage a 15th place finish.

Following the race, Sheppard and his team shared to Facebook, “Tough luck tonight. Running 3rd with 7 to go and unfortunately got a flat. That one stings – especially having it happen twice on points nights… but that’s racing.”

“We had a solid car and put ourselves in position, just didn’t get the finish we deserved,” he added. “We’ll take it on the chin and head to GIS ready to rebound. On to the next one.”

It was the second race in a row that Sheppard suffered a flat tire that derailed a solid performance. On Thursday night, Sheppard was running in the 6th position early in the race, but suffered a flat tire. It was likely due to debris from an earlier incident involving Kyle Bronson and Jonathan Davenport. After getting changed he only managed to salvage an 18th place finish due to the track rubbering up and the cars morphed into a single line choo choo train around the bottom.

He posted on Facebook after that one saying, “Frustrating one tonight. Started 8th was up to 6th & unfortunately there was a bunch of carnage on the first lap. There was definitely debris still on the track somewhere and it cut our tire, and got Brian Shirley Racing too. Had to go to the tail after just 3 laps in. The track ended up taking rubber mid race and it was follow-the-leader around the bottom from there. We did what we could, but it resulted in a 18th place finish.”

“Good news is they take your best 5 nights… but it still stings to have a good run ripped away from you like that,” he added. “Rollercoaster racin’ … you have that.”

NEXT: Hudson O’Neal Doubles Up With Saturday Night Win At Ocala After Brandon Overton Suffered Heartbreak