It looked like Nick Hoffman was going to bring out the broom and sweep the World of Outlaws Late Models portion of the DIRTcar Nationals, but Brandon Sheppard had other ideas.

Hoffman qualified third in Group A, won the third heat race from the pole, and then pulled the pole in the redraw for the feature. He then did what he had done the other two nights, pulling out to healthy leads, and seemingly just putting the car in cruise control.

However, following a caution on lap 25 for Tyler Bruening, Brandon Sheppard did not go away. In fact, he began probing Hoffman’s defenses shortly after the restart. He eventually found a weakness on lap 32. He dove to the bottom of Hoffman coming out of turn 2. Hoffman battled back heading into turn 3, but Sheppard was able to stick to the bottom while Hoffman drifted high through turns 3 and 4 and complete the pass coming out of turn 4.

It was then the Brandon Sheppard show. He would easily manage two cautions, one on lap 35 for Chris Madden and another on lap 37 for Brandon Overton due to a flat tire. After the final restart, Sheppard put it on “rocket” mode as Hoffman tried to fend off Bobby Pierce and Hudson O’Neal for second. He would be unsuccessful as Pierce was able to work past both of them to claim second and O’Neal was able to get past him to move into third.

Pierce did track Sheppard down and threatened a late race pass for the win. On lap 48, Pierce peeked to the top side and seemingly had a big run, but lap traffic spoiled a crossover as Sheppard drifted up in front of him heading into turn 3 and Pierce had to go back to the top side, which hurt his momentum. Pierce never really was able to get within striking distance and Sheppard rocketed to the win.

In victory lane, Sheppard said, “It was phenomenal. All week we’ve been really good. It’s really hard to get behind here. And you’ve got to have a lot of luck on your side to get up through the field. Tonight we were able to win our heat race and put us in position really to see what we got. When you’re in the back racing with them guys, it’s hard to see how good your car is or not.”

“I was able to run second for a long time there and kind of see what Nick was doing and where he was struggling at compared to what I was doing and where I was struggling at. And just kind of compensate for that. I was able to find a couple lines that I could make a little time on him,” he continued. “I kind of waited and I kind of got him to move around a little bit by showing him my nose and then I felt really good through 1 and 2 so we were just able to capitalize.”

“It was a dream drive tonight and it was fun too because the track was very technical,” Sheppard added.

Official Finishing Order

1. Brandon Sheppard
2. Bobby Pierce
3. Hudson O’Neal
4. Nick Hoffman
5. Ricky Thornton Jr.
6. Max Blair
7. Garrett Alberson
8. Ryan Gustin
9. Tim McCreadie
10. Dustin Sorensen
11. Drake Troutman
12. Ethan Dotson
13. Carson Ferguson
14. Josh Rice
15. Sam Seawright
16. Brandon Overton
17. Dallon Murty
18. Cody Overton
19. Jake Timm
20. Tristan Chamberlain
21. Blair Nothdurft
22. Brenden Smith
23. Chase Junghans
24. Chris Madden
25. Dennis Erb Jr.
26. Dan Ebert
27. Tyler Bruening
28. Kyle Strickler
29. Tyler Wyant
30. Tyler Erb
31. Brent Larson

NEXT: Devin Moran Explains Why He’s Not Competing In The Final Night At Volusia Speedway Park With The World Of Outlaws