Following a two-week hiatus, the champions of the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series were back at it in Pennsylvania – and anyone who has been following this series is aware that one driver has been dominating the scene. As the weekend opened on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway, this driver and his Rocket1 Racing team would once again prove that they are the ones to beat this season.
Brandon Sheppard has had plenty of exceptional performances in the past, but on Friday night, he was downright perfect. Along with setting the PFC Brakes fast time and winning his Drydene Heat Race, the Rocket Shepp redrew the pole position for the first 40 Lap race of the weekend. Following the wave of the green flag, Sheppard and his No. 1 Rocket Racing ride grabbed the lead on lap one and never looked back for his 53rd career World of Outlaws Feature win.
“This race was phenomenal,” said Sheppard. “I had never seen this track before Friday night, which is why I am so grateful that our Rocket1 Racing guys had this thing dialed-in from the word ‘go.’
Much like Friday night’s race, the second night of The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Pennsylvania swing gave a hometown boy a chance to power past point series leader and Friday night winner Brandon Sheppard for his second World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Feature win at Port Royal Speedway.
Ever since the drop of the green flag, the No. 25 of pole sitter Mason Zeigler seemed to be the car to beat. That is, until Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ricky Weiss, as well as Brandon Sheppard, decided to make the battle for this win as difficult as possible.
After winning their Drydene Heat races earlier in the evening and redrawing the front row, both Zeigler and Weiss pulled out to a sizable lead at the drop of the green. As the lead between these two drivers changed hands several times, lapped traffic began to open the door for Weiss on Lap 17. While Weiss sat in command for the next several laps, Zeigler found his mojo and in the final three laps was able to take a deep dive down low into the first turn while Ricky Weiss laid his right-rear tire on the cushion. Weiss had thrown a textbook slide job on Zeigler on the restart to take the lead, so Zeigler returned the favor with a slide job of his own to regain the lead out of turn two.
As the two raced head to head, Zeigler would eventually manage to mash the throttle on the top and power his way to take the checkered flag.
“My only option was to get up there and murder the cushion,” said Zeigler. “I was so tight through the center and down low, where up top I could really wheelspin it and get sideways and not lose any ground. It was my only option and we were able to make it work for my first win.”
The champions from the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series return to racing action on Labor Day weekend Aug. 30-31 at Sharon Speedway for the Battle at the Border. Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for all of your dirt racing coverage.
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