The Story From Eriez: Sheppard Prevails Over Area Invaders, Boardman Tops Stocks, Simon Gets First Victory

World of Outlaws Late Models

 

On Sunday night the World of Outlaws Late Models pulled into Eriez Speedway for their annual August event at the 3/8^th mile track.  25 cars in total signed in for the event on a beautiful 78 degree evening. Brandon Sheppard would set a new track record with his qualifying attempt at 14.940 seconds with the top 7 times surpassing the former record of 15.113 seconds.

Russ King was fast all night at Eriez Speedway

The redraw lined up Frank Heckenast Jr and Russ King on the front row for the start of the 50 lap feature. Heckengast lead the field to green and got a great jump initially, however he would be surpassed by King on the topside coming to complete lap one. This lead would be short lived, as Breyton Santee and Pete Asplaugh spun in turn 2 of the second lap.  King would lead Sheppard, Heckengast, Jared Miley and Morgan Bagley back to green on the following restart. 

Chris Madden's crew changing his flat left rear in the work area.

They would continue nose to tail until lap 8 when Miley passed Heckengast for the 3^rd position and Chris Madden and Shane Clanton both got around Bagley. Madden and Clanton would race side by side for an entire lap for the fifth position when Clanton spun on the high side of turn 4.  With King continuing to lead Sheppard, Miley, Heckenast and Madden, the initial restart would be yellow flagged when Steve Kania slowed after contact in turn 2. Under caution Chris Madden would have to pit for a left rear flat, giving up the 5^th spot. 

Going back to green, King used the high side to retain the lead over over Sheppard, Miley, Heckenast and Bagley. Bagley would find his way around Heckenast for the 4^th spot on lap 15 and they would all continue to chase King until Lap 19 when Bump Hedman spun in turn 1 bringing out the yellow yet again.  On the following restart Miley in the third spot would get a great jump on Sheppard in second and complete the pass.

Chris Madden, Jared Miley, and Shane Clanton in heat race 2.

In the laps following, King would continue to use the high side while Miley slowly closed, stalking him on the low side. Miley would work himself side by side with King on lap 33, and they encountered lap traffic on lap 34. On lap 36 Miley would get under King and take the lead. Sheppard would also find his way under King on lap 40 and begin his pursuit of Miley. It would take Sheppard just a couple laps to catch the tail of Miley, who was in heavy traffic. They would run side by side for several laps with Sheppard able to take the lead on lap 46. Miley would get back by Sheppard the next lap, and they again raced side by side. Miley would lose his grip on the surface and spin out in turn 4, surrendering the lead to Brandon Sheppard on lap 48. Amidst heartbreak, Miley would circle under caution for a lap and retire to his hauler for the remainder of the event. 

This set up a green white checkerd scenario, with Brandon Sheppard taking an insurmountable 4 car length lead on the restart and picking up the win by almost 2 seconds while Max Blair completed a pass over Rick Eckert to enter the top 5 coming to the white flag. Russ King followed in second, Eric Wells in third, Frank Heckenast Jr in forth and Max Blair in fifth.

Sheppard's car covered in victory confetti.

Top 10 (50 laps)

1. Brandon Sheppard

2. Russ King

3. Eric Wells

4. Frank Heckenast Jr.

5. Max Blair

6. Rick Eckert

7. Morgan Bagley

8. Devin Moran

9. Chub Frank

10. Steve Kania

Street Stocks

Brad Church leads the field.

Brad Church and Michael Reed would lead the field of street stocks to the green of the first feature race of the night. Church would take the early lead over Reed, Gary Fisher, John Boardman and Anthony Marotto. The pace would be slowed quickly by a spin in turn 4 by Allen English on lap 2. Upon the ensuing restart, Boardman would quickly find himself side by side with Fisher for 3^rd and subsequently Reed for 2^nd by the end of lap 4. The caution would again fly on lap 5 when Eric McCray spun in turn 2. This would line up Church at the point over Boardman, Reed, Brandon Groters and Don McGuire. John Boardman would get a great start this time, taking the high line against Church with several attempts to pull even for the lead in the following laps and actually taking the lead as the yellow came out in turn 2 on lap 8. Jimmy Kennerknecht and Charlie McMillen had gotten together in turn 2 forcing the caution.  

Again, Church would lead the field to the green, this time with Brandon Groters making a hard charge. Groters would take the lead on lap 10, with Boardman following him by Church on lap 11. Boardman would then mount a charge on Groters for the lead. The two would pass under the white flag side by side for the lead and Groters spun in turn 1 collecting Reed in the process bringing out the final caution of the race. Boardman would restart in the top spot over Church, Marotto, Don McGuire and Chris McGuire and Boardman drove to victory in the 1 lap shootout.

John Boardman in heat race action.

Top 10 (15 laps)

1. John Boardman

2. Brad Church

3. Don McGuire

4. Chris McGuire

5. Anthony Marotto

6. Gary Fisher

7. Garrett Calvert

8. Victor Earle Jr.

9. Bill Applebee

10. Wesley McCray 

Economods

Devin Henry was fast until sidelined by a flat tire.

Devin Henry and Steve Simon lead the Economod field to the green with Henry taking an early lead. Simon would pull even with Henry on lap 2 as Bob Vogt would spin in turn 1 collecting Jason Brightman. While under caution, Devin Henry would discover he had a flat right rear tire and dash for the pits to make a change. However, he would not be allowed to return to the racing surface due to speeding in the pit area. Steve Simon assumed the lead on the lap 2 restart over Matt Alexander, Eric Reinwald and Kyle Miller. 

Simon would continue to lead with Reinwald completing the pass for second over Alexander on lap 3. Lap 4 Miller would find his way under Reinwald for the second spot and they would run in this order for several laps. Simon would continue to lead Miller, Reinwald, Alexander and Brian Toto and looked like he would cruise to victory until Ashley Rogers spun on lap 14 in turn 4.  Simon again would run away on the restart, taking the win over Miller, Reinwald, Alexander and Mike Boyd.

Steve Simon would not be denied victory.

Top 10 (15 laps)

1. Steve Simon

2. Kyle Miller

3. Eric Reinwald

4. Matt Alexander

5. Mike Boyd

6. Keith Felicetty

7. Zack Lenart

8. Brian Toto

9. Dustin Eckman

10. Ashley Rogers