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Eldora Speedway
Sheppard,
Landers earn Dream XXII victories
$100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream finale on tap Saturday night
ROSSBURG, Ohio — Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Jared
Landers of Batesville, Ark., captured two of the richest 25-lap
features in Dirt Late Model history Friday, staking their claim at
glory on the final preliminary night of Eldora Speedway’s Dream XXII
presented by Ferris Mowers.
Both drivers made their winning passes on lap 15 and pulled away over
the final 10 laps for $10,000 paydays and crucial points that will set
Saturday’s heat race lineups for the $100,000 finale of the season’s
richest Dirt Late Model weekend.
Sheppard’s victory in the opening twin 25-lapper came over a pair of
fellow Illinois drivers as Dennis Erb Jr of Carpentersvile, Ill., who
inched ahead of Sheppard to lead the 14th lap, and Bobby Pierce of
Oakwood, Ill., finished second and third at the historic half-mile oval
owned by NASCAR star Tony Stewart. Hall of Famer Billy Moyer of
Batesville, Ark., and 11th-starting Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga.,
rounded out the top five.
“We had an awesome car again tonight. I think we made a pretty good
call on tires,” said Sheppard, the driver of Ohio-based Best
Performance Motorsports who also won a $5,000 prelim Thursday. “I think
we were the only one out there on the tire combination that we have, so
I’ve got to thank my crew chief Randall Edwards … and everybody that
helps on this thing. This XR1 Rocket was on point again tonight. We’re
looking forward to tomorrow for sure.”
Landers stalked Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., for 14 laps in
Friday’s second preliminary feature, making the winning move amid
traffic with a daring turn-four slide job. Six-time Dream winner Scott
Bloomquist finished second ahead of Satterlee with Ricky Thornton Jr.
of Chandler, Ariz., and 16th-starting Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.,
rounding out the top five.
“This is awesome, to win the race here. This car’s great,” said
Landers, who led laps at last year’s Dream and World 100 at Eldora. “My
crew worked their butt off today trying to fix everything from the
track last night. We rebuilt the car and we worked toward this setup
and we finally got one. We’ve got it all back like it was when I was at
the World, so it’s still good.”
Sheppard, Landers and the weekend’s other top contenders — who accrued
preliminary-night points that will set Saturday’s heat race lineups for
the first time — return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday with six heat
races on a night that culminates with a driver collecting a $100,000
paycheck.
In the first prelim polesitter Chris Brown of Spring, Texas, tried to
crash the Illinois party by leading the first three laps, but
Sheppard’s lap-four slide job sent him to the front exiting turn four
with Erb eventually settling into the second spot.
Erb turned up the wick near the race’s midpoint, and after a lap-13
yellow, he ran side-by-side with Sheppard before going ahead to lead
lap 14. But Sheppard kept rolling on the high side and swept back into
the lead and edged away as Erb couldn’t keep up.
“Our car’s really good on the top,” Sheppard said, looking ahead to
Saturday’s scheduled 100-lapper. “It really helps to start these races
on the front row, we don’t have to pass guys. I think we’ve got a good
enough car to where we can pass some guys, but the thing about this
place is, it takes a long time to pass a guy. You’ve got to work them a
little bit and figure out where they’re messing up at and take
advantage of that. That’s going to be the biggest thing, hopefully
start up front and just hold them off.”
The 25-lapper was slowed by three cautions, one of which turned into a
red flag after eight laps complete Frank Heckenast Jr. — an Illinois
driver who didn’t have such a good night — got the worst end of a
four-wide battle on the frontstretch. His No. 99jr slid nose-first into
the inside-wall Hunt Brothers Pizza billboard 50 yards before the
turn-one entrance. His car was done for the weeekend, but he wasn’t
hurt.
The first caution appeared on the eighth lap for a slowing Rodney
Sanders and Shanon Buckingham drew a lap-14 yellow.
In the second feature, Satterlee got the jump on the polesitting
Bloomquist, and Landers quickly moved into second Jonathan Davenport,
last year’s Dream winner and a Thursday night winner, was further back
in fourth with Thornton just behind.
Landers ran virtually side-by-side with Satterlee on the seventh lap
before Satterlee moved back ahead, and action picked up near the race’s
midpoint as Satterlee, Landers and Bloomquist worked through the slower
cars of Rusty Schlenk and Jason Jameson.
With traffic still in play, Landers dove under Satterlee entering turn
three and came out on top in turn four, then edged away to complete the
his first Eldora victory.
“I’m not going to let lapped traffic hold me up,” Landers said. “If it
takes me out of the race, I’ve just got to do it. I can’t follow these
guys. I’ve just got to take it when I get it. That’s what I was
practicing tonight, I just wanted to pass as many cars as I was able
to. I think we’ve got a car to win (Saturday’s) race.”
Saturday’s tickets start at $40 with children 12-and-under free for
general admission tickets. Find tickets and camping information at
(937) 338-3815 or www.EldoraSpeedway.com.
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BOX SCORE: Dream XXII – Night #2
Time Trials
1.44M-Chris Madden, 16.208; 2.5-Don O’Neal, 16.266; 3.3s-Brian Shirley,
16.356; 4.1-Josh Richards, 16.371; 5.76-Brandon Overton, 16.379;
6.22S-Gregg Satterlee, 16.389; 7.21B-Chris Brown, 16.402; 8.157-Mike
Marlar, 16.406; 9.32P-Bobby Pierce, 16.443; 10.6-Jonathan Davenport,
16.452; 11.21-Billy Moyer, 16.493; 12.777-Jared Landers, 16.494;
13.B5-Brandon Sheppard, 16.495; 14.6m-Wendell Wallace, 16.568;
15.20-Jimmy Owens, 16.573; 16.15-Jon Henry, 16.600; 17.20s-Rodney
Sanders, 16.605; 18.55-Jeep VanWormer, 16.630; 19.C9-Steve Casebolt,
16.639; 20.28M-Jimmy Mars, 16.656; 21.28-Dennis Erb Jr. , 16.671;
22.11A-Austin Smith, 16.673; 23.25Z-Mason Zeigler, 16.674; 24.0-Scott
Bloomquist, 16.696; 25.99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. , 16.701; 26.18J-Chase
Junghans, 16.719; 27.25-Jason Feger, 16.723; 28.18-Shannon Babb,
16.731; 29.50-Shanon Buckingham, 16.738; 30.33x-Ricky Thornton Jr,
16.739; 31.101-Casey Roberts, 16.783; 32.7B-Jeff Babcock, 16.791;
33.1G-Devin Gilpin, 16.792; 34.1P-Earl Pearson Jr., 16.793;
35.97-Michael Chilton, 16.794; 36.4G-Kody Evans, 16.795; 37.17M-Dale
McDowell, 16.807; 38.99M-Devin Moran, 16.811; 39.15L-Darrell Lanigan,
16.838; 40.39-Tim McCreadie, 16.847; 41.31-Nick Latham, 16.874;
42.15F-Steve Francis, 16.898; 43.21H-Robby Hensley, 16.902; 44.22-Chris
Ferguson, 16.908; 45.15J-Scott James, 16.944; 46.75P-Terry Phillips,
16.973; 47.21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. , 16.979; 48.32-Chris Simpson, 16.983;
49.7R-Kent Robinson, 16.985; 50.28C-Eddie Carrier Jr. , 16.995;
51.22*-GR Smith, 16.996; 52.41R-TJ Reaid, 16.997; 53.33-Tim Manville,
17.010; 54.48L-Tim Lance, 17.015; 55.1M-Mike Mataragas, 17.017;
56.11RS-Rusty Schlenk, 17.018; 57.95J-Jerry Bowersock, 17.142;
58.42-Doug Sanders, 17.145; 59.1B-Mike Benedum, 17.150; 60.12-Jason
Jameson, 17.168; 61.16-Tyler Bruening, 17.227; 62.93-Jay Johnson,
17.268; 63.25C-Shane Clanton, 17.276; 64.51-Jason Noll, 17.382;
65.1GK-Ryan King, 17.384; 66.77-Gavin Landers, 17.510; 67.4-Brian
Ligon, 17.549; 68.5N-Dustin Nobbe, 17.562; 69.3c-Charlie LaPlant,
17.697; 70.5*-Bryant Dickinson, 18.789; 71.94-Austin Rettig, 99.999;
Heat 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [1] ; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce[3] ; 3. 1G-Devin
Gilpin[5] ; 4. 7R-Kent Robinson[7] ; 5. 20s-Rodney Sanders[2] ; 6.
1GK-Ryan King[9] ; 7. 44M-Chris Madden[4] ; 8. 31-Nick Latham[6] ; 9.
95J-Jerry Bowersock[8]
Heat 2 – (10 Laps)
1. 6-Jonathan Davenport[3] ; 2. 5-Don O’Neal[4] ; 3. 1P-Earl Pearson
Jr.[5] ; 4. 28C-Eddie Carrier Jr. [7] ; 5. 15F-Steve Francis[6] ; 6.
55-Jeep VanWormer[2] ; 7. 77-Gavin Landers[9] ; 8. 42-Doug Sanders[8] ;
9. 18J-Chase Junghans[1]
Heat 3 – (10 Laps)
1. 3s-Brian Shirley[4] ; 2. 21-Billy Moyer[3] ; 3. C9-Steve Casebolt[2]
; 4. 25-Jason Feger[1] ; 5. 1B-Mike Benedum[8] ; 6. 97-Michael
Chilton[5] ; 7. 21H-Robby Hensley[6] ; 8. 4-Brian Ligon[9] ; 9. 22*-GR
Smith[7]
Heat 4 – (10 Laps)
1. 18-Shannon Babb[1] ; 2. 777-Jared Landers[3] ; 3. 1-Josh Richards[4]
; 4. 28M-Jimmy Mars[2] ; 5. 12-Jason Jameson[8] ; 6. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[9]
; 7. 41R-TJ Reaid[7] ; 8. 22-Chris Ferguson[6] ; 9. 4G-Kody Evans[5]
Heat 5 – (10 Laps)
1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [2] ; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3] ; 3. 17M-Dale
McDowell[5] ; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[4] ; 5. 50-Shanon Buckingham[1] ;
6. 16-Tyler Bruening[8] ; 7. 15J-Scott James[6] ; 8. 33-Tim Manville[7]
; 9. 3c-Charlie LaPlant[9]
Heat 6 – (10 Laps)
1. 33x-Ricky Thornton Jr[1] ; 2. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[4] ; 3. 11A-Austin
Smith[2] ; 4. 75P-Terry Phillips[6] ; 5. 6m-Wendell Wallace[3] ; 6.
93-Jay Johnson[8] ; 7. 48L-Tim Lance[7] ; 8. 5*-Bryant Dickinson[9] ;
9. 99M-Devin Moran[5]
Heat 7 – (10 Laps)
1. 101-Casey Roberts[1] ; 2. 21B-Chris Brown[4] ; 3. 15L-Darrell
Lanigan[5] ; 4. 25C-Shane Clanton[8] ; 5. 1M-Mike Mataragas[7] ; 6.
20-Jimmy Owens[3] ; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2] ; 8. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr.
[6] ; 9. 94-Austin Rettig[9]
Heat 8 – (10 Laps)
1. 15-Jon Henry[3] ; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[2] ; 3. 7B-Jeff Babcock[1] ;
4. 39-Tim McCreadie[5] ; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[4] ; 6. 11RS-Rusty
Schlenk[7] ; 7. 32-Chris Simpson[6] ; 8. 51-Jason Noll[8]
B-Feature 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 44M-Chris Madden[5] ; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[3] ; 3. 97-Michael
Chilton[2] ; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4] ; 5. 31-Nick Latham[9] ; 6. 15J-Scott
James[7] ; 7. 33-Tim Manville[11] ; 8. 1GK-Ryan King[1] ; 9. 4-Brian
Ligon[10] ; 10. 94-Austin Rettig[16] ; 11. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[13] ;
12. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. [12] ; 13. 3c-Charlie LaPlant[15] ; 14.
21H-Robby Hensley[6] ; 15. 22*-GR Smith[14] ; 16. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[8]
B-Feature 2 – (12 Laps
1. 55-Jeep VanWormer[1] ; 2. 11RS-Rusty Schlenk[4] ; 3. 32-Chris
Simpson[8] ; 4. 18J-Chase Junghans[13] ; 5. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[2] ; 6.
41R-TJ Reaid[6] ; 7. 93-Jay Johnson[3] ; 8. 77-Gavin Landers[5] ; 9.
51-Jason Noll[12] ; 10. 42-Doug Sanders[9] ; 11. 4G-Kody Evans[14] ;
12. 22-Chris Ferguson[10] ; 13. 48L-Tim Lance[7] ; 14. 5*-Bryant
Dickinson[11] ; 15. 99M-Devin Moran[15] ; 16. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[16]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2] ; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [6] ; 3. 32P-Bobby
Pierce[4] ; 4. 21-Billy Moyer[3] ; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell[11] ; 6.
20-Jimmy Owens[24] ; 7. 3s-Brian Shirley[7] ; 8. 25C-Shane Clanton[16]
; 9. 21B-Chris Brown[1] ; 10. 44M-Chris Madden[21] ; 11. 25-Jason
Feger[14] ; 12. 76-Brandon Overton[15] ; 13. C9-Steve Casebolt[10] ;
14. 20s-Rodney Sanders[17] ; 15. 101-Casey Roberts[5] ; 16. 1G-Devin
Gilpin[9] ; 17. 1M-Mike Mataragas[20] ; 18. 50-Shanon Buckingham[19] ;
19. 1B-Mike Benedum[18] ; 20. 16-Tyler Bruening[22] ; 21. 7R-Kent
Robinson[13] ; 22. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [8] ; 23. 97-Michael
Chilton[23] ; 24. 15L-Darrell Lanigan[12]
A-Main 2 – (25 Laps)
1. 777-Jared Landers[3] ; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1] ; 3. 22S-Gregg
Satterlee[2] ; 4. 33x-Ricky Thornton Jr[6] ; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[16] ;
6. 6-Jonathan Davenport[8] ; 7. 1-Josh Richards[10] ; 8. 11A-Austin
Smith[11] ; 9. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[9] ; 10. 15-Jon Henry[5] ; 11. 5-Don
O’Neal[4] ; 12. 28M-Jimmy Mars[14] ; 13. 6m-Wendell Wallace[19] ; 14.
15F-Steve Francis[17] ; 15. 75P-Terry Phillips[15] ; 16. 157-Mike
Marlar[20] ; 17. 28C-Eddie Carrier Jr. [13] ; 18. 55-Jeep VanWormer[21]
; 19. 18J-Chase Junghans[24] ; 20. 18-Shannon Babb[7] ; 21. 32-Chris
Simpson[23] ; 22. 7B-Jeff Babcock[12] ; 23. 11RS-Rusty Schlenk[22] ;
24. 12-Jason Jameson[18]
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