LAKE CITY, Fla. — Brandon Sheppard kicked off the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing season in winning fashion Thursday night, capturing the season opener during the Wieland Winter Nationals at All-Tech Raceway.
Sheppard, who started sixth, charged to the lead on lap 16, taking the top spot from Brandon Overton.
From there, he paced the remainder of the race, holding off defending series champion Devin Moran in the closing laps to secure his 36th career series victory.
Moran, who lined up alongside Sheppard in the third row, took over second on lap 30 and applied heavy pressure during the final 10 laps. However, he fell just short at the finish line, crossing 0.544 seconds behind the winner. Hudson O’Neal completed the Big River Steel Podium in third after starting on the pole and rallying back from as far as sixth.
Overton, who led the opening 15 circuits, finished fourth, while Hoker Trucking Hard Charger Carson Ferguson advanced from 19th to round out the top five.
Overton set the early pace from his outside front-row starting position as a spirited battle for second unfolded between O’Neal and Clay Harris. Harris, seeking his first career LOLMDS victory, moved into second on lap 13 and began pressuring Overton for the lead.
As Overton and Harris battled up front, Sheppard surged forward, slipping past both drivers on lap 16 to take command. Harris reclaimed second on lap 17 and continued his duel with Overton until misfortune struck. With 29 laps complete, Harris made contact with the wall in turn two, ending his night.
Following the final restart, Sheppard maintained control out front. Ferguson briefly moved into second on lap 30 after an impressive charge through the field, but Moran quickly powered from fourth to second using the high side of the racetrack.
Sheppard worked the low-to-middle groove while Moran rim-rode the cushion in pursuit. The final 11 laps ran caution-free, and Sheppard crossed the finish line to earn his first LOLMDS victory since August 15 at Batesville Motor Speedway in Arkansas.
“It definitely feels good,” Sheppard said. “We’ve had a really fast race car all of Speedweeks. We just needed a few things to go our way. Mark and the guys have been tweaking on this thing, working hard to get it exactly how I like it. About halfway through last year, I knew coming into this season we were going to be pretty good. It was just a matter of putting the whole package together. We even changed the motor today just as a precaution.”
Moran, who made a late charge but could not mount a final-lap bid, noted the team’s recent improvements.
“We just have to keep working on the race car,” Moran said. “We struggled really bad at Volusia last week, so we’re trying to find the right balance. We’ve definitely picked up speed – now we just need to fine-tune the balance. Sheppy and those guys did a great job. It’s refreshing to get back on the podium. On that caution, I noticed how much grip was up top and thought there was something there. On the restart, I about split them and ran that floater line, and it worked really well.”
O’Neal, the 2023 series champion who finished fourth in last year’s standings, credited key restarts for his podium finish.
“I had some good restarts,” O’Neal said. “I might have been a little too conservative early in the race and put myself in some tough spots. At one point I fell back to sixth and thought I might not even salvage a top five after starting on the pole. But we were able to work through some guys on that last restart, and the car was really good at the end.”
The finish:
Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Overton, Carson Ferguson, Josh Rice, Dan Ebert, Brian Shirley, Kyle Bronson, Mark Whitener, Max Blair, Cory Hedgecock, Garrett Alberson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Blair Nothdurft, Preston Luckman, Daniel Hilsabeck, Dillon McCowan, Tyler Bruening, Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler, Clay Harris, Justin Weaver, Jackson Hise, Tyler Wyant, Chris Madden.