FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ben Shelton (msrmafia@gmail.com)
March 29, 2021

Brandon Sheppard Races to First Victory of ’21 Campaign
WoO Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway Up Next

SHINNSTON, W.Va. (03/29/21) – Rocket1 Racing with driver Brandon Sheppard ventured to South Carolina over the weekend for the Rock Gault Memorial. While Mother Nature may have put the brakes on Saturday’s action, it didn’t stop Sheppard from piloting the Valvoline No. 1 Seubert Calf Ranches/ Durham Racing Engines-powered Rocket Chassis to his first win of 2021 in preliminary action on Friday night.

The Illinois’ racer pocketed $5,000 for his Friday night trip to Victory Lane after overtaking race leader, Dale McDowell in the late stages. Saturday night’s $40,000-to-win finale fell victim to heavy rain.

“Towards the end (of the feature) we got to lap traffic and luckily my tires must’ve been just right at the end because I could roll the middle and top pretty good compared to early in the race,” note Sheppard. “We’ve been on the struggle bus for most of the year, but I knew not to count ourselves out. I’m definitely looking forward to heading to Farmer City this weekend. It’s a place, where I’ve turned a lot of laps at and enjoyed a lot of success.”

Brandon Sheppard and the Rocket1 Racing team returned to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series circuit on Friday at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.

The 42-car field was split into two groups, running two 25-lap feature events on the opening night of the Rock Gault Memorial doubleheader. After qualifying third in his group and record a runner-up finish in his heat race, Sheppard was locked into the sixth-starting spot for the $5,000-to-win feature.

Brandon pulled into second with 15 laps to go and using the high lane around the 3/8-mile oval began to track down race-long pacesetter, Dale McDowell. Sheppard caught McDowell with two laps to go. He rocketed around the outside of him in Turn 3, using a slower car as a pick to get by.

Persistent rain showers creating a high-water table and saturated grounds at Cherokee Speedway forced World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series and track officials to postpone Saturday’s Rock Gault Memorial finale. A make-up date was not immediately announced.

Sheppard carries his momentum into this weekend’s Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway (Farmer City, Ill.). The World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series event is highlighted by a $6,000-to-win program on Friday night and a $20,000-to-win event on Saturday evening. Brandon is a three-time Champion of the event with his most recent title coming in 2019.

Sheppard currently sits second in the latest World of Outlaws Late Model Series standings. To learn more about these events, please visit www.WoOLMS.com.

Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, FiveStar RaceCar Bodies, Gunters Honey, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts & Decals, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Edelbrock, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, Maxima Racing Oils, MSD, NGK Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Safecraft, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Weld Racing, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services.

For the latest information on Rocket1Racing please visit the team website at www.Rocket1Racing.com as well as their social media channels at www.facebook.com/Rocket1Racing, www.twitter.com/Rocket1_Racing, and www.instagram.com/rocket1racing.