RPW Exclusive: Brandon Sheppard Goes Back-To-Back; Wins Gateway Dirt Nationals Main

Column By: DYLAN FRIEBEL / RPW – ST. LOUIS, MO – The Gateway Dirt Nationals in the Dome at St. Louis. We all questioned if it would go well before it happened, especially after the first year when the concrete showed through the track.

However after they got it right boy, is it right.  Just ask Saturday night’s Late Model A-Main winner, Brandon Sheppard.

The five-time World Of Outlaws Late Model Series champion and Gordy Gundaker led the field to green with Gordy taking the lead to start the race.  On a lap 9 restart, though, Sheppard got tired of stalking Gundaker’s no. 11 and he went right to work.

Some yellow flags in the middle of the race made it interesting with restarts.  Then, 12th place starter Bobby Pierce, who likes to let it eat on the top side, ended up showing up when the time mattered.

With 10 laps to go, the 32 of Pierce found the runner-up spot and took .8 out of the 2.4-second lead Sheppard had, in one lap.

However it wasn’t to be for the Smooth Operator as he lost power entering turn three on the final lap, but was able to limp home to finish second.  The man of the night, though, was Sheppard who became the third driver to win multiple times in the Gateway Dirt Nationals., joining Tyler Carpenter and Pierce.

“I knew when the laps were winding down, there were only a few guys who can rip the top like I did when the track got the way it did,” Sheppard said. “I had the 20RT (Thornton) and then the 32 behind me and I just let this big dog eat.”

Even breaking on the white flag lap, to finish second, after starting 12th, Pierce was happy with his run in the 40-lap feature.

“He was pulling off (turn) two and I wanted to get a little more cushion there,” Pierce said.  “I got the wall which made the car break.  Last lap passes are badass and I was going to throw it in there, regardless whether I was 10-car lengths back or not.”

Third place finisher on the night was Thornton, who finished second in last year’s event.  He wasn’t disappointed with his run on Saturday either.

“Everyone who is in the top three here is driving as hard as we can,” Thornton said. “Congrats to Bobby and Shepp.  They both ran good races and I think Shepp had a Cadillac running around the top there.”

In the Dome, there’s no time to wait, even in a 40-lap race.

“Hats off to my guys we were trying everything they could and were busted their butts,” he said.  “It sucks to finish third.  However, if you are complaining about that, you must be doing something right.”

The Dome keeps producing magic, whether it was stuff like what Jonathan Beason did in the Midget feature there in 2021 or now Late model magic with Brandon Sheppard.  The Dome makes you stand back in awe.

Velocita Super Late Models Main Event A Feature (40 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[12]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 6. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[2]; 7. 11R-Josh Rice[16]; 8. 71-Hudson O’Neal[18]; 9. 45-Kyle Hammer[9]; 10. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[13]; 11. 28-Tyler Carpenter[11]; 12. 96-Tanner English[10]; 13. 49-Jonathan Davenport[17]; 14. 76-Brandon Overton[20]; 15. 24-Ryan Unzicker[8]; 16. (DNF) 12W-Ashton Winger[6]; 17. (DNF) 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 18. (DNF) 21B-Rich Bell[19]; 19. (DNF) J8-Jadon Frame[15]; 20. (DNF) 81J-Jack Riggs[14]

Allstar Performance Win & Your In Last Chance (10 Laps): 1. 21B-Rich Bell[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 4. 29-Jason Welshan[6]; 5. 19M-Spencer Hughes[10]; 6. 219-Gavin Cowan[11]; 7. 10-Joseph Joiner[5]; 8. C4-Freddie Carpenter[4]; 9. 38-Derek Fisher[2]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[9]; 11. 14JR-Michael King Jr[7]; 12. (DNS) 17A-Austin Howes

MatMan Designs Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[6]; 3. 21B-Rich Bell[9]; 4. 14JR-Michael King Jr[7]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[3]; 6. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[5]; 7. 32F-Derek Fetter[10]; 8. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 9. 34-Chad Wallace[8]; 10. (DNF) 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 11. (DNF) 1-Tyler Erb[11]

Hellraizer Jacks Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 2. 81J-Jack Riggs[5]; 3. 38-Derek Fisher[2]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[11]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[6]; 6. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[4]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 8. 222-Manny Falcon[8]; 9. (DNF) 10J-TeeJay Janousek[10]; 10. (DNF) 84-Myles Moos[1]; 11. (DNS) 4-Ryan Wilson

National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 45-Kyle Hammer[2]; 2. J8-Jadon Frame[1]; 3. 25-Jason Feger[4]; 4. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[8]; 5. 74-Mike Franklin[7]; 6. 93-Zak Blackwood[10]; 7. 11-Lance Brasington[9]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[11]; 9. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 10. (DNF) 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 11. (DNF) 121-Jon Mitchell[5]

FK Rod Ends Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 96-Tanner English[2]; 2. 11R-Josh Rice[3]; 3. C4-Freddie Carpenter[1]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 5. 2B-Jordan Barbee[4]; 6. C2-Corey DeLancey[10]; 7. 34C-Delbert Crum III[6]; 8. 99T-Dylan Thompson[11]; 9. 97-Steven Dotson[9]; 10. 19X-Cody Bauer[7]; 11. (DNF) 2*-Cole Babcock[8]

Illinois State Rifle Associatons Qualifier 5 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Tyler Carpenter[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 3. 10-Joseph Joiner[4]; 4. 219-Gavin Cowan[10]; 5. 14X-Wil Herrington[11]; 6. 17-Todd Rehg[9]; 7. (DNF) 81R-Jason Riggs[6]; 8. (DNF) C6-Oakley Johns[1]; 9. (DNF) 4S-Ryan Montgomery[7]; 10. (DNF) 27-Rodney Melvin[5]; 11. (DNF) C66-Donald Johns[8]

Walker Filtration Qualifier 6 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 29-Jason Welshan[6]; 4. 17A-Austin Howes[4]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[7]; 6. 93F-Carson Ferguson[2]; 7. 1E-Amelia Eisenschenk[8]; 8. 14-Quentin White[10]; 9. 51-Dean Carpenter[5]; 10. 78-Chad Zobrist[11]; 11. (DNS) B89-Dakota Smith

PeeWees Wrecker Service Non Qualifier 1 (12 Laps): 1. 32F-Derek Fetter[1]; 2. 10J-TeeJay Janousek[8]; 3. 81-Daniel Garrett[15]; 4. 48-Brody Yarbrough[14]; 5. 18X-Michael Seibers[4]; 6. 41-Casey White[7]; 7. (DNF) 19J-Justin Green[3]; 8. (DNF) 71W-Zach Wohlers[6]; 9. (DNF) 10M-Jacob Magee[10]; 10. (DNF) 21M-Chris McKeehan[11]; 11. (DNF) 41M-Matt Menzie[17]; 12. (DNF) 4E-Scott Geaschel[9]; 13. (DNF) 111-Jonathan Woods[13]; 14. (DNF) 44-James O’Hara[19]; 15. (DNF) 69-Doug Cooper[21]; 16. (DNF) 128N-James Nash[2]; 17. (DNF) 11C-Rachel Snider[5]; 18. (DNF) 25P-Mike Petersilie[12]; 19. (DNS) 11W-Darin Weisinger Jr; 20. (DNS) 45B-Scott Bell; 21. (DNS) M5-David Scott Jr

ZAMP Non Qualifier 2 (12 Laps): 1. 93-Zak Blackwood[2]; 2. C2-Corey DeLancey[7]; 3. J0-John Ownbey[4]; 4. 12-Devon Morgan[8]; 5. 88-Dustin Rollins[3]; 6. NE11-Matthew Tribble[1]; 7. 9Z-Jayme Zidar[17]; 8. 114-Evan Koehler[16]; 9. 7D-Austin Theiss[6]; 10. 18D-David Seibers[20]; 11. 122-Timmy Dick[11]; 12. 2X4-Chase Collins[22]; 13. 27E-Kyle Mixon[9]; 14. 47-Cyle Forgy[5]; 15. (DNF) 28K-Tate O’Leary[13]; 16. (DNF) 25J-Ted Johnson Jr[21]; 17. (DNF) 20H-Glen Hounshell[10]; 18. (DNF) 57-Blake Higginbotham[12]; 19. (DNF) 17J-Jared Bamberger[19]; 20. (DNS) 11-Lance Brasington; 21. (DNS) 21-Will Harris; 22. (DNS) 18S-Robbie Scott

Nightowl Designs Non Qualifier 3 (12 Laps): 1. 219-Gavin Cowan[4]; 2. 14-Quentin White[3]; 3. 16-Rusty Griffaw[1]; 4. 27K-Greg Kimmons[6]; 5. 77-William Rose[7]; 6. 1M-Blake Morris[11]; 7. 96K-Matt Koch[10]; 8. 15F-Chris Fetter[16]; 9. 75D-Patrik Daniel[18]; 10. 17SR-Brody Smith[12]; 11. 55-Benji Hicks[15]; 12. H1-Steve Hewitt Sr[20]; 13. 1S-Daniel Shelton[13]; 14. 8-Megan Sanders[17]; 15. (DNS) 115-Grimsley Fulford; 16. (DNS) 22-Bree Whittmore; 17. (DNS) 128-Kylan Garner; 18. (DNS) 57H-Nathan Higginbotham; 19. (DNS) USA 1-Devon Andrews; 20. (DNS) 18C-Cameron Reynolds; 21. (DNS) 51B-Brandon Carpenter; 22. (DNS) M14-David Marlow

Top 6 A Hot Laps: 1. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.673[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:12.689[2]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:12.795[5]; 4. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:13.081[6]; 5. 12W-Ashton Winger, 00:12.835[3]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]