Brandon Sheppard earned his first World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main victory with a strong performance last Friday at Belle-Clair Speedway.
The 19-year-old from New Berlin won the Photobilly 50 main event to complete a sweep of the national tour's inaugural program at the one-fifth mile dirt track.
Sheppard established a track record in time trials, led every lap of his heat and paced the main event.
"This is just an amazing feeling," said Sheppard, who pocketed $12,550 for the biggest win of his young career. "It's a huge confidence booster for me to get my first (World of Outlaws) win off my back."
Sheppard, who started from outside of the front row, outgunned polesitter Brian Shirley for the lead at the initial green flag and never looked back.
He survived five caution flags and a late-race threat from Billy Moyer to preserve the victory.
Moyer finished second while Shannon Babb was third, Darrell Lanigan was fourth and Kyle Logue was fifth.
Sheppard credited his success to his previous experience at the tricky Belle-Clair oval. He finished third at in the track's DIRTcar Summer Nationals event on June 25.
There were 52 Late Models signed in for the Photobilly 50, which was run in memory of late Belle-Clair Speedway photographer Charlie Haffer Jr., who was known as Photobilly.
"Farewell to the Legend" night honoring longtime area driver "Dandy" Don Klein and the special "Next Gen 40" race have been rescheduled for Sept. 28 at Belle-Clair Speedway.
The race is paying $1,500 to win for Super Late Models.
Tri-City Speedway
Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach has two more days of the Summit Modified Nationals running Friday and Saturday.
Qualifying begins at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
The 2012 Tri-City Speedway track champions are Randy Korte (Late Models), Mike Harrison (Modifieds), Derek Fetter (Crate Late Models), Jason Worley (Street Stocks) and Jacob Rexing (Factory Stocks).
Rookies of the Year were Dustin Griffin in Late Models, Joe Walsh in Modifieds, Andy Beavers in Crate Late Models, Ricky Smith in Street Stocks and Jack Rogers in Factory Stocks.
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
Dennis Erb Jr. outdueled Darrell Lanigan for the lead and survived a frantic last-ditch bid from the World of Outlaws Late Model Series record-breaking driver to emerge victorious Saturday at the Pepsi Nationals at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.
Erb, who won $10,000, swapped the top spot four times with Lanigan during the scheduled 55-lap event. The last lead change came on Lap 36 when Erb dived low in turn three and surged ahead.
Moyer finished second, Brian Birkhofer was third, Lanigan was fourth and Chub Frank was fifth.
Highland Speedway
Last Saturday was "Photobilly Night" at Highland Speedway and the first night of crowning division champs.
Chad Zobrist won the Becker Jewelers Late Model feature; the Late Models will hold their season championship on Saturday.
Chad Sellers claimed the 2012 Steve Schmitt Modifieds championships by finishing second behind Brian Bielong last Saturday. Jordan Bauer won the Miller Lite Pro Late Models feature, with Bobby Martintoni crowned the track's 2012 Pro Late Model champion.
Also winning track championships were Austin Isaak in Factory Stocks and Cole Sellers in the KidzModz.
On Saturday, track champions will be crowned in Late Models, Sport Mods and Sport Compacts with all six divisions racing.
(Information for the weekly Auto Racing Notebook was compiled from area track websites, the World of Outlaws web site and area racing enthusiasts).
