Sheppard Stays Hot at Indee

 With the forecast changing for the better, Darryl and I headed out for our first trip of the season to the Independence, Iowa Motor Speedway as the World of Outlaw late models made their first 2019 visit to the Hawkeye state. With Buchanan County fair festivities as the backdrop, IMCA modifieds and IMCA stock cars filled out the racing card. Indee normally runs on Saturday nights, so the modified and stock car fields were a bit shorter than usual, as many of their weekly competitors also race for points at other venues on Fridays. Still a solid group of fifteen mods and seventeen stockers joined the twenty one open late models for racing on the 3/8 mile oval, with the mods and stocks using a draw/redraw qualifying format.
  With the track crew giving the surface an extra heavy dose of water hoping to counter the summer sun, hot laps began about fifteen minutes past the advertised time of 6:30. But the action picked up, with late model time trials beginning just after 7:00. The two cars at a time for two laps qualifying system saw Oxford, Iowas' Chris Simpson atop the leader board with a quick time of 14.284 seconds, much to the delight of the large crowd, which was decidedly partisan in favor of the several home state entrants.
   The three ten lap heat races for the late models were aligned straight up by times, and as is most often the case, the winners came from the front row. Chris Simpson topped the opener over track regular Tyler Bruening, brother Chad Simpson, and Darrell Lanigan. Series point leader Brandon Sheppard captured heat two, besting Canadian Ricky Weiss, Dennis Erb Jr., and Mississippis' Cade Dillard. This event featured some interesting contact between Weiss and Erb Jr. as they battled for the second and final redraw spot.  Brent Larson charged from the outside pole in heat three, coming home in front of Chase Junghans, " Boom " Briggs, and Bruenings recently added teammate, Shane Clanton. The only late model caution to that point came as the field charged into turn one with several cars vying for the same piece of real estate.
  Up to this point, most of the racing had been around the inside line of the track, so a fairly lengthy intermission was used to rework the surface in hopes of creating more side by side action. During this time, the top two from each late model heat came to the front stretch to redraw for the first three rows of the fifty lap feature. The heat winners drew for spots one through three, and the runners up for spots four through six.
  The modifieds started off main event racing, with all but one car lining up for twenty five laps. Brennen Chipp powered from row two to grab the early lead, while his row two mate Mark Schulte fell to the back of the pack. By lap two, outside pole sitter Chris Simpson, doing double duty in the #32 modified was hot on the tail of the leader. Despite the track work, the mods elected to hug the low groove, and as the race stayed green, the front duo encountered slower traffic just past the half way point. Chipp was leaving the slightest bit of room to his inside coming off turn four, and Simpson tried lap after lap to pull alongside. Behind the leaders, Mike Burbridge took a look a lane higher as he ran inside the top five. Coming to the two to go sign, Simpson jumped to the high side in turns three and four, in an effort to overtake the leader. But he lost the handle entering turn one, spinning to a stop to bring out the first caution of the race. A turn one melee on the restart set things up for a green, white, checkers finish. Chipp stayed in command for the win. Justin Snyder ran a solid race to take second as Burbridge, Greg Kastli, and Josh Barta completed the top five.
  The stock cars continued to widen the track a bit as all seventeen came to the track for twenty laps. Chris Luloff was the early leader through a couple of early restarts. By lap four, it was the #9 car of Dick Steadman out front, building a commanding lead before Jarod Weepie began to close the gap. Although Weepie challenged briefly, Steadman never faltered in taking the win. Luloff held third ahead of ninth starting Norman Chesmore and Cole Mather, as the top five ran well ahead of the remainder of the field.
  The fifty lap, $10,000 to win headliner would close out the night. Chris Simpson and Larson sat on row one, with Sheppard and Weiss right behind them. Simpson paced the opening circuit, with Larson in tow. Lap two saw Sheppard move to second, and two circuits later he was able to drive past the leader on the outside. With five laps complete, the first caution came as Tim Simpson looped his ride. On the restart, Sheppard shot well ahead of the field and Junghans moved to third. As the race stayed green, Sheppard caught the back of the pack by lap thirteen. Four laps later, as the leader followed in the tire tracks of a slower car, Simpson quickly closed the gap. Lap twenty one saw Simpson in position to strike, and two more laps in traffic saw Sheppard check up a bit in turn two and Simpson contact his rear bumper. But this interesting development was negated when the caution flew for debris, most likely from the contact. Taking adavantage of the single file restart apparently employed by the World of Outlaws, and the clear track ahead, Sheppard once again pulled out to a sizable lead. The leaders were again running the low line around the tire barriers. As Simpson tried to keep Sheppard in his sights, Brandon again caught the back of the pack about lap thirty two. But just as he began to negotiate  a slower car, hard contact between Blake Spencer and Jonathon Brauns brought out the third and final caution of the race. As green flag action resumed, Simpson soon found himself challenged by Junghans for the second spot. As he fought to hold the position, Sheppard checked out. He again caught slower traffic at lap forty two, but now only thirteen cars remained on the track, and he had no issues maintaining his lead. It was series win number ten for the New Berlin, Illinois third generation driver. Simpson held off Junghans for runner up honors, while Larson and Bruening recorded top five runs. Erb Jr. was sixth, with Lanigan, Clanton, Weiss, and Dillard completing the top ten.
  The final checkers waved before 10:00, making the three hour trip home that much easier.
  Thanks to the WoO officials and the hometown crew for a fun night of racing. If you have never been to Indee, I will tell you it offers an excellent viewing experience from the modern grandstands. And special thanks to one of the best announcers around, Jerry Mackey for " saving my bacon," as I searched high and low for a couple of driver names I was unsure of. My search for official results for the IMCA classes last night had proven fruitless.
  Things are looking good for the annual UMP Summernationals visit to Quincy Raceways tomorrow, Sunday, July 7. The late models will be racing for a $5,000 check. In addition, the Summit Modifieds will be in action for $1,000 to win, as will the IMCA sport mods. Maybe I will see you there!