The Headline(s)
Brandon Sheppard throttled the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Freedom 60 field as it returned to the Midwest, extending his points lead with a friendly slate of races looming.
How it Happened
2022 Freedom 60 (Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series)
Where: Muskingum County Speedway – Zanesville, Ohio (streamed on Flo Racing)
Winner’s Purse: $30,000
Brandon Sheppard took the lead on lap 2 and never looked back, winning the Freedom 60 at Muskingum County Speedway Sunday (July 3) in dominant fashion, his sixth win on the LOLMDS tour in 2022.
.@Rocket1_Racing driver @B_Sheppard_B5 climbs from his @Rocket_Chassis in #LucasDirt Victory Lane @RaceMCS pic.twitter.com/qWH7cu1GJ1
— #LucasDirt 🏁 (@lucasdirt) July 4, 2022
Ricky Thornton Jr., the only other driver to lead a lap Sunday night, got alongside Sheppard for the lead briefly on lap 13, the only serious challenge that Sheppard faced on the evening.
Sunday’s feature never was able to match the raciness or intensity of Friday’s prelims, with seven caution flags interrupting the feature event and preventing the race from getting into a real rhythm.
Thornton Jr., Sheppard and Tyler Erb won Saturday night’s Freedom 60 preliminary features, worth $3,000 apiece. With the win, Sheppard extended his points lead to 55 over defending series champion Tim McCreadie, who finished fourth.
Success Stories
Hudson O’Neal was the most successful driver in the field not to secure a trophy over the weekend, finishing second both in his preliminary feature on Saturday and again in the main event on Sunday night. The runner-up finish paid well, securing O’Neal a $15,000 payday.
Spencer Hughes had a coming-of-age moment on Friday night in the second preliminary feature, a race that saw do battle side-by-side and prevail over last year’s top-ranked late model driver in Brandon Overton en route to a runner-up finish. Hughes has had a rough month and torn up some equipment, so to see him able to do battle with a driver the caliber of Overton was a major accomplishment.
Sticking with the theme of young guns, Rookie of the Year candidate Daulton Wilson managed to give defending series titlist McCreadie everything he could handle Sunday night, scoring a fifth-place finish at night’s end. That was no small feat, considering that Wilson had the machine of Dustin Smith literally flip on top of his during their prelim feature on Saturday night (more on that later).
It was…
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