12/16/2023
Brandon Sheppard
Brandon Sheppard banks $30,000 Gateway Dirt Nationals over RTJ
Brandon Sheppard crossed another victory off the bucket list on Saturday night. The Illinois hot shoe piloted his Black Rifle Coffee / Veteran’s Golfer’s Association / Realtree Outdoors No. B5 Sheppard Riggs Longhorn Factory / Valvoline / Riggs Drilling Solutions / Bilstein / Z Speed Shop Super Late Model to the $30,000 triumph in the seventh running of the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Sheppard withstood a valiant last-lap challenge from Ricky Thornton Jr. to snare the five-figure payday at The Dome at America’s Center.
“It feels good man. I've been trying a long time,” said Sheppard, who had three Top-5 finishes at the Gateway Dirt Nationals in six previous starts. “Every year I come here, I either run top four or get a flat tire. So, I guess this year was my year finally. Luck kinda fell my way a little bit. The redraw (for an outside front-row starting position) really helped. Out front, Ricky would have been really hard to pass, too.
“An awesome clean race. It was nice and rough out there, just like the Dome likes it. So how about St. Louis? What did you think about that?” Sheppard asked the event’s biggest-ever crowd. “This crowd is phenomenal. Oh my God. I’ve never seen anything like it at a dirt track race. It's crazy to see all you fans in here, inside the Dome like this, it means the world to us drivers.”
Brandon dedicated the win to his grandmother, who passed away earlier in the week.
“I was able to go visit her this week while I was home, so that really was awesome and just got to see some of the family,” he said. “They knew that the Dome was this weekend, so I know this is where she would’ve wanted me to be, for sure.”
Brandon Sheppard unloaded his Black Rifle Coffee Company No. B5 Longhorn Chassis Late Model at The Dome at America’s Center (St. Louis, Mo.) over the weekend as his Gateway Dirt Nationals preliminary night kicked off on Friday.
With 64 cars entered for Friday’s program, Brandon clocked in ninth-fastest in his group before going third-to-first in his heat race. Chasing a $5,000 payday in his prelim, Sheppard advanced two spots in the 25-lapper to register a third-place finish.
With Friday’s result locking him into the redraw, Sheppard took the green in second for the Gateway Dirt Nationals finale and led all 40-laps to claim his seventh win of the season in the seventh annual event.
He fended a hard-charging Ricky Thornton Jr. in the closing laps to secure the $30,000 top prize. Tanner English, Devin Moran, and Chris Simpson completed the Top-5 finishers.
Full results from the event are available at www.GatewayDirt.com.
Brandon has put a wrap on a successful 2023 campaign for his new team, which included seven wins in 106 starts. He collected 48 Top-5 finishes and 73 Top-10 finishes. Additionally, he finished third in the final World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series standings.
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