BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (Sept. 26) — Brian Shirley made his long-awaited first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory count.
With the 45-year-old driver from Chatham, Ill., breaking through in Saturday night’s 47th annual Jackson 100 at Brownstown Speedway — to the tune of $56,000 in earnings — he was understandably walking on air once he emerged from his Bob Cullen-owned Longhorn Chassis.
“There’s a couple more things I want to do in my career before I hang up the hat, and one of them was win a Lucas Oil race,” said Shirley, who is a regular on the circuit for the first time in 2026 but has entered 234 events since ’04. “I was not wanting to go end my career without a Lucas Oil win, so this is so rewarding.”
Shirley was unstoppable in the century grind, marching forward from the ninth starting spot to take the lead for good from his close friend Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., on lap 24. He faced a late challenge from Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky., but didn’t flinch to finally hit the jackpot on the national tour.
Rice finished 0.646 of a second back in second place after being unable to summon enough speed to deal with Shirley following a final restart on lap 86. Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., who started 14th, reached third on lap 93 and finished there. Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., placed fourth — after leading the first lap from the pole position but slipping as far back as sixth — and 12th-starter Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, completed the top five.
Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., settled for sixth after running strong in second for three separate stints — laps 5-17, 46-75 and 88-90 — while Bronson led laps 2-23 but faded to 16th in the finishing order.
Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., maintained his Lucas Oil Series points lead with an eighth-place finish, but he fell back after sitting in fourth place as late as lap 72. Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., finished one spot better in seventh to close within 20 points of Sheppard in the tour’s standings.
Shirley called his soft-compound tire choice “a big factor” in his quick advance through the field. He needed just five laps to crack the top-five, was second by lap 18 and glided by Bronson to assume command on lap 24.
An extended stretch of green-flag racing from laps 2-86 wasn’t part of his plan, but he handled the situation well.
“I felt like we had a car that was capable of getting to the front,” Shirley said. “Obviously, it was just how well we was gonna manage that once we got to the front. I was really second-guessing whether to go out, try and get around lapped cars, or just ride and make sure that I had something left.
“Luckily we was able to pop that caution there (late). I was hoping to see one a little sooner, but, you know, all in all, the good Lord just said it was our night and luckily all things came together.”
The uninterrupted racing had Shirley dealing with plenty of slower traffic. He was cognizant of his tires the whole time.
“I mean it was tough, man,” Shirley said. “A couple of them guys, you’d pass ‘em, I slid them, they passed me back, and then it was just, like, being patient enough not to use up my tires. That was the biggest factor. I knew what I had, obviously we did do a different tire compound than some of the other guys, so it was just all about tire management.
“You just had to not overheat them, keep them underneath of you, and luckily, the old mud stuck to the spoiler and we was able to get it done.”
Rice, 28, appeared primed to push Shirley for supremacy as the long green-flag period wore on. He moved his JRR Motorsports machine from fifth to second from laps 73-76 and soon was bidding for the lead, but the lap-86 caution changed his prospects. Rice lost second to Heckenast for laps 88-90 and after regaining the spot couldn’t really threaten Shirley the way he had.
“I think the only difference is he’s got 2’s and a 4, Max has 2’s and a 4, and I got a right-front 3 on,” Rice said of his slightly harder tire combination. “I feel like it took 80 laps for it to come in where I could actually steer, and I think that was my shot there (before the late caution). I couldn't get back in a rhythm once we had that caution. It was like my right-front cooled off and I just could not steer with the right-front no more.
“But hats off to Brian, man. He did a heck of a job. He did what he had to do to win. He played lapped traffic perfect. He could swing out down them straightaways where I kind of had to stay in the (inside) mud.”
The 36-year-old Blair registered a career-best Jackson 100 finish in his third start in the long-running event’s finale. His hopes of climbing higher than third, however, were stymied by Rice.
“I honestly think we were good enough to win,” Blair said. “It’s just Josh never made a mistake on that bottom. Like, I had a chain hooked to his bumper for 100 straight laps I think. I thought I had a shot at him two or three times there, but it was going to get hairy and there was probably going to be contact so I lifted and lifted, so hopefully that, you know, goes both ways.”
Shirley’s victory came in just his fourth career attempt at the Jackson 100. He finished 13th in 2005, didn’t qualify in ’08 and placed 22nd in his last appearance, in ’17. He was, however, a winner at the quarter-mile oval in DIRTcar Summer Nationals action on July 11, 2008.
Finally emerging triumphant on the Lucas Oil Series gave Shirley a “huge” boost amid a season that has seen him tally a modest five top-five runs on the tour and score just a single win away from it. He won a Summer Nationals event on June 14 at Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, Ill.
“There’s a lot of my buddies, my friends and a lot of great guys that have won (on) both (national tours), and I just wanted to put my name in that category before I do hang the helmet up,” said Shirley, who owns 13 career victories on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. “I don’t have a lot of years left, you know. I’m on the downhill slide of where I’m at, where I want to be at in my life, and there’s a few bucket lists (items) left.
“Luckily, the PDC (Praire Dirt Classic) come a year ago. We’re still hoping for a little bit of magic there at Eldora. We're gonna keep trying a little bit longer and hopefully maybe get lucky enough to get a couple more check marks off a couple buckets.”
Shirley’s Jackson 100 winner’s take was increased from the $50,000 base payoff by a $5,000 bonus from UNOH and an extra $1,000 from Steering Buddy for becoming a first-time Lucas Oil Series winner.
The race was slowed by three caution flags. A multi-car jingle in turns one and two negated the original start. Dan Ebert, Tyler Collins and Clay Harris stacked up between turns three and four on lap two and Derek Groomer caused the final pause on lap 86 with a flat right-rear tire.
Feature lineup
(100 laps)
Row 1: Ricky Thornton Jr., Kyle Bronson
Row 2: Frank Heckenast Jr., Hudson O'Neal
Row 3: Brandon Sheppard, Josh Rice
Row 4: Garrett Alberson, James Rice
Row 5: Brian Shirley, Jonathan Davenport
Row 6: Jason Jameson, Devin Moran
Row 7: Brandon Overton, Max Blair
Row 8: Mike Marlar, Brenden Smith
Row 9: Dan Ebert, Dillon McCowan
Row 10: Brody Smith, Chris Ferguson
Row 11: Tyler Collins, Chad Stapleton
Row 12: Clay Harris, Carson Ferguson
Row 13: Derek Groomer
Consolation race results
(10 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation: Dan Ebert, Brody Smith, Tyler Collins, Colby Reed, Derek Groomer, Carson Ferguson, Lee Williams, Seth Daniels. Scratched: Dustin Linville, Shelby Miles, Jack Dossey III, Jug Wethington.
Second consolation: Dillon McCowan, Chris Ferguson, Chad Stapleton, Trevor Landrum, Steve Peeden, Tyler Neal, Justin Shaw, Matt Boknecht, Clay Harris. Scratched: Adam Stricker, Keegan Cox.
Heat race results
(Eight laps; top four transfer)
First heat: Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Brandon Overton, Brody Smith, Dan Ebert, Seth Daniels, Tyler Collins, Derek Groomer, Lee Williams.
Second heat: Frank Heckenast Jr., Garrett Alberson, Jason Jameson, Mike Marlar, Colby Reed, Dustin Linville, Carson Ferguson, Shelby Miles, Jack Dossey III. Scratched: Jug Wethington.
Third heat: Kyle Bronson, Josh Rice, Jonathan Davenport, Max Blair, Dillon McCowan, Chad Stapleton, Tyler Neal, Trevor Landrum, Clay Harris, Justin Shaw.
Fourth heat: Hudson O'Neal, James Rice, Devin Moran, Brenden Smith, Adam Stricker, Chris Ferguson, Steve Peeden, Matt Boknecht, Keegan Cox.
Time trials
Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Brody Smith (17sr), Dade City, Fla., 13.730
2. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 13.846
3. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 13.968
4. Dustin Linville (35), Bryantsville, Ky., 14.001
5. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 14.001
6. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 14.075
7. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 14.097
8. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 14.102
9. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 14.172
10. Carson Ferguson (93F), Lincolnton, N.C., 14.223
11. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 14.233
12. Shelby Miles (76s), Bloomington, Ind., 14.238
13. Derek Groomer (D48), Bloomington, Ind., 14.334
14. Jack Dossey III (jd3), Indianapolis, Ind., 14.433
15. Tyler Collins (11c), North Vernon, Ind., 14.459
16. Jason Jameson (12J), Lawrenceburd, Ind., 14.481
17. Seth Daniels (s21), Jackson, Ohio, 14.535
18. Colby Reed (21R), Bloomington, Ind., 14.652
19. Lee Williams (17w), Habustadt, Ind., 14.970
20. Jug Wethington (48J), Edinburgh, Ind., no time
Group B
1. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., 13.974
2. Brenden Smith (17ss), Dade City, Fla., 13.978
3. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 14.037
4. James Rice (15R), Verona, Ky., 14.052
5. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 14.059
6. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 14.063
7. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 14.112
8. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 14.114
9. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 14.313
10. Matt Boknecht (22x), Seymour, Ind., 14.366
11. Trevor Landrum (18L), Florence, Ky., 14.521
12. Adam Stricker (c7), Batavia, Ohio, 14.523
13. Chad Stapleton (32), Edinburgh, Ind., 14.556
14. Steve Peeden (P3), Martinsville, Ind., 14.573
15. Tyler Neal (20), Paragon, Ind., 14.592
16. Chris Ferguson (22F), Mount Holly, N.C., 14.600
17. Justin Shaw (1cj), Greenwood, Ind., 14.905
18. Keegan Cox (23), Franklin, Ind., 15.318
19. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., no time
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
Noon - Gates open
3 p.m. - Church outreach service (pavilion)
3 p.m. - Tech and registration open
5-5:45 p.m. - Driver autograph session
5:45 p.m. - Tech and registration close
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Pure stock hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Pure stock heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- 47th annual Jackson 100 (100 laps)
- Pure stocks (20 laps)
