After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis from Illini 100 opener
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
Bobby Pierce (32) racing Nick Hoffman (9) at Farmer City. (Josh James)
FARMER CITY, Ill. (April 10) — Instant reaction and analysis from Friday’s $12,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model Series event won by Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., that opened the Illini 100 weekend (RaceWire):
SURVIVAL MODE: Talk about salvaging a finish. Series points leader Bobby Pierce avoided race-ending disaster not once but twice in the 40-lapper on both ends of the the quarter-mile, gutting out a respectable seventh-place run when he’d much rather have cruised uneventfully to a runner-up finish. “Of course, I was thinking that was a DNF right there,” Pierce said of the wreck with 10 laps remaining when he was collected in a Brent Larson-Tyler Erb collision. After a hot-pit scramble to repair right-front damage, four laps later Pierce sustained more contact when Frank Heckenast Jr.’s turn-four spin triggered another pileup. Despite his disappointment, the two-time series champ climbed out of his car knowing it could’ve been so much worse. "Glass half full, right?” the Oakwood, Ill., driver said.
LOVE STORY: In the WoO tech inspection area following the race, series director Steve Francis approached winner Brandon Sheppard: “You told me you love this track.” The 33-year-old Sheppard’s response? “Oh, I love this track.” It’s one of the bullrings not far from Sheppard's New Berlin, Ill., home where he first started racing and he grabbed his first Farmer City victory on May 20, 2011, as an 18-year-old. He’s piled up many more since then, including four of the last seven finales of the Illini 100 weekend. He’ll go for No. 5 on Saturday with a $25,000 payday on the line.
KEY MOVES: After all four heat polesitters won prelims, starting outside of polesitter Nick Hoffman in the feature didn’t seem like a good spot for Sheppard. But he made the outside groove work on the initial start, and ran the high side much of the race — with a few tense moments in turn four — en route to his victory. Sheppard also made a key inside move with 11 laps remaining, sliding under the tandem of Brent Larson and Tyler Erb exiting turn two to put both a lap down as Bobby Pierce was closing in — and one lap before the Larson-Erb collision that wrecked Pierce. Sheppard realized it was a key pass that gave him breathing room. “I just knew that lapped traffic bit me at Atomic (last month in Lucas Oil Series action), and it's bit me a couple of times the past couple of years," Sheppard said.
KEY TOP-FIVES: When the green flag fell, Tim McCreadie (starting fifth), Daulton Wilson (starting 10th) and Ethan Dotson (starting 13th) weren’t sure-fire top-five contenders, but all came forward impressively while staying out of the trouble that zapped Pierce, Devin Moran (slid over banking) and Ryan Unzicker (right-rear suspension issues). McCreadie’s runner-up finish was his best on the circuit since Feb. 12, Wilson’s fourth-place finish continued a solid WoO stretch (tossing out his 18th-place run at Senoia, Ga.) and Dotson, winner of last year’s Illini opener, scored his first top-five on the series since Feb. 21.
ROSTER SHRINKS: The series is down to 15 drivers with perfect attendance after Britton Motorsports driver Todd Morrow of Penton, Ala., announced Friday afternoon the end to his Rookie of the Year bid with the World of Outlaws, citing recent car damage. “Obviously, this isn’t the position we wanted to be in,” Morrow said. “We’ve put everything we have into chasing this series, and it’s tough to step back. But we have to be realistic about what we can manage and do it the right way.” Morrow plans to run more WoO races in 2026 and hopes to gear up for the full schedule in ’27. The 40-year-old Morrow, who was fourth in rookie points, started eight of 14 series features with a best finish of 13th on March 13 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
