After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis of rout at Hagerstown
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt senior writer
Brandon Sheppard at Hagerstown. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (April 26) — Instant reaction and analysis from Sunday’s $10,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series program at Hagerstown Speedway won by Brandon Sheppard (RaceWire):
ANOTHER PLANET: Coming to Hagerstown Speedway since I was a kid, I can confidently say Brandon Sheppard’s performance Sunday ranks among the most impressive I’ve seen at the oft-tricky half-mile. Sure, some will say it’s inevitable for the fastest car to win from the pole. But even at the Maryland speedplant, nothing is guaranteed, not with lapped traffic always in play. Sheppard himself lost at Atomic last month because of it. So just how good was he Sunday? Consider how he handled traffic. Inside, outside, crossovers, one-move clears — it didn’t matter. Sheppard buzz-sawed through the field. While lapped cars typically act like a parachute for the leader, bogging them down in dirty air, Sheppard chugged ahead decisively as Rocket1 allegorically ascended to another planet. And with Illinois Speedweeks approaching and big money on the line next month, it could be a lucrative May for Rocket1.
MORE LAPS?: Walking out of Sunday’s 40-lap headliner at Hagerstown Speedway, it just didn’t feel right that the feature wasn’t at least 50 laps. I get it, the Sunday stop to cap the tour’s Northeastern swing — long held by Port Royal Speedway until this year — has traditionally been 40 laps for $10,000-to-win. But even if no one had anything for Brandon Sheppard, it felt like some were just coming to life late — like Hudson O’Neal charging from 11th to third. An extra 10 laps would’ve added intrigue. I guess I just have this expectation that national tour features should be at least 50 laps. It’s been done before. Port Royal hosted a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win Sunday program in April 2018, won by Scott Bloomquist. And when Gregg Satterlee beat Bloomquist for his first Lucas Oil win in 2016, that feature went 60 laps, a race that still brings to mind a line James Essex asked afterward: “Aren’t you glad that wasn’t 50 laps?” I just felt like, for a race of that stature at Hagerstown, Sunday’s feature could’ve gone an extra 10 circuits.
MOMENTUM STIFLED: Just as Garrett Alberson appeared to turn a corner — stringing together five straight top-10 finishes after opening the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series campaign with just two in seven races — the Roberts Motorsports driver suffered another setback Sunday: a blown engine. Alberson’s 21st-place finish Sunday marked his third DNF in 15 races. For perspective, he didn’t record his third DNF last season until Aug. 15’s controversial Topless 100 prelim, where his battle for the win with Cade Dillard ended in a viral collision. In fact, Alberson had just three DNFs in full-field Lucas Oil features all of last year. That contrast is telling, and it’s clear the early-season struggles are starting to weigh on the fourth-year tour regular.
START ZONE: Sunday marked the first time I’ve seen the start zone at Hagerstown extended to the exit of turn four, all the way to the end of the retaining wall near the pit entrance. Traditionally, it’s been set not even three-quarters of the way through turns three and four. The change clearly caught Mason Zeigler off guard, as he was penalized for jumping the start in the opening heat. When I spoke with Zeigler, he argued that Brandon Sheppard waited until the last possible moment to fire, leaving him no choice but to try and time Sheppard’s laggy approach. The penalty sent Zeigler back a row, opening the door for Sheppard to take control and ultimately triumph later on. Zeigler, meanwhile, rallied from ninth to crack the top five before fading to a 10th-place finish.
CUT SHORT: I want to touch on Sunday’s Crate Late Model feature at Hagerstown Speedway for a moment. If you missed it, the support class only completed seven of its scheduled 20 laps before being cut short by the 30-minute time limit. That, of course, didn’t sit well with competitors and some fans. But when you start all 30 cars in a support race ahead of a national headliner, it’s just not a great recipe. I’m all for having the Crate class on a national touring undercard, it’s just I wish they’d run after the Lucas Oil feature so they’re not put in that precarious position again.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Sixteen years. That’s how long it had been since a Rocket Chassis house car won a national touring feature at Hagerstown Speedway, dating back to a Josh Richards victory on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series in 2010. Saturday marked a pair of firsts: Brandon Sheppard’s first win at the Maryland half-mile — and the first-ever Lucas Oil tour victory for the Rocket1 team.
