Spoon River Speedway
Sheppards assist fellow Illinoisan's path back
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Kolby Vandenbergh (joshjamesartwork.com)
BANNER, Ill. (May 6) — Kolby Vandenbergh hasn’t raced much the past three years with perhaps a dozen starts.
Yet the Ashland, Ill., driver now finds himself behind the wheel of Steve Sheppard Jr.’s No. 5s Rocket Chassis for three Illinois Speedweek events, beginning with Wednesday’s FloRacing Night in America event at Spoon River Speedway followed by Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series action Friday and Saturday at Farmer City and Fairbury. | RaceWire
Thanks to a longstanding connection with the Sheppard family that includes five-time national touring champion Brandon — the Vandenberghs operate an excavating business while the Sheppards run a scrapyard, their operations just 15 minutes apart with overlapping ties — the 28-year-old is aiming to make the most of his best racing opportunity since he finished runner-up in Midwest LateModel Racing Association points in 2022.
“We’re gonna see where it goes from there. We have our own car coming, but we’re gonna furnish it out of their own shop,” Vandenbergh said. “I think we’re gonna kinda play it out the first couple races and see how it goes. (Steve’s) car the first couple of nights, then we might totally transition to my 15 car. But still run out of Shepp’s speed shop, looking at maybe 15, might be 25 races. We’ll see how it goes.”
Vandenbergh is rebuilding his family-owned No. 15 operation after infrequent starts since 2023 — a slowdown that followed Rookie of the Year MLRA run when he finished second to champion Chad Simpson in points on the Missouri-based circuit.
That remains Vandenbergh’s proudest achievement in Dirt Late Model racing to this day because he finished the season from start to finish with a single car and two engines, posting 16 top-10 runs in 27 features.
“To get that accomplishment was huge for us because there was a lot of times we'd go to work, you know, three days a week and then leave that night and go racing,” Vandenbergh said.
He scaled back his racing schedule largely because of increased responsibilities at the family business, Vandenbergh Concrete & Excavating. He was fortunate to make it to Wednesday’s event at Spoon River Speedway after getting off work in time, but work obligations will sideline him for Thursday’s FloRacing tour stop at Lincoln Speedway.
“I took more responsibility over with the family business and that kind of pulls you from the from the racing a little bit,” Vandenbergh said. “But hopefully with teaming up with Brandon and the help from them and everything, we can kind of get out there a little bit more than what we used to.”
Steve Sheppard Jr. sees Vandenbergh as a true family friend, so much that he’ll offer Vandenbergh one of his No. 5s machines to race with during select events the rest of the year if Vandenbergh is unable to get his No. 15 rolling.
“Just been family friends forever,” Sheppard said. “They’ve helped us out with some concrete and stuff around the scrapyard and we're helping them out with some race and stuff. Their car's been at our shop for a while. They're getting a new car and stuff. These guys are sitting around with no races to go do. Kolby’s ran good here in the past” at Spoon River.
Sheppard would be thrilled to see Vandenbergh simply qualify for features this week at Spoon River, Farmer City and Fairbury — especially given the ultra-competitive fields and that he'll definitely have some rust to knock off, having been out of the driver’s seat since last Sept. 14’s 10th-place finish at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway.
“Coming into here, if he could make the show, that'll be that'll be a win, you know? From my perspective, just because he hasn't raced since last year and competition is dang tough right now,” Sheppard said. "We know that car is good. It’s that same car I ran at Paragon (Speedway in Indiana on April 17). … So, yeah, if he makes show and has just a solid outing, leave here in one piece, everybody will be happy with that.”
Vandenbergh’s place within the Sheppard Racing operation is relatively secure, so this week isn’t necessarily an audition. Still, that doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t there.
He knows the caliber of equipment he’s stepping into, and therefore what a strong showing could lead to. If Vandenbergh performs well enough, a trip to Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., for the Show-Me 100 on May 22-24 could be on the table, “a place that’s always been good to me,” he said.
“There’s still some nerves there. Yeah, it's all top-notch equipment. A lot of eyeballs from the paint scheme to just everything. So, yeah, definitely big shoes to fill, feeling a lot of pressure. But like I said, I can't thank them enough for the opportunity, letting me get some seat time with his crew and equipment. So, we'll just have to see how it goes.”
