5/10/2025
Brandon Sheppard Grabs a Pair of Runner-up Finishes at Farmer City and FALS
Marshalltown Speedway and Eagle Raceway Up Next
SHINNSTON, W.Va. (05/12/25) – Brandon Sheppard capped off the grueling five-day Illinois Speedweek with a pair of runner-up finishes at Farmer City Raceway and Fairbury Speedway aboard the Valvoline / Seubert Calf Ranches No. 1 Rocket1 Racing / Ace Metal Works / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
The New Berlin, Illinois native led the first 65 laps of Friday’s Farmer City 74 before being overtaken by Ricky Thornton Jr. with just nine laps to go. In Saturday’s FALS Spring Shootout, Sheppard made a late-race charge and nearly edged past leader Jonathan Davenport at the white flag, ultimately falling just 0.192 seconds short at the checkers.
“It’s always good to be here at FALS, especially to be back in the Rocket House Car,” Sheppard said after Saturday’s thriller. “It means the world to me that those guys gave me the opportunity to come back. I felt really good tonight, you know, we had a good car all night long. At the beginning of the race, I was trying to keep my tires underneath me. I couldn’t really go that good at the beginning, and then once the track started to get slicker, the better I got.”
The team’s five-race stretch began Tuesday afternoon at the newly reopened LaSalle Speedway for the Illinois Speedweek opener. After securing a spot in the FloRacing Night in America feature with a heat race win, Sheppard turned in a steady fourth-place finish in the 50-lap main event.
After a 17th-place outing in Wednesday’s stop at Spoon River Speedway, Sheppard returned to familiar territory on Thursday at Lincoln Speedway. He earned overall fast time honors in qualifying, but his promising night was derailed when a piece of debris on the track shredded a tire while leading his heat race. Despite the setback, Sheppard rallied from the tail in the 50-lapper to salvage a 10th-place finish in the $20,000-to-win A-Main.
With the final two rounds of Illinois Speedweek falling under Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanction, Brandon set the early pace in Friday’s Farmer City 74 at Farmer City Raceway. He led the first 65 circuits before surrendering the top spot in lapped traffic on lap 66, ultimately settling for a runner-up finish.
In a dramatic conclusion to the miniseries on Saturday at Fairbury Speedway, Sheppard mounted a late-race charge on front-runner Jonathan Davenport, coming up just 0.192 seconds short at the checkered flag.
Complete results from the Illinois Speedweek are available at www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
Rocket1 Racing will return to action this Tuesday as Marshalltown Speedway hosts the fourth round of the FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota miniseries. From there, the team will reunite with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Eagle Raceway for the inaugural High Bank Heist.
Full event details can be found at www.MarshalltownSpeedway.com and www.EagleRaceway.com.
Rocket1 Racing would like to thank all of their marketing partners, which include Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Collins Brothers Towing Of St.Cloud, Rocket Chassis, Ace Metal Works, Durham Racing Engines, Five Star RaceCar Bodies, Gunter’s Honey, Performance Grading, Stiles Marine & Maintenance, Hoosier Racing Tire, Fox Racing Shox, Keyser Manufacturing, Petroff Towing, On Time Body & Graphic, Franklin Enterprises, Bubba Army, Sweet Manufacturing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Accu-Force Shock Service, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, Bazell Race Fuels, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Brinn Transmissions, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, CP Carrillo, Dohm Cycles, Fibreworks Composites, Hardrock Powder Coating, Howe Racing Enterprises, Jones Racing Products, Kenny’s Components, MSD, E3 Spark Plugs, Tel Tac, Performance Bodies, Peterson Fluid Systems, Powers Performance, Performance Rod & Custom, QuickCar Racing Products, MatMan Designs, Allgaier Performance Parts, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Show Trucks Unlimited, Simpson, Stealth Carburetors, Strange Oval, Suave Talk, Total Power Valvoline Pro-V Racing, Walker Performance Filtration, Wiles Driveshafts, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance Products, Wrisco Aluminum, Xceldyne Valvetrain, and MyRacePass Marketing Services.
For the latest information on Rocket1 Racing, please visit the team website at www.Rocket1Racing.com.
Fans can stay connected with the latest news and updates by joining Rocket1 Racing’s official mailing list at https://pages/Rocket1Racing.
Article Credit: Heath Lawson image
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