Sheppard runs away with Night 2 CMH Diamond Nationals victory at Lucas Oil Speedway

 

WHEATLAND, MO. (July 12, 2025) – For Brandon Sheppard, Lucas Oil Speedway had been a long-time nemesis.

“This place has haunted me in my dreams numerous times,” Sheppard said. “We ran second at the Show-Me (100) back in ’21. I’ve been good here in the past, (but) it’s been very hit and miss.”

Sheppard hit it out of the ballpark Saturday night. The New Berlin, Ill., veteran seized the lead on a lap 15 restart and ran away from there to capture the 19th annual CMH Diamond Nationals Presented by Wieland. Sheppard’s first Diamond Nationals triumph and 32nd career full-field Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph was worth $25,000.

Sheppard beat Hudson O’Neal – the driver that edged him out in the 2021 Show-Me 100 – by nearly four seconds in his Rocket chassis. He became the 12th different winner of the Diamond Nationals.

“This track is very tricky. It takes a lot of stuff than your average race track,” Sheppard said in victory lane. “Hats off to Mark (car owner Mark Richards) and (crew members) Dan, Austin and Joel, all the guys back at Rocket chassis for building this new piece.”

Sheppard’s second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season started from the sixth spot after pole-starting Gordy Gundaker grabbed the lead at the drop of the green. Gundaker set the early pace over outside row-one starter Brandon Overton through five laps. Sheppard wasted no time moving from sixth into third with Thornton fourth.

Sheppard’s advance continued as he moved to second by lap 10, trailing Gundaker by 1.3 seconds. The first caution came out on lap 14 as Donald McIntosh spun in turn two, wiping out Gundaker’s 1.2-second cushion over Sheppard with Overton in third.

Sheppard took the lead on the restart, passing Gundaker on the outside coming out of turn four. Sheppard needed only four laps to open nearly a two-second lead and was 3.6 in front by the midway point on lap 25. O’Neal, of Martinsville, Ind., moved into second by lap 27 and gave chase, but there was no stopping Sheppard as action remained caution-free.

Sheppard, handling lapped traffic with no issues, took it home and beat O’Neal by 3.77 seconds at the checkers.

“It was an awesome track both nights this weekend,” Sheppard said. “They did a heck of a job with it. We’re just super happy and super thankful to be here in victory lane. Hopefully we can keep building off we’ve got here and have some consistency.”

Sheppard said the challenge of winning on the series cannot be overstated. It made his second win in eight days even more special.

“Lucas Oil, we’re racing against a tough crowd night in and night out,” Sheppard said. “It is hard to win these races. To be able to stand up here two times in the last two weekends, it’s really awesome. My crew has been working so hard and Mark has been working so hard.”

O’Neal said he just didn’t have enough to deal with Sheppard.

“Good job to them guys,” O’Neal said. “We got out-tired a little bit, I think and he got out to too big of a lead at the end to be able to close in on him. But what an improvement from last night. The good thing is, we made the right adjustments.”

Diamond Nationals Night One winner Ricky Thornton Jr. emerged from the battle to finish third, a half-car-length ahead of two-time Lucas Oil Speedway track champion Justin Wells of Aurora as those two swapped the position the final two laps. Garrett Alberson wound up fifth.

“I was a little too tight early,” Thornton said. “Hats off to these guys. This race, the Show-Me (100), that’s probably the best this place has raced in a long time. I needed to be a little bit better – a lot better – to beat Brandon. Congrats to them. He was in a league of his own tonight.”

Jonathan Davenport finished eighth after taking a provisional and starting 23rd in a backup car. A failed harmonic balancer felled Davenport’s primary car while leading his heat with one lap to go. Davenport, who also set the fast qualifying time, salvaged a decent points night as he remained in front of Thornton for the series championship battle by by 30 points.

Schultz earns Hickamo Super Stocks win: Terry Schultz of Sedalia grabbed the lead on lap seven and went on to capture the 20-lap, $1,000-to-win Hickamo Super Stocks feature. Schultz finished in front of J.T. Carroll by nearly a second.

“They had a good track,” Schultz said. “We got to watch the Late Model race and it was a good race and they did a good job all weekend and put on a good show for the fans.”

Tim Brown went from fourth to first on the opening lap and was leading Carroll when fourth-running Kyle Davis spun to bring out a lap-two caution. Schultz, who started fifth, took away the lead by going past Brown on the inside of turn one. Carroll grabbed second from Brown on lap nine when caution flew, a lap before the halfway point.

Schultz expanded the lead to 1.1 seconds by lap 13 when another caution slowed the action. After the restart, the final seven laps ran caution free and Schultz won by a .908-second margin.

Tony Anglin finished third with Jared Hays fourth and Brown fifth.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (July 12, 2025)
19th annual CMH Diamond Nationals Presented by Wieland
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
A Feature – 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 98-Justin Wells[9]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[17]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 7. 11-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 8. 49-Jonathan Davenport[23]; 9. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 10. 50-Kayden Clatt[15]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 12. 6-Clay Harris[25]; 13. 19M-Spencer Hughes[3]; 14. 93-Carson Ferguson[21]; 15. 99-Devin Moran[10]; 16. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[19]; 17. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[16]; 18. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[13]; 19. 60-Dan Ebert[24]; 20. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[11]; 21. 93L-Cory Lawler[22]; 22. 79-Donald McIntosh[20]; 23. 96-Dalton Imhoff[12]; 24. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[18]; 25. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[14]

Fast Shafts B Main 1 – 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[2]; 3. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 4. 0-Jake O’Neil[3]; 5. 4W-Tyler Wolff[7]; 6. 7J-Ryan Johnson[6]; 7. 60-Dan Ebert[8]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[5]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[9]

UNOH B Main 2 – 1. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[1]; 2. 79-Donald McIntosh[3]; 3. 93L-Cory Lawler[2]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 5. 15L-Payton Looney[5]; 6. 87-Darron Fuqua[6]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[8]; 8. 805-Rob Hough[7]; 9. (DNS) 3W-Brennon Willard

Penske Shocks Heat 1 – 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker[3]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 3. 98-Justin Wells[4]; 4. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 6. 0-Jake O’Neil[7]; 7. 65-Jon Binning[8]; 8. 4W-Tyler Wolff[9]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]

Summit Racing Heat 2 – 1. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[1]; 4. 50-Kayden Clatt[3]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 6. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[8]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[7]

Cool It Thermo Tec Heat 3 – 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 5. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[5]; 6. 79-Donald McIntosh[6]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[7]; 8. 805-Rob Hough[9]; 9. (DNS) 3W-Brennon Willard

Simpson Race Products Heat 4 – 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 96-Dalton Imhoff[2]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 5. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 6. 6-Clay Harris[6]; 7. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]; 8. 15-Clay Stuckey[8]

Qualifying Group A – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.049[2]; 2. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:15.290[9]; 3. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, 00:15.413[5]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:15.455[10]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.486[8]; 6. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:15.505[13]; 7. 98-Justin Wells, 00:15.518[4]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.525[12]; 9. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:15.572[11]; 10. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:15.723[15]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.750[3]; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.862[14]; 13. 0-Jake O’Neil, 00:15.933[7]; 14. 60-Dan Ebert, 00:16.008[1]; 15. 65-Jon Binning, 00:16.018[6]; 16. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 00:16.028[16]; 17. 4W-Tyler Wolff, 00:16.223[17]

Qualifying Group B – 1. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:15.267[3]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.270[10]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.301[2]; 4. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:15.362[13]; 5. 99-Devin Moran, 00:15.409[6]; 6. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:15.438[7]; 7. 56-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.549[14]; 8. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:15.645[15]; 9. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel, 00:15.669[12]; 10. 93L-Cory Lawler, 00:15.733[16]; 11. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:15.864[17]; 12. 6-Clay Harris, 00:15.986[8]; 13. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:16.008[1]; 14. 87-Darron Fuqua, 00:16.125[11]; 15. (DNS) 3W-Brennon Willard; 16. (DNS) 15-Clay Stuckey; 17. (DNS) 805-Rob Hough

Hickamo Super Stocks
A Feature – 1. B4-Terry Schultz[5]; 2. 94C-JT Carroll[2]; 3. G1-Tony Anglin[1]; 4. 4-Jared Hays[11]; 5. 111-Tim Brown[4]; 6. 21-Johnny Fennewald[17]; 7. 2-Colton Bourland[12]; 8. 8N-Colby North[8]; 9. 94-Kenny Carroll[6]; 10. KEG1-Jeremy Russell[18]; 11. 35-Johnny Coats[16]; 12. 164-Michael Muskrat[7]; 13. 25-Aaron Murry[19]; 14. 10K-Kyle Davis[3]; 15. 73-Francisco Escamilla[9]; 16. 23N-Jase Nelson[14]; 17. 27S-Will Smart[23]; 18. 18-Jon Hays[22]; 19. 08-Scott Pullen[25]; 20. 27B-Jerett Evans[20]; 21. (DNF) 7B-Chad Lyle[10]; 22. (DNF) 04-Blaine Ewing[13]; 23. (DNF) 64-Luke Leatherman[15]; 24. (DNF) 22W-Craig Wiggens[24]; 25. (DNS) 06-Morgan Campbell

B Feature – 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[18]; 2. KEG1-Jeremy Russell[12]; 3. 25-Aaron Murry[1]; 4. 27B-Jerett Evans[11]; 5. 06-Morgan Campbell[5]; 6. 18-Jon Hays[13]; 7. 27S-Will Smart[8]; 8. 22W-Craig Wiggens[14]; 9. 08-Scott Pullen[4]; 10. 61R-Randi Goins[15]; 11. 77-Jeff Douty[16]; 12. 69T-Tony Bowman[17]; 13. 10C-Jacob Combs[10]; 14. (DNF) 3P-Aaron Poe[3]; 15. (DNF) 28-Chris Kircher[2]; 16. (DNF) X15-Bobby Ruff II[9]; 17. (DNF) 4G-Gary Clark[7]; 18. (DNF) 26M-Donnie Miller[6]

Heat 1 – 1. B4-Terry Schultz[1]; 2. 73-Francisco Escamilla[2]; 3. 2-Colton Bourland[3]; 4. 25-Aaron Murry[4]; 5. 28-Chris Kircher[6]; 6. 06-Morgan Campbell[7]; 7. X15-Bobby Ruff II[8]; 8. (DNF) 69T-Tony Bowman[5]

Heat 2 – 1. 94-Kenny Carroll[1]; 2. 7B-Chad Lyle[2]; 3. 111-Tim Brown[8]; 4. 04-Blaine Ewing[6]; 5. 3P-Aaron Poe[4]; 6. 4G-Gary Clark[5]; 7. 27B-Jerett Evans[3]; 8. 22W-Craig Wiggens[7]; 9. 61R-Randi Goins[9]

Heat 3 – 1. 94C-JT Carroll[2]; 2. 8N-Colby North[3]; 3. 164-Michael Muskrat[7]; 4. 64-Luke Leatherman[1]; 5. 23N-Jase Nelson[8]; 6. 27S-Will Smart[5]; 7. KEG1-Jeremy Russell[4]; 8. 18-Jon Hays[6]

Heat 4 – 1. 10K-Kyle Davis[2]; 2. G1-Tony Anglin[6]; 3. 4-Jared Hays[5]; 4. 35-Johnny Coats[1]; 5. 08-Scott Pullen[4]; 6. 26M-Donnie Miller[7]; 7. 10C-Jacob Combs[8]; 8. (DNF) 77-Jeff Douty[3]; 9. (DNS) 21-Johnny Fennewald

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Category: Lucas Oil Speedway, Missouri