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

2025-07-14 20:14

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

Motorcycles, Off Road, Dirt Track action next: It's a busy weekend ahead at Lucas Oil Speedway with American Progressive Flat Track making its first appearance on the dirt oval on Friday, in a makeup of a rainout from earlier this season. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. with opening ceremonies at 7. Tickets are available online. For info on the series visit americanflattrack.com.

UTV Short Course also is set for practice on Friday before racing on Saturday. Race classes will include 200 stock: ages 5-12, 200 limited: ages 5-12, 250 modified: ages 7-12, 700cc and under: ages 10-15, youth 1k: ages 13-17, sportsman na: ages 14 and up, sportsman turbo: ages 14 and up, women's na: ages 13 and up, women's fi: ages 13 and up, vet na: ages 40 and up, vet fi: ages 40 and up, pro-am na: ages 18 and up, pro-am turbo: ages 18 and up, pro na: ages 18 and up, pro turbo: ages 18 and up.

The Pitts Homes and Realty Weekly Racing Series on Saturday night will be Horton Supply Company Veterans and Military Appreciation Night at the races. All veterans and military personnel with ID will be admitted free. The 4 State Dirt Late Model Series will make their second appearance this season with a $1,250-to-win feature, $400-to-start main event. Other classes in action will be the Arctic Food Equipment Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts Stock Cars and the Clear Creek Golf Car B-Mods.

For information on admission or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-6119 or (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.

CONTACT:

Danny Lorton

Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager

Office: (417) 282-5984

DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com



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Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate, this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience.

For ticket and camping information and everything about the Show-Me 100 event, visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for all the information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.

In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on X, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway

Complete Lucas Oil Speedway event information, archived race recaps, previews and driver features, along with ticket information and schedules can be found by visiting LucasOilSpeedway.com.

About Lucas Oil Speedway

Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top racing facilities in the nation. Located in Wheatland, Mo., approximately an hour from Springfield and just an hour and a half from the Kansas City metro area, the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" lives up to its title.

Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. This year marks the 12th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, "Lake Lucas." New for 2017 was all-purpose built Off Road facility featuring a host of regional events.

Lucas Oil Speedway's dirt oval track plays host to some of the largest and most-popular events in the Midwest with national and regional touring series appearing frequently including: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, United States Modified Touring Series and the High Limit Sprint Racing Series, POWRi Sprint Cars and POWRi WAR Sprints.

In addition to the special events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series features the Late Models, USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Super Stocks.

2025 Official Lucas Oil Speedway Marketing Partners

Bill Roberts Chevrolet

"The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Dixie Chopper

"The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway"

Iconic Apparel

"The Official Merchandise Provider of Lucas Oil Speedway"



Lucas Oil Products

"The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper

"The Official Soft Drink" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Rugged Radios

"The Official 2-Way Communications Provider" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Summit Racing Equipment

"The Official Sponsor" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Sunoco Race Fuels

"The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil Speedway

2025 Lucas Oil Speedway Supporters Include:

AM Pyrotechnics, Alliance Sport Marketing, Arctic Food Equipment, Berry Tractor and Equipment Co., Big Adventure RV, Bill Roberts Chevrolet, Bolivar Auto Sales & Detailing, Bolivar Farmers Exchange-MFA, Boubin Tire/American Racer, Bridal Cave, BWI Sanitation, Candlelight Creations-Dick's Wild Root Horseradish, Casey's, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, City Magnet, Clear Creek Golf Cars, Clearlight Inn, Dixie Chopper, Eibach Springs, Encounter Ministry Inc., FSE Fire Systems, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Foley Equipment-Cat Rental Store, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Henry's Towing Service, Heritage Tractor, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, Iconic Apparel, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps, In the Garden of Eden, Kluhsman Racing Components, Kona Ice, Lucas Cattle Company, MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welding, Missouri Division of Tourism, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, OakStar Bank, O'Bannon Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Outerwears Performance Products, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper, Ozarks Community Health Center, PEM, Pitts Homes, Pitts Realty, Pitts Cattle, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, RCR Designs, Real Racing Wheels, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, Ryan E. Murphy Law Firm LLC, SBU Athletics, Safety Kleen, Scott Furniture, Sidetrack RV Park, SMSI, Southwest Electric Cooperative, State Tech, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels, Super 8 Bolivar Mo., US Army Corps of Engineers-Pomme de Terre, Vietti Marketing Group, WacoBill.com, Wheatland Motel, White's Marine Center, Wieland, Woods Supermarkets.