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Sheppard looking to bounce back at Illini 100, All Stars cancel Friday | DIRTRACKR Daily 4/1/21
It is Thursday, April 1st, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we get you ready for a busy weekend of late model racing, including a big dive into the World of Outlaws at Farmer City for the Illini, and we've also got event news from the All Stars, so let's jump in.
The Illini 100 weekend starts today at Farmer City Raceway for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The Outlaws are coming off that rainout of the Rock Gault Memorial at Cherokee Speedway last weekend. The series did complete two features on Friday night at Cherokee, but they were split field special events, and so don't count as full points races. Drivers were awarded show up points for their participation, but for example, Brandon Sheppard's win in the night's second feature does not count towards his stat totals. So while he's now won a late model feature in 2021, he has still not technically won with the Outlaws or Lucas. Entering the weekend, Kyle Strickler is still the points leader by 66 over Sheppard, with Ricky Weiss, Tyler Bruening, and Kyle Bronson rounding out the top five. There is no racing at Farmer City today, but the track will be open from 5pm to 8pm for open practice. Friday night features a 25 lap, $6000 to win show, while Saturday is a 75 lap $20,000 to win feature. Because of covid, the Outlaws did not race at Farmer City Raceway in 2020, with the previous races at the Illinois race track happening back on April 5th and 6th of 2019. Brian Shirley won the weekend opener back in 2019, leading 20 of 25 laps and topping Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden. Sheppard was one spot better on Saturday in 2019, leading 43 laps and taking the $15,000 win over Jimmy Mars, Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb, and Darrell Lanigan.
We've talked a bunch on this show about Sheppard's struggles so far in 2021, and this weekend's races will be another opportunity for he and the Rocket team to get rolling and contend for wins. Besides being the most recent winner at Farmer City, Sheppard has been incredible on 1/4 mile race tracks in recent seasons with five wins and an average finish of 1.6. Even if he doesn't win, a few top five finishes, which he doesn't have with the Outlaws so far, would give this team some nice momentum heading into that big Bristol weekend coming up. Sheppard's struggles have started early in these Outlaw nights, with his qualifying average over five positions worse versus 2020. That's set him up for average feature starts which are eight positions worse than 2020. It's difficult to contend for wins and top fives starting outside the top ten, especially with a tough series like the Outlaws.
As for points leader Strickler, he was dominant in Florida, which is why he leads the points standings. But in the two weekends since then, hasn't gotten the finishes he and his team would like. They finished 15th at Smoky Mountain after starting 20th, and last Friday night at Cherokee they contended for the win in the night's first feature, but cut a tire late and ended up 17th. Back to 2019, Strickler doesn't have a 1/4 mile track start with the Outlaws, so it's hard to really define expectations for him this weekend.
The remainder of the full time Outlaw contigent still seems to be trying to find their footing so far this season. Ricky Weiss is working with his new custom built chassis and only has one top five, Darrell Lanigan's switch back to Rockets hasn't paid dividends yet as he's 104 points behind Strickler in 7th, and Cade Dillard has had a miserable start to 2021 with only a single top ten finish after getting two wins and finishing third in the standings last season. This could be a tough weekend to try and rebound, but of the three, Weiss has the best average finish lately on 1/4 mile tracks at 6.6.
With Lucas off, good money on the line, and Farmer City right in the heart of late model country, there should be a tough field of racers this weekend. Looking at win predictions for tomorrow night, the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula likes Brandon Sheppard over Kyle Strickler. Chris Madden trails the front two in win chances. Sheppard is boosted in the formula by his past success at Farmer City, and Strickler is high because of his strong start to 2021. Two other guys to pay attention to this weekend are Bobby Pierce and Jimmy Mars. Pierce grabbed a DIRTcar Nationals win back in February and he was fast at Farmer City in 2019, finishing third on the final night. And Mars is always tough when the Outlaws hit the midwest. He has 10 top fives and 14 top tens in his last 26 races with the Outlaws, including that second place run at Farmer City in 2019. If you can't be at Farmer City this weekend, DIRTVision will have live streaming coverage with your fast pass.
If you're looking for other late model racing this weekend, there is plenty going on and some big money on the line. Friday night's Spring Nationals race at Wythe Raceway in Virginia has been postponed because of cold temperatures, but Saturday's $21,000 to win show at Tazewell Speedway in Tennessee is still on as scheduled. The Comp Cams Super Dirt Series is at Poplar Bluff and Legit Speedway Park Friday and Saturday. The Southern All Stars are at Patriots Park in Georgia for $4000 to win, plus there are super shows at Potomac, Winston, and Port Royal. The Carolina Clash late models are going for $4000 to win at Friendship Motor Speedway, and there are several more across the country. Make sure to check with track and series websites and social media before you head to the track this weekend, as some cold temperatures are causing schedules to be altered.
Announced this morning, the All Stars weekend at Attica has been shortened by a day due to freezing temperatures. Friday night's race has been cancelled, and Saturday's program has been moved up with hot laps starting at 4:45 PM. For more info on the weekend, visit allstarsprint.com.
The only thing on the streaming schedule for today is FloRacing 24/7. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Tomorrow on the show we'll get you ready for a busy open wheel weekend upcoming, including the Outlaws at Pevely, All Stars at Attica, USAC midgets at Riverside, USAC sprints at Lawrenceburg, and a lot more.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.
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