By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
There was pomp, there was circumstance, there were hurt feelings, and there was a fine late model race Saturday night at the Dome in St. Louis. 30,000+ race fans packed the Dome at America’s Center for the $30,000 to win super late model finale. Thanks to their top three finishes on their respective preliminary nights, Mike Spatola, Ricky Thornton Jr., Ashton Winger, Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard, and Gordy Gundaker all found themselves locked-in to the show.
After the redraw for feature starting positions, it would be defending Gateway Nationals champion Brandon Sheppard and local favorite Gordy Gundaker on the front row of the 40 lap feature. After a touching tribute to the late Scott Bloomquist, God Bless the USA, our National Anthem, and the always electric driver introductions, it was time to beat, bang, and lean on the car next to you for 40 laps and a wad of cash.
The green flag waved, and Sheppard and Gundaker found themselves side-by-side for the lead for the entirety of lap one, as they crossed the line for the first time, it was Gundaker with the advantage as Thornton Jr. worked by Spatola for third. Gundaker worked the middle of the race track as Sheppard rolled the bottom, with Thornton Jr. right on their tails and Winger now fourth. As lap four turned to five, Sheppard was close enough to Gundaker to take a peak under for the lead- as did Winger on Thornton for third. Both Gundaker and Thornton Jr. held their respective spots. A few more laps clicked by, and Sheppard was stuck to Gundaker’s back bumper like glue as Winger threw a slider at Thornton Jr. for third. Sheppard switched up his line, moving up the track in turns one and two on lap nine, but the first caution of the feature would fly as Steve Sheppard and Jonathon Davenport were facing the wrong way.
On the restart, Sheppard tried to slide Gundaker, but Gundaker held serve. The top two went back to being nose-to-tail. On lap 10, Sheppard was able to get under Gundaker in turns one and two, and slid into turns three and four to take the lead from Gundaker. Winger then tried to capitalize and make his move on Gundaker for second, as the leaders started working their way up the track towards the wall. The second yellow of the night then came out as Tanner English spun in turns one and two.
Sheppard got a good restart, but that didn’t stop Winger from looking under the B5 machine for the lead. Meanwhile, Gundaker used the restart to wind up his car and get a run on Winger, sliding him in turns three and four. Winger kept his foot in the throttle, and powered around the outside of Gundaker down the frontstretch to hold onto the second spot. A couple more laps clicked by without issue for Sheppard or Winger, but Thornton Jr. had just gotten by Gundaker for third on lap 14, and he was hungry for more. Thornton dove under Winger going into turns three and four to nab the second spot, now to chase down the leader.
On lap 16, Sheppard’s lead was up to 1.571 seconds, but the third caution came out for a spoiler laying on the track. The restart was all Brandon Sheppard. Winger slid under Thornton Jr. in turns one and two, but Thronton Jr. held his ground, but here came Friday Night’s prelim winner “Opie” Mike Spatola. He rocketed into fourth, then threw a slider for third going into turns one and two on lap 17 and it stuck. Winger wasn’t giving up easy, though. He returned the favor in turns three and four to reclaim third. While all of that was going on, here came two-time Dome Champion, Bobby Pierce in fifth. Spatola and Winger exchanged sliders on lap 19, and they remained side-by-side for third, with Pierce having the best seat in the house to watch the battle, looking for an opportunity to pounce. With all of that action going on, it was easy to forget about our leader Brandon Sheppard. He was quietly putting away the laps and gapping Thornton Jr. by nearly two and a half seconds. The yellow flag flew once again, though, as Tyler Carpenter spun in turns one and two.
Sheppard had his restarts dialed in at this point. Thornton took a look for the lead but couldn’t do anything with it. Sheppard quickly built a 1.505 second lead. Behind them, Winger, Spatola, and Pierce went back to their triple-threat match for positions three, four and five. Winger slid by Spatola for third on the restart, which opened the door for Pierce to try for fourth. Pierce momentarily had fourth, but Spatola fought back, which led to Pierce fighting back in a heavyweight slider-fest. Pierce eventually claimed the fourth spot, but all this battling let Nick Hoffman throw his hat into the ring. By lap 25, Sheppard’s lead was back to 2.308 seconds as Pierce now went to work on Winger for third as lapped traffic loomed for the front runners. The final caution flag would fly on lap 25 as Rich Bell had some issues.
The final restart was another good one for Sheppard. Then, things really got crazy. Winger was able to throw a slider on Thornton Jr. for second in turns one and two, with Thornton throwing a slider of his own in turns three and four, taking back the second spot. Nick Hoffman and Bobby Pierce waited in the shadows, looking for an opportunity to make their move. On lap 27, Pierce made his move in the form of a slider on Winger going into turns one and two. Pierce wasn’t done there. He quickly made his way to Thornton Jr. in second, and they were nose-to-tail for second in no time. That’s exactly what the leader Sheppard wanted to seed, as his lead grew to nearly two seconds. What Sheppard didn’t want to see was Pierce get by Thornton Jr. for second, and that’s what happened on lap 29. Pierce now had 11 laps to make up 2.375 seconds to try and become the first three-time Dome Champion. Sheppard’s lead had eight tenths of a second cut out of it on lap 30, and was down to 1.578 seconds on lap 31. Pierce bobbled in turns one and two, allowing Sheppard to get a half-second back. That didn’t deter Pierce. The gap between the top two was 1.803 seconds on lap 33 as the leaders were reeling in lapped traffic. Pierce clawed another half-second out of the lead to get it down to 1.365 seconds on lap 34, and on lap 35, lapped traffic was a factor.
These lapped cars were no slouches; Ryan Unzicker, Brandon Overton, and Jonathon Davenport were the first to be caught by Sheppard, and Overton was running up against the wall, right where Sheppard was running. The lead was down to 1.2 seconds on lap 36, and thankfully for Sheppard, the lapped cars moved down. With three laps to go, Pierce took another tenth out of the lead, and it was now only 1.141 seconds between the top two, and Pierce was ripping. Davenport was the next lapped car running the same line as Sheppard, and it allowed Pierce to close the gap even more; down to .715 seconds with two laps left, and Sheppard desperately needing to get around Davenport.
The crowd came to their feet, would Sheppard be able to hang on and get back-to-back Dome wins, or would Pierce steal another crown jewel in the closing laps? Going down the backstretch, Sheppard nearly got into the back of Davenport, and Pierce was right there too. Davenport moved down to the bottom of turns three and four as they came to the white flag to let Sheppard and Pierce decide this on their own. A car-length and a half separated Sheppard and Pierce as the white flag waved. They both went to the cushion in turns one and two, looking to maximize their run down the backstretch. As they approached turns three and four for the final time, Sheppard went high, Pierce went to the bottom, and in the middle of turns three and four, Pierce broke! Sheppard dashed across the line as the pyro went off and Pierce limped his car across in second.
Bananas. The crowd went bananas, the whole race was bananas. Brandon Sheppard was now a two-time Gateway Dirt Nationals Champion, with Pierce and Thornton Jr. rounding out the podium.