Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Nicely Take Wins in Summer Nationals Finale at Clarksville

📸 Tyler Carr

CLARKSVILLE, TN — June 29, 2025 — Brandon Sheppard reminded fans what a “Tennessee ass whooping” looks like. 

Controlling the final DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models appearance at Clarksville Speedway, the 2013 tour champion tied in-state royalty Scott Bloomquist in all-time wins for his first career Week title.

Sheppard began the night with a win on the Heat race, then started on the outside of the front row with fellow Illinois driver Jason Feger leading the field to the green flag.

While Feger had a slight edge on the bottom lane to lead the opening lap, Sheppard’s high-line advantage overmatched him as the No. B5 rocketed to the lead off the final corner on the second lap.

After getting clear of Feger, Sheppard adjusted to the bottom lane to keep a healthy distance between the No. 25 Longhorn Chassis throughout the 30-lap Feature. In lapped traffic, Sheppard was able to pass three cars to challenge Feger while he followed behind Tyler Erb around the 1/4-mile racetrack.

Sheppard’s lead over the field was diminished with four laps to go after Josh Putnam’s left rear tire exploded, brought out the only caution of the night, and gave Feger a second chance at scoring his fifth Hell Tour win of 2025.

“B-Shepp” stayed precise with his driving on the final restart of the race by keeping his Rocket Chassis to the bottom line as he led the final four laps for his first Summer Nationals win since 2021.

The Clarksville Speedway finale marked the 28th win of his career, and completes a week where he appeared on every podium of Week 3.

“Man, we’ve had a great car all week long,” Sheppard said. “I just, for some reason, haven’t been able to put a full night together. Tonight, we were able to do that. Our qualifying efforts have been getting better all week. And, the boys have been working very hard, and we appreciate it.”

Feature (30 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 25F-Jason Feger[1]; 3. 75-Dillon McCowan[4]; 4. 27M-Rodney Melvin[3]; 5. 81F-Jadon Frame[7]; 6. 14-Haiden Cowan[5]; 7. 14JR-Trey Mills[8]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 9. 81-Jason Riggs[10]; 10. 28B-Carson Brown[6]; 11. 5-Mark Whitener[14]; 12. 21-Mario Gresham[12]; 13. 59-Dillard Hatchett[13]; 14. 29-Christian Hanger[19]; 15. 31M-Tyler Millwood[17]; 16. 1-Tyler Erb[18]; 17. 38-Thomas Hunziker[20]; 18. 388-Jackson Hise[22]; 19. (DNF) 212-Josh Putnam[11]; 20. (DNF) 15F-Richard Frost[15]; 21. (DNF) 63-Michael Luna[16]; 22. (DNF) 54JR-Larry Barber Jr[21]

Tyler Nicely Sweeps Summit Modified Nationals Weekend, Joins Top Five in All-Time Wins at Clarksville

In just three races with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, Tyler Nicely is back on his roll after the weekend return.

The Owensboro, KY driver dominated the Sunday night finale at Clarksville Speedway en route to his second consecutive Feature win of 2025 while joining a new level of records on the UMP Modified tour.

Starting on the outside of the front row, Nicely witnessed polesitter Trent Young securing the lead on the first two starts. However, cautions were thrown after each time, resetting each driver’s strategy. On the third restart, Nicely used the cushion of Turns 1-2 to claim the lead over Young.

While Nicely’s No. 25 Elite Chassis paced the field around the quarter-mile bullring, Young struggled to match the speed as the gap grew to 2.6 seconds by the halfway mark.

When lapped traffic began to hamper Nicely’s ability to grow the lead, the No. 10Y Diamond Chassis began to reel Nicely back into his sights as the distance cut to 1.4 seconds within the final five laps.

Young reached the back bumper of the Nicely when the white flag waved, but he was unable to attempt a pass as Nicely’s 13th Summit Modified Nationals win helped him surpass Michael Long for fifth on the all-time wins list.

“(Young) fooled me twice, so shame on me if he fooled me the third time,” Nicely said. “I just made my angle a little bit better down (in Turn 4) to come to the green (flag), and I was just gonna drive it into Turn 1 as hard as I could. I knew it was gonna be crucial to get out there to the lead.”

Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Arkansas for the Week 4 opener at Old No. 1 Speedway on Monday night, June 30.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 25-Tyler Nicely[2]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young[1]; 3. 94-Austin Rettig[4]; 4. 98-Zac Harris[3]; 5. 45H-Chase Holland[16]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[6]; 7. 75-Daniel Adam[9]; 8. 121-Caleb Slaughter[7]; 9. 06-Cage Ashby[11]; 10. 151-Zach Resinger[8]; 11. 4-Brenden Heizer[10]; 12. C5-Charlie Jackson[13]; 13. 42-Jacob Bryant[15]; 14. 60-Jim Manka[17]; 15. 777-Trevor Neville[12]; 16. (DNF) 182-Ryan Williams[5]; 17. (DNS) 12L-Lucas Lee