Buddy Shepherd Hopes Home Cooking Brings Home October Classic Glory

One driver to keep an eye on during the “JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout Round 3 – Boogieman 127 presented by KHI Management Inc.” is Bakersfield’s own Buddy Shepherd. The 31st Edition of the October Classic at Kern County Raceway will feature one of the biggest fields of the 2020 season for the Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series. Shepherd will be looking to etch his name in the annals of the event, and join drivers such as Derek Thorn, Linny White, David Gilliland, Eric Holmes, Augie Vidovich, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, MK Kanke, Rick Carelli Racing and Mike Chase to name a few of the Southwest Tour winners of the event.

Shepherd is coming off a second-place finish in the Short Track Shootout at Madera Speedway. In the $10,000-to-win event, Shepherd clinched his third MAVTV NUT UP Pro Late Model Championship at the track. He pulled off four victories in the nine events and a total of five wins which included a regular Late Model race win. The season victories pushed his total to 16 Late Model wins at the facility. The complex was also the location of his Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series victory in 2017, the same season he took home the checkers in the Short Track Shootout.

As much success as he has had at Madera, he has also had stellar results at his home track. In 2016, he swept the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series events at the facility, going nine for nine. In SPEARS Southwest Tour Series competition he has three runner-up finishes, including the 2018 Winter Showdown behind Kyle Busch, after scoring the pole in qualifying. He finished second in the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series event earlier this season, behind Derek Thorn. To come home victorious in the October Classic, and improve that one position, he knows he will have to beat the Campbell Motorsports driver in the #43.

“It’s gonna be real hard to beat Derek and Mike (Keen), with as many laps as they both have there”, Shepherd admitted. “I just need to make sure I have something left for the end of the race, so we can compete for the win.”

The October 24th and 25th event will be Shepherd’s fourth SRL start of the 2020 season. He has the runner-up finish at Kern County Raceway and a sixth-place result at Irwindale Speedway, to highlight his season. His career numbers show a total of 13 starts, with the win, seven top-five and 11 top-10 results. If Shepherd could score win number two in the October Classic, it would be the biggest of his young career.

The “JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout Round 3 – Boogie Man 127 presented by KHI Management Inc.” will be Round #7 of the nine-race SPEARS Southwest Tour Series schedule. The event will pay $5,027 to win. $1,000 will be paid out to the leader on lap 27 from JM Environmental. $500 will be paid at the halfway mark, thanks to Kendall Peters with AKM Maintenance. The Performance Friction Brakes Zero Drag Fast Time Award will also payout another $500 with help from JM Environmental. The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will be joined by the Spears Modified Series, ARCA Menards Pro Series West, Pro Late Models and Street Stocks, for a huge weekend of racing. The Pro Late Models and Street Stocks will compete on both Saturday and Sunday, with 60 and 40 lap features, respectively.

For those unable to attend, the event will be shown live at www.SpearsRacing.TV. The Spears Southwest Tour Series will be featured on the live broadcast, along with the Spears Modifieds, Pro Late Models and the Street Stocks. Saturday’s broadcast will begin at approximately 3:30 pm (PST) and capture the final practice sessions for the Spears Modifieds and Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series. The Street Stock and Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Model Features will follow. Sunday will capture the Spears SRL Southwest Tour, Spears Modified, Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Model and Street Stock Feature events.

CURRENTLY THE EVENT IS NOT ALLOWED TO SELL SPECTATOR GRANDSTAND TICKETS.

PC: Sal Sigala Jr.