BUDDY SHEPHERD CASHES IN ON A TOP-5 FINISH IN THE SPEARS SOUTHWEST TOUR SERIES SEASON OPENER AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

Championship Contender off to a Strong Start in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series

BAKERSFIELD, CA (March 27, 2018) – The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series kicked the season off this past weekend at Madera Speedway in Central California. This 125 lap season opener provided a stacked 28-car lineup and talents from across the west coast. One driver everyone had their eyes on was the up and coming driver Buddy Shepherd.

With Shepherd coming off his impressive runner up finish at the prestigious 2018 Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway Park, he had a lot of pressure to back it up and he did just that. After some setbacks in practice, Shepherd and his team struggled to find a handle on the No.15 Toyota Camry for the race. Buddy started in the sixth position and quickly made his way up into the top-3.

As the race progressed the higher groove ended up being the lane of choice, Shepherd lost some positions on restarts as he got trapped on the bottom line a few different times. He eventually found himself in the seventh position, with all seven leaders nose to tail. Buddy was able to find a groove late in the race working his way into the top-5 and catching third and fourth position with only a few laps to go. Time had run out and he was able to earn a fifth place finish, which seemed like a win with the struggles the team had endured throughout the race day.

Shepherd is looking forward to the remainder of the season and was proud of his team for pulling together to get a good finish no matter the conditions. “That race was very interesting, there was a lot of carnage out there. I am looking forward to putting this race behind us and moving on to our next race,” says Shepherd.

Shepherd will be back on track Saturday April, 14 at Kern County Raceway Park for the second race of the 2018 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Championship schedule.

Fans can follow Buddy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter During Race weekends for live updates of what is going on at the track!

Twitter: @buddyshepherd15

Instagram: @buddy_shepherd22

Facebook: @buddy.shepherdracing