Buddy Shepherd Seeks Rebound at $10,000-to-Win Winter Showdown
Bakersfield, CA – Buddy Shepherd entered the 2022 Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series 22nd season as a championship favorite, given his past performance in the series. The former Madera Speedway SRL winner, and 2021 Rookie-of-the-Year, has experienced a run of bad luck, as of late, but will be looking to turn the trend around at his home track, as the series visits Kern County Raceway Park for the $10,000-to-win “7th Annual Winter Showdown 100” on April 2nd.
Shepherd started his SRL career with only two DNF’s in his first 22 series starts. But since then, he has experienced a series of bad luck results, failing to finish four of the last five events, including the two opening rounds of 2022. That has placed him 12th in the championship standings. None of those DNF’s were a result of an accident, but of small mechanical issues that have plagued the normally solid small team operation.
Kern County Raceway Park will be the perfect place to get the team back on track. Shepherd has a total of four runner-up finishes in the SRL at KCRP, finishing behind Derek Thorn three times and Kyle Busch in the 2018 “Winter Showdown”. It was an event in which he earned the Bobby Durrett Fast Time Award over a 48-car field, and outdueled NASCAR star Daniel Hemric in a late race battle for second. In 2016, Shepherd swept the NASCAR Late Model season with nine victories before winning three MAVTV televised Pro Late Model series championships at Madera Speedway. A “Winter Showdown100” win would go a long way to turning his season around.
“It would be awesome to pick up the win at the Winter Showdown this upcoming weekend”, Shepherd stated. “We have sat on the Pole for that race in the past. I’m just really pumped to get back in the car at my home track. Hopefully we can get that monkey off our backs this weekend and have a good run. I can’t thank my sponsors, friends, and family enough for all their help and support, getting us to the racetrack for these great SRL events here on the West Coast.”
Shepherd is sponsored by Martin Auto Color, Inc., Doby Hagar Trucking, Advanced Distribution and Schaeffer’s Racing Oil.
The Seventh Annual “Winter Showdown” at Kern County Raceway Park will take place on April 2nd and pay $10,000 to the winner of the 100-lap event. The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series will be joined by the SPEARS Pro Late Models presented by Sigma Performance Services and the Spears Modified Series. Admission gates will open at 4:00pm with Qualifying for all three divisions beginning at 4:15pm. Opening Ceremonies and a Truck Parade roll off at 5:30pm. Qualifying Heat Races start the official racing action at 6:00pm. All three divisions will compete in the Heat Races. 60 lap Feature Events for the Modifieds and Pro Late Models will be followed by 100 laps for the Super Late Models.
For those unable to attend, catch all the action LIVE at www.SpearsRacing.TV. The event will also air on MAVTV at a time and date to be announced later.
Celebrating its twenty-second season in 2022, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.
