BRL GN S8 R4 Recap

by Ryan Senneker
23 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 8 | Round 4
Grand National Series | Five Flags Speedway

Mathew Thunhorst took the checkered flag ahead of Kenny Kibbey and J R Shepherd at the Bootleg Racing League Grand National Series 100 lap event around Five Flags Speedway. Starting in 3rd place, behind Kibbey on the pole and Holloway in 2nd, Thunhorst made a strong charge for the lead early on. Taking the inside line away from Kibbey on lap 23, Thunhorst battled side by side with Kibbey for several laps before the caution came out giving the lead to Thunhorst for the rest of the race.

Justin Morton and Kibbey battled door to door for 2nd place several times throughout the race, neither driver willing to concede, while Shepherd and James Lowe watched from 4th and 5th place waiting for their opportunity to take advantage of the inside line. Lowe had some bad luck getting loose coming into turn 1 on lap 78 giving Kurt Smith his opportunity to claim 5th place.

This win closed the gap between Thunhorst and Shepherd in the point standings, Thunhorst now behind by only 2 points. Justin Morton finished in 4th place behind Shepherd and is now trailing by 9 points. Kibbey moves up to 4th in the points with a gap of 10 points and Mike Holloway, finishing 7th in the race, moves up to 5th only 23 points behind Shepherd.

“This is kind of like my home track away from home so it’s always special to win here and, you know, kind of to rebound after the dismal race I had last week. It’s definitely a positive feeling.” When asked about his experiences around Five Flags, Thunhorst admitted, “I was almost getting distracted sitting there watching Justin (Morton) and Kenny (Kibbey) putting on quite the show behind me.”