BRL DSS S10 R10 Recap

11 Mar 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 10 | Round 10
Dirt Street Stock Series | Limaland Motorsports Park

Brandyn Proudfoot with Jim Beaver eSports took the win in a photo finish tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock Series at Limaland Motorsports Park beating out Lon Franks and Hunter Hill. “The first time I [saw] it I noticed whenever I’d wiggle on the back stretch, [Franks] was reacting to it and that was my first hint that he was kind of worried about my pace and the fact that I was behind him. So, I knew for a fact he was defensive but really it was just so hard to pass.”, Proudfoot commented as he talked us through the final few laps behind Lon Franks, “The top was just so, so dominate and even if the slightest window opened drivers would try to stick their noses in and I just tried to stay patient for as long as I could.”

Jason Best started the night off taking the pole in qualifying with a fast lap of 15.026 beating Jim Reavis by 0.011. William Hargreaves secured 3rd at 15.079 giving the front starting positions in the three heat races to these drivers. Best and Lon Franks battled hard over the lead in the first heat with Best able to hold Franks off all the way to the checkered flag. Reavis, similar to Best, held Stephen Spies off around all 6 laps in the second heat. In the third heat, Hargreaves took off to an early lead. Proudfoot started in the rear of the field and caught up to Jason Menda in 2nd place, beating him to the line by 0.131 and getting the last transfer spot into the feature.

J R Shepherd had a strong launch in the C Main event pulling away from the field by over 1.3 seconds as Jason Menda and Eli Shaffer battled hard banging doors over 2nd place. Hunter Hill took the checkered flag in the B Main event by over 2.5 seconds as Bobby Hayes and John Wilson battled side by side over 2nd and just behind them Matt Shinoski and Ryan Senneker battled side by side over 4th place.

Jason Best took the field to the green in the feature event with Jim Reavis to his inside struggling to find the speed down low. Lon Franks was pressuring for the lead along the high side as the pack went single file up along the wall. Lap 10 saw the first caution of the night as William Hargreaves threw a slider over Jim Reavis which resulted in Reavis catching the access gate on the outside of the track sending Reavis to the back. Best unfortunately got turned around shortly after the restart on lap 12 by getting pinched between Lon Franks and Brandyn Proudfoot which spun him to the inside of the track without bring out a caution. Franks luckily retained the lead on the restart as the field stacked back up.

The second caution came out on lap 13 as Bobby Hayes and Eli Shaffer came together coming out of turn four and both running hard into the outside wall. Franks was leading the field as the race restarted again with William Hargreaves and Proudfoot close behind single file. Franks led the field to lap 24 where they first encountered lap traffic. Chris Hazlip running in 17th went to the high side of turn three as the leaders were entering behind him and Franks couldn’t avoid getting turned around in the middle of the track bringing out the third caution.

Another strong launch from Franks as the leaders again went single file along the top as the caution came out on lap 26 as several cars got together in the middle of the pack. Proudfoot took advantage of the next restart jumping past Hargreaves and taking 2nd place as another caution came out on lap 28 when a checkup in the pack brought several drivers together. Again, a caution was thrown as the field tried to get going again with another checkup causing contact between drivers in the pack. As the drivers throttled into the next restart, Hargreaves and Franks came together in the front with Hargreaves going sideways in front of Proudfoot blocking the track. This incident collected most of the field behind them as drivers went every which way to try to avoid.

The eighth and final caution of the night came out with only 8 laps remaining as Ryan Senneker and Joe Segalla made contact going into turn three sending Segalla around on the track. Franks led the field to the green as they restarted on lap 33 as Proudfoot started challenging for the lead right away. Franks dove down low coming out of the final corner anticipating a slider from Proudfoot that didn’t come as Proudfoot held the high line and rode the momentum off the cushion to the checkered flag beating Franks to the line by 0.093.

Brandyn Proudfoot further built onto his commanding lead in the point standings now at a total of 761 points and 165 points ahead of William Hargreaves in 2nd place. Lon Franks holds onto 3rd place trailing behind Hargreaves by 45 points. Billy Northcutt sits 82 points behind Franks in 4th place ahead of Jason Best separated by only 15 points. Proudfoot is the unofficial season champion as we look to the final round next week at Knoxville Raceway on March 18th broadcast live at 7PM EST only on the Virtual Grip Network!