BRL DSS S11 R1 Recap

25 Mar 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 11 | Round 1
Dirt Street Stock Series | Eldora Speedway
Photograph by: Billy Northcutt

Brandyn Proudfoot with Jim Beaver eSports took the first win of the season in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock Series at Eldora Speedway ahead of Johnny Ratley and William Hargreaves. The second half of the race happened amidst dense traffic that Proudfoot and Ratley had to negotiate while battling over the lead. Proudfoot told us the traffic made for some great racing, “We have a little bit of a mixed community here at Bootleg Racing League. A lot of guys that do the asphalt program in the Grand National Series… a lot of those guys also tread over here. So, it’s kind of interesting because you get a mixed reaction [from the lap down cars when approaching].”

Johnny Ratley took the pole tonight with a fast lap of 19.146 and took the win in the first heat of the night after pulling away from the rest of the field by over 1.2 seconds. Brandyn Proudfoot won the second heat, but it was a much closer finish than what Ratley had. The third and final heat of the night came down to a battle between William Hargreaves and Billy Northcutt with Hargreaves taking the checkered flag. Chris Davis and Stephen Spies led every lap in each of their respective consolation races taking the checkered flag.

Johnny Ratley led the field to the green in the 40-lap feature event with Brandyn Proudfoot to this inside. Ratley had a strong start building up a gap between himself and Proudfoot as both drivers pulled away from William Hargreaves and Bill Northcutt battling over 3rd place. 10 laps into the race, Proudfoot was able to reel Ratley back in and started pressuring for the lead with a slider. The two leaders continued to throw sliders back and forth for several laps before Proudfoot settled back in behind Ratley with 20 laps remaining.

The second half of the race brought a new challenge as the leaders caught the rear of the field and started negotiating through heavy traffic. With only 10 laps to go, Ratley continued to lead until Proudfoot took control of the highline and used lap traffic to block Ratley behind him single file. This gave Proudfoot the chance he needed to pull away. Ratley went to work getting back up close to Proudfoot but there weren’t enough laps left for him to attempt a pass as Proudfoot crossed the finish line.

The drivers made a strong statement tonight going into the new season racing all 40 laps without a single caution flag thrown at Eldora Speedway. Johnny Ratley proved that he is able to challenge Proudfoot and showed the crowd that he doesn’t plan on letting Proudfoot run away with the championship this time around. Now the drivers with the Bootleg Racing League set their sights to Weedsport Speedway for the second round on April 1st broadcast live at 7PM EDT only on the Virtual Grip Network!