BRL Late Model Invitational S25R5 | Kern Raceway

Parker and Pals 100 by Autism Speaks (https://www.autismspeaks.org)

The Bootleg Racing League Late Model Invitational at Kern Raceway was off to an exciting start as Chris Davis and Aiden Young led the field to the green flag. However, the race was halted by a caution right at the start, prompting the drivers to try again from Lap 6. Davis and Young led the pack through a better restart, but Liston made a daring move to make it three-wide into turn 3, battling for the lead with Davis and ultimately winning the first spot on Lap 9.

On Lap 11, Shepherd, who had recently moved to second, made a move to peek inside Liston for the lead. Liston managed to gain more momentum on the outside and kept the lead, but he got way too high on turn 3 and 4, losing a few spots and giving Shepherd the lead. Davis followed closely in second place, with Jeffrey Hardin in third on Lap 14.

The drivers settled into their temporary positions with some occasional battles for position after the initial Lap 1 caution, and we had green flag racing for almost half the race. However, the caution came out again on Lap 46, and racing resumed on Lap 53 with Shepherd and Davis leading the pack. Shepherd got a good start, and Jeffrey Hardin dove inside of Davis for a side-by-side battle for second. Jason Menda followed closely in third but could not complete the pass. The yellow flag came back out on Lap 65, but we went green again on Lap 70 with Shepherd and Hardin up front. Unfortunately, the “big one” occurred on Lap 71, collecting a lot of the latter half of the field in it. Michael Goodman expertly maneuvered his way through the chaos, which was incredibly impressive and the broadcast booth did an excellent job showcasing it (check it out at 39:16 minutes!).

We resumed racing with Shepherd and Hardin leading once more as we went green on Lap 76. Two more cautions occurred, but racing resumed with Shepherd and Hardin leading once more as we went green on Lap 93. With two laps to go, Shepherd had jumped to a one-second lead, with Hardin and Menda fighting for second. J R Shepherd won the fifth race of Season 25, with Jeffrey Hardin finishing second and Jason Menda finishing third. Overall, it was a thrilling race, full of exciting maneuvers and impressive saves, making it a memorable event for the drivers and fans alike.

Highlights

🏆 J R Shepherd wins the BRL Late Model Invitational Series Season 25 Round 5 race at Kern Raceway.

🚀 Michael Goodman was the biggest movers of the race, finishing in 6^th after starting 23^rd up 17 spots!.

🏁 Shepherd increases his point lead a little more over Matt Hoose for the Season 25 championship.