BRL Late Model Invitational S25R11 | Five Flags Speedway

The final round of Season 25 at Five Flags Speedway was led by Todd Liston and John Heyn. The drivers started well at the drop of the flag and were side by side into turn 1 before settling down into line, while many drivers behind them did the same before more side-by-side racing back in 12th between Ruben Altice and Jason Menda. On Lap 5, Tre Blohm made a move on the inside of John Heyn for second, but a wreck occurred behind them to bring out the first caution of the race. Racing resumed on Lap 11 with Liston and Blohm up front. Liston made a great jump and pulled away from the pack, and Blohm was able to get down to the inside, but another caution came out to disrupt the racing action.

Racing resumed on Lap 17, with Liston and Blohm still leading the pack. Liston restarted well, and Heyn behind him took the second position from Blohm. The inside line kept rolling by those stuck on the outside line. On Lap 20, Adam Schoen was able to get inside of John Heyn for second, and then Matt Hoose followed suit to fight for the third position. By Lap 33, the whole field was pretty much single file, possibly doing a bit of tire saving for the moment and waiting for opportunities to pass.

A caution on lap 37 was followed by a green flag on Lap 42 with Liston and Schoen on the front row. On lap 46, Schoen got a nose to the inside of Liston to fight for the lead, and they battled side by side for a couple of laps until the pass was completed on Lap 49. But then Liston did the ol’ over and under and got back to the inside of Schoen and claimed the lead again on Lap 51. Now, J R Shepherd was in third and starting to reel in the leaders.

A caution on Lap 59 was followed by a green flag on lap 65 with Liston and Schoen up front. Schoen slammed the door on Shepherd to come down to the inside for 2nd in front of Shepherd in 3rd. Another caution on lap 66 was followed by a restart on Lap 72 with Liston and Schoen again, but Schoen almost jumped the start, having to slow down, which allowed Shepherd to jump to 2nd and leaving Schoen in that difficult outside line. Shepherd got to the inside of Liston on Lap 75 and claimed the lead on lap 76 from Liston.

Matt Hoose, in 3rd, was starting to put pressure on Liston, battling for second. Jason Menda made a pass on Hoose on Lap 80 for 3rd. A caution on Lap 85 was followed by a green flag on Lap 90 with Shepherd and Liston on the front row. Shepherd got a great start, and Menda stayed to the inside of Liston to fight for second. Behind them, Hoose and Schoen had a side-by-side battle for 4th. On Lap 92, Mike Holloway accomplished his 10,000th lap in BRL, making him 6th all-time!

As the remaining laps went on, J R Shepherd claimed the 8th victory of the season and his 18th BRL Late Model Championship. Jason Menda brought home 2nd, and Matt Hoose took 3rd. Season 25 is in the books, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more racing action! Come back for the start of Season 26 Round 1 at Southern National Speedway on Saturday, March 23rd, at 8:55 pm EDT!

Highlights

🏆 J R Shepherd wins the BRL Late Model Invitational Series Season Round 25 race at 11.

🚀 Jason Menda was the biggest mover of the race, finishing in 2^nd after starting 19th, up 17 spots.

🏁 J R Shepherd is the Season 25 Champion, his 18^th championship. Congrats J R!

🌟 The race featured 3 leaders with 3 lead changes. Todd Liston led the most laps at 71, followed by J R Shepherd with 26 and Adam Schoen with 3 laps.

*Photo credit: Mike Goodman