BRL OUTLAWS S36 R1 Recap

22 June 2024
Bootleg Racing League | Season 36 | Round 1
Outlaw Modified Series | Southern National Speedway

On Saturday night, June 22nd, the Bootleg Racing League kicked off the new season of the Outlaw SK Modified Invitational Series with a thrilling 100-lap race at Southern National Speedway. Bruce Pearson of Loose Luggs started on the pole, but it would prove to be a chaotic night with loose track conditions causing trouble for many drivers and leading to multiple caution periods.

With the long straightaways, drivers found themselves running nose to tail, making passes difficult. Throughout the first half of the race, Pearson managed to maintain the lead through each restart, despite only short green flag runs. The battle for second place was fiercely contested between Lowell Jewell, Todd Liston, and John Wilson each time racing resumed.

Meanwhile, VGN’s own Ricky Hardin was making a quiet but determined move up through the dense traffic. Starting from the back, Hardin had worked his way into the top five by the halfway point, emerging as a serious contender for the race win. In the later stages of the race, Wilson made a strong push, overtaking Liston for second place and beginning to apply pressure on Pearson for the lead. Shortly after, Hardin seized an opportunity to get low under Liston, moving up to third with 20 laps to go.

With just 9 laps remaining, unfortunate contact between Hardin and Wilson caused Wilson to get loose and drop back to fourth behind Liston. Wilson made a quick recovery and stayed within reach of the leaders while Hardin began challenging Pearson for the lead. As the white flag waved, Hardin and Pearson made contact going into the first corner, taking both drivers out of contention and leaving an opening for Liston.

Liston shot through the gap, taking the race lead and claiming the first checkered flag of the season. Following closely behind, Donny Moore capitalized on the chaos, moving up from sixth to finish in second place, with Wilson rounding out the podium in an exciting final lap.

Next Saturday, June 29th, the Bootleg Racing League will be at Thompson Speedway. The action will go live at 7:40 PM ET, exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!