The Son Also Rises: Luke Logan Allen Scores First Career Red Light Racing Win at Watkins Glen
📊 Race Stats at a Glance:
🏁 Winner: Luke Logan Allen (24 Laps Led)
🥈 2nd Place: Bradley Stefane
🥉 3rd Place: Devin Visnaw
⏱ Fastest Lap: Eric Stout – 1:13.553 (Lap 2)
🚦 Pole Position: Eric Stout
🔁 Lead Changes: 1 | Leaders: 2
🚨 Cautions: 0
🧼 Clean Machine (0 Incidents): Jeff Aho, Glenn Jamieson
🔼 Hard Charger: Bob Higgins (+7 spots, started 20th, finished 13th)
After a season spent trading paint on tight ovals, Red Light Racing’s Modified series took a dramatic turn both in layout and outcome. Swapping the SKs for the more powerful Tour Modifieds and heading to the fast, flowing corners of Watkins Glen, drivers faced their only road course challenge of the season.
It was a big night for the series and an even bigger night for Luke Logan Allen.
The young driver showed maturity well beyond his age, taking control early and leading 24 of the 30 green-flag laps en route to his first-ever Red Light Racing victory. To make it even sweeter, his dad, Ken Allen, was on track with him adding a proud family chapter to a milestone night.
🧨 Qualifying Recap
Eric Stout claimed the pole on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid with a blistering 1:13.280 qualifying lap. Devin Visnaw, Luke Logan Allen, Bill Benedict, and Ken Allen rounded out the top five, all within 0.9 seconds of Stout.
🏎️ Race Summary
Luke’s drive was clean, calculated, and calm and when the checkered flag waved, the celebration wasn’t just in his sim rig. Across the league, fellow drivers were genuinely thrilled to see him break through. Several joined his celebration in Turn One with congratulatory bumps, reinforcing once again that Red Light Racing is as much about community as it is competition. Luke waited patiently to lay down some tasty, race-winning donuts on the Glen’s tarmac as the cheers rolled in.
The win was no fluke “Lemon-Lime” (as he’s known in the paddock) has consistently shown both talent and skill this season. He clearly comes by it honestly, his dad is no stranger to the front of the field.
Luke inherited the lead from second after a Turn One spin by pole-sitter Eric Stout on lap 7. The incident dropped Stout to 7th, but the championship leader fought back to finish a strong fourth. He and Luke were the only two drivers to lead a lap all race.
Bradley Stefane brought home another solid P2 finish, with Devin Visnaw locking in third. Bob Higgins made the most forward progress on the day, climbing from 20th to 13th to secure Hard Charger honors. Jeff Aho and Glenn Jamieson both delivered clean, incident-free drives — a rarity on a road course as demanding as The Glen.
📈 Championship Update
Eric Stout extended his championship lead, gaining five more points on Ethan Troutman, who remains second in the standings. Jeff Aho holds steady in third, while Rob Higgins and Chad Alcares continue to round out the top five.
🧭 Next Up: Hickory Time
We tuck the Tour Mods away and return to the bruising bullrings, this time at historic Hickory Motor Speedway in the SKs. After a breakout performance like this, all eyes will be on Luke “Lemon-Lime” Allen. Most around the garage agree: this is only the beginning.
🕖 Green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern
📺 Catch it live on the Virtual Grip Network
Red Light Racing SK Modifieds – Slinger Speedway
📊 Race Stats at a Glance:
🏆 Winner: Chad Alcares (115 Laps Led)
🥈 2nd Place: Eric Stout (7 Laps Led)
🥉 3rd Place: Bill Benedict (2 Laps Led)
⏱️ Fastest Lap: Chad Alcares (Lap 31 – 10.575 sec)
🚦 Pole: Chad Alcares (10.439 sec)
🔁 Leaders: 4 | Lead Changes: 6
🚨 Cautions: 7 (28 Laps)
🧼 Clean Machine (0 Incidents): Rob Higgins
🔼 Hard Charger: Bruce Pearson (+11 Spots, Started 19th, Finished 8th)
“You don’t drive Slinger… you survive it.”
Well, maybe that quote applied to everyone except Chad Alcares on Thursday night, when Red Light Racing’s SK Modifieds tackled the tiny, high-banked bullring known as Slinger Speedway.
Alcares was untouchable, claiming the pole and leading 115 of the 125 laps. Eric Stout challenged him a few times, leading 7 laps of his own and putting pressure on the restarts, but ultimately had to settle for second. Bill Benedict quietly improved from 7th on the grid to complete the podium in third.
🕒 Qualifying Recap
Chad Alcares secured the pole on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid with a blistering 10.439-second lap. Eric Stout, Aho, Flowers, and Troutman filled out the rest of the top five, all within 0.11 seconds of each other, highlighting just how tight the field was heading into the feature.
🚦 Race Breakdown
We’ve seen some dominating performances already this season, and this race was no exception. Chad Alcares figured out the car, the track, and the field in impressive fashion. He won the pole, led the most laps, set the fastest lap during the race, and parked it in Victory Lane for a clean sweep of the stat sheet.
Eric Stout didn’t make it easy. The two battled side-by-side through multiple restarts, and their clean, tactical racing at the front gave fans a short track clinic. But Stout’s night almost unraveled at lap 60. While battling Jeff Aho for second, Aho got loose exiting turn 4 and spun into Stout. The pair then slid up into the outside frontstretch wall, Aho taking the harder of the two hits. The contact dropped Stout back to fifth and Aho to tenth.
Both drivers rebounded admirably. Stout climbed back to second by the end, while Aho managed to recover to sixth.
As expected, Slinger delivered chaos, 7 cautions over 28 laps made sure of that. But somehow, Rob Higgins navigated it all without a scratch, the only driver in the field to finish with 0 incident points, locking up the Clean Machine award with surgical precision.
The biggest mover of the night was Bruce Pearson, who clawed his way from 19th to 8th, gaining 11 spots and earning Hard Charger honors. Also making solid gains were Keven Alicea and Bob Higgins (each up 7 positions).
📈 Championship Update
Eric Stout extended his lead atop the standings, gaining 3 more points on second-place Ethan Troutman. Stout now holds a 35-point advantage. Jeff Aho stays third but falls to 11 points behind Troutman. Rob Higgins remains in fourth, while Chad Alcares jumps up to fifth with his dominant win.
📅 Next Up: Watkins Glen (Tour Mods)
Next week, the SK Modifieds take a breather as the series heads to Watkins Glen for a road-course showdown in the faster, higher-horsepower Tour Modifieds. It’s time to see who’s got right-turn talent, who can handle the Bus Stop, and who might take a spin at The Carousel.
🕖 Green Flag: 7:55 PM Eastern
📺 Watch Live: Virtual Grip Network
Another Stout Performance – Red Light Racing at Myrtle Beach
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 7
Myrtle Beach Speedway
July 17, 2025
📊 Race Stats at a Glance
🏆 Winner: Eric Stout (96 Laps Led)
🥈 2nd Place: Bradley Stefane (5 Laps Led)
🥉 3rd Place: Rob Higgins
⏱️ Fastest Lap: Eric Stout (Lap 66 – 18.240 sec)
🚦 Pole: Eric Stout (18.240 qualifying lap)
🔁 Leaders: 3 | Lead Changes: 10
🚨 Cautions: 5 (20 laps)
🧼 Clean Machines (0 Incidents): Eric Stout, Brandon Feeney
🔼 Hard Chargers: Andrew Lewis (finished 4th), Mike Taschereau (finished 6th), both gained 14 spots
“Same winner, different zip code.”
That might be the story of the summer so far in Red Light Racing’s SK Modified series, as Eric Stout once again put the field on notice. He parked the No. 12 machine in Myrtle Beach’s Victory Lane for his third straight win of Season 14.
Joining Stout on the podium were Bradley Stefane and Rob Higgins. Andrew Lewis and Ethan Troutman rounded out the top 5.
🕒 Qualifying Recap
Eric Stout once again set the pace in qualifying with an 18.287 second lap. Brother Patrick Stout took the outside pole. Rob Higgins, Chad Alcares, and Bradley Stefane filled out the top five starting positions on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid.
The top five’s qualifying speeds were all within 0.13 seconds of Stout’s pole-winning pace.
🚦 Race Breakdown
In essentially a repeat from last week, Eric Stout led nearly every lap of the event, 96 of 104 laps in a green-white-checkered extended race. He also turned the fastest lap of the night, completing lap 66 in 18.240 seconds.
Bradley Stefane took the fight to Stout with 5 laps led and kept the gap to just 0.188 seconds at the line. Rob Higgins finished the race where he started it—in third place.
Of special note were four drivers who gained double-digit positions over the course of the race:
• Andrew Lewis started 18th and finished 4th
• Mike Taschereau climbed from 20th to 6th
• Luke “Lemon-Lime” Allen moved up from 21st to 8th
• Brandon Feeney gained 10 positions to finish 12th after starting last
The race was a rough and tumble event with just two drivers leaving with no incident points. Both Eric Stout and Brandon Feeney take home this week’s Clean Machine Awards.
📈 Championship Update
With another win, Eric Stout further tightens his stranglehold on the championship lead. He is now 32 points ahead of second-place Ethan Troutman.
Jeff Aho remains in third, but slips from just 1 point back to now 9 points behind Troutman. Rob Higgins jumps into 4th in points, and Fred LeClair rounds out the top five.
📅 Next Up: Slinger Speedway
The series promoters are throwing a twist into the chase for the championship next week!
First, the series heads to a track that’s most reminiscent of a cereal bowl – the high-banked, tight-turning ¼-mile Slinger Speedway.
Second, drivers will get a rare shot at double points as twin 75-lap events are scheduled at the super-short-track. Fans won’t want to miss the action—even just watching drivers get on and off pit road is worth the price of admission!
🕖 Green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern
📺 Watch it live on Virtual Grip Network
Red Light Racing SK Modifieds – Eric Stout Wins Two in a Row at Lanier
📊 Race Stats at a Glance
- Winner: Eric Stout (98 Laps Led, Second Win in a Row)
- Podium Finishers: Jeff Aho (2nd), Josh Buckley (3rd)
- Pole: Eric Stout (13.313-second qualifying lap)
- 2 leaders • 2 lead changes • 4 cautions (16 laps)
- Fastest Lap: Eric Stout (13.295 seconds)
- Clean Machines (0 incidents): Eric Stout, Josh Buckley, Kenny Allen, Keven Alicea, Mike Taschereau, Devin Visnaw, Bob Higgins
- Hard Charger: Kenny Allen (gained 13 spots, finished 4th)
Red Light Racing’s SK Modifieds rolled into the tight bullring of Lanier National Speedway for Race 6 of Season 14 on July 10, 2025. Fans were treated to a 100-lap, caution-sprinkled chess match that led to tight racing and some apparently frustrated drivers. Eric Stout and Josh Buckley swapped the lead a couple of times, but in the end, it was Stout who took home the trophy for the second race in a row.
🕒 Qualifying Recap
Eric Stout set the pace in qualifying with a blistering 13.313-second lap. Brother Patrick Stout was just 0.027 seconds behind, starting on the outside pole. Josh Buckley, Jeff Aho, and Ethan Troutman rounded out the top five – all within just 0.12 seconds of E. Stout’s time.
🚦 Race Breakdown
Stout put on a clinic, leading 98 of 100 laps and laying down the fastest lap of the race (13.295). Jeff Aho gave chase but couldn’t quite get there, finishing just under three-tenths back after a strong, consistent run that kept the former champion in the hunt all night.
Joshua Buckley rounded out the podium with a clean, methodical performance that saw him challenge Stout for the lead multiple times. Kenny Allen was the hard charger of the night, carving through the field from 17th to 4th, an impressive gain of 13 spots. Ethan Troutman, showing solid pace, brought it home in 5th.
Mid-pack, the racing was tight and scrappy. Brian Neff, Bill Benedict, and Fred Leclair all traded spots in the top 10. Keven Alicea delivered a solid run with zero incident points and a 9th-place finish, while Bradley Stefane rounded out the top 10.
The most impactful caution of the race came on lap 67, when Patrick Stout and Bradley Stefane tangled while running third and fourth. It started as a classic “rubbin’s racin’” moment in Turn 3, with P. Stout entering the corner ahead of Stefane. The two made contact, pushing Stout up the track and opening the door for Stefane to grab third on the frontstretch.
But things didn’t settle there.
In Turn 1 of the next lap, Stout made slight contact with Stefane—possibly a subtle message of displeasure. Then, heading into Turn 3, the situation escalated. The two connected again, and this time the consequences were much more dramatic: Stefane spun broadside through Turns 3 and 4, and Stout’s car launched over Stefane’s left front Dukes of Hazzard style.
When the dust settled, Stefane finished 10th and P. Stout dropped to 15th, likely leaving both drivers disappointed after running solidly in the top five.
📈 Championship Update
Eric Stout’s second win of the season strengthens his grip on the mid-season points lead. He now sits 22 points ahead of Ethan Troutman, with Jeff Aho just one point behind Troutman. Josh Buckley and Fred Leclair are now tied for fourth in the standings.
📅 Next Up: Myrtle Beach Speedway
The series heads to Myrtle Beach Speedway on July 17 for Race 7 of Season 14. Fans can look forward to more short track excitement at the historic coastal venue.
- 🕖 Green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern
- 📺 Watch it live on Virtual Grip Network
Red Light Racing at Kern Raceway
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 5
Kern Raceway
📊 Race Stats at a Glance:
- Winner: Eric Stout (90 laps led)
- Podium Finishers: Jeff Aho (2nd), Ethan Troutman (3rd)
- Pole: Ethan Troutman (16.913-second qualifying lap)
- Leaders / Lead Changes: 3 leaders • 5 lead changes
- Cautions: 9 cautions for 36 laps
- Fastest Lap: Brian Neff (16.776 seconds on Lap 103)
- Clean Machines: Jeff Aho, Ethan Troutman, Rob Higgins
- Hard Charger: Brandon Feeney (+14 spots, finished 9th)
Red Light Racing’s SK Modifieds rolled into Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on June 26, 2025, for the fifth race of Season 14. The event played out under bright lights and perfect California skies.
It was a night filled with action: 3 different leaders, 5 lead changes, and 9 cautions for 36 laps kept the field on its toes. But when the checkered flag finally flew, it was Eric Stout who parked it in victory lane, capturing his first win of the season.
Stout crossed the line just 0.126 seconds ahead of Jeff Aho, who ran a clean and consistent race to take second. Ethan Troutman completed the podium in third. Josh Buckley and Rob Higgins rounded out the top five with strong finishes.
🕒 Qualifying Recap
Ethan Troutman earned the RaceDayCT.com pole with a razor-thin margin over Kenny Allen — just 0.001 seconds separated the top two. Troutman’s 16.913-second lap held up against a tight field that saw Bill Benedict, Eric Stout, and Bradley Stefane all qualify within 0.05 seconds of the top spot.
🚦 Race Breakdown
Troutman led the opening 12 laps before Eric Stout took control and dominated the rest of the night, leading 90 laps. Kenny Allen was the only other driver to briefly take the lead. Despite his speed, Allen finished 15th, a result that didn’t reflect the strength of his car early on.
Nine cautions slowed the pace, totaling 36 caution laps. Only three drivers made it through without incident points: Aho, Troutman, and Higgins.
Brandon Feeney earned Hard Charger honors, climbing from 23rd to 9th. Brian Neff laid down the fastest lap of the race a blazing 16.776 seconds Lap 103, the last lap of the race.
📈 Championship Shakeup
The points standings got a shakeup after Kern:
- 🥇 Eric Stout jumps to the top of the leaderboard with the win.
- 🥈 Ethan Troutman now sits second.
- 🥉 Jeff Aho climbs to third.
- ⬇️ Fred LeClair, who entered the race with the points lead, drops to fourth after finishing 21st.
- 🔼 Rob Higgins moves into the top five with his fifth-place run.
📅 Next Up: Lanier National Speedway
The series heads east to Lanier National Speedway on July 10 for Race 6. Expect tight racing and more points drama at the 3/8-mile oval.
🕖 Green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern
📺 Watch it live on Virtual Grip Network
Red Light Racing at Thompson
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 4
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
June 19, 2025
by Tim Corder
Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds headed up north to Connecticut to take on Thompson Speedway for the series’ fourth race of its 14th season. The race was dominated by a familiar surname – but not the one fans might expect. In a breakout performance, rookie Patrick Stout stunned the field by starting on the pole, leading 105 of 106 laps, and scoring his first win in the series. Fred LeClair moved up from 9th on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid to finish second. “Kid Lemon-Lime” Luke Logan Allen improved 9 spots from 12th in qualifying to join Stout and LeClair on the podium in third. Jeff Aho salvaged an impressive 4th place finish after what was, for the most part, a tumultuous race for the past champion. Louis Flowers also put on an impressive performance, finishing fifth despite starting in 24th.
The race was slowed by 8 cautions for a total of 32 laps. The most consequential caution was set up on lap 94 when Brian Neff and Brandon Feeney made contact in turn one sending Neff spinning. The contact and spin brought out the caution flag and ensured the event would see at least one green-white-checker before its end. The top five cars for the ensuing restart were Patrick Stout, brother Eric Stout, Josh Buckley, Rob Higgins, and Kenny Allen. The leaders had barely crossed the start-finish line on the restart when calamity struck. Josh Buckley and Eric Stout made contact, sending Buckley into the outside front stretch wall and Eric Stout spinning toward the inside. The wreck blocked much of the front stretch, and nearly the entire field behind them plowed into the chaos. The melee resulted in a second green-white-checker attempt to end the event, which proved successful.
Flowers’ impressive drive to gain 19 spots and finish fifth made him the event’s Hard Charger Award winner. Yet another stat indicative of Patrick Stout’s dominating performance was that he set the fastest lap of the race (19.196 seconds) on lap 23. The numerous cautions and major pile-up ensured no driver escaped the event without incident points.
With his second place finish, Fred LeClair took over the season point lead. Eric Stout managed a 9th place despite being entangled in the huge crash. The finish was good enough to move Eric up to second in the points, just 4 points behind LeClair. Chad Alcares moved up to third in the championship running after his 10th place finish. Louis Flowers and former frontrunner Ethan Troutman are tied for fourth in the championship.
The fifth race of the season will take place at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. The drivers will step into the SK’s more powerful brother, the Tour Modified, for the event. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on June 26th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.
First Anniversary of Virtual Grip Network’s VGN Weekly Podcast
by Tim Corder
June 14, 2025
Tuesday June 10, 2025, marked the first anniversary of Virtual Grip Network’s podcast, “VGN Weekly.” The show serves as their weekly rundown of the races the network broadcasted the previous week. VGN Weekly also features interviews with drivers of the series they cover, the VGN broadcasters themselves, and others within the sim racing community. “We wanted another way to highlight the leagues we broadcast and their drivers,” shared Lowell Jewell, VGN owner, when asked what inspired the podcast. Asked the same question, John Heyn, VGN interviewer extraordinaire said, “The goal was to give the drivers a platform to introduce themselves to the people that watch the broadcasts.”
The podcast owes its start to the efforts of Lowell, John, and Producer Ryan Senneker. John noted he had, “talked to Lowell about doing a Virtual Grip Podcast for some time after Lowell founded VGN.” John, Lowell, and Ryan made a few attempts at starting the podcasts, eventually leading to a test episode that was recorded with Matt Hoose as the trial guest.
That pilot proved successful, and the podcast has been a weekly occurrence since. As of the writing of this article, 51 episodes have been published through Virtual Grip Network’s YouTube channel. In total, those 51 episodes consist of nearly 50 hours of interesting conversations. A wide variety of guests have been interviewed, including brothers and a father/son combination!
When asked if any of the interviews have surprised him, Lowell said, “Honestly, they all surprised me! You ‘think’ you know someone right up until you see them on camera and hear them speak at the same time.” John added, “Funny thing is, I’m usually surprised once in every interview . . . I’ve learned that we have a crazy amount of people in the leagues that do really interesting things.”
Lowell also shared the important work that Ryan Senneker does each week to publish an episode, “Ryan does the bulk of the work, lots of gathering content, splicing, editing and recording.” Fellow VGN members and viewers all appreciate Ryan’s efforts.
For his part, in preparation for interviewing a guest, John shared that he, “usually prepares about 10-15 topics to cover during an interview based on a questionnaire that interviewees are asked to complete prior to their interview.” Then, “I just start a conversation with that week’s guest. I like to keep the conversation as organic as I can to keep it conversational.”
Has the podcast changed the way Lowell or John view their fellow drivers? Lowell answered, “It has, and I hope it has for everyone. We are all human and we enjoy the same hobby!” John responded, “Yes! On the track I have gotten behind the people I have interviewed and have the realization that they desire to play nice. They have been so nice during their interview, and I’ve gotten to know them on a personal level.”
John also notes that some of the most entertaining conversations can come before or after recording the interview. “Some of the pre- and post-taping conversations have been ‘better’ at times than we can broadcast. We keep our broadcasts PG, and, some of these side conversations would have us into an R rating within a sentence or two!”
Congratulations on the inaugural season of VGN Weekly! Here’s to another year of interesting and fun conversations!
Red Light Racing S14 Martinsville
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 3
Martinsville Speedway
June 5, 2025
by Tim Corder
Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds roared into historic Martinsville Speedway for its third race of Season 14. The race played out in three phases. Phase 1 saw the caution flag waving often as the drivers worked their way into a rhythm. Phase 2 saw a long green flag run with much of the field running in single file. In Phase 3 the flagman re-entered the chat with frequent appearances. Phase 3 also saw some of the best racing of the event. Ultimately, it was pole sitter Chad Alcares who took home the victory. Brian Bianchi moved up from 10th on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid to finish second. Eric Stout fought hard all day, often on the outside line, to complete the podium after starting on the outside pole. Josh Buckley finished in 4th after starting in 8th and Bradley Stefane rounded out the top five finishers improving on his 16th place starting position.
Alcares claimed the pole with a 19.080 second qualifying lap. Stout was just 0.1 seconds slower than Alcares in claiming the outside pole. Ken Allen, last week’s winner Ethan Troutman, and Jeff Aho started in 3rd – 5th place, all within 0.15 seconds of Alcares’ qualifying time.
The caution flag waved 7 times resulting in 28 of the event’s 100 laps being run behind the pace car. The event started slowly with two cautions within the first 13 laps. Then, a long green flag run of 50 laps saw Alcares lead the whole run. The caution started waving again on lap 63 and would come out regularly for the rest of the event. Some outstanding battles were held on the restarts, especially at the front of the field. Alcares and E Stout put on a clinic for tight, tough, but clean racing, usually with Alcares on the inside line and E Stout on the outside. In total, Chad Alcares led 90 of the 100 laps. Eric Stout led the other 10 laps that Alcares did not.
Bruce Pearson picked up the most spots during the race. He finished 8th after starting in the 22nd spot. In addition to winning the race, the poll, and leading the most laps, Alcares also set the fastest lap during the race. He turned his 93rd lap in just 19.247 seconds. Only three drivers completed the race without incident points: Alcares, E Stout, and Stefane.
Ethan Troutman came into the event with the early championship lead. Despite what was likely a disappointing 18th place run, Troutman keeps the lead in the early standings. Eric Stout is just 3 points behind Troutman. Fred Leclair, Chad Alcares, and Brian Bianchi complete the top five in the point standings.
The fourth race of the season will be run at Thompson Speedway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on June 19th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.
Red Light Racing S14 Phoenix
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 1
Phoenix Raceway
May 22, 2025
by Tim Corder
The first race of season 14 for Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modified series was an event with some rare occurrences. First, it wasn’t an SK Modifieds race. The drivers instead got a chance to climb into the SK’s big brother – the Whelen Tour Modifieds. This put at their disposal 600+ horsepower compared with the normal 385 horsepower in the SKs. Another rarity – the event was held on a track 1 mile in length, that being, Phoenix Raceway, rather than the “normal” truly short tracks the series visits.
Another rarity – last season’s dominator and Champion, Eric Stout, led the most laps of the race (51) but didn’t take home the checkered flag. Fellow frequently fast driver Jeff Aho led 29 laps but also didn’t take home the win. In the end, it was the driver that led the third most laps, and series newcomer, Bill Benedict, that claimed the checkered flag. Benedict led 6 of the Green-White-Checkered extended 94 lap event. Fellow series newcomer, and the event’s pole-sitter, Eric Troutman led four laps, as did Josh Buckley.
Troutman claimed the pole with a 27.251 second qualifying lap, besting Chad Alcares by just 0.066 seconds for the pole. Stout, Brian Bianchi, and yet another series newcomer, Louis Flowers, rounded out the top five in qualifying.
Despite Stout and Aho leading 85% of the events laps, there were several entertaining battles for the lead, indeed there were quality battles throughout the field, during the course of the race. The ultimate battle for the lead reached a crescendo when Benedict and Stout were side-by-side on lap 89 after a restart. Benedict was ever so slightly ahead of Stout when the yellow came out after Josh Buckley and Chris Oliver tangled on the back stretch. Benedict chose the preferred inside line on the green-white-checker restart and held on to win as a first time driver in the series. In the end, Fred LeClair took home second after starting 12th on the field. Stout slid to 3rd to round out the podium. The rest of the top five finishers were pole-sitter Troutman, who finished fourth, and TJ Henson who gained one spot from his sixth place starting position to finish fifth.
The race was slowed by six cautions for a total of 18 laps. Fred LeClair turned the fastest lap, finishing the last lap of the race in 27.186 seconds. Only 3 of the 23 drivers finished the event without incident points. Those were: LeClair, Glenn Jamieson (finished 6th) and Adin All-Vecchione (finished 8th). Jamieson’s clean run was especially impressive as he also was the Hard Charger of the race, picking up 16 spots from his 22nd place qualifying position.
This being just the first race of the season, the top five in the run for the championship mirrors the race’s finishing order. With Stout garnering one more bonus point than LeClair did, Stout and LeClair are tied for second in the early point standings. Troutman and Jamieson are 6 and 7 points, respectively, outside of the top points position.
The second race of the season will be contested at rather circular Oxford Plains Speedway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on May 29th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.
Red Light Racing Finale
Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 16
Martinsville Speedway
April 24, 2025
by Tim Corder
Martinsville Speedway hosted the Culpeppers Bakery and Cafe 100, the final race of Season 13 of Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Eric Stout came into the race with an unbreakable grip on the championship trophy. In a storyline common for this season, he claimed the pole and went on to lead 98 of the 100 laps to also take home the checkered flag. Stout’s teammate AJ Hamel kept Stout honest, the pair running nose-to-tail for much of the latter half of the race. Hamel appeared at times to have the quicker pace, but, the two raced respectfully and finished as they qualified at the top of leader board. Kenny Allen joined Hamel and Stout on the podium with a strong 3rd place run. Completing the top-5 were Chad Alcares and Joshua Buckley.
Stout claimed the pole with a 19.142 second lap in qualifying. Hamel, Alcares, Luke Logan Allen, and Rob Higgins started second through fifth on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid, respectively.
The race saw 3 cautions in the early laps before running under the green for the last 66 laps of the event. Kenny Allen picked up the most spots of any driver, four, in finishing third after qualifying seventh. Hamel was the only other lap leader beside Stout, Hamel led two laps during restarts in the early running. Hamel also had the fastest lap of the race, turning lap 12 in just 19.218 seconds. Nine of the 15 drivers completed the race without any incident points.
Stout, Bradley Stefane and Kenny Allen were first through third coming into the race in the championship and remained that way after the checkered flag wave. The race did have implications for several spots in the top 10 of the championship. Chad Alcares took over 4th place from Luke Logan Allen, Luke falling to 8th in the final standings. Josh Buckley took over 5th from Fred Leclair who slid down to 6th in the standings. Jeff Aho finished the season in 7th with Rob Higgins and TJ Henson completing the top 10 in 9th and 10th respectively.
As for season stats, five drivers competed in all 16 races of the season, those being Stout, Kenny Allen, LeClair, Aho, and Luke Logan Allen. Eight different drivers were winners this season. Stout took home 9 checkered flags and Stefane, LeClair, Aho, Henson, Brian Bianchi, Brandon Feeney and Hamel claimed a win each. In addition to the most wins in the season, Stout also claimed the most top-5s (11) and the most top-10s (13). Luke Logan Allen finished the most laps of all drivers, completing 1,614 laps. Of the drivers competing in all 16 events, Jeff Aho received the fewest incident points of all drivers (90 total incident points.)
The drivers take a break for the next few weeks before beginning season 14 on Thursday, May 22nd at Phoenix Raceway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.
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