BRL LM S21 R2 Recap
14 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 21 | Round 2
Late Model Series | Myrtle Beach Speedway
Photograph by: Michael Goodman
Kenny Kibbey with Nocturnal Gaming claimed his 2nd series win in a row tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Late Model Series presented by Gargamel’s Kitchen at Myrtle Beach Speedway ahead of J R Shepherd and Mathew Thunhorst. “This one was a little less luck and a lot more of just hard work. I mean, that was a gritty race”, Kibbey was able to comment at the end of the night, “It’s tough making passes in these cars and we just had to not make any mistakes and take any advantage we could and just work for it.”
J R Shepherd took claimed the bonus points going into the evening by setting the fastest time at a 19.675 4-lap average in qualifying starting the feature event from 10th place with the Bootleg Racing League grid invert. Bryan Dehn qualified 10th and started on the pole to lead the 18-car field around to take the green flag with Joseph Snyder to his outside. Dehn quickly cleared out ahead as Tim Shinoski dove under Snyder for 2nd. Several other drivers saw the opportunity and Snyder found himself stranded on the outside and falling back fast.
With 5 laps completed, familiar names were slowly working their way toward the front with Austin Boelke leading Kenny Kibbey and Shepherd through traffic. Dehn continued to hold the lead ahead of Shinoski with most of the field going single file for the moment to put some laps behind them. 25 laps into the run, Dehn was extending his lead over Shinoski out to over 0.7 as Lowell Jewell started to pressure Donny Moore for 3rd. Kibbey and Shepherd felt it was time to go and went around to the outside of Boelke clearing around into 5th and 6th respectively.
Kibbey got his nose under Jewell with Shepherd still in tow and started challenging for 4th as Jewell battled back holding them off for several laps before conceding back in line from 7th ahead of Boelke. Mathew Thunhorst had quietly climbed up through the field and was running in 6th behind Shepherd as the train of cars still led by Kibbey cleared around Moore into 3rd. Dehn was maintaining his gap ahead of Shinoski with Kibbey, Shepherd, and Thunhorst closing the distance quickly.
The caution flag came out on lap 45 from contact between Rubin Altice and Joe Segalla restacking the field and placing Kibbey, Shepherd, and Thunhorst all within reach of the lead going into the 2nd half of the night. Off the jump, Shinoski was quickly being overtaken falling back 5th while Dehn defended the lead from Kibbey. After looking to the inside several times, Kibbey went wide and got around to the outside of Dehn and was able to get a nose ahead with Thunhorst slotting in behind him.
With 35 laps remaining, Kibbey, Thunhorst, and Shepherd were all clear of Dehn and battling amongst themselves for the lead. As Boelke tried to clear under Dehn the two drivers came together in the middle of the corner and fought to catch his car from a slide before coming to a stop sideway on the track bringing out another caution. Kibbey led the field around to take the green flag with Thunhorst to his outside and Shepherd directly behind him in 3rd. Off the jump, Shepherd got under Thunhorst, and they ran side by side for a brief moment before another caution came out on the track.
Kibbey again took the green flag going into lap 76 and Shepherd was again able to get under Thunhorst to challenge for 2nd place. Lap after lap, Thunhorst and Shepherd continued to run side by side with Lowell Jewell stuck behind them waiting for an opening as the caution came out again to restack the field to resume racing going into lap 84. Again, Shepherd dove under Thunhorst off the start and their battle continued as before. With the laps quickly counting down, Kibbey was able to extend out his lead of the battle for 2nd until a late race caution came out with 10 laps remaining.
With 4 laps remaining, Kibbey took the green flag for the final time with the battle for 2nd again raging between Shepherd and Thunhorst without either driver having a clear advantage when a caution came out on lap 99 ending the race under caution. Kenny Kibbey took the checkered flag with J R Shepherd taking 2nd place over Mathew Thunhorst by inches when the caution came out, with Lowell Jewell and Jason Menda rounding out the top 5 tonight at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
J R Shepherd continues to lead in the point standings with 97 points. Kenny Kibbey moved up to 2nd place with 88 points. Mathew Thunhorst jumped up to 3rd with 74 points with Lowell Jewell in 4th only 2 points behind. Michael Goodman rounds out the top 5 in the point standings with 70 points going into the 3rd round of the season. The Bootleg Racing League now heads over to USA Speedway for the next round of Season 21 on January 21st with all of the intense racing action brought to you live at 9PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL NSCT S1 R12 Recap
13 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 1 | Round 12
National Sprint Car Trail | Lucas Oil Speedway
James Tiernan took the checkered flag tonight in his dirt non-winged 360 sprint in the Bootleg Racing League National Sprint Car Trail at Lucas Oil Speedway ahead of Stephen Spies and Aiden Young. “I knew fuel strategy was going to play into it, so it was one of the weirder sprint car races I’ve ever run”, Tiernan commented at the end of the night, “The pace was there it was there the entire time I just wanted to make sure I had enough fuel for the end.”
Joseph Grady set the fastest 4-lap average time for the 2nd week in a row tonight in qualifying at 14.390 ahead of James Tiernan and Brandyn Proudfoot securing the pole for the night. Grandy led the field around to take the green flag with Tiernan to his outside and got a strong jump off the start, but Tiernan was able to dive low and quickly take away the lead with Proudfoot following him around. Grandy battled back from the high side running side by side with Proudfoot as Stephen Spies closing quickly on the leaders.
Contact between Proudfoot and Grandy allowed Spies to get to Grandy’s inside as Proudfoot started to pull away in 2nd. Proudfoot caught Tiernan with 10 laps completed and started to challenge for the lead with Tiernan running low and Proudfoot committing to the highline. Going into the 2nd half of the race, Tiernan was quickly closing on the first of the lap traffic as Grandy ran down Proudfoot and retook 2nd place for a moment before he lost control of his sprint bringing out the caution as Spies made contact unable to avoid Grandy spinning in the middle of the track.
Tiernan had another strong jump off the start going into lap 18 with Julian Valadez taking advantage of the restart and jumping out ahead of Tiernan to claim the lead. Proudfoot found himself in a 3 wide battle with Aiden Young and Spies battling for 3rd place as Tiernan slowly started to reel Valadez back in for the lead. Going into the final laps, Tiernan had caught Valadez and was aggressively challenging for the lead as mechanical issues ended Valadez’s run and a separate incident further back in the field brought out a late race caution.
Tiernan took the green flag with 3 laps remaining with Proudfoot back up to 2nd. Spies and Young were pressuring Proudfoot as Tiernan took the white flag. Coming out of the final corner, James Tiernan took the checkered flag as Stephen Spies cleared into 2nd place with Aiden Young, Justin Morton, and Brandyn Proudfoot rounding out the top 5 tonight at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Aiden Young continues to lead the overall point standings with 747 points ahead of Justin Morton with 724 points. Bruce Jones sits in 3rd with 702 points. James Tiernan is the current leader in the 360 Sprint Car class with 227 points followed closely by Brandyn Proudfoot and Aiden Young. The drivers of the Bootleg Racing League next head to Richmond Raceway on January 20th in the silver crowns with all of the intense action brought to you live at 10:20PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL DSLM S1 R2 Recap
13 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 1 | Round 2
Dirt Super Late Model Series | Lucas Oil Speedway
Stephen Spies with Gambler Motorsports took the checkered flag tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Super Late Model Series presented by Whiteriver LLC at Lucas Oil Speedway ahead of Brandyn Proudfoot and Aiden Young. “Once we finally got rolling there that actually was a lot of fun”, Spies shared with us as the night came to a close after running a perfect race, “I really like this track and it just felt real comfortable in the setup and it just was rolling, it felt easy.”
Stephen Spies with Gambler Motorsports stood atop the timing and scoring boards in qualifying setting a 4-lap average of 14.389 beating Bradlee Means in 2nd place by over 0.1 seconds. Spies went on to lead every lap in the first heat and take the win ahead of William Hargreaves. Bradlee Means and Brandyn Proudfoot took the remaining heat wins. James Ray and Billy Northcutt took their respectively consolation race wins leading up to the 30-lap feature event.
Spies led the 20-car field around to take the green flag with Means to his inside. Spies got a great jump off the start but further back in the field other drivers struggled as several drivers came together sending Proudfoot into the outside wall and bringing out an early caution. Spies got another good jump off the restart, but again the field struggled sending Hargreaves around immediately bringing out another caution. After more failed restarts, Spies was able to get another good jump off the start going into lap 5 with Proudfoot following him along the top side into 2nd place.
Proudfoot immediately went for the lead along with Aiden Young going 3 wide. Spies reclaimed the lead as Proudfoot and Young continued to battle over 2nd place with another caution halting the action with 10 laps completed and leading into more failed restarts with the a few drivers mistiming the jump and collecting several others. Spies took the green going into lap 11 with Proudfoot and Young continuing their battle for 2nd. Spies took advantage of the situation to pull away from the field by over 0.7 seconds going into the 2nd half of the evening.
Hargreaves was defending against Matt Durbin for 4th place while Proudfoot and Young extended their gap ahead of the rest of the field to over 2 seconds as Spies caught lap traffic for the first time in the night. Spies was forced to checkup for a lap car allowing Proudfoot and Young to quickly close on him and Proudfoot dove low to take the lead as the caution came out placing him back in 2nd place for the single file restart with 9 laps remaining. Spies was under immediate pressure from both Proudfoot and Young off the restart.
Proudfoot made a minor mistake along the outside line allowing Spies to pull away as Young continued to challenge for 2nd place. Young repeatedly tried to make something happen on the bottom of the track but couldn’t match Proudfoot’s momentum coming out of the corners as the laps quickly counted down. Stephen Spies extended his lead out to over 1 second to take the checkered flag tonight with Brandyn Proudfoot, Aiden Young, Bradlee Means, and William Hargreaves rounding out the top 5 at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Stephen Spies take control of the lead in the point standings with 158 points over William Hargreaves in 2nd place 8 points behind. Aiden Young sits in 3rd place with 148 points with Matt Durbin and Jeff Sharp rounding out the top 5 drivers going into the 3rd round of the season. The Bootleg Racing League next heads to Cedar Lake Speedway on January 20th with all of the dirt slinging action brought to you live at 8:40PM ET only on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL LM S21 R1 Recap
07 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 21 | Round 1
Late Model Series | New Smyrna Speedway
Kenny Kibbey with Nocturnal Gaming took the checkered flag tonight in the first round of the Bootleg Racing League Late Model Series at New Smyrna Speedway ahead of Mark Hertzog and J R Shepherd. “It was tough, these cars are really hard to pass in… it’s hard to makes runs”, Kibbey commented as the night came to a close, “Hoose made that mistake, and I was able to take advantage and from then on I just had to kind of manage the gap.”
J R Shepherd with Different Path Motorsports came into the evening strong jumping to the top of the timing and scoring boards with a 4-lap average time of 18.705 in qualifying starting in 10th for the feature event with Matt Hoose of Thunder Ridge Racing starting on the pole due to the Bootleg Racing League qualifying invert. Matt Thunhorst, a highly skilled driver and previous season winner, surprisingly opted to not qualify and lined up in 21st as the green flag came out.
Hoose had a good launch off the start and quickly cleared ahead of Kenny Kibbey going into the first corner while the 26-car field shuffled for early positions before going single file to get settled in to put some laps behind them. Kibbey stayed tight against the rear bumper of Hoose waiting patiently for an opportunity to take advantage of for the lead. Shepherd was quietly moving up through the field running in 9th and trailing a side-by-side battle between Jason Menda and Justin Morton for 7th ahead of him.
With the first 15 laps behind them, Hoose and Kibbey had started to build up a gap ahead of Donny Moore in 3rd over 1 second behind them. Shepherd cleared around Morton as Menda cleared into 7th momentarily before Shepherd quickly put Menda behind him as well with Tim Shinoski following him up into 8th. Only 1/4 of the way through the night, Hoose had reached the first signs of lap traffic with Kibbey still close behind. Mark Hertzog had climbed up 2 spots into 4th and was slowly reeling Moore in.
Thunhorst was struggling further back in the field up 9 spots into 12th but not pushing through the field as quickly as he had been earlier in the night. Shepherd had caught Lowell Jewell and quickly dove under to take 5th place with over 1 second between himself and Hertzog. With over a 2 second gap between the leaders and the rest of the field, Kibbey started experimenting looking to the inside of Hoose but seemed unable to challenge for the lead at that point as the caution came out as Hertzog and Moore came together. Moore recovered quickly from the resulting spin but dropped back to 11th for the restart.
Hoose led the field around to take the green flag going into the 2nd half of the night with Kibbey to his outside. Hoose and Kibbey quickly went single file, but Shepherd saw an opportunity and stayed to the outside Hertzog going after 3rd place. As they battled, Hertzog and Shepherd made contact sending Shepherd into the outside wall dropping back to 6th as the caution came out again. Further back in the field, Stephen Spies and Snyder made contact forcing Spies up the track putting Todd Liston hard into the outside wall and collected several other drivers down the front stretch.
Racing resumed with 41 laps remaining with Kibbey in control of the field ahead of Hoose. Hertzog dove under Hoose and was able to clear into 2nd after several laps battling side-by-side allowing Kibbey to pull away from the field. Shepherd was back up to 4th as Thunhorst broke into the top 10 and was continuing his climb running in 8th. With 30 laps to go, Shepherd saw his chance and cleared around under Hoose securing 3rd place. Lap 75 brought another caution with contact between Mike Allen and Joe Segalla resulted with Allen going around in turn two collecting Kurt Smith.
Kibbey took the green flag with a great jump in the final 21 laps of the night. Shepherd looked to the inside of Hertzog but had to concede back in 3rd while Hoose was able to hold of Shinoski for 4th. As the laps counted down, a late race caution came out from contact between Rubin Altice and Michael Smith further back in the field blocking the back stretch and ended the night as Kenny Kibbey took the checkered flag under caution flag condition with Mark Hertzog, J R Shepherd, Matt Hoose, and Mathew Thunhorst rounding out the top 5 tonight at New Smyrna Speedway.
J R Shepherd secured the points lead after the first round with 48 points. Tim Shinoski holds 2nd place 5 points behind Shepherd. Mark Hertzog sits in 3rd with 41 points and Kenny Kibbey, tonight’s race winner, in 4th with 40 points. Matt Hoose rounds out the top 5 in the point standings with 37 points starting off the new season. The Bootleg Racing League now heads over to Myrtle Beach Speedway for the next round of Season 21 on January 14th with all of the intense racing action brought to you live at 9PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL NSCT S1 R11 Recap
06 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 1 | Round 11
National Sprint Car Trail | Lernerville Speedway
James Tiernan took the checkered flag tonight with the Bootleg Racing League National Sprint Car Trail at Lernerville Speedway ahead of Jospeh Grandy and Bruce Jones. Tiernan took a moment to speak with us at the end of the night and shared, “Pretty much one lane for most of that race up at the top and then kind of figured something out through the middle and kind of walked away from there.”
Joseph Grandy started off the night by securing the pole with a 4-lap average time of 15.479 in qualifying beating James Tiernan by 0.017. Leading the field around, Grandy took the green flag and got a good jump off the start but wasn’t able to clear ahead of Tiernan to his inside initially. Tiernan tried to challenge for the lead but eventually had to concede back in 2nd ahead of Stephen Spies. With 5 laps behind them, Tiernan again tried to get under Grandy clearing with a slider in turn three. Grandy tried to pull a crossover, but Tiernan used the high side momentum to hold the lead.
Further back in the field, Neville Ulph and William Hargreaves had contact sending Hargreaves into the outside wall down the front stretch and bringing out the caution. Restacking single file, Tiernan took the green flag as racing resumed going into lap 8 getting a very strong jump off the start. Tiernan was slowly extending the gap ahead of Grandy as Spies was starting to pressure Grandy for 2nd with 10 laps completed. Justin Morton had closed in on the battle and tried to get in between the two drivers and the battling allowed Aiden Young and Bruce Jones to close in on them.
Spies went off the track through turn three falling back to 9th giving Grandy a breather while Morton, Jones, and Young continued to fight over 3rd going into the 2nd half of the night. The caution came out on lap 17 with more bad luck for Spies when Todd Liston lost momentum going through turn four and Spies closed too quickly unable to avoid contact. Tiernan again took the green flag ahead of Grandy with 13 laps remaining. Julian Valadez took advantage to challenge for 4th getting alongside Jones.
Morton slide over the edge of turn three falling back to 9th giving 3rd over to Jones was under pressure from Young for 4th as they had to deal with lap traffic and Spies quickly closing on the battle. Valadez used the lap car of Hargreaves to hold the position while Spies and Young fought over 5th. Coming out of the final corner, James Tiernan was untouchable with over a 1 second lead to take the checkered flag ahead of Jospeh Grandy, Bruce Jones, Julian Valadez, and Stephen Spies rounding out the top 5 tonight at Lernerville Speedway.
Aiden Young holds onto the lead in the overall point standings with 683 points. Justin Morton sits in 2nd with 663 points with Bruce Jones in 3rd with 647 points. Stephen Spies sits into 4th with 592 points and Rory Collins rounds out the top 5 drivers with 555 points. Bruce Jones is the current points leader in the midgets with 208 points ahead of Stephen Spies and Aiden Young. The drivers of the Bootleg Racing League next head to Lucas Oil Speedway on January 13th in the nonwinged 360 sprints with all of the intense action brought to you live at 10:30PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL DSLM S1 R1 Recap
06 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 1 | Round 1
Dirt Super Late Model Series | Lernerville Speedway
William Hargreaves with Dirt Panda Racing took the checkered flag tonight with the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Super Late Model Series at Lernerville Speedway ahead of Aiden Young and Stephen Spies. “I’m not very good in these… I don’t run them much and so I got everything I can do just to hang on to this thing”, Hargreaves commented as the night came to a close, “That was a very unfortunate break for Vickers tonight, that was definitely his race to win.”
Thomas Vickers with Richard Murtaugh Racing had the fast 4-lap average set at 14.293 at the top of the timing and scoring boards as qualifying came to a close and the drivers started lining up for the heat events. Vickers claimed the checkered flag in the first heat and secured the pole for the upcoming feature with John Heyn and William Hargreaves winning their respective heats. Billy Northcutt and Matt Hoose won the following consolation races leading up to the 30-lap feature event.
Vickers quickly cleared ahead of Heyn off the green flag with Hargreaves moving up into 2nd before Heyn could get settled into 3rd ahead of Stephen Spies. Hargreaves closed in on the rear bumper of Vickers keeping the pressure up in the early stages of the night. Heyn was forced wide and went off the track through turns three and four recovering back in 12th. Vickers continued to hold of Hargreaves with Spies under pressure from Aiden Young battling for 3rd.
Going into the 2nd half of the race, Spies made a move for 2nd before going off the backstretch dropping back behind Young in 4th. Vickers was starting to build up a strong gap ahead of Hargreaves of over 2.8 seconds while the leaders were aggressively negotiating through dense lap traffic as the caution came out with 10 laps remaining. In a shocking upset, contact between lap drivers resulted in Jason Menda being pushed up the track and making hard contact with Vickers coming around his outside. Vickers was sent off the back of turn one making hard contact with the outside wall giving the lead over to Hargreaves.
In the final laps, Hargreaves maintained a 0.5 second gap on Young. Coming out of the final corner, Young closed the gap to the lead but not enough to make an attempt for the lead as William Hargreaves took the checkered flag ahead of Aiden Young with Stephen Spies, Matt Durbin, and Jeff Sharp rounding out the top 5 tonight at Lernerville Speedway.
William Hargreaves starts the new season off in the lead with 82 points. Aiden Young, Stephen Spies, Matt Durbin, and Jeff Sharp round of the top 5 in the point standings after the first round. The Bootleg Racing League next heads to Lucas Oil Speedway on January 13th with all of the dirt slinging action brought to you live at 8:40PM ET only on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL DSS S14 R1 Recap
06 January 2023
Bootleg Racing League | Season 14 | Round 1
Dirt Street Stock Series | Lernerville Speedway
William Hargreaves with Dirt Panda Racing took the checkered flag in a drag race to the line against his teammate, Billy Northcutt, tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock Series at Lernerville Speedway with Aiden Young rounding out the podium finishers. “That was a heck of a race for sure”, Hargreaves commented regarding the photo finish at the line, “I didn’t think I got it. I wasn’t really sure but that’s how [the racing officials] scored it and out of all the time I’ve been doing this I guarantee that’s the closest finish I’ve ever been involved with.”
John Wilson with Team CDR held the top of the timing and scoring boards in qualifying with a quick 4-lap average time of 18.204 out pacing both Hargreaves and Northcutt as the drivers lined up for the first heat event of the night with Wilson leading them out to take the green flag. Wilson held off Dylan Corey to secure the pole for the feature event later in the night. Billy Northcutt, William Hargreaves, and Aiden Young won their respective heats followed up by Jason Best and David Traylor won their consolation races.
Wilson took the green flag to kick off the 30-lap feature event and jumped out to a strong initial lead ahead of Northcutt. Northcutt threw a slider on Wilson going into the 3rd lap but was immediately overtaken but Wilson from a quick crossover while Aiden Young and Zachary Loomis battled over 3rd with Hargreaves looking to get between them. Hargreaves was able to climb up into 3rd soon afterward and started closing on the battle for the lead. Northcutt threw another slider on Wilson as Hargreaves closed the gap preventing Wilson from pulling another crossover and settling into 2nd with 10 laps completed.
A miscalculation between John Heyn and Neville Ulph further back in the field caused a pile up collecting several other drivers and bringing out the caution with Northcutt in the lead. Northcutt opted to take the restart from the outside lane with Wilson and Hargreaves both to his inside. Northcutt had a good jump as Young maneuvered around Hargreaves into 3rd with Wilson stranded on the bottom struggling to find a gap to slide up into. Young cleared into 2nd close behind Northcutt as Wilson slotted in behind Hargreaves for 4th.
Hargreaves start pressuring Young going into the 2nd half of the night with Wilson waiting to see how the battle ahead played out to take advantage. Hargreaves was able to get a nose to the inside of Young and got alongside Young several time but unable to finish the move while Young stayed glued to the rear bumper of Northcutt. Hargreaves took advantage to get to the outside of Young and quickly clear into 2nd before going after Northcutt going into the final 5 laps.
Hargreaves threw a slider on Northcutt as a late race caution came out giving the lead back to Northcutt for a single file restart with 4 laps remaining. Northcutt had a good jump off the green flag, but Hargreaves stayed with him instantly trading sliders back and forth with Young looking to get into the fight. Coming around the final lap, Hargreaves was alongside Northcutt coming out of turn four for a photo finish at the line so close that the winner was in question for a long moment while the racing stewards reviewed the finish before announcing William Hargreaves as the official winner tonight at Lernerville Speedway ahead of Billy Northcutt by 0.001 with Aiden Young, David Traynor, and Jason Best rounding out the top 5.
William Hargreaves started the new season off with 82 points, 2 points ahead of Dirt Panda teammate, Billy Northcutt. Aiden Young, David Traylor, and Jason Best round of the top 5 in the points after the first round. The Bootleg Racing League next head to Lucas Oil Speedway on January 13th with all of the dirt slinging action brought to you live at 7:10PM ET only on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL NSCT S1 R10 Recap
16 December 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 1 | Round 10
National Sprint Car Trail | Hickory Motor Speedway
Sim Racing Software: iRacing
Jeffrey Stanton with JS Racing took the checkered flag tonight with the Bootleg Racing League National Sprint Car Trail at Hickory Motor Speedway ahead of Justin Morton and Joe Adams. Stanton commented after taking his win, “It’s a very tricky track here I mean I was making the same mistakes here that I would in a legend car in real life 10 years ago It’s very easy to over drive turn 3 and get tight and off of [turn] 4 and off of [turn] 2 you can get pretty loose.”
Jeffrey Stanton secured the pole in qualifying with a fast 4-lap average time of 13.014, beating the rest of the field by over 0.1 seconds and took the green flag with Joe Adams to his outside. Stanton had a good jump off the start and the front quickly went single file with the field splitting into two packs within the opening laps with a gap building between Stephen Spies in 6th and John Heyn in 7th. Brandyn Proudfoot was looking to the inside of Adams for 2nd but couldn’t line up a pass while under pressure from Aiden Young behind him.
Stanton used the battling behind him to extend his lead out pulling away with 10 laps completed. Justin Morton was aggressively pushing and cleared around Young closing on the rear of Proudfoot as trouble for Heyn brought the caution flag out restacking the drivers to resume racing going into lap 14. Again, Stanton was able to get a great jump out ahead of Adams. Proudfoot and Morton were tight on the rear bumper of Adams looking to challenge as another caution came out as Young got loose from a sudden checkup and was sent hard into the outside wall on lap 17.
As racing again resumed, Morton saw his opportunity and dove beneath Proudfoot to take away 3rd place and immediately set his sights to Adams. Spies was staying close on the rear of Proudfoot keeping the pressure high as the drivers entered the 2nd half of the run. Morton quickly dove low under Adams and cleared out ahead into 2nd place as Spies moved up into 4th directly behind Adams. Morton was slowly reeling Stanton in with 15 laps remaining while Adams was consistently holding off Spies.
Morton was able to close the gap to the lead completely going into the final laps looking to the inside but unable to complete the pass as Stanton used the outside momentum to hold the lead. Coming out of the final corner, Jeffrey Stanton took the checkered flag ahead of Justin Morton with Joe Adams, Stephen Spies, and Aiden Young rounding out the top 5 tonight at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Aiden Young holds onto the lead in the overall point standings with 628 points. Justin Morton moved up into 2nd with 614 points as Bruce Jones slid back to 3rd with 583 points. Stephen Spies sits into 4th with 534 points and Rory Collins rounds out the top 5 drivers with 503 points. Justin Morton is the current points leader in the Asphalt Sprints with 224 points ahead of Aiden Young and Stephen Spies. The drivers of the Bootleg Racing League will be back after the holiday break to take on Lernerville Speedway in the dirt midgets on January 6th with all of the intense action brought to you live at 10:30PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
BRL SLM S19 R11 Recap
10 December 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 19 | Round 11
Super Late Model Series | Five Flags Speedway
Sim Racing Software: iRacing
J R Shepherd with Different Path Motorsports took the checkered flag and the Season 19 championship tonight with the Bootleg Racing League Super Late Model Series at Five Flags Speedway ahead of Kienny Kibbey and Justin Morton. “The car still had some decent speed, but I could tell that the front just wasn’t rotating as well as it was before… so I knew it was going to be a long night”, Shepherd shared with us regarding the damage he took early on in the night, “[I was] surprised to kind of hold guys off enough.”
J R Shepherd came into the final round of Season 19 strong with a 4-lap average time at 16.274 in qualifying getting the highest point bonus possible before gridding up for the 100-lap feature event. Donny Moore started on pole to the inside of Austin Boelke to take the green flag which unfortunately was chaotic as several drivers came together coming out of turn 2 end the evening early for both Mathew Thunhorst and Jason Menda. The field stacked back up to again take the green with Moore in the lead going into lap 7.
Kenny Kibbey quickly moved up into 3rd and was running close behind Boelke as Moore was able to defend his position in the early stages of the race. Shepherd and Justin Morton were quietly pushing up through the field running in 5th and 6th respectively getting around Joseph Snyder. In the front of the field, Kibbey was started to show some impatience with Boelke keeping the pressure high while looking both high and low as Shepherd and Morton both cleared into the top 5.
In a shocking turn of events, Boelke and Moore had contact sending both drivers spinning in opposite directions on track collecting Kibbey, Morton, and Shepherd in the mayhem. Shepherd came out the other side in the lead, but with significant damage to the left rear of his Different Path motorsports Ford Mustang while Kibbey, Boelke, and Morton were all outside of the top 10 looking in as the green flag came out on track. Shepherd had a good jump off the restart going into lap 25 ahead of Matt Hoose with Todd Liston directly behind looking to challenge for 2nd.
Hoose was able to clear Liston for 2nd as the field struggled to get single filed out around the track. Bryan Dehn got alongside Liston to the outside and was able to clear into 3rd as Liston got loose dropping back to 4th. Kibbey and Boelke were both back with the top 10 while Morton struggled in the field back in 12th while Shepherd was able to set the pace out front ahead of Hoose. Going into the 2nd half of the night, Shepherd still had a strong hold on the lead after multiple cautions and restarts with Kibbey in 3rd cautiously climbing up through the field.
Kibbey secured 2nd place and slotted in behind Shepherd with 40 laps remaining while Shepherd continued to wrestle his damaged car around the track. Morton was up to 5th and quickly closing on Dehn and Hoose ahead while trouble for Boelke has put him back in 14th. Morton had completely closed the gap to the leaders as another caution came out on lap 80 giving Morton an easy opportunity to get around Hoose for 3rd off the restart while Kibbey continued to look for a way around Shepherd.
Morton tried to get under Kibbey but couldn’t hold the line as Kibbey clear back ahead into 2nd. Morton continued to look beneath Kibbey which prevented Kibbey from getting a good run on Shepherd going into the final laps. A late caution came out going into lap 96 from contact between Dehn and Liston further back in the field and led to J R Shepherd taking the checkered flag under yellow flag conditions with Kenny Kibbey, Justin Morton, Jeffrey Hardin, and Matt Shinoski rounding out the top 5 tonight at Five Flags Speedway.
J R Shepherd claimed the season championship with tonight’s win with 513 points. Justin Morton took 2nd place with 475 points and Mathew Thunhorst fell back to 3rd after a couple a rough finishes at the end of the season with 464 points. Donny Moore finished in 4th place with 357 points, beating Joseph Snyder by 1 point rounding out the top 5. Next season, the Bootleg Racing League will be switch over to the limited late model car with the first round kicking off on January 7th at New Smyrna Speedway with all of the action broadcast live at 9PM ET exclusively on the Virtual Grip Network!
Endeavor Derby Recap
09 December 2022
Endurance League Events | Endeavor Derby
Super Late Models | Iowa Speedway
Sim Racing Software: iRacing
Mathew Thunhorst with Forge Racing representing the Bootleg Racing League took the checkered flag tonight in the Endeavor Derby at Iowa Speedway presented by Endurance League Events ahead of David Krikorian and Jacob Fyfe. “That was the hardest I’ve ever raced on the service ever”, Thunhorst commented as the night came to a close, “I got lucky with getting out in front of David there and getting the lead and at that point I just left it all on the track and you saw the result.”
David Krikorian with Rookie eSports secured the pole and lead the 30-car field around to take the green flag with Justin Morton to his outside. Krikorian and Morton quickly went single file out front as much of the field scrambled for position gains early on. Michael Strohl and Michael Chrobok were both quietly moving up through the field climbing up to 4th and 7th respectively in the first 10 laps. Mathew Thunhorst started dead last in the field and was up 11 spots to 19th quickly negotiating through traffic.
As the laps counted down early in the evening, the drivers started to spread out around the track into smaller battles. Thunhorst was inside of the top 10 and showed no signs of slowing his advance as Krikorian continued to lead ahead of Morton with Strohl in 3rd running 2 seconds behind the leaders. With 45 laps completed, a caution came out after an incident in the middle of the field involving Braxton DeWeese, Carl Henderson, and Blake Trawick giving the field an opportunity to come down pit road for the first pit cycle and unfortunately ending DeWeese’s night early.
Stephen Moore was in control of the field as the green flag came back out with Krikorian directly behind him. Morton was holding onto 3rd place with Blake Gordon and Thunhorst rounding out the top 5 with 50 laps behind them. Morton cleared around the outside of Krikorian for 2nd and continued the push getting to the outside of Moore to take away the lead. Thunhorst followed Morton’s line moving up into 3rd and closed in on the rear bumper of Krikorian as Moore was shuffled back to 4th. Krikorian slid his tires just enough for Thunhorst to easily secure 2nd place going into lap 60.
The field quickly settled into a groove to put more laps behind them spreading out around the track as Thunhorst saw his chance and dove low to challenge Morton for the lead. Going into lap 65, Thunhorst cleared for the lead and held it as they were reaching the first signs of lap traffic. Strohl moved up to 3rd and was closing in on Morton ahead with Krikorian directly behind him pressuring him for the position. As the laps counted down, Thunhorst was able to pull away from Morton by over 1.6 seconds and Morton found himself again under pressure from Krikorian and Strohl.
With 100 laps completed, Morton had fallen back to 6th behind Stephen Moore and Jacob Fyfe with Thunhorst still holding the lead with a 2 second gap between himself and Krikorian. A caution shortly thereafter allowed the entire field to come down pit road for their 2nd stop of the night with Thunhorst holding the lead for the restart ahead of Krikorian and Blake Gordan. Thunhorst had a strong jump off the green flag and was able to clear out ahead of Krikorian as the top 5 drivers quickly single filed out.
There were very few battles throughout the field as drivers settled into their grooves to check off some laps with a long night still ahead of them. An incident on lap 152 with Chad Mikosz, Michael Strohl, and Blake Gordan all going for 4th place while negotiating around lap traffic resulted in Gordan falling back to 15th as the caution flag came out allowing the field another safe pit cycle. Michael Chrobok won the race off pit road ahead of Thunhorst but restarted from 2nd behind Kyle Cooper who stayed out on track while the rest of the field pitted. Cooper was quickly overtaken by Thunhorst as racing resumed with a little more than half of the night behind them.
Going into the final 100 lap stretch, Thunhorst continued to hold the lead with over a 2 second gap ahead of Krikorian and Mikosz. Another caution from a spin in the middle of the field shuffled the running order as the drivers came back down pit road with Thunhorst running 3rd behind Jeffrey Stanton and Krikorian for the restart going into lap 207. Thunhorst stayed alongside Krikorian trying to take away 2nd place but made contact with Stanton sending Stanton around across the infield and Krikorian claimed the race lead as the caution came back out.
As racing resumed going into lap 214, Krikorian quickly cleared out front with Cody Smith getting to the inside of Thunhorst, but Thunhorst was able to defend 2nd place and started reeling the leader back in as drivers throughout the field were getting more aggressive going after positions with the end of the night in sight. Thunhorst matched the pace of Krikorian but wasn’t actively going after the lead as the 2 drivers started to pull away from the rest of the field with less than 80 laps remaining.
With drivers taking more risks, a series of cautions came out one after another ending the night early for several drivers and shuffling the running order around as leaders tried to outmaneuver each other with varying pit strategies. Going into the last 50 laps of the night, Krikorian was in control of the field as Thunhorst was climbing back up through traffic after opting to take fresh tires later in the run. More cautions helped Thunhorst to get back up within reach of the lead as the laps quickly counted down.
Thunhorst reclaimed the lead from Blake Trawick off another restart with 28 laps to go. Krikorian followed Thunhorst around into 2nd but wasn’t close enough to challenge for the lead. Going into the final laps, Krikorian got to the inside of Thunhorst, but Thunhorst fought back from the outside lane and was able to hold the lead clearing Krikorian’s front bumper. Kirkorian continued to pressure Thunhorst, but just wasn’t able to take the lead back as Mathew Thunhorst took the checkered flag ahead of David Krikorian with Jacob Fyfe, Michael Chrobok, and Blake Trawick rounding out the top 5 tonight at Iowa Speedway.
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