BRL GN S8 R3 Recap
by Ryan Senneker
16 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 8 | Round 3
Grand National Series | North Wilkesboro Speedway
J R Shepherd absolutely dominated the evening with his Different Path Motorsports Ford at North Wilkesboro Speedway claiming his first win of Season 8 with the Bootleg Racing League Grand National Series and his 51st career win overall. Justin Morton and James Lowe finished 2nd and 3rd while Kenny Kibbey secured the pole position for next week’s race at Five Flags Speedway by finishing 8th.
With his win, Shepherd also claims the points lead over Mathew Thunhorst and Austin Boelke with a gap of only 5 points between the three season winners. Just behind them, Justin Morton and James Lowe are tied for 4th place just 8 points behind the lead. It is still very much any driver’s championship at this point as this season has had 3 different winners for the first 3 races.
Out pacing the rest of the field lap after lap through the evening, J R Shepherd crossed the finish line over 3 seconds ahead of his competition. Besides simply having a preference for this track, Shepherd had some tricks up his sleeves going into the event. “I just tried something new with the brakes tonight and how I was using them and it seemed to pay off in the long run for sure.” Going into Five Flags Speedway next weekend, Shepherd looks to put some distance between himself and the other championship drivers in the standings.
BRL DSS S9 R3 Recap
by Ryan Senneker
15 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 9 | Round 3
Dirt Street Stock Series | Knoxville Raceway
Johnny Ratley with the Dirt Panda race team started 2nd in the feature behind his teammate William Hargreaves, but wasted no time getting to the front in the first few laps and held off the likes of Hargreaves, Jim Reavis, Brandyn Proudfoot, and Billy Northcutt for the remainder of the 40 lap Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock event at Knoxville Raceway and came home with a hard earned checkered flag.
After a surprising upset with Proudfoot and Hargreaves being involved in an incident on lap 28 that sent them both to the back of the field, the points standings have closed up with only an 8 point gap between the current top three of Proudfoot, Northcutt, and Ratley.
“I was just trying to hold it and just stay in front of him.”, Ratley commented about battling Reavis across the finish line, “We were beating and banging so much and the last few laps Billy (Northcutt) was catching up with us. I didn’t know if he was going to catch us and pass us.”
BRL GN S8 R2 Recap
by Ryan Senneker
09 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 8 | Round 2
Grand National Series | Hickory Motor Speedway
Mathew Thunhorst took the checkered flag at the first running of the Hickory Motor Speedway for the Bootleg Racing League’s Grand National Series. Taking the lead on lap 27, Thunhorst held off J R Shepherd and James Lowe for the remainder of the race showing himself to be the dominate driver at the end of the night.
With the night’s victory, Thunhorst and Shepherd are now tied for first place in the point standings, each with 78 points. Austin Boelke trails behind by only 2 points, Kenny Kibbey by 4 points, and James Lowe by 6 points. The tight competition means no mistakes for the drivers competing for the BRL Season 8 championship.
Asked about next weekend’s race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Thunhorst is cautiously optimistic. “Definitely have my work cut out for me, a lot of fast guys in front of me or in between me and that number one spot. I’m going to be positive about it. You know, feeling good, but I know I got a lot of strong competitors that I got to try to beat too. It’s one of those thing, just going to have to see how it plays out.”
BRL DSS S9 R2 Recap
by Ryan Senneker
08 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 9 | Round 2
Dirt Street Stock Series | Weedsport Speedway
After a very tight, action packed race, Brandyn Proudfoot won the second race of the season in the Bootleg Racing League’s Dirt Street Stock Series for the Jim Beaver eSports team ahead of William Hargreaves and Kenny Kibbey giving him a 30 point lead over Billy Northcutt in the point standings.
Johnny Ratley had a strong showing early in the evening with the quickest qualifying time of 17.887 starting on the pole for the 40 lap feature. After leading the first 14 laps, Hargreaves overtook his teammate with the Dirt Panda race team. Hargreaves then held off Proudfoot around the next 18 laps until Proudfoot was able to capitalize on the inside line to secure the lead with only 8 laps to go.
Proudfoot explained his mindset going into a race against such strong competitors, “It’s ultimately those smaller goals like I’m going to run the bottom at Weedsport or I’m going to try not to hit the wall running Eldora. It’s those smaller goals where you’ll make your personal improvements, it’s not about the big ones. It’s the small ones that count and they add up quick.”
BRL GN S8 R1 Recap
by Ryan Senneker
02 Oct 2021
Bootleg Racing League | Season 8 | Round 1
Grand National Series | Stafford Speedway
Austin Boelke started on the pole because of a technicality, but left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he deserved the position as he led the entire 100 lap event ahead of J R Shepherd. This was Boelke’s first career win in the Bootleg Racing League’s Grand National Series and a strong start for him in the new season.
Mathew Thunhorst was able to capitalize on lap traffic to get by Kenny Kibbey on lap 91 taking 3rd place away and holding it to the finish. Justin Morton couldn’t manage to get around Kibbey and finished in 5th ahead of Tim Shinoski.
Boelke commenting on his progression over the years in the league, “It just shows how tight of a group we are here at BRL. How you can come into the league and not know what you’re doing and then gradually build up as you get more and more speed in the car and confidence in yourself. We’re just a great group of guys here. A bunch of friends just having a good time.”
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