ASC S11 R6 Recap
31 Jan 2022
Autobahn Sportscar Challenge | Season 11 | Round 6
LMP2/GT3 Multiclass Event | Detroit’s Belle Isle
Jeffrey Ooms has led every lap and took the win for the Prototype class in the Autobahn Sportscar Challenge event at Detroit’s Belle Isle Street Circuit for the second week in a row ahead of Carter Kundinger and Billy Smith II. Joining the season with his win at Road America and now winning at Detroit, Ooms is proving to be the driver to beat this season. Ross Booth won for the GT Pro class ahead of Albert Jones and Paul Gibson while Trent Brown claimed the victory in the GT AM class beating out Franco Margarella and Bradley Salmon.
“I know [Ooms] is a fast driver, I mean he’s a 6K [iRating] driver and he definitely shows it.”, Kundinger, the current points leader in the Prototype class, commented after finishing in 2nd place tonight and is content with consistent podium finishes for now, “Second’s an awesome result especially at Detroit. I knew it was going to be pretty chaotic with all the traffic and the bumps which are pretty grueling.”
Kundinger continues to lead in the Prototype point standings, now with 112 points, ahead of Billy Smith II and Dan Neice after finishing in 2nd place tonight. Ross Booth, Bradlee Haley, and Paul Gibson further extend the gap between themselves and the rest of the GT Pro class standings. Kevin O’Keefe holds onto the lead in the GT AM class followed closely by Ryan Robertson and Trent Brown. Satellite Racing, consisting of Robert Tinsey, Ryan Washeleski, and Ryan Robertson, holds the lead in the team point standings for a second week.
BRL GN S9 R4 Recap
29 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 9 | Round 4
Grand National Series | Five Flags Speedway
Mathew Thunhorst got his second win of the season tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Grand National Series event at Five Flags Speedway ahead of Kenny Kibbey and J R Shepherd. Mark Hertzog led the first 64 laps until Thunhorst was able to get to the inside and pull ahead leading the remainder of the race and able to build a gap of over one second ahead of Kibbey and Shepherd by the final lap. Thunhorst and Shepherd have now each won two of the four races this season.
“There was a lot of good racing up front, there was a lot of tough racing. My heart was pounding the whole time and it’s just one of those that, it’s quite the intense race.”, Thunhorst commented about the battles happening toward the front. “There’s a lot on the line. One mistake can be the difference between leading and not leading the championship or, you know, getting a win and just being able to take advantage of the moments when they’re there and making sure you save up enough through the race that you can take advantage of them.”
With his win tonight, Thunhorst has taken the lead away from J R Shepherd with a total of 158 points, 1 point ahead of Shepherd. Kibbey holds his third-place position in the point standings only 5 points from the lead himself. Justin Morton and Austin Boelke are now tied for 4th place, both drivers with 145 points. The battle for the championship is still closely contested between all five drivers going into the next round.
BRL DSS S10 R4 Recap
28 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 10 | Round 4
Dirt Street Stock Series | Tulsa Chili Bowl
Screenshot by Billy Northcutt
William Hargreaves with the Dirt Panda racing team took home his first win of the season tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock Series 40 lap event at the Tulsa Chili Bowl holding off Brandyn Proudfoot and Carl Kilgore. The 24-car field had a hard time finding their way around the small track with caution after caution as the drivers quickly found themselves running out of room going into the turns. Strong restarts from Hargreaves and short green flag runs left Proudfoot with very few chances to challenge for the lead.
“I was just hanging on hoping that I would be the one to cross the finish line first.”, Hargreaves commented about tonight turning into a race of survival. Seeming to favor the high line, it worked out well for him as he led every lap. “On some of the restarts there I was kind of trying a few times a different line or two or whatever and as far as I saw there really was nothing anywhere else for me. [Kilgore] was running the bottom there looked like pretty decent. I just stuck with what was working.”
Hargreaves is now the fourth different winner of the season with only four races in. Proudfoot still holds the lead in the point standings, with a total of 305 points, ahead of Hargreaves with 282. Billy Northcutt fell back to 3rd place with 267 points after finishing in 9th tonight. Proudfoot has built a sizable gap between himself and his direct competitors, but his position in the standings is still within reach if his luck turns over the next few weeks.
C2CRL Hometown Heroes W7 Recap
26 Jan 2022
Coast 2 Coast Racing League | Week 7
Hometown Heroes Series | Volusia Speedway Park
Jeff Flaro takes the checkered flag in the A&J Custom Creations 305 Sprints Series with the Coast 2 Coast Racing League Hometown Heroes Series feature race at Volusia Speedway ahead of Christopher Berger and Jeffrey Kemper. Multiple cautions made smart restarts a critical strategy for the win and Flaro credited his ever-changing restart strategies to his past as a baseball pitcher, “Batter to pitcher is a little bit of a head game and I find it [to be] the same thing. So, if you’re always doing the same thing, you become predictable.”
Kyle Moonen took the win in the ABR Setup Shop 360 Sprints Series 25 lap feature beating out Blake Chapman and Nick Vickrey. Moonen created a big upset taking the lead away from Chapman with 2 laps to go, who had led every lap to that point. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 23, Moonen made hard contact with the outside wall and managed to pull ahead of Chapman as they came across the start/finish line. “I just actually kept it to the floor at that point and was like ‘Well, we’re either going to wreck or somehow make my way out of this and got lucky I guess.”
The Coast 2 Coast Racing League’s Hawkeye Challenge III event was a change of pace to say the least. The 22-car field consisted of drivers in street stocks, legends, UMPs, 358 modifieds, pro late models, and 305 sprints all battling together around 50 laps with each class winner going home tonight with a special custom made C2CRL dog tag as their prize. The class winners were Jeff Flaro in the legends, Kurt Shatzer in the street stocks, Aiden Young in the UMPs, Brandon Dittmer in the 358 modifieds, John Heyn in the pro late models, and Randy Shreves in the 305 sprints and tonight’s overall race winner.
BRL GN S9 R3 Recap
22 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 9 | Round 3
Grand National Series | Langley Speedway
Mathew Thunhorst showed his skill around Langley Speedway as he led every lap to his first win of the season in the Bootleg Racing League Grand National Series 100 lap event holding off J R Shepherd and Kenny Kibbey. A late race caution forced a three-lap shootout and Shepherd was able to take advantage of the restart to get 2nd place away from Kibbey, who had held it up to that point. “Just got lucky that the caution came out when it did and there were just a few laps in the end and I got a good restart.”, Shepherd commented about getting around Kibbey.
With his first season win under his belt, Thunhorst now sets his sights to Five Flags Speedway for next week. “It’s one of those places that feels pretty good. I know [Kibbey’s] going to be starting in front of me there… I know he’s going to be pretty strong there.” Thunhorst, a strong driver each week, knows the competition is going to be tough, “You hope things go good, but you still have to prove it week in and week out and a lot of these guys are pretty strong. So, we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
Shepherd is still holding onto the lead in the point standings with two wins and a total of 119 points after the first three races. Thunhorst trails behind Shepherd by only 1 point after his win tonight and Kibbey holds onto 3rd place 5 points off the lead. Justin Morton and Austin Boelke are still 4th and 5th in the standings with 110 and 108 points respectively, both drivers still very much in contention for the championship battle themselves.
BRL DSS S10 R3 Recap
21 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 10 | Round 3
Dirt Street Stock Series | Volusia Speedway Park
Lon Franks claimed his first win of the season tonight in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock Series feature event at Volusia Speedway Park finishing ahead of Billy Northcutt and Brandyn Proudfoot. As with Jordan Gage at Eldora Speedway two weeks ago, Franks made himself known in his debut race by starting in 4th, getting control of the lead early, and holding off the likes of Proudfoot, Hargreaves, and Northcutt across the finish line.
“You could about go anywhere really, so I was just trying to stay smooth once I got the lead”, Franks commented on his win tonight. Franks is currently sitting in 17th in the point standings with a total of 81 points with this being his first race with the league, but he says that he’s not really focused on a championship at this time. “I’m just here for a good time. Whatever happens happens, you know. Run clean and fast and points will gather as they do.”
Joining the season after two races have already completed, Franks has an uphill battle to challenge for the championship at this point in the season. Proudfoot moved up into the lead currently with 225 points ahead of Northcutt by 14 points. Hargreaves dropped back to 3rd in the standings with a total of 198 points after a late race incident sent him to the back of the field. Gage is quickly falling out of contention with the championship early in the season after being involved in an incident that ended his night making for two bad weeks in a row for the driver.
C2CRL Hometown Heroes W6 Recap
19 Jan 2022
Coast 2 Coast Racing League | Week 6
Hometown Heroes Series | Volusia Speedway Park
Randy Shreves took the win in the A&J Custom Creations 305 Sprints Series with the Coast 2 Coast Racing League Hometown Heroes Series feature race at Volusia Speedway beating Andy Patton and Jeff Flaro to the line in a GWC finish. Shreves gave us a moment to talk about getting to the inside of Patton on the last restart, “[Patton] caught me once and then after that I realized he was going a little bit before the green. So, I kind of read his start a little bit.”
Kyle Moonen dominated the ABR Setup Shop 360 Sprints Series 25 lap feature finishing ahead of John Heyn and Randy Shreves. Heyn made a strong charge to the front from the middle of the field through the event, but it wasn’t enough in the end to challenge Moonen for the lead. “When we had one with like five to go, I wasn’t too thrilled about that… that gave [Heyn] five laps to do something if we stayed green.”, Moonen commented about his late race restarts. “Once we got that second one with two to go, I knew that if I got a pretty good start and jumped out ahead of them… it’s less time for whoever’s in second and third to try something different and make it happen.”
Kyle Parker led every lap to victory in the COOLRAY Air Conditioning & Heating Pro Late Model Series feature event ahead of Brandon Templeton and Nick Vickrey. Several cautions in the first half of the race kept the field packed together, but the drivers’ seemed to find their stride afterward with a good green flag run to the finish. “I was hoping for a little more green flag running in the beginning”, Parker commented after his win. Coming back to the series after a six-month break, Parker made a strong statement with his win tonight. “To come out and lead about every lap… gets my confidence up a little bit and kind of show them that I’m not a push over.”
ASC S11 R5 Recap
17 Jan 2022
Autobahn Sportscar Challenge | Season 11 | Round 5
LMP2/GT3 Multiclass Event | Road America
Jeffrey Ooms absolutely dominated the field in the Autobahn Sportscar Challenge 90 minute event at Road America ahead of David Shutt and Billy Smith II. Ooms started on the pole and was consistently quicker around the track lap after lap stretching his gap ahead of Shutt to almost 40 seconds by the end of the event. Bradlee Haley took home the win in the GT Pro class ahead of Ross Booth and Paul Gibson while Ryan Robertson beat out Kevin O’Keefe and Luke Schmidt in the GT AM class.
A surprising upset was caused by some confusion on the start that lead to a large incident with the Prototypes early into the first lap. Smith, who finished in 3rd place tonight, was coming from the back of the field and shared with us his reaction, “Coming around turn one, on the team chat they were kind of like, “Hey, just stop” basically, so I was already completely off throttle before I went around turn one and in all that chaos I was lucky to come through unscathed.”
After an unfortunate start for Daniel Neice, ultimately ending his evening early, the point standings have now shifted with Neice giving up the points lead in the Prototypes to Kundinger leading with 89 points. Smith moves up to 2nd with 88 points and Neice now holds onto 3rd place with 83 points. Booth holds the lead in the GT Pro point standings followed closely by Haley and Gibson, all three drivers separated by only 8 points. O’Keefe maintains his lead in the GT AM standings at 97 points. Robertson moved into 2nd place after tonight’s win trailing the lead by 5 points and Trent Brown moves back to 3rd place with 72 points. The Satellite Racing team consisting of Robert Tinsley, Ryan Washeleski, and Ryan Robertson took the lead in the team point standings with 99.7 points overtaking Blue Chew Americas – Black, who slipped back to 5th place overall.
BRL GN S9 R2 Recap
15 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 9 | Round 2
Grand National Series | Hickory Motor Speedway
J R Shepherd of Different Path Motorsports won for the second week in a row tonight at the Bootleg Racing League Grand National Series at Hickory Motor Speedway ahead of Mathew Thunhorst and Kenny Kibbey. Thunhorst challenged Shepherd all the way to the finish, but didn’t have the run in the end take the lead away from the reigning champion as the checkered flag came out.
Back to back wins keeps Shepherd in the lead with a total of 80 points in the point standings, but that position is anything but safe with Thunhorst trailing behind by only 2 points. Kibbey holds onto 3rd ahead of Justin Morton in 4th. Austin Boelke is tied for 5th place with James Lowe 9 points off the lead. With the top six positions within 10 points altogether, this is still very much any driver’s championship as the season gets going.
“This is a tough, tough track”, Shepherd told us about his win tonight. “There was a lot of luck that went into it. I was in the right place on some of the restarts and got me some track positions.” Going forward, the drivers head out to Langley Speedway. “Langley’s a really tough facility and we haven’t been there in a several seasons, maybe a couple years. It’s going to be a lot about track position. I think if you get caught on that outside with these grand national cars you’re not going to be able to make a whole lot stick.”
BRL DSS S10 R2 Recap
14 Jan 2022
Bootleg Racing League | Season 10 | Round 2
Dirt Street Stock Series | Weedsport Speedway
Brandyn Proudfoot of Jim Beaver eSports claimed his first win of the season tonight at Weedsport Speedway in the Bootleg Racing League Dirt Street Stock feature event ahead of William Hargreaves and Billy Northcutt. Proudfoot had to defend hard against Hargreaves and even lost the lead to him for a few laps midway through the feature as Hargreaves used lap traffic to his advantage. In an exciting last minute attempt, Proudfoot was able to regain the lead with only two laps to go and took home the checkered flag. Proudfoot seems to be off to more of an uncertain start in this season than what we’ve seen from him in previous seasons.
Jordan Gage, last week’s winner, started the night in 2nd place behind Proudfoot and was already challenging for the lead when technical issues took him out of the race going into the third turn on the first lap. That upset allowed Proudfoot to close up the gap in the point standings. Hargreaves now leads with 153 points, but Proudfoot is now trailing behind by only 2 points after tonight’s win. Northcutt is currently in 3rd with 131 points and Gage dropped back to 4th with 120 points.
“With the higher car counts, the track breakdowns, everything’s going to happen faster which means you have to figure it out quicker. If you start falling behind, you’re going to start dropping back quick even if you’re an experienced guy.”, Proudfoot talked with us about the challenges this season with the increased field size. “It’s all about getting your problem solving down, getting used to those tracks, learning the characteristics, and ultimately keeping up with that track breakdown.”
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