CALVERT CITY, KY (March 27, 2011)- BLS_Superman was determined to win this week at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway after a poor tire compound may have cost him a chance at a win one week ago.
The 19-year-old driver from Knoxville, Tn. was able to hold off BLS_42 to earn the victory in spectacular fashion by narrowly beating the impressive-as-of-late BLS_42 to the line after 50 laps of close racing.
Superman made up for last weeks mistake, and then some, as he skyrocketed to the points lead just two races into the young season.
After running second to BLS_42 for much of the race, BLS_Superman was finally able to wrestle the lead away with just five laps to go, but couldn't pull away. BLS_42 smartly tucked in behind Superman until the final corner when he pulled even with the Tennessee driver, but Superman used the outside line to give him the edge he needed at the stripe to win.
The triumph was BLS_Superman's first at VLR, as the top three finishers had never won a VLR race heading into the event. It was second-finishing BLS_42's first time even making an A Main at VLR, and he made it a memorable one with teammate BLS_Superman.
Even more impressive about Superman's win was that he did so over 32 other competitors in VLR's third largest field ever, just one week after it broke the old record.
"Me and BLS_42 ran side by side pretty much the whole race," said Superman, who is the surprise points leader now after two races. "Probably about 10 to go we got lined up and we pushed out there so we could just settle it on our own. I went by him with probably three to go and just barely got him at the line."
BLS_42 crossed the line second, just 0.002 of a second behind teammate BLS_Superman in a thrilling side-by-side finish that had all 7,430 fans on their feet as they came to the line after leading a multitude of laps throughout the race.
BLS_Stephen33 ensured an all BLS top three, as the Missouri driver came home third in what was his best career finish at VLR, and he now sits a surprising fourth in points with two of the twelve series races in the books.
VLR_18, 16, of Brookfield, Wi. had a fast car, but a poor qualifying effort made him have to work for his fourth place finish after coming from the 9th starting spot to earn the hard-charger award.
East Moline, Ill. driver WFO_Rainman brought his purple-and-black Famous Dave's/Roberson Racing Mustang home with a top five finish, with his nose on VLR_18's bumper at the stripe.
Superman, who started second in his Team BLS powered MasterSbilt, patiently rode around the track behind BLS_42 while the duo slowly pulled away from the rest of the pack. He made an electrifying pass with five to go and was able to outlast 42 at the line.
After the race Superman and his crew had a bath in Dasani water and took turns drinking shots of grape Kool-Aid in victory lane.
"To do this against some of the drivers that are in here is pretty special," Superman said. "This definitely does (make up for last weeks run), I thought about that one all week.
"Couldn't ask for much more can we?"
This was the first race on the newly renovated track, located east of Paducah, Ky. The track provided multiple racing grooves for the drivers along with a super-wide racing surface that had the fans on their feet for the entire race.
"It's a good track, I kept making adjustments and got it good in the A Main finally and got the car hooked up," said Superman of the tacky racing surface. "I was pretty hungry for this one after last week, so to get it feels pretty good."
BLS_42, who outran pole-sitter Doit 10 in the first heat race, looked to pull off the biggest win of his career after starting first in the feature and leading the most laps.
Once Superman got by, however, one of the hottest drivers in the game had his work cut out to get back to the lead in a thrilling finish that left him at the short end of the stick in his search for his first win at VLR. Still, the Michigan driver was all smiles after the race.
"I'm real happy, absolutely," said 42, who's best finish before this race was a pair of 12th place finishes last season. "I think that mighta been the first Gen 3 feature I've made, and to have a shot at winning it was great.
"I was real surprised about qualifying fifth, that's where this all started. It was just a good night from there."
Finishing in positions 6-10 was VLR_911 of Batesville, Ar., who started the race in dead last; Fast-qualifier Doit 10 of Fort Worth, Tx.; Doit3 of Johnstown, Ny.; last weeks winner VLR_JW of West Point, Ms.; and VLR_Shock of Crossville, Tn., who had suspension issues just ten laps into the race and was forced to retire from the race early.
VLR_McGee, of Spartanburg, SC., finished 11th for the second week in a row in a B Main filled with top caliber drivers, and just missed out on transferring to his first A Main of the year.
Doit10 was quickest out of 31 other qualifiers in the F1yer Graphix Time Trials session by pulling off an impressive 11.08 lap time. VLR_Shock qualified on the outside pole for the second straight week, this time with an 11.10.
Heat winners were BLS_42, BLS_Superman, BLS_Stephen33, and VLR_JW. XCR_T91 won C Main 1, while ErL_Turbo took home the checkers in the 2nd C Main. VLR_18 barely held off VLR_911 to capture the B Main win.
For more information on the Team VLR dirt series, visit www.teamvlr.com
Top 10 Results of VLR Late Model Series "Commonwealth 50" (Finishing Position/Start/Driver):
1. (2) BLS_Superman
2. (1) BLS_42
3. (3) BLS_Stephen33
4. (9) VLR_18
5. (7) WFO_Rainman
6. (10) VLR_911
7. (5) Doit 10
8. (8) Doit 3
9. (4) VLR_JW
10. (6) VLR_Shock
Time of Race: Unknown due to caution
Margin of Victory: 0.002 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (Lap 10)
Rookie of the Race: XCR_T91 (16th)
VLR fast time award: Doit10 (Qual- 11.08)
VLR slow time award: 8x (Qual- 11.49)
VLR Hard luck award: VLR_Shock (DNF)
Team VLR Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 10-Doit 10/Fort Worth, TX/11.08
2. 0-VLR_Shock/Crossville, TN/11.10
3. 33-BLS_Stephen33/Hollister, MO/11.10
4. 3-Doit 3/Johnstown, NY/11.10
5. 42-BLS_42/Sparta, MI/11.12
6. 49-BLS_Superman/Knoxville, TN/11.12
7. 53-VLR_McGee/Spartanburg, SC/11.12
8. 3-VLR_JW/West Point, MS/11.14
9. 18-VLR_18/Brookfield, WI/11.14
10. v6-BLS_Jsn/Kokomo, IN/11.14
11. x59-WFO_Rainman/East Moline, IL/11.14
12. 14-IFRT_14/Avondale, AZ/11.15
13. 7-hOots/Stockton, CA/11.15
14. 52-VLR_BG/Kennesaw, GA/11.15
15. 34-BLS_34/Vineland, NJ/11.15
16. 911-VLR_911/Batesville, AR/11.17
17. 95-VLR_KP/Omaha, NE/11.17
18. 67r-IFRT_67r/?????/11.17
19. 24-Mindseye/?????/11.17
20. 2-ErL_Turbo/Farmington, MO/11.19
21. 4-Faschek/Hindman, KY/11.19
22. 12-VLR_DW/Whitney, TX/11.19
23. 153-BLS_DB/Erie, PA/11.19
24. 21d-XCR_AX/Johnson Creek, WI/11.22
25. 1-Squirrel/Winona, MN/11.24
26. 58-XCR_b58/Bullhead City, AZ/11.26
27. T91-XCR_T91/?????/11.28
28. 3-Lazy3/West Virginia/11.28
29. 5-DS5/Brookfield, WI/??
30. 1-Simon/Erie, PA/11.38
31. 8x-SCT_8x/?????/11.49
Heat No. 1 (Top 2 Transfer): 1. BLS_42 2. Doit 10 3. VLR_18 4. VLR_KP 5. Hoots 6. SQ1 7. DS5 8. midnite DNS
Heat No. 2 (Top 2 Transfer): Heat 2: 1. BLS_Superman 2. VLR_Shock 3. VLR_BG 4. BLS_V6 5. IFRT_67r 6. VLR_DW 7. XCR_b58 8. Simon
Heat No. 3 (Top 2 Transfer): : 1. BLS_Stephen33 2. WFO_Rainman 3. VLR_McGee 4. BLS_34 5. mindseye 6. XCR_T91 7. 8x 8. BLS_db
Heat No. 4 (Top 2 Transfer): 1. VLR_JW 2. Doit 3 3. VLR_911 4. IFRT_14 5. ErL_Turbo 6. XCR_Ax 7. Lazy3
C Main 1 (Winner Transfers to B): T91, Sq1, IFRT_Jim, DS5, Simon, Hoots, 8x, mindseye
C Main 2 (Winner Transfers to B): ErL_Turbo, VLR_DW, XCR_Ax, IFRT_67r, Lazy3
B-Main No. 1 (20 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. VLR_18 2. VLR_911 3. VLR_McGee 4. BLS_34 5. IFRT_14 6. XCR_b58 7. VLR_BG 8. XCR_T91 9. ErL_Turbo 10. BLS_Jsn!
2011 Team VLR Top 10 Point Standings as of March 27– 2 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. BLS_Superman 73
2. BLS_F1yer 68 (-5)
3. VLR_JW 66 (-7)
4. VLR_18 65 (-8)
5. BLS_Stephen33 63 (-10)
6. VLR_Shock 61 (-12)
7. Doit_3 59 (-14)
8. Doit_10 58 (-15)
9. WFO_Rainman 57 (-16)
10. VLR_911 57 (-16)