JJ used his outside pole starting position to quickly blast by VLR_Shock and pull away for a dominating win. The only scary moment for JJ came in the last 15 laps when his tires began to wear out, but he used the big lead he padded up early on to hold off a furious late race rally from VLR_18 and VLR_Shock to pick up his first win in his only start of the season.
“I got by Shock on the start there and left him,” laughed JJ, who fought off the top 2 VLR point men for the win. “I pulled away pretty quick and was glad Shock wasn't able to get in my draft.
"I got out there with a 3 1/2 second lead, but about lap forty, my lap times were getting slower and slower, and I was like, what's going on? I thought maybe I was messing up myself, but then eventually I just kept getting slower and slower and I realized that it wasn't (because of) me. I went with the softest tires and it didn't pay off. They (VLR_18 and VLR_Shock) started catching me and gained a second on me in five laps.”
JJ, 17, of Pensacola, Fl., started the feature in second outside of VLR_Shock and used it to his advantage, leading from flag-to-flag virtually without a challenge until his tires heavily went away in the closing laps of the finale.
He pulled away at will from such pursuers as VLR_Shock of Crossville, Tn., Doit 5 of Wichita, Ks., and VLR_18 of Brookfield, Wi., holding firm control of a marathon race that saw a lot of positions being swapped near the end of the race.
“I'm glad I got the lead I did, early. I'd say in ten laps they would have been right with me. Wheel (VLR_18) says two or three, but it varies. They might have caught me (in two or three). I would say 5-10 laps they might have caught me, and more than likely would have went around me since my tires were gone.
“It would have been a fun race for sure if they (18 and Shock) caught me. I knew they were coming, I was glad to look over and see the laps winding down. Feels pretty good to win considering I just came back and started racing again. I guess this was my third appearance in a league race since I came back. Took a few months off and just now came back.
“It feels pretty good, a wins a win.”
VLR_18, 15, settled for a runner-up finish in the season finale for the second straight year in his Mopar Dodge. He started 6th and finally gained possession of second place on lap 58 of 60, when Shock, who started on the pole and never ran worse than fifth, began showing some signs of tire wear as well and settled for third at the end, less than a car length behind 18.
Doit 5, marched forward from the 5th starting spot to 2nd early in the race, and held onto that spot until his tires began fading with about 20 laps to go, and was forced to settle with a forth place finish.
VLR_McGee of Spartanburg, SC., ended an up-and-down run with a fifth-place finish in the Hawkeyetrucksales.com Ford Fusion. He got up to third at one point and fell to seventh at another, and split the difference with a fifth place finish in the end.
The only anxious moments for JJ came as the race neared its conclusion. He had no idea that his tires would wear out on this extremely dry Texas surface, and found out the hard way that they would.
“I was running 14.90's the first part of the race,” said JJ, who scored his first career win in VLR's premier series. “Then I noticed about lap 40 it went to like a 15.09 so I thought I messed up or something. Then it was 15.12, 15.15, and kept getting slower. That was when I realized my tires were worn out since I hadn't changed my line at all. By the end of the race I was running 15.30's.”
Luckily the nearly four-second lead JJ was spotted early in the race allowed him to hold off VLR_18 for the win, but the final margin of victory was only 2.5 seconds and dropping four tenths per lap.
“We got one, and it’s just an awesome feeling. As a driver, I love winning these big races.”
VLR_18 methodically moved up through the field after starting sixth, and his efforts culminated in his fourth straight second place finish after passing teammate VLR_Shock with two laps to go.
"I was coming up quick at the end but needed a few more laps to catch JJ. My car was fast but he got a big jump on the start and no one ever got close enough to him."
VLR_Shock seemed happy with his run, even though he was trying to pick up his third win in a row in VLR's Gen 3 series.
"I didn't like our start there. JJ got by us on the outside and I got tapped going into turn three on lap one and that bunched everyone up I think, and he was already gone at that point. I think if I could have got through the first lap on his bumper we'd have won the race, but we ended up having to do all we could to get up to second.
"Wheel and I had a good race and he passed me at the end, and we were both really gaining on JJ, just didn't have enough laps. I probably should have went with all soft tires looking back, but I don't know if it would have worked either. I think the start is what killed us so it wouldn't have mattered."
Doit 5 was surprised at how much tire wear played a factor after he got up to second and faded to fourth by the races conclusion.
"I think if it was a 70 lap race (instead of 60), they (VLR_18 and VLR_Shock) would have got awful close to catching JJ, Doit 5 said. "I just went middle ways on the tires but I've never ran on a track this dry. That's amazing.
"Like I said I've never raced on a track this dry, so that's amazing. I went halfway on the hardness on the tires but I should have went all the way I guess."
The nights heat races were won by VLR_Shock, JJ and VLR_18. Two B-Mains were ran for the 24th straight time at VLR, with Doit 3 and Woods taking wins.
The VLR Gen 3 series is idle until next season now, as VLR_18 took home the championship at Rodeo. The next season should start in September or early October so keep an eye out for it and possibly new tracks on the schedule as well.
We broke our record at VLR with 84 different racers attempting to make a start this season. The old record was set last season when 80 drivers signed in for at least one race on the season. This shows that despite dtr2 being around for about 8 years now, their are still more and more drivers playing the game. We hope to see these names and more back next season.
Congratulations to JJ on his win and VLR_18 on his third straight championship! Cya next season!
For more information on the VLR Gen 3 series, visit www.teamvlr.com
Qualifying Results: 1. VLR_Shock 2. JJ 3. VLR_18 4. Doit 10 5. Doit 5 6. VLR_McGee 7. WR 8. BLS_Stephen33 9. Woods 10. Doit 3 11. n2deep 12. VLR_Amp! 13. BOB 14. BLS_Superman 15. DS5 16. BLS_Zombie 17. RRX_Switchblade
Top 10 Results of VLR Late Model series Rodeo Finale 60 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver):
1. (2) JJ
2. (6) VLR_18
3. (1) VLR_Shock
4. (5) Doit 5
5. (3) VLR_McGee
6. (7) Woods
7. (4) Doit 10
8. (10) WR32
9. (9) VLR_Amp!
10. (8) Do!t 3
Time of Race: 15:04.66
Margin of Victory: 2.64 Secs.
Rookie of the Race: Woods
SuperClean Fast Time Award: JJ 14.92
SuperClean Hard Luck Award: Do!t 3/VLR_Amp!