MECHANICSBURG, PA (June 5, 2011)– It was a long, grueling, and ultimately frustrating night for many of the top point contenders tonight in VLR's first visit to Williams Grove in several years.

With a packed house of fans in attendance and a full field of twenty-four drivers in the pits, WFO_ICE powered from seventh to first in the 60-lap A Main to snap a sixteen race losing streak at VLR. However, a hostile post race encounter between teammates VLR_18 and VLR_Shock may have been the biggest story of the night.

WFO_ICE, of Muskogee, OK., took the lead from VLR_JW with five laps to go in the race, after a caution halfway through the 60-lap event put him in position to get to the front.

The top three drivers in points, VLR_18, VLR_Shock, and VLR_JW were separated by a mere three points coming into the event with just one race left after this week. Tensions were running high even before the race since each driver knew that a good finish here would set the tone for next Sunday's season finale at Rodeo.

Even WFO_ICE's victory was controversial, as the 33-year old went under VLR_JW for the lead and clipped the inside guardrail in turn two before sliding back up the track into JW, sending him smashing into the outside wall and ending his chance to win.

"I got into the wall there and slid up into JW," said WFO_ICE, who was happy to win, but upset that he made contact with JW. "I tried to give him the win after the race but it went to Right Call and they saw otherwise, but I really hate it for those guys.

"It looked like he had it in the bag if we didn't have that caution."

VLR_JW, of West Point, MS., still managed to cross the finish line second despite the contact with WFO_ICE, and moved to within just one point of being the championship leader heading into the Rodeo season finale. Still, the mood in the #3 pit was one of dissapointment and anger that he did not get the win.

"I drove as good a race as I could to win," said a visibly upset JW. "I did everything I could and that caution came and bunched everybody up. ICE got into me but they still gave the win to him even though he offered me the spot.

"That was my race to win, but at least I gained points on Wheel (VLR_18). Now I just need to go out and beat him one more week and try to put this behind us."

The always hard-charging VLR_Superman, of Dandridge, TN., finished third, rebounding after missing last weeks event at Highland which all but ended his hopes for his first dtr2 championship. If he had been able to race last week it's very likely that the 19-year old would be within striking distance of the championship lead heading into the final race.

The most furious battle of the night was not the battle for the lead, although that was hotlly contested as well, but it was the battle for fourth between teammates and fierce rivals VLR_18 and VLR_Shock.

Before the caution flag waved on lap thirty, the two drivers who have finished 1-2 in the point standings the past six seasons were involved in an incident on lap twenty-three that sent Shock barreling to the inside wall on the front straightaway. He would recover from th wreck, but the hard racing between these two continued after the green flag waved again.

VLR_Shock quickly advanced his position after the restart, while VLR_18 began falling back after restarting third. Eventually the two would meet and Shock would pass and clear the #18 Dodge. The two drivers would then proceed to trade numerous bumps with the aggression seeming to pick up with every lap.

On the final lap, heading into turn four, VLR_18 drove in hard and made contact with the left front of the #0 of VLR_Shock. The contact shot Shock into the outside wall and VLR_18 crossed the line in forth, just ahead of Shock. This incident combined with the others throughout the event lead to a shouting match following the race.

"Talking to Shock is like talking to a brick wall," said VLR_18 about his conversation with VLR_Shock after the race. "I felt like I raced him the same way I was being raced.

"Now he's saying that he's going to wreck me next week so I don't win the championship. We'll see."

VLR_Shock started on the pole and lead for the first eighteen laps before VLR_JW cleared him for the lead. His race was all downhill from there after what seemed like a multitude of incidents with VLR_18 left him heated following the 60 lap show.

"He's just an idiot, man," vented Shock after the race, as he still sits three points out of the lead heading to the finale. "For once some drivers have been keeping up with him in points and I guess he feels the pressure is on so he just drives over everyone to get to the front.

"That last lap was just stupid when he put me in the wall. If that's how he wants to race and he thinks he did nothing wrong he will have a surprise coming at Rodeo."

Finishing in positions 6-10 was VLR_McGee of Spartanburg, SC., who started on the outside pole.; BLS_42 of Sparta, MI.; BLS_Jsn! of Kokomo, IN; Doit_10 of Fort Worth, TX.; and home-state driver WFO_Ranger of Erie, PA.

VLR_18 was the VLR Fast Time Pole Award winner despite an identical lap time and total time as VLR_Shock. Both drivers recorded a 13.66 lap time, but the tie-breaker went to VLR_18 for being higher in points.

The 16th season of VLR comes to an end on Sunday, June 12th at the Rodeo Raceway in Amarillo, TX. The points battle is closer than ever before, as one position can be the difference between winning and losing the championship. VLR_18 has won the last four championships, and is leading the current standings, but there is absolutely no padding heading into the final race.

Should the points happen to end in a tie, the champion will be determined by the following methods.

1. Driver with the most wins on the season.

2. Driver with the most top three's on the season.

3. Driver with the most top five's on the season.

4. Driver who passed more cars on the season.

Results of the VLR Late Model Gen 3 series at Williams Grove:

Pos	Driver	Points
1	WFO_ICE	24
2	VLR_JW	22
3	VLR_Superman	21
4	VLR_18	20
5	VLR_Shock	20
6	VLR_McGee	18
7	BLS_42	17
8	BLSJsn!	16
9	Doit 10	15
10	WFO_Ranger	14
11	ErL_Goat	13
12	T3ABA6	12
13	IFRT_S77	11
14	hOoTs	10
15	ErL_Turbo	9
16	J-MAC	8
17	Lazy3	7
18	IFRT_67r	6
19	DS5	5
20	IFRT_43A	4
21	tnjon22	3
22	Faschek	2
23	IFRT_Jim	1

 

Rookie of the Race: ERL_Goat (11th)

Time Trial Results: