CAN HE FOUR-PEAT?: VLR_18 has put together the most dominating seasons in recent memory since joining the team in Feb. 2008. This season he will look for an incredible sixth VLR championship, which is many more than anyone else has ever gotten in the prestigious series.
18's domination started way back in October of 2007 and he has now won four of the last five VLR championships. VLR_18 had surprisingly modest expectations (by his standards) when we interviewed him earlier this week.
"I expect to run in the top three for most of the year and have a shot at the championship. I think I will get around four wins this year. It would mean a lot if I was able to win fourth straight championship at VLR, especially if I'm the points leader because then I will have to start sixth every week, and that makes it even tougher."
We asked 18 which driver he thought would be his biggest competition this year and he picked the driver who has finished second to him the past three seasons, VLR_Shock.
"I think Shock will most likely be my toughest competition, but BLS_F1yer will probably have a good chance as well." VLR_18 then jokingly took a jab at potential threat WFO_ICE. "I don't think ICE will have a good shot at winning the championship since there's not enough draft tracks on the schedule."
Stay tuned to see if dtr2's most dominating driver can pull out of a slight offseason slump and turn this season into his fourth straight championship in VLR's top series.
THE NEXT STEP: All the pre-season buzz has centered around BLS_F1yer. Can he finally crack the top two in VLR standings and possibly pick up his first VLR championship in his third full season at VLR?
Despite dominating at many other leagues, and winning championships, he has yet to break the VLR_18 and VLR_Shock stronghold in the final points at VLR. Perhaps this is the year F1yer stamps his name atop the standings.
Hickory, NC's BLS_F1yer, has five career wins at VLR, but only won once last season at Cowtown Speedway in June. In that race he showed why he was arguably the most exciting online racer in the game, after coming from seventh place to win against the top names in the business. F1yer was able to add two second place finishes to his season total at Farmer City Raceway and Brownstown Speedway.
F1yer seems to be the hot pick to break through as the Fall 2010 champion – and why not? He has the equipment, and definitely the talent - he won four B Mains last season which resulted in him having to start near the back of the A Main several times.
What’s more, he still picked up six top five's in in nine starts. He was able to do this despite starting seventh or worse in in six of those races.
What will put F1yer over the top in the Fall Brawl Point Standings? He could start by putting more effort into making the A Main through his heat race instead of having to race his way in from the B Main nearly every week. If he is able to do thishe may just be the driver who can halt VLR_18's bid for four straight.
"I expect nothing less than to end Wheel's (VLR_18) stranglehold on VLR Championships," said a confident - if not downright cocky BLS_F1yer. "Anything less than that would be a dissapointment. I just want to finally beat Wheel's ass for a championship. I hope VLR gets great turnouts all season long and is competitive.
"This will be the first fall season of the year so I'm sure a lot of drivers will be gunning hard for him. A lot of quality drivers still run this game. If I had to name a surprise pick this season to get a good points finish or a win I'd have to go with BLS_BLZ or XCR_JR because they are improving a lot. I would like to say good luck to everyone who comes out each week and hopefully it will be a great season."
"One more thing, if VLR_McGee runs all season I'm going to pick him as my dark horse for champion."
Confidence is certainly not lacking for the driver of the F1 machine as he looks to take his National Guard/Amp Chevrolet to the points banquet as VLR's newest champion.
NOT SO FAST: VLR_Shock of Crossville, Tn. has to be getting tired of finishing second to VLR_18 in each of the past three seasons at VLR. He has vowed to turn his luck around this season and go for his second championship in VLR history, even if it means ruffling some feathers - something he is used to.
"I've noticed that 18 really makes his breakaway in the points early in the year. It just seems like I'm not motivated until I get behind, or the pressure is on. The last three seasons I've let him get and early jump on me in the standings before rallying back at the end and still coming up short. This year I'm dedicated to running my best each week and not backing down. I think if I run the first half of the season like I do the last, him or anyone else will have a hard time beating me out for a championship.
"I'm at my best when the season's wind down, but by that time it's too late since he already has padded his lead to much for me to do anything about it. We have some momentum coming into this season, though, since we won two of the last three races in the summer schedule. I think it will come down to the wire and I'm going to give my best every week and see if we can finally slow him down."
It will be interesting to see if the controversial driver will be the one who is able to stop his teammate from taking his fourth in a row, but if history is true, Shock is the closest competitor to doing so each season.
HE’S READY: BLS_BLZ burst onto the scene as a rookie last season at VLR - and everyone immediately took notice of the 20-year old driver from National City, Mi. He shocked many drivers by finishing in the top five in the first two races of the season, and proved he could hang with the big boys despite being low on experience.
He wasn't able to maintain his consistency all throughout the season, though, and missed three A Mains, all of them by just two spots or less, and that possibly hurt his final points finish.
However, he still was able to be the best finishing rookie of the season by taking home fifth in the final tally, with his best finish coming at Farmer City. BLZ is very optimistic of his chances of picking up his first career win at VLR this season, and being in contention for a title.
"It would be awesome (to get a win at VLR). I think that would be the breakthrough of my career, getting my first open series win. I will be coming back like I was the last couple of months going to practice like I did for WFO's modified series and will be in the A Main every night, you can bet on that. I will be competitive and give everyone a run for their money.
"If I had to make a pick on who I'd think will be the champion this season I'd have to go with BLS_F1yer if he makes it out every week, and if not him I think it will be VLR_Shock. I know Wheel will be up there, but I think this will be his first down season at VLR. I don't see ICE winning the championship because he has been kind of off lately.
"After looking at the schedule I think I will run good at most of the tracks, and I feel like I can win at Farmer City or Cumblerand 2k10. Remember last season I went from worst to third at Farmer City and had a fast car. I think having a full season of VLR under my belt will help. Racing VLR every week will definitely make you improve. It's one of the hardest shows to make every week, and I made most of the shows last season so you better bet I'll be coming to the front this season.
"My surprise pick to get a win this season would be BLS_42. He has been coming on strong with a seventh place points finish at both BLS and XOR despite only showing up for half the season. I'd like to challenge every driver still racing in dtr2 to come out and play with the big boys at VLR. I think by winning at VLR it will show that you are truly a great driver."
LOOKING TO REBOUND: The summer 2010 season was certainly not a bad one for Spartanburg, SC. driver VLR_McGee - he finished third in the final point standings - but everyone knows what this guy is capable of, and a championship could be in the cards. He is eyeing a championship after winning the VLR Crates championship last season over some tough competition.
McGee is also looking to return to victory lane after not finding it in the Gen 3's this past season. His best finish was a second at this weeks season opening track, Attica. McGee could use a win this week in the first race to really propel him into being a serious title contender after finishing a distant third last season.
One impressive thing about last season was his consitency. McGee made every A Main and finished below seventh just once. However his slew of finishes between fifth and seventh were not enough to keep up with the numerous first and second place finishes VLR_18 was dealing out.
If McGee can step up his average finish by one or two positions, there's no doubt he will be a contender for a championship all the way to the season finale in early December at Rodeo. He already proved he had what it takes to win a championship at VLR by taking the top spot in the Crates last season, which only added to his long list of championships in two years of playing the game.
THE UNKNOWNS: BLS_Zombie and WFO*SideBite are two very different drivers, but both share at least one thing in being a pair of racers who are planning to run their first full season at VLR.
SideBite has ran at VLR sporadically since 2007 and has one top five in five starts. Don't let those rather pedestrian stats fool you, though. Most of those races were after a lengthy time away from the game and he had yet to shake off the rust from having not raced in a long time.
If he is able to commit to running the full season there's no doubt that he will be a contender for the win each and every week, and he'd expecting nothing less from himself.
BLS_Zombie's goals aren't set quiet as high, but are definitely realistic as he looks to run his first full season at VLR. Despite showing to six events in the summer series, he recorded only one top 10 and that was at Brownstown Speedway for the USRA_Bill 100. Zombie talked with us about his expectations and what he hopes to accomplish this year.
"Well I hope I can make the top 10 in points and get a good reputation on the game as being a good driver, and I just hope they (VLR) have a good series. I think F1yer will make a good run at the championship; He's my pick to win."
These are two drivers with different goals and expectations this season, but they each share an element of surprise that many of the previously mentioned drivers lack. It would be wise to keep an eye on these two as they look to make a ripple in the points this season.
ROOKIE TO WATCH: It's been a long offseason for VLR's newest driver, Welland, Ontario's VLR_AMP! He tragically lost his mother in early September and will be racing in her honor this season.
AMP showed what he was capable of in the season finale last season at VLR in just his second start in the series. He is one of the newer drivers to the game and has impressed enough to get on team VLR and hasn't dissapointed.
AMP will have a chip on his shoulder and have something to prove this season, and the motivation he will get from racing in his mothers memory could be all he needs to surprise the field by breaking into victory lane at some point in the series' twelve races.
Despite going through something none of us want to deal with, he has came out stronger and more determined to prove he belongs on the track with the big boys, and will have several opportunities to do so.
VLR will hold a race in memory of his mother on September 26th in a 100 lap event at Brownstown Speedway. AMP is our Rookie to Watch and should surprise a lot of people.
HITTING THE ROAD: WFO_ICE is a proven veteran at VLR, and has won four times in his career in VLR's top series. However, this year he is expected to run for points full time and if he does he will be a force to be reckoned with.
The good news is that he's won four times in VLR's top series. The bad news is that he hasn't won at VLR since February 2009 at Nowhere Highbanks.
Can the 32-year-old from Tahlequah, Ok., finally put it all together and pick up his first VLR championship by running full time this season?
If his stats in other series are any indication, he should have no trouble ascending to the top of the final standings. He has four championships at WFO and most recently won a championship at XCR by tiebreaker over VLR_Shock in one of the most exciting points finishes in dtr2 history.
Look for the familiar Monster #97 machine to be running up front all season long and maybe sitting atop the final point standings as well.
SOMETHING TO PROVE: BLSJsn! and IFRT_14 both announced that they are making plans on running full time at VLR this season, and both will look to prove they can hang with the big boys while searching for their elusive first wins at VLR.
BLSJsn! is the more experienced of the two at VLR, and he captured Rookie of the Year honors here two seasons ago in full time action. Last season he was relegated to running part time while searching for a ride and didn't have quite the stats as his first season. His best finish was an eighth at Farmer City, but he only made six events out of the twelve race schedule.
This season he hopes to return to rookie form while going for his first win at VLR. He has had one of the more productive offseasons for a dtr2 racer by winning several different times at different leagues, and looks to harness that momentum into wins and top five's this year.
IFRT_14 has also improved at other leagues in VLR's time off, and will look to make his second A Main ever at VLR this season. After only attempting two starts last season, he will be coming in hungry to earn respect and climb the ladder of competition. 14 is closing in on his first ever championship at RPM in the meantime, and has proven he can run with the elite of the game.
It will be interesting if he can carry his success from RPM in a pro stock styled car over to the high powered late models of VLR this season. One things for sure, if he does run the full season he will have a good handle on these beasts by the end and should sneak up into the top five at some of the bigger tracks, which seem to be his speciality.
FIRST AND FOREMOST: This week’s season-opening VLR events will be held on Friday (Crates) and Sunday (Gen 3) at the famous Attica 2009 v2 track, and the top names in dtr2 are expected out with surprises always possible to show up and make their presence known.
Stay tuned for what is sure to be another exciting season at VLR, and to see if anyone can knock VLR_18 off the podium in what will be a fun filled fall schedule. One things for sure, there's not shortage of drivers who think they can end 18's reign of dominance. The question is, are they all talk? Or will someone actually do something about it and upset the Brookfield Bullet this year?
Who do you think could upset the balance this season at VLR? Leave your thoughts and comments below.