ROSSBURG, OH (May 31, 2017) - Trevor Denton lead the final 33 laps of the 75 lap Team VLR Dream at Eldora - capturing one the biggest wins of his sim racing career in the process.
Florida driver Joseph Joiner finished second. Robert Smith came home in third; Eric Hough and Dustin Schwingle completed the top five.
Pole-Sitter Eric Hough lead the first fourteen laps, but then second-place running Joseph Joiner made contact with Hough which sent him spinning in front of the field and turned the lead over to Jesse Enterkin of Milton, FL. After a mid-race restart Denton's car came to life and the Dandridge, TN driver moved to the front of the field on lap 42 and never looked back to claim his second win of the season.
“I knew coming in we weren't set up to be great in qualifying, but we had the car working good for the long runs," said Denton after the race. "This is the same car we had at [Williams] Grove two weeks ago and it really comes alive when it slickens off and gets a little rough like I thought might happen tonight. We hit on a setup package lately and our Pro Late Model has been running top notch."
“Winning this race is huge. This is Eldora. It's the Dream. Beating out 25 drivers with some of the top guys in the world of iRacing here tonight is a big deal. This is definitely one at the top of my sim racing career. I kept waiting for disaster to strike and it almost did with four laps to go when a lap car got sideways at the flag-stand. Luckily we avoided it just in time. It feels great to win the finale here at VLR and it is disappointing that we had to miss a race earlier in the season or we probably would've won the championship. This gives us momentum going forward though and I can't wait for next season."
Joseph Joiner drove his black and purple machine to another second place finish this season. “Maybe some long runs would have helped us. I just had to get some heat in the front tires. Trevor had a great run tonight. He ran a good-line all night and was able to put his car about anywhere and be fast. We're happy to get second and hope to be back next season and get some wins here.”
Robert Smith finished third in his first ever attempt at VLR, and he was followed by pole-sitter and eventual champion Eric Hough in fourth. Hough's night was eventful to say the least, and his late charge was enough to win the championship by a mere two points over Howard Weaver.
"Well we got wrecked early while leading and so most of my race was spent slowly working our way back to the front. We got a good break there with the last caution coming about ten laps to go which let us have one more chance at gaining some spots. When you see what all we went through just to finish 4th it's pretty impressive. We were down to 15th spot at one time and just battled to the end and got a championship out of it," said Hough.
Hough's closest competition for the championship was Howard Weaver, and his race was every bit as exciting as Hough's but ultimately ended with a DNF. The Tennessee driver started 19th and powered up to third by lap 18 before a flat tire sent him to the tail of the field once again on lap 33. Weaver then made it back up to sixth place before tangling with Bryce Sheasby after the restart and ending his night and chance at the championship.
Completing the top ten were Khaled Graham, Chris Murrell, Phillip Temples, Howard Weaver, and Jesse Enterkin. The Team VLR Series invites you to visit our website at www.teamvlr.com for the latest news regarding our series.