National Late Model Series presented by VLR & ERL

Track:  Batesville Speedway 

Date:  02/10/11 

WFO_Ice freezes the competition at Batesville Speedway 

The National Late Model Series rolls into historic Batesville Arkansas, home town of Mark Martin, for the 6th installment of the 46 event series.  A short drive out of town they arrive at Batesville Speedway in Locust Grove, a scenic valley in the hills of Arkansas. 

With the weather turning cold this week it should be interesting to see how the teams cope with the mid day temperatures cresting at a low 28°F, and night time lows nearing 0°F. 

Crews huddle around heaters and gather in haulers when not working on the cars.  A far cry from the mild temperatures of the previous events in Texas.

 After the pill draw and a quick drivers meeting, the cars hit the track for hot laps.  It may only be hot laps but someone forgot to tell the drivers, as they are driving like it's the main event.  The competition is going to be tuff this afternoon. 

Heat race #1 is captured by Kamikaze with WFO_Ice coming in second and followed by Doit 49, ERL_Goat, XCR_B58, ERL_Turbo, and ERL_Mindstorm.

Heat race #2 is won by Doit 54 with VLR_Rampage coming in second.  VLR_911 comes in 3rd followed by IFRT_BNutz, BLS_Jsn, IFRT_Jim, Simon, and ATR_Iowa, who was unable to start due to mechanical difficulties.

Heat race #3's winner is ERL_BLKJAK with VLR_McGee coming in a close second.  Third place is ATR_Mike followed by BLS_34, IFRT_14, Squirrel, and VLR_Shock.

The BZB Embroidery Dash is won by ERL_BLKJAK who started 3rd and charged to the front taking the checkered flag, 2 extra points, and the pole position in the A-Main event.  Coming in 2nd is Kamikaze followed by WFO_Ice, VLR_Rampage, VLR_McGee, and Doit 54.

1st B-Main is won by IFRT_Bnutz with ATR_Mike coming in second for the final transfer out of B-Main #1.  Coming in 3rd and first outside of qualifying for the A-Main event is Doit 49, followed by ERL_Mindstorm, XCR_B58, IFRT_14, IFRT_Jim, and VLR_Shock rounding out the B-Main finish after a bit of bad luck has vertually taken him out of the top points position.

2nd B-Main is won by VLR_911 (the Wildman) with BLS_Jsn falling second for the final trasnfer spot.  Finishing 3rd and one spot out of the A-Main event, is ERL_Goat followed by BLS_34, ERL_Turbo, Simon, and Squirrel.

We're down to the A-Main event and the face of this event has changed over the last few weeks as some of the top runners will not be in the show, and some new up and coming drivers sneak in and take the A-Main starting positions. 

The green flag drops and a combined 8,000 horsepower from the ten feature contestants roars into the first corner.  Positions are gained and lost back and forth throughout the field.  When the checkered flag is waved and the dust settles, we find WFO_Ice in Victory Lane! 

Coming in second is VLR_Rampage with Doit 54 finishing 3rd.  Fourth place is VLR_911 followed by VLR_McGee in the 5th position, IFRT_Bnutz, BLS_Jsn, ERL_BLKJAK, Kamikaze, and ATR_Mike rounding out the top ten.  What an action packed race!  Congrat's to WFO_Ice for getting out front and staying there.

The season is just starting and the points lead has already changed a couple times.  Follow us to Columbus Speedway in Columbus Mississippi to see if VLR_Shock can regain the points lead and recover from the bad luck that plagued him in this weeks event. 

The National Late Model Series points battle is heating up and we are not even a quarter of the way into the season.

                                                                                     Written By:  ERL_Turbo