MUSKOGEE, OK (April 3, 2016) – It had been a long 4 1/2 years since well-known sim racer WFO_Rainman had pulled his familiar purple and black Ford Mustang dirt late model into victory lane at VLR. That was until Sunday night at Thunderbird Speedway when the veteran edged rival VLR_Shock in a photo finish by .002 seconds in one of the closest finishes in VLR history.
Rainman quickly catapulted from his fifth place starting position to the lead by lap six, and seemed destined to cruise to his fifth career win in style. The East Moline, IL driver had built up a strong 1.5 second lead with ten laps to go. However, Rainman’s tires would begin to rapidly fall off while second place runner VLR_Shock began closing in rapidly.
With two laps to go the margin was down to less than three car lengths, setting up a classic duel to the finish on the final lap. Going into turn one on the last lap, Shock was able to close right in on the bumper of the x59 machine. Coming down the back straightaway for the final time the two were locked together single file. Shock dipped under Rainman going into turn three while Rainman went to block, however Shock was able to still get under Rainman.
The two rocketed through turn three side-by-side with Shock leaning on the x59 of Rainman as they made their way through turn four and onto the front straightaway one last time headed for the checkered flag. The two expert sim racers continued to the line cleanly and after reviewing the timing and scoring it was determined that Rainman had won by .002 seconds over his competitor Shock.
“I wasn’t sure we were even gonna be able to make it to this race,” said the winner. “We had to pick and choose our battles and I was trying to stay closer to home to race, but when Thunderbird is on a schedule that’s always a good one for us to try to make. It was a grueling race and I’m just glad it was 40 laps and not 41 because 0 (Shock) probably would’ve won then. It feels great to get back in the winner’s circle here at VLR and at WFO Thunderbird.”
Rainman’s victory ended his 24-race winless streak at VLR which dated back to October 2011 when he pulled a massive upset at Kokomo over a stout field of drivers. “I just came down here to race for fun and hopefully get in the feature and make a decent showing. I’m just happy I made the right choice when I picked my tires before the feature because that shot me out to a big lead and I just had to hang on at the end. It always feels great to beat VLR at their series.”
VLR_Shock was content, but not satisfied with his runner-up finish after feeling like he had the best car and qualifying on the pole for the 40 lap feature event at the big 5/8 mile track. “Thunderbird has always been a good track for me, but Rain is always stout here as well. If it was any other track I’d be happy with a second but I feel like we had the best car and I gambled with a harder tire than I needed and that might have cost us the race. Still it was an awesome finish and if I roughed him up a little more we’d be down in victory lane right now.
“Rain and I don’t always get along but I was happy to see him win just because he’s a legend in sim racing and hasn’t been around as much lately. He had it dialed in tonight and it was all I could do to catch him at the end. He did a good job of saving those softer tires.”
VLR point leader JW came home with a strong third place run as he looks to win his first ever VLR championship after coming very close in the past. “This Barry Wright was fast tonight, but we got caught up in a few battles and couldn’t get up there to reel Rainman and Shock in. I’m still happy with a third place and next week we head up north to Albany-Saratoga and I think we will have a hot rod there. Good points day for us and I’d just like to thank VLR~For~Life, Monster Energy, and J&J Steel for giving us this opportunity.”
Completing the top ten were BLS_BW in fourth, XCR_Orso in fifth, after a side by side finish with VLR_LP, who came home sixth. WFO_Faschek came home seventh for his best finish of the season. VLR_43a continued his improvement and made his third A Main in the last four races after coming home eighth. WFO_GetReal and FU_10D rounded out the top 10.
In preliminary action, VLR_Shock set fast time with a scorching fast 16.35 lap. VLR_Shock, VLR_JW, and XCR_Orso won their respective heat races. FU_10D and BLS_BW43 won their respective B Mains. Next week the stars of the VLR tour head northeast to Albany-Saratoga (click name to download) for what is guaranteed to be another classic race.
For the latest breaking news on the Team VLR Late Model Series, log onto www.teamvlr.com and follow the series at www.facebook.com/dtr2races.
| Pos | Driver |
| 1 | WFO Rainman |
| 2 | VLR_Shock |
| 3 | VLR_JW |
| 4 | BLS_BW43 |
| 5 | XCR_Orso |
| 6 | VLR_LastPlace |
| 7 | WFO_Faschek |
| 8 | VLR_43a |
| 9 | WFO_GetReal |
| 10 | FU_10D |
| 11 | DeadBolt |
| 12 | peanut |
| 13 | ICE_Eric41 |
| 14 | War48 |
| 15 | Waidler |
| 16 | WFO*Duster |
| 17 | Hoover |
| - | XCR_KingGinger |