By: XCR_KingGinger
January 31, 2016 (Markleysburg, PA) - Team VLR and SKM headed out to Pennsylvania for the Penn 60 at Roaring Knob Speedway for the third race of the VLR/SKM Big Money Series. It was the track’s first visit from a league this year and the track preparations were extra careful to make sure the racing was as good as the events it hosted last year.
Twenty-Four drivers made the trek out to the speedway tonight with their eyes on the money and victory lane. One driver who attended was last week’s winner, SKM_Wheel. He had a few words to say to WFO_RainMan as he was still pissed off at him from contact that occured between the two in the opener at Cedar Lake. Other drivers included Cedar Lake winner and points leader XCR_Orso, young gun XCR_KingGinger, the fan favorite VLR_Shock, and finally, returning for his first race of the year, ICE_KK21Jr.
As the tweny-four drivers took the track for qualifying, it was an unexpected driver taking the top spot. VLR_LastPlace ended up capturing the fast time with a 12.438547, putting his nickname to shame. Orso ended up second with a 12.438549, just two miliseconds behind the new VLR driver. VLR_JJ, VLR_Shock, and Ginger rounded out the top 5 in qualifying.
Tonight, three heats were in store as they all had top drivers ready to make the show. Heat 1 transfers were VLR_LastPlace, and RainMan, Orso and Ginger captured heat 2, and finally, heat 3 transfers were won by VLR_Superman, and VLR_Atwood. Notable drivers who did not make the feature through the heat included Wheel and Shock, both known for making every VLR A-main since 2013! Could this be the night that their long A Main streaks ended? The competition continues to boil over in DTR2 and it's virtually unseen for these two drivers to be in a B Main, especially on the same night.
Both drivers were furious as they headed to the B-Mains. The first B-Main was won by Wheel, and advancing with him was his younger brother, SKM_D$5. The second B-Main was won by VLR_JW and JJ. VLR_Shock had the transfer spot to his 33rd straight VLR A Main but blew a tire out with three to go and missed his first A Main in three years. ICE_KK was another notable driver who did not make the prestigious ten car feature field.
With all the preliminaries wrapped up, it was time for the feature. On the pole was LastPlace. Alongside him, was Orso. A surprise driver in the tough A Main field was SKM_DS5, who found himself in his first A Main in several months at VLR. At the drop of the green, LastPlace, Orso, and VLR_Superman jumped out to an advantage over the pack. Behind them, it was Ginger getting up to 4th.
Seventh place starter and defending VLR champion SKM_18 (Wheel) moved to fifth in the first three laps! Wheel was on a tear and was looking for another win following his bad heat race. 4th place starter Rainman picked a harder tire than most despite the tacky track and dropped back quickly. He was in last within five laps. There would be no rainjobs occuring tonight as Rain did not move anywhere but last place.
Meanwhile in the stands, Shock and Faschek shared a cold one as they both cursed at Wheel every time he passed them on the track. Faschek was soon removed from the track for throwing a beer bottle and mooning the drivers as they roared by.
Up front, Orso, LP, and VLR_Superman continued their battle. Superman eventually got loose on the bottom and LP and Orso pulled away from him. Dandridge, TN driver Superman has raced every race at VLR this season despite not racing DTR2 in a couple of years. He has made all three A Mains to start the season.
It was Orso who overcame LP and pulled away from him. Back in 4th, Wheel and JJ had caught Ginger for 4th. Ginger was scared as a ginger should be because Wheel and JJ got by him in a hurry after racing for three laps three-wide. Five laps later, it was JW running down Ginger and Ginger messing up once again. Ginger is known for messing up a lot on and off the track, as he unsuccessfully looks for female companionship in addition to his failures as a race car driver.
Behind Ginger, Atwood and D$5 were battling for 8th for pretty much the whole race. Both of them threw sliders on each other, and put each other in the wall multiple times despite coming out each time still side by side. It might’ve been the best race going on through the 60 laps. Back up front, it was all Orso as he managed to build up a lead of almost two whole seconds.
With 15 laps to go, Superman met his fate. He was cruising in 2nd, but nightmares came to life as his tires began to fade in a hurry down the stretch. First it was LP passing him on lap 50 for second, then Wheel on lap 55, and it truly became a nightmare when JJ, JW, and Ginger caught him as he fell back to 7th with two to go. He ended up putting it in the wall and puttering it to the finish as he finally finished 9th while essentially running on rims.
Orso went on to cruise to his second victory of the VLR season as LP finished in 2nd. 7th place starter Wheel finished 3rd. JW passed JJ with two to go to get 4th with JJ following in 5th. Ginger got 6th, Atwood 7th, D$5 8th, Superman 9th, and finally RainMan got 10th.
Next week, VLR is off for the Super Bowl, so we will see everyone back out in two weeks at Orange County Speedway in Middletown, NY as the tour heads to New York for some 5/8 mile action!
Replay of the race is here!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N38WTX5NKqM