Mastering the brand new Norfolk Speedway in the first league race at the track, Shock moved forward from the 3rd starting spot to score an exciting victory over VLR_18 in the national tour's 50-lap A-Main on Sunday night.
VLR_Shock, 21, of Crossville, Tn., passed VLR_McGee of Spartanburg, S.C., for the lead on lap 6 and led every lap that followed, but he had to withstand a heart-pounding challenge from Brookfield, Wi.'s VLR_18 to secure the checkered flag in his NOS Energy/Team VLR car.
VLR_18's bid to pick up his fourth win of the season came up four car lengths short at the line, while Shock held off the competitors to get his second straight victory, with just one race remaining in the twelve race schedule.
"Coming into the feature I thought McGee about had it locked up," said Shock, whose victory gained him two more points on VLR_18 heading into the season finale at Rodeo. "I just got a good start and the car surprised me with how fast it was there. This was an all new track so everything was unkonwn, and it's great to win here.'"
Fort Worth, Tx. native Doit 10 picked up his best finish of the season with a third place run. He started second and fell back to fourth early on before working his way by VLR_McGee, and then spent the remainder of the distance watching VLR_Shock and VLR_18 out his visor.
"Me and Wheel was battling it out and all of a sudden I got behind his draft and kissed the wall, still held on for third, and kept it going," a smiling Doit 10 said. "I'm very happy with our run, and it was our best finish of the season.
VLR_McGee, the pole sitter, led six laps before VLR_Shock got hooked up on the bottom in turn one and passed by his #53 Ford Fusion, and a newcomer simply going by the name "NiNE" started 7th after winning the first B Main and came home with a top five finish.
VLR_Shock won his second straight race, after picking up the win at Riverside Intl. Speedway last week. The win still puts him as a long shot to prevent VLR_18 from winning his third straight championship. It seems a bit out of reach, though, as the series heads to Rodeo Raceway for the season finale, which is the only track VLR_Shock won at last season.
"I was surprised with how good our car was in the A Main," said Shock, who entered the evening twenty points behind VLR_18 for the lead in the standings. "I was just trying to get a feel for the track in qualifying and see waht line I could use.
"In my heat race it all seemed to click and after winning it comfortably I knew we'd have a shot at the A Main if things fell our way. Winning last week gave me a lot of confidence as well and everything came together in the feature."
VLR_18, 15, finished second to Shock for the second straight week and seemed happy with his performance after coming from sixth again this week to get a top three.
"It was a good run, actually didn't take me as long as I thought it would to get up there, I thought it'd be a lot harder," said VLR_18, who didn't seem to be able to gain much time on VLR_Shock the whole race, but didn't lose any as well. "I appreciate the room given by McGee, there. I kinda got side by side there (with McGee), and it was a good race."
"I got to second and thought I could run Shock down a little bit, and I did, but it just stalled out and we kept running the same times, but it was a good race."
Several contenders ran into trouble during the event, starting with ninth starting WFO_ICE of Tahlequah, Ok., who saw a whole and decided to go four wide just a few laps into the race and ended up spinning out after getting hit from behind.
"I did something pretty stupid," ICE said after the race. "I tried to stick us four wide and I thought I had enough to get through there, and I didn't. I think I ended up catching it in the ass end by Logan (BLS_4H), and got spun, but it was my fault for putting us four wide in the first place. I know better than that."
Missouri native BLS_Stephen33 finished sixth after starting in the fifth position, and seemed pleased with his run.
"It was an awesome race, lot of really fast drivers, really competitive. Everyone was trying to stay as clean as they could. It got a little dicey there in the first four or five laps, but it spread out and the fast guys got up front, a couple fast guys got stuck in the back. I think all in all it was a really good race."
WFO Ice ended up in seventh after his early race accident and due to that he was never a serious contender for the win. North Carolina's TXR_Tj3., placed eighth in his second VLR start of the season, while Hindman, Ky. drivers BLS_4H and BLS_Dustin, completed the top 10 after being involved in accidents early on.
Eighteen cars were signed in for the event, which was run in front of a big crowd under cloudy and humid conditions in the middle of summer.
VLR_McGee was able to pick up his first pole of the season, turning in a lap time of 13.19 seconds on the brand new 1/2 mile oval to beat out BLS_Dustin and VLR_Shock for the pole.
Heat winners were VLR_McGee, Doit 10, and VLR_Shock. The B-Mains were captured by NiNE and BLS_4H
Season 14 of VLR comes to a close on Sunday night as the drivers tackle the traditional season-ender Rodeo Raceway for a grueling 60 lap race to determine who will be the champion and who has the momentum heading into next season.
It's expected to be a great show and a great way to end the season at VLR, as sosme of our best races have come on this big, flat, and fun red dirt oval.
For more information on the VLR Gen 3 series, visit www.teamvlr.com
Qualifying Results: 1. VLR_McGee 2. BLS_Dustin 3. VLR_Shock 4. VLR_18 5. TXR_Tj3 6. BLS_Stephen33 7. RedR1 8. Doit10 9. IFRT_OK 10. BLS_4H 11. WFO ICE 12. WFO_Ranger 13. NiNE 14. VLR_Amp! 15. Kamikaze 16. BOB
Top 10 Results of VLR Late Model series VLR 50 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver):
1. (3) VLR_Shock
2. (6) VLR_18
3. (2) Doit 10
4. (1) VLR_McGee
5. (7) NiNE
6. (5) BLS_Stephen33
7. (9) WFO ICE
8. (10) TXR_Tj3
9. (8) BLS_4H
10. (4) BLS_Dustin
Time of Race: 11:01.98
Margin of Victory: 0.45 Secs.
Rookie of the Race: NiNE
SuperClean Fast Time Award: VLR_18/Doit 10 13.15
SuperClean Hard Luck Award: BLS_4H