ICE of Tahlequah, Ok, made a smart setup decision for the 40 lap race, which he had firmly in his grasp after passing IFRT*king for the lead four laps into the event.

"Man, my WFO powered Monster Crate was bad fast all night and I was subbing for joshow20 so I had a little pressure on me," stated ICE after the race. "I had my hands full with VLR_Shock in the heat and knew that if I won that, I would be in great shape for the feature, and I was able to hold him off."

A peek at the track’s inside groove ultimately proved key for ICE, who used the line to slip by IFRT*king early on when the #21 machine slid up the track in front of the field.

“In the feature IFRT_King got the jump on me but he made a mistake and I capitalized on it and got the lead. We had a real good race up there early on."

“Once I got in the lead, I knew if I could get up to the top (lane), I’d be good.” 

Indeed, ICE perched his Monster Energy Drink-sponsored MasterSbilt Crate in the track’s upper groove and raced virtually unchallenged the remainder of the distance.

Dustin, who came into the race only four points out of the lead, duplicated his best finish of the season with a second place run that moved him into a tie for the points lead with VLR_McGee. He was followed by fifth starting VLR_Shock who brought home third place, and these two had a three way battle with fourth finishing McGee that kept the fans on their feet for the entire race, and left everyone wondering how the points would shake up after the race.

IFRT*king, who started on his first ever pole in a VLR series, found himself in trouble battling with the top stars in the game, as he fought hard to stay in the lead until getting a light tap from the bumper of WFO_ICE early in the race which sent him sliding up the track and allowed several cars to pass by him. He would then wreck soon after that and was unable to complete the even.

The win was ICE's second in a row at this series since returning to action in dtr2 after sitting out for over a month.

"We had smooth sailing from there after passing King, with Shock and Dustin battling for 2nd. I'd Like to thank Blaze and BLS OK for practicing with me today and I'll be back next week to see if I can get three in a row at VLR."

Dustin, who is still searching for his first A-Main win in dtr2, started in third place and remained right on ICE's bumper for the first ten laps. But the rookie phenom from Eastern Kentucky never mounted a serious run to make a pass on the #97 of ICE

“He was awful good there on the top when he got in the lead,” said Dustin, "We knew it'd be tough to beat him once he got out front. It's so tough to pass here and you could see that tonight. Shock and I had a hell of a race back there for second, though. That was the most fun I've had racing these things. It's good when you can race like that with someone."

VLR_Shock, who started fifth and finished third, saw his chances to win disappear early on as ICE began pulling away slowly from the field. 

“I got second there in the heat to ICE who ended up winning the feature. He had a real fast car and I think if we were in a different heat we might have been up there battling with him at the end of the A Main because I think we would've had a good shot to win one of the other heats. I can't complain, though, we drove a good, clean race and kept the fenders on it. It was fun up there with Dustin and McGee racing for second. I messed up a couple times and lost some time on Dustin but I think with a couple more laps we might have gotten second it was just a matter of finding out where to pass at...which is something we couldn't seem to do."

VLR_McGee's fourth-place run wasn't what he was hoping for but it kept him up at the top of the points standings for at least one more week, but allowed Dustin to move into a tie with him for the spot.

"The 53 car was pretty good tonight but the track developed one groove up there at the top and there was no way we were gonna be able to pass anybody like that. The low line was there but the best you could do was pull even with somebody. Fourth is a good finish for the hawkeyetrucksales.com Ford Fusion and hopefully we'll do a little better next week at Lowes...that's somewhat of a home track for me."

Finishing in positions 5-10 were TXR_41; BLS_OK of Illinois; WFO_BLAZE of National City, Mi.; WFO_Ranger, IFRT*king of New York; and VLR_4 of Hindman, Ky., whose car sported damage to its left-front and –rear corners due to contact with the WFO_BLAZE machine. These two would switch spots after the race.

 

Following the Bakersfield race the points standings are as tight as they have been since the first race of the season with the top four drivers being separated by only six total points, with VLR_McGee and Dustin in a dead tie for the lead with 278 points a piece. Next week is the Dirt Track @ Lowes for both the VLR Crate and VLR Gen 3 series. 

Heat winners were Dustin, ICE, and King, while Ranger and VLR_4 topped the B-Mains.

For more information on the Team VLR Crates series, visit www.crates.teamvlr.com.

Top 10 results of VLR Crates Series ‘Summer Heat 40’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed): 

1. (2) WFO_ICE/40

2. (3) Dustin/40

3. (5) VLR_Shock/40

4. (4) VLR_McGee/40

5. (9) TXR_41/40

6. (5) BLS_OK/40

7. (10) WFO_BLAZE/40

8. (7) WFO_Ranger/40

9. (1) IFRT*king/8

10. (8) VLR_4/5

Rookie of the Race: Dustin