8/28/23
Week 1 of the season would see the Pro Late Models take center stage first on the night.
9 cars would roll into the 1/2 mile track in hopes of getting a good jump on this year’s points race. Last year’s points runner-up Bobby Matthews would set QuickTime in qualifying with a 15.719 lap merely edging out 3rd place finisher Levi Whitlock by 0.001 seconds. Ty Curnin would round out the top 3 fastest times.
After the 4-car invert heat 1 would see league newcomer Charles New line up on the pole with Nick Klosterman to his outside. New would catch the inside wall, shoot up the track, and with a little help eventually spin. That opened the door for Curnin to run the low line and snag 1st. Curnin would go on to win the heat by 1.7 seconds. The race to watch was for second. Klosterman would have to hang on as Matthews and New both throw everything but the kitchen sink in the closing laps. Coming to the checkered flag in turns 3&4 Matthews would put it on the top shelf looking for a run but would leave room for Klosterman and settle into 3rd. Curnin, Klosterman, Matthews, New, and VanHouten was your finishing order.
Heat 2 would see last season’s 305 Champion Tracy Burns line up Pole with Michael Bowes to his outside followed by defending PLM Champion Chase Shepard in 3rd and Whitlock in 4th. Bowes had the high side working and Shepard was rolling the bottom side by side for the final 7 laps swapping the lead every corner. Shepard would edge Bowes out at the line by 0.053 seconds followed by Whitlock and Burns.
The lineup was set and it was time to get the season officially underway. Curnin and Shepard would lead them to green. The inside line would get a great start to our 30-lap feature. Curnin would jump out to a 3 car lead but would leave the bottom open for 2nd running Shepard. On lap 4 Shepard was able to edge Curnin out at the line for the top spot. The two would go on and race door to door for 14 laps before Curnins RR got too hot and lost traction. 5th starting Matthews would get by Klosterman going into 1 on lap 4. The second half of the race would see 2 and 3 car battles throughout the field for positions. With 5 to go the top 3 were half a track ahead of the field. That’s where things heated up. A 4 car battle for the 4th place position was underway. Slide jobs and a little paint were exchanged. Shepard would go on to win by 2.175 seconds over Curnin and Matthews. Whitlock, Klosterman, Bowes, New, Burns and VanHouten would round out the field.
Next up were the 305 Sprint Cars.
10 cars would look to tame the 1/2 mile track in Baberville Florida.
Sean Stevens would set Quicktime on the night with a 14.512-second lap followed by Whitlock and Curnin.
Heat 1 would see VanHouten and New line up on the front row followed by Stevens and last season’s 305 runner-up Bowes. Stevens would lead the charge to the front bringing Bowes in tail. An incident on lap 1 would see New and VanHouten take to the pits. Stevens would cruise to a 1.497 lead and win the heat. Bowes would finish 2nd followed by New and VanHouten.
Heat 2 would see last season’s top 3 from the PLM division championship. After one car couldn’t make the call the front row would be Shepard and Matthews with Whitlock in 3rd. Matthews and Whitlock would make quick work with Shepard and drive around his outside. Whitlock would look to the inside on a few occasions but couldn’t get the job done. Matthews would hang on to win followed by Whitlock and Shepard.
Heat 3 would see defending 305 champion Tracy Burns and last season’s 3rd place finisher Nick Klosterman on the front row followed by Ty Curnin in 3rd. Burns would get a bad start allowing the high side to roll around him into 1. They would stay single file for the remainder of the race. Klosterman would take the checkered followed by Curnin and Burns.
The officials posted the lineup and it was time to let the dirt fly for 30 laps…
Stevens and Matthews would bring them to green. The inside would get the jump heading into turn 1. Stevens would clear Matthews before the flagstand bringing Klosterman with him. Klosterman would clear Matthews in 3 with Matthews fighting back the next lap and regaining heading into 3&4. In the middle of 3&4 they both went for the same space of dirt resulting in the two getting tangled. On lap 4 Matthews and Shepard would bump sending Matthews into the inside wall. He was able to continue the race. Mistakes from the officials resulted in this race being called at the halfway point. The official finishing order goes as follows – Stevens, Whitlock, Klosterman, Curnin, Shepard, Bowes, Burns, Matthews, New.
The drivers suit up for Port Royal on 9/4/23 for week 2. If interested in joining us, please reach out via Facebook.
For all current points standings please refer to our Points page and follow the links.
We’d also like to thank all of our sponsors. If interested in checking them out head over to our Sponsors page.
Blue Collar Racing League 