LONG CLAIMS THE "GOLDEN EAGLE" HOLDING OFF ALL COMERS AT THE 42ND ANNUAL USA 100 AT VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

LONG CLAIMS THE "GOLDEN EAGLE" HOLDING OFF ALL COMERS AT THE 42ND ANNUAL USA 100 AT VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

FASTRAK Companies International – By Wesley Outland

JAMAICA, VA - The rock stars of the FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance made their return Father’s Day weekend to the epic clay gem palace that is Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, VA for their portion of the 42nd Annual #USA100 presented by WhosYourDriver.org. Plagued the first half of the season by the “R” word, the weather was abundant sunshine with high 80 temperatures during the afternoon and the evening was an absolutely perfect night for racing as fans flocked to the ½ mile to see who the victor would be for the famous “Golden Eagle” trophy that goes to the winner of the crown jewel event created by brainchild Ernie Shelton for over four decades.

26 drivers we’re on hand it was also the final (paid) sparring session before the 15th Annual “Super Bowl of PRO Late Model Racing” the FASTRAK World Challenge/Championships in September. When the evening concluded the #55 Rocket XR1 chassis of Concord, NC’s Matt Long would claim the $3000 payday, golden eagle trophy and the BIGGEST win so far of his pro late model career in what two words he quoted, “kickin’ *****” year after the win, as Long has averaged no less than a 6th place or better finishes this 2018 season in pro late model competition with now three straight wins claiming Gastonia, NC, Sumter, SC and now the USA 100 in Jamaica, VA.

The race event evening got kicked off with VP Racing Fuels QUICKTIME Qualifying, in the past we have group qualifying however it was decided by series director DJ Irvine to have heads up time trials since the entire field would be locked into the $3000 40 lap feature. The #87 Masterbilt chassis of Forrest, Va’s Walker Arthur would set the fastest lap against the clock with a 19.098 second lap around the ½ mile, for his rewards Arthur was able to get a little taste of the trophy presentation taking the small “golden eagle” that went to the fast qualifiers of the event.

After the completion of time trials came the 3-8 lap heat races locking in the entire 26 car field won by, #79 Ross Bailes, #55 Matt Long and #75 Brett Hamm. The A-Main feature races of the 42nd USA 100 then followed and seen a former FASTRAK successor in #43 Tyler Bare take the $20,000 victory in front of his hometown crowd for his career first super late model win. Once the dust settled and the celebration wrapped up for the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series win for Bare it was time for the 25 car field losing, #83 Jensen Ford after an incident sidelining him during his heat race, it was time to go to battle for the 40 Lap $3000 to win show. The 4 wide salute with drivers parading around with ‘old glory’ proudly with fireworks and bombs bursting through the air was a special sight to witness as well, with the pageantry and hype concluded it was time to kick off the “race for the golden eagle” in the “Commonwealth of Virginia”.

The race would get underway with #79 Ross Bailes in the Longhorn chassis looking for his 3rd straight FASTRAK touring win bringing them to the start with #55 Matt Long alongside, however the race would not get a lap in after an incident that collected a half dozen cars in the chaos off turn four, cars collected included female from Evans, GA #23 Ahanna Parkhurst in the Sweet Bloomquist chassis as she got the worst end of the deal ending her evening, others involved #2* Jared Powell, #66 Matt Tarbox, #40 Brett Bordeaux and #71 Davis Lipscombe. Lipscombe simply lost control exiting turn three and the car violently came around him in front of the field causing a chain reaction of check up and no where to go for some. On the restart it was Bailes jumping out into the early lead with Long, Hamm Roberson and Parks all right there ready to strike with any slip of the Billy Hicks owned Longhorn chassis of Bailes. There would be several other cautions for multi car incidents involving #52d Brad Basey, #5j Darrell Dow and #77 Brian Hankins.

The opening laps again we’re led by Bailes but that all changed on lap 17 after the 3rd caution of the race when #55 Matt Long got a great opportunity on the inside for the restart as Bailes decided to take the outside lane, that decision would be a win/lose scenario for the front row as Bailes couldn’t hold off the charge Long got diving into turn one to take the lead. During the process of the slip on the restart for Bailes he’d drift back inside the top five allowing #17 Logan Roberson from Waynesboro, VA in his Rocket XR1 chassis to take the runner up position, also after having engine woes back at Virginia Motor Speedway the #75 Longhorn chassis of Brett Hamm would comfortably settle into the top three while the race progressed.

All the while the race was filled with intense 3-4 wide action through the entire stacked field of FASTRAK hungry competitors going for the $3000 payday and the “golden eagle”. The final caution of the race would set up a three lap shootout on lap 37 when the #01 Matt Glanden suffered mechanical issues exiting turn two. On the final restart Logan Roberson tried all he could to get to the back spoiler of Long but just couldn’t capitalize as Long would sail away with a -1.065 second interval at the checkers to take the victory making it the biggest win so far in his pro late model series career for FASTRAK. Roberson would settle for the 2nd position for the 3rd straight FASTRAK touring event in a row. While Brett Hamm would round out the podium with 3rd, defending FASTRAK World Champion and race pole sitter Ross Bailes would take 4th and a great run for the #21 Billy Beachler from Franklin, WV would round out the Top 5. Going into the evening also the current points leader for the FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance gunning for the $10,000 claim at season’s end #4 Matthew Nance from Ronda, NC in his Longhorn chassis would stay out of trouble to take a 6th place finish, #6 Chris Blackwell, #47 Matt Quade, #7a Corey Almond and #54 Justin Wofford had stellar runs as well to round out the Top 10 when the checkered flag fell.

Full Results - FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance at Virginia Motor Speedway June 16, 2018 "42nd Annual USA 100"

Feature Results

1 - Matt Long
2 - Logan Roberson
3 - Brett Hamm
4 - Ross Bailes
5 - Billy Beachler
6 - Matthew Nance
7 - Chris Blackwell
8 - Matt Quade
9 - Corey Almond
10 - Justin Wofford
11 - Mark Parks
12 - Jim Manka
13 - Nick Love
14 - Brad Basey
15 - Tyler Dettor
16 - Matt Glanden
17 - Carl Vaughan
18 - Walker Arthur
19 - Darrell Dow
20 - Brian Hankins
21 - Brent Bordeaux
22 - Davis Lipscombe
23 - Jared Powell
24 - Ahnna Parkhurst
25 - Matt Tarbox
DNS - Jensen Ford

HEAT 1

1) Ross Bailes; 2) Walker Arthur; 3) Mark Parks; 4) Davis Lipscombe; 5) Chris Blackwell; 6) Matt Tarbox; 7) Brad Basey; 8) Nick Love; 9) Jenson Ford

HEAT 2

1) Matt Long; 2) Corey Almond; 3) Matt Qaude; 4) Billy Beachler; 5) Matt Glanden; 6) Jim Manka; 7) Justin Wofford; 8) Brian Hankins; 9) Carl Vaughan

HEAT 3

1) Brett Hamm; 2) Logan Roberson; 3) Matthew Nance; 4) Jared Powell; 5) Ahnna Parkhurst; 6) Brent Bordeaux; 7) Tyler Dettor; 8) Darrell Dow

The NEXT race for the FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance 2018 touring program will be on Independence Day July 4th on a mid week show with the $2000 to win 5th Annual Charlie Mize Memorial Race at the NEW Lavonia Speedway in Lavonia, GA. There will be more details on this event in the forthcoming weeks on our FASTRAK social media and website. The NEXT visit for the series at Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway will be September 14th and 15th for the 15th Annual “Super Bowl of PRO Late Model Racing” the FASTRAK World Championships presented by James River Equipment Company featuring the $5000 to with (FASTRAK Members Only) World Challenge and $20,000 to win World Championship (open to anyone to compete in). Plus remember in September 2019 the FASTRAK World Championship will celebrate the 50th Anniversary season of Virginia Motor Speedway with “The Richest PRO Late Model Race in the Universe” paying a whopping $50,000 to winner and over $2000 just to start the A-Main plus non-qualifier races so everyone leaves with decent pay. DON’T MISS IT IN 2019!

Check out the official website for the FASTRAK Racing Series at www.fastrakracing.com and continue to follow our social media networks for the FASTRAK Racing Series. Like and Follow our Fan Page on Facebook plus follow @FASTRAK_SE and/or @FASTRAK_MOV on Twitter to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.

The 2018 marketing partners for the FASTRAK Racing Series are Chevrolet Performance, Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuel, VP Racing Lubricants, FloRacing, Swift Springs, MyRacePass, TNT Race Cars, Arizona Sport Shirts, Simpson Safety Equipment, Rockauto.com, Dirt Late Model Magazine and Thomas Clarke Performance.