Hoose Steals Win at Five Flags

Hoose took his third win of the season at Five Flags.

There was no love lost in the Bootleg Racing League the night before Valentine’s Day as the Outlaw Modified Series sim racers unloaded at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL.  Matt Hoose (#21) leads the points battle over Brian Neff (#60) by a single point.  Neff was on a hot-streak coming into the SK Modified race winning in both the truck and super late model races earlier in the evening.

“That was a pretty rough race.” — Matt Hoose.

Ernie Brown (#8) started the race from the pole with Richard Blake (#62) on the outside of the front row.  Points leader Hoose found trouble early and was involved in the first caution of the evening.  The race was marred early and often by caution flags with Brown maintaining his spot at the point with each restart.

Hoose (#21) gets sideways in turn two on the opening lap.

As the race reached lap 25, championship contender Neff was on the move sitting in the sixth position.  Hoose found himself in 10th trying to recover from his early trouble.  Brown continued to lead with John Holcomb (#69) and Richard Blake close behind.

Neff (#60) applies pressure to the #13 from the sixth position.

Donny Moore (#26) and Blake made contact on lap #40 bringing out the caution.  Neff’s run to the front was cut short as he found himself facing the wrong way on the front straightaway as a victim of the incident while, in contrast,  Hoose picked-up several positions after managing to avoid the carnage.

Hoose (#21) slips past Neff (#60) as the caution flies on lap #40.

At the halfway point, Brown continued to lead and manage the race as it jumped from caution to caution.  Brown kept the field at bay with good restarts and tight lines during the short green flag runs.

With 25 laps remaining, the action on track was fast and furious as cars jockeyed for position.  Brown continued to lead with Vern Bradley (#14) sitting in second and Christopher Hensley (#63) riding in third while  Hoose had worked his way up to the fourth position.

Fireworks erupted on lap 82 when Bradley touched the right rear of Brown’s #8, backing the leader into the outside wall, triggering another caution.

Race leader Brown (#8) spins as Bradley (#14) and Hensley (#63) pass to the inside.

With only three laps remaining, the battle for the lead came to a boil with Hensley and Bradley making contact in turn three.  Both cars spun, handing the lead to the persistent Hoose.  Hoose would take the yellow and the checkered flag for his third win of the 2016 season with Ryan Edwards-Kiss, Jacob Williams, Brad Spidle, and Neff rounding out the top-5.

Hensley and Bradley make contact with three laps remaining, handing the race win to Hoose.

“That was a pretty rough race” said Hoose.  “A lot of luck involved tonight.”

Early on Sunday morning, the Bootleg Racing League handed down penalties from the race.  Bradley, Neff, and Hensley all received suspensions for over-aggressive driving.  Neff’s suspension in particular will impact the points race as he is currently in second position, just a few points back from Hoose.

The Bootleg Racing League heads to Langley Speedway in Hampton Virginia for round six of the Outlaw Modified Series on Saturday, February 20th.  Be sure to tune in to the Global SimRacing Channel’s broadcast on iRacing Live at 9:15PM EST to catch all the sim racing action.  The green flag drops at 9:30PM.

Be sure to check out the Bootleg Racing League at www.bootlegracingleague.com.

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