Street Stock Recap

BRL Street Stock Summary
by Tim Corder

Hickory Motor Speedway

Saturday, December 7, 2024, saw the Bootleg Racing Series visit historic Hickory Motor Speedway, the Birthplace of NASCAR Stars, for the penultimate race of Season 31. Donny Moore in the #26 Camaro led flag to flag besting Jeffery Hardin’s #36 Camaro by just 0.2 seconds to claim the checkered flag. Rounding out the top five were Bruce Pearson, Scott Negus, and John Wilson. The race was slowed by just one caution, and all but 2 of the 15 entries finished on the lead lap. The top 10 in the Season Championship remained unchanged with Bruce Pearson leaving Hickory still holding the Championship lead.

The single caution flag came out on lap 9 after Chris Haizlip in the #93 Camaro and Lowell Jewell’s #2 Monte Carlo made contact in turn 2, with Haizlip spinning but avoiding any further contact. Over the short 9 lap green flag run James Lowe in the #99 Camaro picked up an impressive 5 spots, moving from his 15^th starting position to 10^th in the field.

The green flag came back out on lap 15 and would stay out for the rest of the 40-lap event. The final green flag stint would see two drivers pick up 4 spots, Todd Liston in his #87 Monte Carlo improved from 12^th to finish 8^th and Tim Corder’s #60 Thunderbird moved up from 14^th to 10^th.

Scott Negus’s Thunderbird (4^th) and John Wilson’s Monte Carlo (5^th) joined Moore’s winning Camaro as the highest finishing of the three car models in the race. The Hard Charger of the race was James Lowe, picking up a field-leading 8 spots to finish 7^th after starting 15^th. Jeffrey Hardin had the fastest lap of the race, completing lap 4 in 15.459 seconds. The drivers did an excellent job of keeping the race clean with 10 of the 15 drivers finishing the race with no incident points.

The Championship will be decided December 14^th when the BRL travels to Pensacola Florida’s Five Flags Speedway. Bruce Pearson heads into the race with a somewhat comfortable 25-point lead over Jeffery Hardin. Pearson likely needs only to avoid disaster on the high-banked half-mile oval to claim the Championship. Lowell Jewell, Joe Segalla, and Todd Liston remain in the top 5 in the season standings. Segalla and Liston are separated by just 2 points for 4^th in the Championship. Sixth through tenth in the season standings are currently held by John Wilson, Tom Hilbert, Steve Hilbert, Chris Haizlip, and Donny Moore, respectively.