After #6 took the lead on lap 20 from #6 Jamie Lathroum, Lathroum hounds the new leader before Shaver went on to win Saturday night's Ultimate Racing Series event at Virginia Motor Speedway.(Kevin Fisher)
Ultimate Racing Series: Shaver takes checkers in Summer Heat 50
Dave Seay
JAMAICA, Va. – July 23. On one of the hottest days of the year the action on track was even hotter as Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway hosted the first visit by the Ultimate Super Late Models to the half-mile speedplant for the "Summer Heat 50". Steve Shaver took over the top spot on lap 20 with an outside pass of Jamie Lathroum and led the remainder for the $10,000 win.
Steve Shaver battled Jamie Lathroum early on and held off Jeremy Miller later to earn a big $10,000 payday as the Ultimate Racing Series debuted at Virginia Motor Speedway. (Kevin Fisher photo)
Jonathan Davenport (49) reached as high as second to challenge early leader Jamie Lathoum (6), but the Georgia ace jumped the cusion and lost momentum before settling for fifth. (Kevin Fisher)
“I know what the staff here at VMS is doing to get such a great track in temperatures like we had today, but keep it up,” commented Shaver in victory lane. “I really have to thank the Rumley’s they give me a great car to drive every time and I have to say I really love this facility,” added Shaver.
Ross Bailes beat Casey Roberts at the start and led the first lap before Lathroum dove inside Bailes out of turn four and led by inches at the line. On lap five, the race would encounter two caution flags, and with each restart, Lathroum chose the inside and kept the lead.
Long time area competitor Alan Sagi races inside of Brian Tavernner on his way to eighth place in Ultimate Racing Series action.(Kevin Fisher)
On lap six, Jonathan Davenportgot by Shaver for second and looked to be headed to the front, but jumped the cushion on lap 10 and lost a bit of momentum. Davenport gatherered it back up and reeled in Lathroum, and on lap 16, got to the outside to take the lead out of two. Lathroum battled right back in turn three, with the two making contact and Lathroum coming out with the lead. Shaver followed into second.
Casey Roberts slips under Jonathan Davenport for fourth place in the later laps at Virginia Motor Speedway.(Kevin Fisher)
Caution came out on lap 19 when Ricky Elliott came to a stop in turn three. On the restart, Lathroum chose to start on the inside with Shaver to his outside. As the two raced into turn one, Shaver powered around the outside of Lathroum and the two went door to door, with Shaver taking the lead by inches at the line.
Lathroum stayed on the inside of Shaver as the two raced side by side for the next two laps before Shaver would finally secure the top spot. On lap 31, Jeremy Miller began looking inside Lathroum for second. On lap 34 Miller finally took second and worked to reel in the leader, but Shaver kept a couple of car lengths between himself and Miller and went on to take the checkers over Miller, Lathroum, Casey Roberts, and Davenport.
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.JPG "Steve Shaver and Jamie Lathroum at Virginia Motor Speedway")
Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
NALMS Suspends Remaining Season
In a statement released to the racing media Monday, Northern All All Stars Late Model Series (NALMS) owners Shawn Hall and Bob Mooney relased the following statement:
To all NALMS drivers and fans,
Northern Allstars Late Model Series regrets to inform all of our drivers and fans that as of today (May 14, 2012) we will suspend all series races for the remaining 2012 season. The primary reason for the decision to discontinue the series was mainly economics. Tracks, teams and fans are having a hard time these days with the cost of living in general. With the cost of fuel, parts, tires, tickets and lodging, many people just cannot afford to travel to our shows, so we feel it's best to stop for now and try to regroup for the 2013 season.
Our series needs to be able to have at least 18 to 20 shows to cover our cost of putting on these shows and our drivers point funds. With many tracks cutting back on their special events and other tracks just choosing not to have specials at all, it's has really cut our options for race tracks down to a very few unless you are willing to travel several hours away from the Central Illinois area, and that is not cost effective for the racing teams or fans.
In closing we would like to thank all of the drivers and fans whom have supported the series over the years and we hope to be able to come back with a bigger and better season for everyone in 2013.
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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