Off Turn Four - Issue 08

Contents 06 BRL Late Models Bootleg Racing League Late Model Series at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

12 PGRL Premier Series Pretty Good Racing League Premier Series at Bristol Motor Speedway.

20 BRL Super Late Model Series Bootleg Racing League Super Late Model Series at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

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Featured Topics

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Virtual Grip network News Recent news and upcoming broadcasts from VGN.

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Off Turn Four News

Additional information about Off Turn Four.

our vision Off Turn Four aims to contribute to the efforts of Virtual Grip Network by creating something that will hopefully bring people together in checking out our weekly magazine that highlights those within our sim racing community.

Utilizing articles written by Ryan Senneker, photos, and contributions from our community members, we hope to create a point of interest for people to enjoy and discuss.

In the end, our goal is to promote the continuation of the respectful and competitive racing community that Virtual Grip Network has become known for covering.

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Contrib How long you’ve been working with VGN? - I’ve been working with VGN since our first broadcast, which was the BRL 2021 Dirt Shootout, where I was brought in to do race recaps. Lowell asked in the league Discord if anyone would be willing to do write ups for VGN events and, although I’ve never done anything like that before, I figured I’d give it a shot and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

What is your title with VGN? Ryan Senneker

Virtual Grip Network Broadcast Director

- Like most people with VGN, I fill many roles. My title was “Staff Writer/Social Media” for the first year or so until I added “Broadcast Director” to the list What do you do in that role for VGN? - As a broadcast director, I work closely with our talented race announcers. I control what is seen and heard during the racing events from on-screen graphics and camera angles to ad placement and audio levels as well as being the person responsible for actually streaming the races to YouTube live. Again, not something I had any real experience with before VGN, but it always amazes me what a person is actually capable of when they are open to try new things in life.

How long you’ve been working with VGN and what led you to the creation of VGN? - I founded VGN in August of 2021 with the goal of promoting the sim racing community with quality broadcasts of league events.

What do you do in that role for VGN? Lowell Jewell

Virtual Grip Network Producer

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- My Producer duties take place in the background. I work closely with league owners and advertisers, finding ways to showcase their products. I’m involved in a large amount of data gathering and processing so that our broadcast overlays can provide said info. I also search for and recruit on-air talent and handle all scheduling for Commentators and Directors. I am in constant contact with Senneker as we look for ways to improve our product.

butors Why create Off Turn Four magazine?

- My hope by creating this magazine is to give a home and outlet for those in our sim racing community that want to appreciate or contribute to the design side of the sim racing sphere.

How do you feel about being a part of VGN? Derek Henry

- I feel extremely grateful to be included as a part of Virtual Grip Network. It has been many years that I have been looking for an organization like that of VGN.

Designer + Editor

Do you enjoy designing more than actually racing?

Off Turn Four

- I would say that I do but maybe that is due to feeling more confident with design as compared to my skill on the track. The benefit of designing is that I have no chance at ruining someone’s night with a bad racing decision. With that being said, I have never felt more comfortable and encouraged to race before joining Bootleg Racing League.

How did you get introduced to sim racing?

- Derek, my partner, introduced me to sim racing. It was the next logical step after taking me to see a dirt track race at Lawrenceburg Speedway, his hometown track.

Do you have a favorite racing series?

- I am still familiarizing myself with the different types, but I really enjoy watching non-wing sprint cars.

MJ Dunne

Off Turn Four

Writer Social Media + Marketing Manager

How do you feel being a new addition to Off Turn Four magazine?

- I am very excited to be a part of the team. Derek and I love to collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other, and this partnership takes it to the next level. In this role I am able to try different things and learn new skills in an exciting industry.

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Photographer: Mike Goodman

#98 J R Shepherd did not wait long to park his Different Path Motorsports machine in victory lane by taking the win in Round 2 of BRL action at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

Bootleg racing league

late models Bootleg Racing League | Season 22 | Round 2 Late Model Series | Myrtle Beach Speedway Written by: Ryan Senneker J R Shepherd with Different Path Motorsports took the lead in the last 9 laps to take the checkered flag at Myrtle Beach Speedway in the Bootleg Racing League Late Model Series presented by Gargamel’s Kitchen. It was an exciting night of racing, filled with intense battles for position and nail-biting moments for both drivers and fans alike.

Lowell Jewell started on the pole, taking the green flag and holding onto the lead for the first 30 laps. However, Donny Moore quick6

ly emerged as a strong contender, battling Jewell for the top spot. Meanwhile, J R Shepherd started the night in 17th place, but he was patiently moving up through the field, picking off drivers one by one.

As the race progressed, Jason Menda also began to make his move, starting in 10th place and quickly pushing toward the front.

Jewell put up a good fight, but Moore was eventually able to get a nose to the inside, taking control of the lead.

Photographer: Mike Goodman

#22 Bruce Pearson has a difficult night with a 4th place start and a 16th place finish.

Photographer: Mike Goodman

Menda, now in fifth place, found himself stuck behind Joe Segalla and Matt Hoose, who were running side by side and battling for third. But Menda was determined, and he eventually cleared around both drivers to take third place. He quickly closed on the rear bumper of Jewell, finally clearing into second place on lap 46.

With the race now in the second half, Men-

“You Really have to kind of play a chess game with this car and understand what it’s going to need in the long run.”

- J R Shepherd

#20 Lowell Jewell leads the field to green at Myrtle Beach Speedway in Round 2.

da was up on Moore’s bumper, pressuring him for the lead. He was finally able to secure the top spot on lap 54, becoming only the third different leader up to that point.

Meanwhile, Shepherd had broken into the top 10 and was now running more aggressively, quickly moving A good time to be Young #69 Aiden Young shows his stuff at New Smyrna by leading 79 laps and taking the victory.

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Photographer: Mike Goodman

#45 Jason Menda takes second place on the night in round 2 of the BRL Late Model Series, placing him at the top of the points heading into round 3.

up into third place and closing the gap to Moore.

Shepherd eventually got around Moore for second place on lap 74, keeping the pressure high on Menda. Aiden Young, who had been struggling to get through the dense traffic and was running in 13th place, started quickly climbing up the field, jumping up several positions in the late stages of the race and reaching eighth place with just 17 laps to go.

As the laps ticked by, Menda continued to hold off Shepherd, who was looking for any opportunity to take the lead. Shepherd got his nose to the inside of Menda on lap 88, and the two drivers battled side by side for multiple laps. Finally, after a tense back-and-forth, Shepherd was able to clear himself out front, leading the last nine laps to take the win.

“I just really, really enjoy this racecar, this limited late model,” Shepherd said after the race. “You really have to kind of play a chess game with this car and understand what it’s going to need in the long run.” His hard work and determination had paid off, and he had emerged victorious in what had been a thrilling night of racing.

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The next round of the Bootleg Racing League Late Model Series will be held on April 15th at USA Speedway, with Mike Allen on the pole. Fans can catch all the action live at 8:50PM ET only on the Virtual Grip Network!

A Tough Night at Hickory Photographer: Mike Goodman

Above: #98 J R Shepherd swoops into round 2 with his first race and first win of this season.

Photographer: Mike Goodman

Below: #36 Jeffrey Hardin battles with the #87 of Todd Liston.

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Photographer: Mike Goodman

#81 Joseph Segalla secures a top 10 finish in round 2 by placing 7th on the night at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

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bootleg racing league late model series Off Turn Four

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Pretty Good racing league

Next Gen Stock Car Pretty Good Racing League | Season 4 | Round 8 Premier Series | Bristol Motor Speedway Written by: Ryan Senneker Scott Eckrich with Loud Pedal Motorsports won his 4th race in a row at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Get Dirty at Bristol, Get Clean with Mane ‘n Tail 125 beating Jake Silvia to the line by 0.205. It was a hard-fought win for Eckrich, who had to battle his way through the field from his 10th place starting position. The race was filled with intense battles and high-speed action, and the fans were treated to an unforgettable night of racing.

The race got off to a thrilling start, with Jeff Ward starting on the pole after winning his heat race earlier in the evening with rookie Shane Davis to his outside. Silvia started 3rd, rookie Brandon Beyke start-

Photographer: Derek Henry

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Photographer: Derek Henry

#70 Scott Eckrich makes it 4 in a row, extending his record setting winning streak in the PGRL.

“i love these technical tracks; it makes it kind of fun in the drivers hands.”

- Scott Eckrich

#9 Jeff Ward leads the field to green to kick things off at a very dirty Bristol Motor Speedway.

ed in 7th, and Eckrich started in 10th. In the opening laps, it was clear which drivers had more dirt racing experience as the field quickly started to get spread out. Davis was keeping the pressure high on Ward out front allowing Siliva to close the gap and make it a 3-wide fight for the lead. Lap traffic complicated matters as Silvia and Davis were forced to lift to avoid contact and Ward jumped out to a 1.5 second lead ahead.

Eckrich Extends Record Setting Wining Streak

Photographer: Derek Henry

#18 Jake Silvia secures a 2nd place finish in round 8 action.

Despite the early dominance of Ward, it was clear that the race was far from over. Eckrich was quickly moving up through the field into 5th with the first 10 laps completed. Many drivers were struggling to wrestle the NASCAR Cup Series cars around the dirt track. On lap 14, Daivs had reeled Ward back in and was fighting for the lead when a lap down driver lost control of his car in front

of the leaders collecting Ward and essentially taking away his chances of winning the race.

With no cautions thrown for the event, multiple drivers were forced down pit road with damage going several laps down with only 20 laps completed. Davis was one of those drivers that had to get damage fixed before he could continue running, giving the lead of the race to Eckrich.

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The entire field was spread out around the track with several seconds between each driver, making the remainder of the night more of an endurance event with the overall goal to just make it to the end in one piece.

The one and only competition caution was thrown on lap 65 dividing the race in half and allowing the drivers to get a splash of fuel.

Only 5 drivers were still on the lead lap as the green flag came back out and racing resumed with Eckrich still in control of the field.

Silvia took advantage of the restart and stayed close to Eckrich using the outside wall to try to get a run on the leader. Eckrich was able to hold the lead but not able to pull away from Silvia as he had in the first half of the night. Silvia was letting his car contact the outside wall as he continued to try to build up runs on Eckrich and was able to take the Photographer: Derek Henry

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lead away on lap 77. Patience paid off for Eckrich as he slowly set Silvia up for a pass and overtook for the lead on lap 92.

Silvia showed his displeasure with the pass giving several taps to Eckrich’s bumper and taking the lead back on lap 98. Eckrich tried to get under Silvia going into the corner, but Silvia cut down hard, and the two slammed doors with tempers starting to flare as the battle for the lead continued. Silvia was running much more aggressively wall riding through the corners trying to get a strong run out to take the lead back from Eckrich but unable to complete the move with 15 laps remaining. Silvia made hard contact into the rear of Eckrich almost sending the leader around, but Eckrich continued to hold onto the lead with the laps quickly counting down.

#55 Brian Yaczik just misses out on a top 10 finish by placing 12th on the night in round 8.

Photographer: Derek Henry

#83 Vincent Crow wraps up the night with an 8th place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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But Eckrich, showing his veteran experience, held on and continued to defend his lead, even when the track was blocked by Vincent Crow, who was three laps down. Silvia tried to make a move on the inside, but Eckrich was able to defend his line and cross the finish line just 0.205 seconds ahead of Silvia.

behind in second place. The Pretty Good Racing League will now move on to Martinsville Speedway for the Wallriders Rejoice 200 presented by Octane93 on April 18th, which will be broadcast live at 8:50 PM ET only on the Virtual Grip Network.

After the race, Eckrich spoke about the intensity of the battle for the lead. “I worked my butt off tonight,” he said. “It was a hell of a battle at the end. It was definitely really fun here, it’s hard with these next-gen cars just to get the cars to take any sort of line that you want them to.”

The win extended Eckrich’s lead in the point standings, with Michael Chrobok now 50 points

#9 Jeff Ward Cutout Graphic

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Photographer: Derek Henry

#70 Scott Eckrich adds another win to bring his already impressive record setting winning streak to 4 in a row in the Pretty Good Racing League.

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Pretty Good Racing league PGRL Premier Series Off Turn Four

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Photographer: Derek Henry

#98 J R Shepherd and #69 Aiden Young kept us on the edge of our seat with an incredible duel to end things at Myrtle Beach Speedway in Round 2 of the BRL Super Late Model Series.

Different Path Motorsports driver J R Shepherd emerged victorious in an epic showdown at Myrtle Beach Speedway, as he beat Aiden Young to the finish line in the Skitter Creek Super Late Model Series with the Bootleg Racing League. Rory Collins and Joe Segalla led the field off the start, while Shepherd started from the sixth position and Young was twelfth on the grid. James Tiernan, the previous round’s winner, began the race in thirteenth, while Matt Hoose started on the inside of row seven alongside Tiernan.

As the green flag dropped, multiple drivers had to slow down, causing a chain reaction that resulted in some cars shuffling for position. Collins built an early lead, with Chris Davis moving into second and Shepherd quickly advancing to third by lap five. The frequent cautions allowed some drivers to pit, but the short green flag runs broke up the pit strategies. Davis attempted to overtake Collins for the lead by going around the outside, but he fell back when Shepherd passed him to claim second place. Shepherd then passed Collins to take the lead on lap 15.

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Bootleg Racing League Super Late Model Series | Written by: Ry

bootleg rac

Super Late M Fifty laps into the race, Shepherd and Davis had pulled away from the rest of the pack, with John Heyn in third place, battling with Tiernan and Jason Menda. Heyn quickly lost ground as Tiernan and Menda closed in on Davis. Another caution on lap 60 brought Tiernan within reach of second place, but Davis managed to hold on to the position, with Menda settling for fourth.

Menda tried to overtake Davis for second place and succeeded on lap 98, while Tiernan fell back after getting loose. The second half of the race saw increased aggression, with

J R Returns to Winning Ways #98 J R Shepherd takes his Different Path Motorsports machine to victory lane.

e | Season 21 | Round 2 | Myrtle Beach Speedway yan Senneker

cing league

Model Series

“IT WAS REALLY TOUGH ON THE OUTSIDE, NOT A LOT OF GRIP OUT THERE,” - J R SHEPHERD

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Round 02 Myrtle Beach Speedway Photographer: Derek Henry #63 Rory Collins and #81 Joseph Segalla lead us to green at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

Photographer: Derek Henry #81 Joseph Segalla is involved in a significant crash through the frontstretch.

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multiple cautions causing the running order to shift as drivers pitted in small groups.

Mark Hertzog briefly took the lead before Jeffery Hardin claimed it on lap 135, with Shepherd in eleventh place.

Shepherd began aggressively pushing his way back up through the field, with Tiernan right behind him. Young, who had a rough start and was involved in several incidents, made a strong recovery to take third place.

Shepherd quickly passed Moore to claim second place, with Tiernan back in fourth. Shepherd and Young battled for the lead through

Photographer: Derek Henry

multiple restarts in the final 40 laps.

In the end, Shepherd emerged victorious, beating Young to the finish line by 0.042 seconds after running side by side and leaning on each other coming out of the final corner.

“It was really tough on the outside, not a lot of grip out there,” Shepherd said after the race. Next up, the Bootleg Racing League will head to USA Speedway on April 14th, with Tom Hilbert starting from pole position.

Fans can catch all the action live at 8:10PM ET on the Virtual Grip Network!

#52 Steve Hilbert duels for position with #57 Mark Hertzog in round 2 BRL action at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

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Photographer: Derek Henry

#57 Mark Hertzog fights his way from a 10th place start to finishing 4th place on the night in Round 2 action at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

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Bootleg Racing League Super Late Model Series Off Turn Four

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News

Skitter Creek Super Late Model Series The Skitter Creek Motorsports Group will be the title sponsor for season 21 of the Super Late Model Series. This series will be broadcast live on Fridays at 8:10pm ET on the Virtual Grip Network with legendary hosts Bill “Soup” Zahn, DJ Clark, and Sean Ambrose! The season continues on April 7th and will feature the SLM stock cars racing 200 laps on short tracks all across the USA.

VGN on Youtube

Upcoming Broadcasts Above are a few of the upcoming races that will be covered by Virtual Grip Network.

Please visit us at virtualgrip.net to see the most up-to-date coverage schedule.

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Did you know that you can catch all VGN action live or past recordings on the Youtube page?

Head on over to our page and check out the latest races, make sure you are getting notified when we go live, and subscribe so that you do not miss out on any of the action.

Social Media Growth

news

Off Turn Four is pushing for growth with our social media. Please feel free to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Twitter for custom driver card graphics of the previous week’s race winners, current points leaders, and standout community members.

Twitter twitter.com/offturnfour

Instagram instagram.com/offturnfour

Social Media Driver Cards Off Turn Four social media has stepped up it’s game and will now be including driver cards from the week’s outstanding performers. These cards will highlight current league position, wins, poles, and more.

Facebook facebook.com/offturnfour

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Where to Read Off Turn Four Off Turn Four has decided that Issuu.com will be our hosting platform. Allowing for a lot of features that will continue to be added to the magazine as time goes by and the publication continues to grow. issuu.com/offturnfour

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A Sincere Thank You

Thank you to our readers and to everyone involved in the community. My hope with this magazine is to give back to this community that I enjoy so much.

Thank you all, Derek Off Turn Four

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