After 23 seasons, 253 races, and 7 different champions including Matt Hoose, Brian Neff, Stefan Alfons, Donny Moore, Lowell Jewell, Matt Laventure, and J R Shepherd, the Bootleg Racing League’s Outlaw SK Modified Series is moving out of it’s Saturday night prime-time slot.
“The SK’s are not going away.” says BRL founder Lowell Jewell. “The series is just moving to an earlier time slot. Not all of our members are happy with the move, including myself, but with the struggles a lot of racers are having with the new SK, I felt a temporary adjustment of our Saturday night program was in order.”
Founding member and past champion Donny Moore had these thoughts, “While I look forward to the day when the SK Modified is again the premiere race of the week at BRL, I’ve always put my trust in Lowell to do what is best for the league. I look forward to seeing what the new year brings.”
GSRC commentator and the “Voice of the Outlaws” Sean Ambrose chimed in with, “The dawn of a new decade and the end of an era for the Bootleg Racing League and the SK Modified. A journey among friends and competitors that started just over 6 years ago is going to continue. Hundreds of Saturday Night Primetime SK Modified races will now give way to the K&N stock car.
It’s been our absolute pleasure at GSRC to have been a part of the thrilling ride. For me personally, it’s where I really started my iRacing broadcast career. We’ve grown together and Saturday will still be a blast, but a small part of me will remain faithful to the “Mighty Mods.”
I’m excited and honored to be part of the Bootleg Racing League broadcast team. We can’t wait to broadcast the new Grand National Series on GSRC’s Saturday Night Primetime!”
The ever popular SK’s will move into the number two slot and be replaced by the all new Grand National Series. This new series will continue the tradition of 100 lap short track races with no tire changes, grids set by inverting the top 8 from the previous race, and will be broadcast by the Global Sim Racing Channel. Sponsorship will be provided by The Cruise Shop. The series will utilize the pre-COT Pro stock car that until recently was featured in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Also known as the Twisted Sister, it is powered by a 650hp V8.
Jewell says, “We think this car, coupled with iRacing’s latest tire model, will not only be fun and challenging for the racers but also fun to watch for our many viewers. Less grip and 700 more pounds than the Modified should be a great combination! Tire management over a 100 lap stretch will be much more important than in the SK.”
The new line-up will kick off on Saturday January 4th, 2020 and feature the following:
Season 15 – Street Stock Series 7:00pm ET (Open to all Class D and above license holders) (waiting list)
Season 24 – SK Modified Series 7:50pm ET (Open to all Class D and above license holders) (waiting list)
Season 1 – Grand National Series 8:45pm ET (Invitational) LIVE on GSRC @ 8:50pm
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Also new to BRL in 2020 is the Friday night dirt racing series.’ That line-up will begin on January 3rd and is as follows:
Season 2 – DIRT Street Stock Series 8:00pm ET (Open to all Class D and above license holders) LIVE on OSRN @ 8:10pm
Season 1 – DIRT Late Model Series 9:15pm ET (Open to all Class C and above license holders)
“Our goal is to provide a program that is structured to facilitate exciting racing and close championship battles,” says John Heyn, a BRL member who spearheaded the push to bring dirt racing to the league.
According to BRL’s inaugural DIRT Street Stock Series champion Kenny Kibbey,”This Friday program has brought some more really good racing to BRL. It’s exciting times!”
Sponsorship for the DIRT Street Stock Series will be provided by The Cruise Shop.
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The 5th Annual Stone River Outfitters Champions Shootout is scheduled for September 19th, 2020. Car and track combo yet to be determined. This event features BRL Champions and the previous year’s race winners from all series’ going head-to-head in a classic short track shootout that will be broadcast live on GSRC.
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BRL has made it’s home at iRacing since 2013, utilizing their laser scanned cars and tracks for it’s 45 weekends of virtual short track racing every year. “We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said Jewell. “The quality of their content is amazing!” 2020 promises to see even more short track racing content with the addition of the short track at Nashville Fairgrounds and, thanks to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marcus Smith of Speedway Motorsports Inc., and Steve Myers of iRacing.com, we will be racing on the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway soon!! Also in 2020, a handful of dirt tracks have been announced.
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For further details:
BRL: https://bootlegracingleague.com
GSRC: http://globalsimracingchannel.com/
OSRN: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_mGEX1dumdMsy-ew-_FkA
The Cruise Shop: http://www.thecruiseshopfw.com/
Stone River Outfitters: https://www.stoneriveroutfitters.com/