CONCORD, NC (October 22, 2023) - One of the most intense preliminary nights of racing in VLR's history took place on Night 1 of the Spartan Transportation Fall Frenzy, presented by Dirt Track Bank, on Sunday night. The chaos began early in Prelim Feature #1, which featured intense racing with drivers commonly going three and four wide at the Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Pole-sitter Blake Matjoulis led the first 16 laps until contact from second-place runner Dylan Houser sent Matjoulis up the track. This caused Scott Fritz to slam into the back of him, allowing James Edens to sneak by and take the lead. Edens went on to lead every lap until the final one but did not secure the win due to an extremely dramatic final corner.
The race seemed on track to end without any more carnage after a few cautions slowed it down prior to the halfway mark. However, on lap 39 of 40, a final caution emerged, setting the field up for a Green/White/Checkered finish. On the restart, Edens chose the outside line, while Matjoulis got a great start on the inside. The two raced side by side coming to the white flag.
On the exit of turn 4, Edens slid into Matjoulis, making contact that pushed Matjoulis into the wall and sent Edens's car sideways. This chaos allowed Dezmond Busby to surge from fourth to first in one fell swoop, cutting under both drivers and passing third-place runner Dylan Houser.
Busby clinched the win and was followed by Edens by just .05 seconds in a breathtaking side-by-side finish. Amidst the chaos, places 3rd to 6th crossed the line four wide, and 7th to 9th finished three wide, making it one of the wildest finishes ever at VLR. First through eighth finished within half a second of each other in a finish that resembled more of a Talladega race than a dirt track event. Busby's last-lap move earned him the pole for Tuesday night's $4,000-to-win race.
Prelim Feature #2 was far less dramatic at the finish but still featured spectacular racing in a 40-lap showdown that went caution-free— a stark contrast to the start-and-stop nature of Prelim #1. Evan Seay started on the pole and led all but one lap. He faced several challenges from second-place runner Logan Rumsey and even briefly lost the lead at times before finally pulling away slightly at the end.
The absence of cautions allowed the leaders to encounter lap traffic in just 30 laps. This briefly enabled Logan Rumsey to seize the lead with five laps remaining. However, Seay amped it up and navigated the lap traffic with precision, edging out Rumsey by half a second at the finish. Seay will start the 100-lap Spartan Transportation Fall Frenzy from the outside pole on Tuesday night as he aims for his second VLR Crown Jewel win of 2023.