Kenny Allen Wins Tennessee 150 at Thunder Valley

On a very hot day and a very hot Bristol Motor Speedway, Kenny Allen came out on top at the Tennessee 150. Tuesday's race saw five cautions fly taking up 20 laps of the 150-lap event. In addition, the race saw 16 lead changes among 8 drivers.

The season points race was tight coming into the event with James Lowe holding a 30-point lead over Luke Allen (Kenny's Son) in the year-to-date point standings. Luke, who captured pole position with a blistering 14.247 second qualifying lap time, set the pace early and looked to be control of the race until the caution flags began to fly. Ultimately Luke Allen would lead the most laps of the race (44) with most happening in the first 50 laps of the event. In the end, Luke managed to come home in third place to take the last podium spot. But it was still a good points night for Luke as his rival struggled.

James Lowe had what looked to be a normal, consistent night going for the first half of the race. Lowe ran near the front and even led 8 laps of the event securing his 5 bonus points. But on lap 79, things took a turn for the worse as Lowe was caught up in an accident not of his making. It was one of those "innocent bystander" deals where the Racing Gods intervened and Lowe got the short end of the stick. James Lowe would finish in 12th position on the night.

With the race winding down and attrition mounting, Todd Liston found his way to the front. Liston looked to be in control until 2025 YesterYear Racing League Champion Brian Bianchi "hawked" him down and entered the picture. Bianchi began pressuring Liston and looked to be the faster car. But on lap 126, Bianchi and Liston touched on the front stretch initially sending Bianchi to the inside wall. Bianchi tried correcting, but then shot back up the track and collected Liston in a hard hit going into turn one. The accident ended the night for both drivers.

As the laps wound down, Kenny Allen found his way to the front after the chaos of the Bianchi/Liston incident. Canadian driver Scott Negus, who was Hubble's pre-race pick to win the event, began to close on Kenny Allen quickly. Catching Kenny was one thing, but getting around him was another. The tire wear coupled with the speed of the fastest half-mile oval in the U.S., meant it was going to take an aggressive move to get around Kenny Allen. In the end, Negus settled for 2nd and played it safe as he wasn't willing to risk the aggressive move on his ToyMaker Racing teammate which risked taking them both out.

With the win, Kenny Allen captured his second win of the season in the Series and moved up the third place in the overall standings. Kenny sits 89 points behind James Lowe and 102 points behind his Son, Luke Allen.

The Series moves on to Thompson Speedway on Tuesday, September 1 for the Connecticut 150 which is Round #9 of the 15-race season.

Shepherd Dominates at Oulton Park

If there was ever any question about who the favorite was to win this year's YesterYear IROC Championship, it was settled on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, on a sunny day at the Oulton Park Circuit in Little Budworth, England. The 40-lap event was Round 4 of the Series and took many of the oval drivers out of their comfort zone by putting them on a tricky, technical European road course. Points leader J.R. Shepherd, known simply as "The Institution" due to his dominance for many years in the Bootleg Racing League, started at the back of the 11-car grid but before the first lap was completed, he was already up into fifth place. His rival for this year's title,Red Light Racing League's Chris Hammett, was in fourth place and proved hard for J.R. to get around. Hammett was quick, but an early mistake on lap six cost him a decent finish. Hammett slammed into a tire barrier after getting loose coming out of one of the many tricky corners on the circuit and his day was done. Once Hammett's day ended, it was smooth sailing for Shepherd throughout the remainder of the event.

As Shepherd checked out from the rest of the field, many drivers began to make unforced errors on the difficult English road course. Kenny Allen, who looked surprisingly quick early on, had issues on lap three destroying his Cadillac CTS-V. Skitter Creek Drivers Club racer David Shreve was next. Shreve was battling for third place with Chris Worrell when he misjudged a corner and was disqualified for exceeding the points limit on lap19. Six laps later on lap 25, Jerry Isaacs succumbed to the Oulton Park Circuit by misjudging a corner and damaging his car beyond repair. As attrition began to mount, the only question that remained was if Shepherd would lap the entire field. That question was answered with two laps remaining in the race when Shepherd got around OBRL's Josh Robinson, who finished second, and put him a lap down. OBRL's Roger Hurley, who had a damaged car but kept his car on the track and remained quick enough, rolled home in third place to round out the podium.

With the win, Shepherd has all but claimed the 2026 YesterYear IROC Championship title. He basically needs to grid up at Daytona and he will have defended his title. The 5th and final round of the Series will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at the Daytona International Speedway oval. The race will be broadcast live on the Virtual Grip Network.

Shepherd Wins at Twin Ring Motegi

J.R. Shepherd's IROC Cadillac CTS-V

The "Land of the Rising Sun" is known for many things. Samurai Warriors, Sumo Wrestlers, anime, builder of great automobiles, and of course, Godzilla. On Tuesday, June 30, however, an outsider came to visit one of Japan's many famous race tracks. The 1.5-Mile oval at Mobility Resort Motegi (known commonly as Twin Ring Motegi) was the site of Round 3 of the YesterYear Racing™ League's International Race of Champions (IROC) Series and the driver known simply as "The Institution" was present. Bootleg Racing League's J.R. Shepherd, who is the defending champion of the Series, typically plays down the moniker, but when the green flag drops, he is all business. Shepherd's Cadillac CTS-V started near the back of the 11-car field since drivers started in reverse order from where they finished Round 2. Shepherd quickly took his Orangello-colored machine to the front of the pack and within 4 laps of the 100-lap race had control of the field. Shepherd was tied for the points lead coming into the race with Red Light Racing League's Chris Hammett. Hammett, who was coming off a dominant win in Round 2 at Iowa Speedway, followed Shepherd to the front and it quickly became obvious it would be a 2-horse race barring any adverse outcome related to the car or pit stops. Just before the halfway point of the race, Shepherd lost concentration briefly which allowed Hammett to pounce. Hammett quickly took the lead and looked to suddenly be a real challenge to Shepherd. It was short-lived, however, as Shepherd quickly regained focus, regained the lead, and never really looked back after that. "I lost a little bit of focus and got too close to the wall. These cars are so tight to drive that you really must be in management mode the entire race or they will get out of control and it can cost you. Fortunately we were able to recover and get back to the front," Shepherd said in his post race interview. When asked about his charge to the front, Hammett said, "I got by him once and stayed somewhat close the rest of the race, but I don't think J.R. was running 100%. I suspect he was running just hard enough to keep the gap where he wanted." Hammett crossed the line in second place 3.149 seconds behind Shepherd when the checkered flag flew. Rounding out the podium was the youngster Luke Logan Allen who was driving for Aiden Young who was unable to make the race. The ToyMaker Racing team driver had a somewhat lonely race in third place as he was never really threatened for the position, but never really threatened Hammett nor Shepherd for their positions.

When asked about the event, Allen Wannamaker, Founder and Co-Owner of the YesterYear Racing™ League said it was an interesting event, but noted he was disappointed in the turnout. "I knew it was a bit of a risk to come to Twin Ring Motegi. Not many drivers owned the track and likely needed to buy it. Most drivers obviously did not buy it since we only had 11 drivers grid up and three of those were substitute drivers. This is the first time any race in any YesterYear Racing™ League Series has raced outside of the United States. I thought it was a cool idea and figured I would roll the dice. I like to at least have 12 cars grid up since that is exactly how many drivers raced in the historic IROC Series, but we didn't get there tonight." Round 4 of the YesterYear Racing™ League IROC Series will take place at 8:30pm ET, Tuesday, August 11 at the Oulton Park Circuit in Little Budworth, England. Oulton Park is a free track that comes with an iRacing subscription and Round 4 will be the European Road Course Discipline of the Series.