SHENANDOAH, VA :: As the curtain fell on the 2014 season at Shenandoah Speedway in the picturesque mountains of the Shenadoah Valley it was a familiar face returning to victory lane. 2009 Late Model track champion Brian Purdham picked up the win in dominant fashion as he lead all 75-laps without challenge.
Purdham started on the pole and from the drop of the green flag kept his car out front despite having a stout 14-car field behind him. Purdham remained unchallenged for most of the race with Michael Hardin and Doug Liberman chasing him in second and third. The battle between Hardin and Liberman was among the best racing on the track as Liberman tried hard to get around him.
Hardin held the second spot until the next to last restart late in the race when Liberman used his third position, second row inside on the restart to take the position away. Several cautions waved throughout the 75-lap event as there were several young drivers logging laps on the 3/8 mile speedway in the season’s final event. One of the early cautions waved when Bill Luetz got into the back of Juan Garcia spinning Garcia around. Garcia fought back and grabbed a fifth place finish in his first start.
10-year old Mini Tyrell got turned around about halfway through the race to bring out another caution as Ty Miller also spun to avoid his car on the back straightaway. Vincent Campbell had a tough night as he had to pit under the first caution as his car was dragging the track bad and after coming back out he was involved in a late wreck ending his night.
Miller would spin on the front straightaway directly in front of Purdham to bring out the final caution with just five laps remaining. Purdham and Liberman both were able to avoid the the spinning car and this final caution looked to be Liberman’s chance to pounce on Purdham for the victory. However Purdham hit the throttle and took off leading all 75-laps for his second win in just four starts this season at Shenandoah Speedway.
Liberman had to hold off a hard charging Hardin for the second finishing position which combined with his division leading six wins was enough to give him the track championship over Keith Carpenter. Carpenter finished sixth and was never a factor during this race. Carpenter had just one win on the season. Behind Purdham, Liberman and Hardin rounding out the top five was Jay Penny and Garcia.
