[brenshlus]

Mike Garris Jr. made some local history on Sunday afternoon. Mike drove the VWF Jetta to a 2nd place finish in the 7th and final points race of the season. Fortunately, a hard fought 2nd in this race was good enough to clinch 1st in the overall points standings for the season.....making the VWF Jetta the first Volkswagen to WIN a championship @ Mahoning Valley Speedway!!
This race was by far the closest (...and coldest...brrrrrrr) that we've witnessed to date. Dave & Cathy, Josh & Patty, Kevin, Ant, and yours truly did our best to keep warm in the `stands during the action. Going into this race, Mike's objectives were very clear.....get and stay in front of then points leader #18 Kerry Boehm in the yellow Mustang. At the start, Mike was in 8th position in the 2nd row while Boehm was in 3rd, directly in front of the Jetta. Mike wasted no time when the green flag dropped and stayed with the leading pack of cars. The yellow Mustang and a pair of Hondas made Garris chase them for the first 10 laps, but could only hold off the #44 for so long. By lap 15, Mike was in the lead...running his trademark inside grove that no other car could match. However, Boehm and the rest would not go down without a fight. On several occasions, they had opportunities to press & overtake the Jetta. Boehm's best effort came on the backstretch about midway through the race. He drove his Mustang on the outside to briefly overtake Garris, only to have Mike quickly "shut the door" before corner #3.
I should mention that keeping track of a 75 lap race while screaming your lungs out is really a difficult thing to do. All of us (including Mike) were focused on the #44 and the #18 throughout the race. And while Mike lead the race with only 8 laps to go, none of us were aware of the #22 of Jeff Bartron who had been silently pursuing the leaders. With 5 laps remaining, Jeff drove his red/white Escort past the VWF Jetta and kept it there to take the win.
While Jeff was celebrating in Victory Lane, we waited to hear the official point standings. Mike Garris Jr. finished the season with 150 total points, only 2 points in front of the previous leader, Kerry Boehm. The entire season(7 races) for VWF racing has resulted in 3 1st place finishes, 1 2nd place finish, 1 3rd place finish, 1 9th place, and 1 DNF. At no time did Mike Garris Jr. drop below 4th place in the overall standings this year. It took one hell of an owner, crew, family, and driver to make this all happen and I have a feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg. I know Jay will have yet another VW winner ready for Mike to pilot next year.
I'd like to take a moment to thank the people at the core of VWF Racing for allowing a race-crazed stranger (aka: me) into thier lives. I've taken great pleasure attending all of these races and learned a few things allong the way. I greatly look forward to contributing in any way I can for next seasons effort.

peace,

brenshlus



VWF .:Racing.....This is only the beginning