Adam Carlisle’s first career DIRTcar eSports victory came in the Street Stock League opener for Season 5 at Volusia Speedway Park last Wednesday night, narrowly escaping a non-transfer into the main event early on to come back and score the win in the Final Round program.
Carlisle, of Hobart, IN, recovered from a 19th-place starting spot in the Preliminary Round session #2 Feature to 12th by the checkered flag, taking the last transfer spot with him into the Final Round. A sixth-fastest lap in Qualifying there put him sixth on the starting grid for the 30-lap Final Round Feature, where he stayed up front the entire race, putting himself in the hunt for the lead in the closing laps.
When frontrunners Carl Kilgore and Cruise Caudell made contact after crossing the stripe with two laps left, the door opened for Carlisle to sneak by on the bottom and take the runner-up spot. Kilgore crossed the start/finish line first but was given a 30-second black flag penalty for the earlier contact, handing the win and the $100 check over to Carlisle.
“I just started racing again in January after a really long, several-year lay-off,” Carlisle said. “I’ve been putting in some work and practicing, and I’ve got some great teammates that help me. I certainly appreciate that, and it’s pretty cool for the first time out.”
Kilgore’s black flag penalty was later reversed to a two-position penalty upon review of post-race replays, leaving him with a third-place finish in the final results. Caudell finished second, while William Hargreaves and Keith Hackney rounded out the top-five.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 15-Adam Carlisle [6]; 2. 55-Cruise Caudell [4]; 3. 999-Carl Kilgore [3]; 4. 071-William Hargreaves [14]; 5. 69-Keith Hackney [1]; 6. 052-Billy Northcutt [7]; 7. 43-Grady Ehrman [17]; 8. 20-Colt Currie [18]; 9. 71-Daniel Stiffler [12]; 10. 50-Alex Bonsignore [23]; 11. 822-Tyler Jackson3 [9]; 12. 03-Dylan D Thomas [15]; 13. 64-Logan Koteles [16]; 14. 001-Blaise Rachels [2]; 15. 37-James Stockton2 [20]; 16. 53-Aidan Skraha [11]; 17. 14-Trey Mills [19]; 18. 2-Dylan R. Houser [8]; 19. 121-Kevin M Davis [22]; 20. 05-Christopher Hill9 [24]; 21. 51-Talon Pelfrey [5]; 22. 0-Jordan Gage [13]; 24. 5-Isaac Salas [10]; DQ. 8-Cam Campbell [21]