For the fourth time in four races, a new face has graced DIRTcar eSports Street Stock League Victory Lane.
Last Wednesday night, the Iowan conquered the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, winning separate battles with League regulars Isaac Salas and Kyle Jared in the second half of the 35-lapper to score his first DIRTcar eSports Feature win in only his second career start.
From seventh on the grid, Floyd advanced to sixth before the first caution flag was displayed on Lap 7. When the field went back to green, Floyd went on a spree, climbing sixth to the lead in six laps around the virtual 1/3-mile oval. Salas, the outside polesitter, took the lead back on Lap 14, while Floyd slipped back to second.
For the next seven laps, Salas and Floyd engaged in a merciless battle for the top spot, going side-by-side before Floyd edged ahead on Lap 21. A bit of beating-and-banging erupted in the process, inciting some frustration.
“I tried to give him as much room as I could on the bottom, because he had the line,” Floyd said in the DIRTcar eSports Twitch post-race interview. “Obviously, (at I-55), it’s on the bottom. So I figured I was giving him enough room that he could still do it, but he kept driving into my left-rear.
“But, it’s how anybody would be if they were racing for the lead. If someone’s gonna keep driving into you, you’re gonna say something, obviously. It was a good race with him.”
After the final restart on Lap 24, Floyd grabbed the lead and led the remaining 11 laps, holding off a hard charge from 11th-starting Kyle Jared to seal the victory.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (35 Laps) – 1. 18-Jaycee Floyd [7]; 2. 45-Kyle Jared [11]; 3. 15-Adam Carlisle [13]; 4. 39-Isaac Salas [2]; 5. 157-Drew Hopkins [17]; 6. 100-Christopher Hill9 [3]; 7. 52-Billy Northcutt [19]; 8. 71-Daniel Stiffler [10]; 9. 22-Joshua Thomas4 [20]; 10. 0-Bradlee Means [5]; 11. 84-Bryce Dickenson [21]; 12. 36-Dylan D Thomas [1]; 13. 822-Tyler Jackson3 [16]; 14. 46-Kyle Ramsey2 [23]; 15. 7-Seth Kastl [6]; 16. 11-Dustin Fryer [4]; 17. 68-Ronald Pyles [22]; 18. 2-Ty Dickenson [14]; 19. 20-Colt Currie [9]; 20. 43-Grady Ehrman [15]; 21. 64-Logan Koteles [12]; 22. 1-Joshua Ringer [8]; 23. 109-Shawn Hayes [18]