Jordan DeLucia

A TUSSLE IN TULSA: Bergeron Gets First Win of Season 2 Tour with 305 Sprints at Chili Bowl

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Tucker goes six-for-six in podium finishes, Cardwell backs-up win with runner-up

For the winningest driver on the DIRTcar eSports Tour from Season 1, it hasn’t been an easy road back to Victory Lane. But six races into Season 2, and Alex Bergeron has finally gotten the monkey off his back with a win in the 305 Sprint Car division presented by NOS Energy Drink Wednesday night at the Tulsa Expo Center’s Chili Bowl track.

In short, it was “fighter jets in a gymnasium.” Lapped cars were everywhere. The entire top-five stacked on top of each other at one point battling for the lead. Nothing but 30 laps of near-chaos as these full-size winged Sprint Cars zipped around this virtual quarter-mile bullring, primarily intended for iRacing and real-life Midget competition.

And when all was said and done, Bergeron, of Drummondville, QC, was the one man that stood above the rest, taking the lead from polesitter Hayden Cardwell in a fury of slower traffic and leading the rest of the way for his fourth career DIRTcar eSports Tour victory.

“It got a bit tricky there with the lapped cars, but we knew going into this race that it was going to happen,” Bergeron told announcer Chase Raudman in the DIRTVision post-race interview. “This track is so small and it’s bizarre to see these kinds of cars on this track, but it was fun to race and the competition [level] was high. We’re glad to be on top here tonight.”

Cardwell, of Knoxville, TN, had been leading from the drop of the green when, in digging though the rear of the 20-car field, he and the rest of the top-five cars all came up on a large group of slower traffic as they completed Lap 15. Colt Currie and Jesse Enterkin were battling for position when they made contact right in front of the leaders, forcing Cardwell to take evasive action out of his low groove, which left the door open for Bergeron to slip by underneath.

“I just made a couple mistakes in lapped traffic, and if you leave a hole open here, someone’s gonna push through. That’s what Alex did, and he capitalized,” Cardwell said of the pass for the lead.

Joe Grabianowski Photo

However, Cardwell lost more than just the lead in the exchange. With the extremely limited racing room on the track, the two wheel-banged a couple times down the front-stretch, sending Cardwell into a pinball-like bounce off of each of the other top-five cars on his way backwards. When it was all over, Cardwell had gone from the lead to fifth in half a lap.

With a never-say-die attitude, Cardwell immediately got back on his horse and took it to the top-side, regaining three of his lost spots before the final caution flag was displayed with three-to-go.

“I feel like this one kinda got away from us,” Cardwell said. “We wanted to be the first ones to go back-to-back on this tour, but some things just aren’t meant to happen.”

Now with a clear track in front of him, it was all Team ABR #12. Bergeron cruised to the checkers for the $250 victory.

While Cardwell was able to hang on for second, just one week after getting a win with the UMP Modifieds at Fairbury, current Tour points leader Kendal Tucker crossed in third for his sixth-consecutive podium finish. He had one shot at Bergeron before the final yellow was thrown, but more lapped traffic got in his lane and slowed him down, allowing Bergeron to pull away on the top side.

All-in-all, Tucker, of Mt. Airy, NC, has been nothing short of spectacular in Season 2, earning almost $1,000 total in prize money since the start of the Tour one month ago. All he’ll need to do is maintain his consistency over the final two races to secure the points championship.

 

Joe Grabianowski Photo

“It feels pretty good to keep running as consistent as we have been. That’s the sixth top-five and we haven’t finished outside of the top-three, actually, so it’s pretty cool to be that consistent with all these races and all these different types of cars,” Tucker said.

The DIRTcar eSports Tour action continues next Wednesday night, Jan. 13, with Round #7 – Pro Late Models presented by Hoosier Racing Tire at Eldora Speedway. Sign up today at DIRTcar.com/eSports or watch all the action live on DIRTVision!

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [3]; 2. 07-Hayden Cardwell [1]; 3. 00-Kendal Tucker [4]; 4. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 5. 74-Adam Elby [8]; 6. 331-Dustin Hall [10]; 7. 21-Michael Meek [6]; 8. 787-Cody Zobrist [13]; 9. 51-Dalton Wicker [9]; 10. 49-David Heileman [2]; 11. 24-Billy Richardson [16]; 12. 35-Adam Ross [14]; 13. 14-Austin Wagner [17]; 14. 3-Justin Ziemiecki [18]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [19]; 16. 19-Seth Smyser [20]; 17. 1-Jesse Enterkin [12]; 18. 777-Colt Currie [11]; 19. 42-John Smith [15]; 20. 8-Matthew Howard [7]

1/6/21 – Street Stocks at Limaland Motorsports Park

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Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 00-Mitchell Clark [1]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [5]; 3. 82-Paul Visage [3]; 4. 111-Lewis Clark [2]; 5. 54-Larry Barber Jr [7]; 6. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [8]; 7. 026-Sean Stevens [6]; 8. 26-Sage Luther [12]; 9. 93-Steve Miskolczi [16]; 10. 95-Brian Brunscheen [19]; 11. 56-Tyler Schneider [22]; 12. 47-Blaze Benedict [15]; 13. 04-Joshua Dennison [9]; 14. 17-Mike Arnold [20]; 15. 7-Jaxon Steele [17]; 16. 5-Zak Williams [21]; 17. 21-Justin Schroen [11]; 18. 22-Jack Brown [13]; 19. 14-Brandon Minnick [10]; 20. 23-Jason Metoxen [23]; 21. 77-Anthony Corini [18]; 22. 002-Clifford Bellomy [14]; 23. 9-Dalton Peavy [4]; 24. 63-Michael Fellows [24]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 00-Mitchell Clark [15.364]; 2. 111-Lewis Clark [15.372]; 3. 26-Sage Luther [15.4]; 4. 9-Dalton Peavy [15.435]; 5. 8-Tyler Jackson [15.441]; 6. 82-Paul Visage [15.476]; 7. 14-Brandon Minnick [15.483]; 8. 17-Mike Arnold [15.497]; 9. 04-Joshua Dennison [15.502]; 10. 54-Larry Barber Jr [15.504]; 11. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [15.53]; 12. 47-Blaze Benedict [15.536]; 13. 56-Tyler Schneider [15.54]; 14. 21-Justin Schroen [15.554]; 15. 77-Anthony Corini [15.569]; 16. 22-Jack Brown [15.582]; 17. 23-Jason Metoxen [15.61]; 18. 026-Sean Stevens [15.62]; 19. 93-Steve Miskolczi [15.627]; 20. 002-Clifford Bellomy [15.657]; 21. 5-Zak Williams [15.703]; 22. 95-Brian Brunscheen [15.705]; 23. 7-Jaxon Steele [15.72]; 24. 63-Michael Fellows [18.217]

Heat 1 (8 Laps) (Top 8 transfer) – 1. 00-Mitchell Clark [1]; 2. 9-Dalton Peavy [2]; 3. 54-Larry Barber Jr [4]; 4. 14-Brandon Minnick [3]; 5. 22-Jack Brown [6]; 6. 93-Steve Miskolczi [7]; 7. 95-Brian Brunscheen [8]; 8. 56-Tyler Schneider [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps) (Top 8 transfer) – 1. 111-Lewis Clark [1]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [2]; 3. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [4]; 4. 21-Justin Schroen [5]; 5. 002-Clifford Bellomy [7]; 6. 7-Jaxon Steele [8]; 7. 17-Mike Arnold [3]; 8. 23-Jason Metoxen [6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps) (Top 8 transfer) – 1. 82-Paul Visage [2]; 2. 026-Sean Stevens [6]; 3. 04-Joshua Dennison [3]; 4. 26-Sage Luther [1]; 5. 47-Blaze Benedict [4]; 6. 77-Anthony Corini [5]; 7. 5-Zak Williams [7]; 8. 63-Michael Fellows [8]

1/6/21 – 305 Sprint Cars at Chili Bowl

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NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [3]; 2. 07-Hayden Cardwell [1]; 3. 00-Kendal Tucker [4]; 4. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 5. 74-Adam Elby [8]; 6.  331-Dustin Hall [10]; 7. 21-Michael Meek [6]; 8. 787-Cody Zobrist [13]; 9. 51-Dalton Wicker [9]; 10. 49-David Heileman [2]; 11. 24-Billy Richardson [16]; 12. 35-Connor Ross [14]; 13. 14-Austin Wagner [17]; 14. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [18]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [19]; 16. 19-Seth Smyser [20]; 17. 1-Jesse Enterkin [12]; 18. 777-Colt Currie [11]; 19. 42-John Smith [15]; 20. 8-Matthew Howard [7];

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [10.94]; 2. 49-David Heileman [10.95]; 3. 12-Alex Bergeron [11.021]; 4. 00-Kendal Tucker [11.027]; 5. 74-Adam Elby [11.075]; 6. 51-Dalton Wicker [11.117]; 7.  331-Dustin Hall [11.213]; 8. 127-Blake Matjoulis [11.238]; 9. 21-Michael Meek [11.25]; 10. 8-Matthew Howard [11.283]; 11. 42-John Smith [11.313]; 12. 1-Jesse Enterkin [11.342]; 13. 787-Cody Zobrist [11.393]; 14. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [11.442]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [11.46]; 16. 35-Connor Ross [11.517]; 17. 777-Colt Currie [11.518]; 18. 77-Anthony Corini [11.563]; 19. 24-Billy Richardson [11.595]; 20. 19-Seth Smyser [11.61]; 21. 14-Austin Wagner [11.674]; 22. 917-Philip Young [11.743]; 23. 84-Mike Watt [11.867]; 24. 7-Zachary Fox [11.904]; 25. 5-Brandon Coots [12.062]; 26. 86-Eric Schroeter [12.122]; 27. 56-Jordan Galisky [12.147]

Heat 1 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [1]; 2. 00-Kendal Tucker [2]; 3. 8-Matthew Howard [4]; 4.  331-Dustin Hall [3]; 5. 787-Cody Zobrist [5]; 6. 35-Connor Ross [6]; 7. 24-Billy Richardson [7]; 8. 917-Philip Young [8]; 9. 5-Brandon Coots [9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 49-David Heileman [1]; 2. 127-Blake Matjoulis [3]; 3. 74-Adam Elby [2]; 4. 777-Colt Currie [6]; 5. 42-John Smith [4]; 6. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [5]; 7. 19-Seth Smyser [7]; 8. 84-Mike Watt [8]; 9. 86-Eric Schroeter [9]

Heat 3 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [1]; 2. 21-Michael Meek [3]; 3. 51-Dalton Wicker [2]; 4. 1-Jesse Enterkin [4]; 5. 46-Jonathan Nause [5]; 6. 77-Anthony Corini [6]; 7. 14-Austin Wagner [7]; 8. 7-Zachary Fox [8]; 9. 56-Jordan Galisky [9]

B-main 1 (14 Laps) (Top 8 transfer) – 1. 787-Cody Zobrist [1]; 2. 35-Connor Ross [4]; 3. 42-John Smith [2]; 4. 24-Billy Richardson [7]; 5. 14-Austin Wagner [9]; 6. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [5]; 7. 46-Jonathan Nause [3]; 8. 19-Seth Smyser [8]; 9. 84-Mike Watt [11]; 10. 917-Philip Young [10]; 11. 56-Jordan Galisky [15]; 12. 77-Anthony Corini [6]; 13. 5-Brandon Coots [13]; 14. 7-Zachary Fox [12]; 15. 86-Eric Schroeter [14]

PEAVY AT THE PORT: First-Time Street Stock Starter Dalton Peavy Wins in Debut at Weedsport

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Luther records career-best finish, former winners take DNFs in knock-down, drag-out Feature

Pedal to the metal out of Turn 4 as the green flag dropped, down the front-stretch with the rest of the top-five right on him. Dalton Peavy was just three laps away from winning in his debut with the DIRTcar eSports Chevy Performance Street Stock League.

He played the final restart perfectly, getting a solid jump on runner-up Sage Luther as the field raced into Turn 1. That turned out to be the winning move, as Peavy went unchallenged back to the finish line to collect the $100 top prize in his first appearance on DIRTVision.

“We had a good race, me and [Luther]. I tried my best to get under him and tried to race him clean. Overall, we had a good night,” Peavy told announcer Rick Eshelman after the big win.

Luther had led the entire race until just after halfway, when Peavy got a great run to his inside and swiped the spot away as Luther hesitated behind lapped traffic.

“[Peavy] wasn’t making any mistakes and I was getting a little loose through the turns, and I think that was when I let him by,” Luther said.

Previous League winners Richie Yost and Lewis Clark felt the full effects of the bump-n-bang-heavy Feature that left several cars crumpled and battered by the end of 30 laps. Each took a DNF as they parked it early after getting into mid-race incidents with accidents happening in front of them.

The leaders race through Turns 1-2 (Joe Grabianowski Photo)

The Chevy Performance Street Stock League action continues next Wednesday night, Jan. 6, with the second of two visits in Season 2 to the Limaland Motorsports Park. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision!

Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 9-Dalton Peavy [3]; 2. 26-Sage Luther [1]; 3. 93-Steve Miskolczi [4]; 4. 15-Michael Putnam [8]; 5. 48-Grant Parr [7]; 6. 0-Mitchell Clark [12]; 7. 026-Sean Stevens [9]; 8. 002-Clifford Bellomy [11]; 9. 66-Preston Dimsdale [18]; 10. 17-Jack Brown [15]; 11. 7-Jaxon Steele [19]; 12. 23-Jason Metoxen [21]; 13. 28-Ron Snyder [10]; 14. 95-Brian Brunscheen [22]; 15. 5-Zak Williams [16]; 16. 04-Joshua Dennison [13]; 17. 56-Tyler Schneider [17]; 18. 880-Calvin Anderson [6]; 19. 13-Jordan Gage [14]; 20. 77-Anthony Corini [20]; 21. 111-Lewis Clark [5]; 22. 29-Richie Yost [23]; 23. 14-Brandon Minnick [2]

FALS WELL THAT ENDS WELL: Cardwell Earns Redemption, Tour Victory with UMP Modifieds at Fairbury

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Tucker runner-up for third time in Season 2, retains points lead after lapped-car tangle

Just two weeks after suffering a last-place finish in his DIRTcar eSports Tour Season 2 debut, Hayden Cardwell now sings a sweet song of redemption.

The iRacing Pro driver from Knoxville, TN, exited the DIRTcar eSports Tour lobby early back on December 16, his Season 2 debut in shambles after starting on the pole of the Big-Block Modified Feature and crashing out less than 10 laps in.

But Wednesday night made up for all of that, as he took his Mike McKinney-identical #96m-painted Summit Racing Equipment UMP Modified to Victory Lane at the Fairbury Speedway for the second time in his DIRTcar eSports career, picking up the $250 winner’s check for the first time since July 1 in Season 1.

“It means a lot to come out here and pick up a win in something that isn’t a Sprint Car,” Cardwell told announcer Chase Raudman in the DIRTVision post-race interview. “It feels pretty good.”

Cardwell began his march to Victory Lane from fourth on the starting grid and had front-row seats to a slide job-fest in the opening laps between polesitters Austin Carr and current Tour points leader Kendal Tucker.

Tucker, of Mt. Airy, NC, eventually won the passing battle and began to open up a gap between he, Carr, Cardwell and 2019 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model iRacing World Champion Blake Matjoulis.

Cardwell eventually wrestled the runner-up spot away from Carr and set his sights on leader Tucker. He stayed glued to the top side of the virtual quarter-mile and closed the gap on Tucker as the race neared the halfway point. Then, opportunity knocked.

The slower lapped car of David Ortiz II had been running right through the middle groove when Tucker reached his rear bumper and dove to the inside in an attempt to make the pass; Cardwell a half-car-length behind. Tucker slid up the track and right into the side of Ortiz, throwing him off-kilter, opening the door for Cardwell to make the pass on the top.

“I much rather would have gotten passed straight-up than getting into it with a lapped car right there,” Tucker said of the incident. “[Ortiz] was entering in the middle in no-man’s land and I was trying to slide him, but… he should have gotten out of the way in my opinion, but that’s just racing. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”

Cardwell raced into the lead as they crossed the line to complete Lap 17, Tucker a few car-lengths behind. One final restart gave Tucker and Matjoulis behind him a chance to make a move, but both stumbled as the green flag dropped, allowing Cardwell to pull away and bring it back home for his second career DIRTcar eSports Tour victory.

“They are probably one of the hardest cars to run on the top, in my opinion,” said Cardwell, an iRacing Sprint Car regular, of piloting the DIRTcar UMP Modified. “In these, it’s kinda tricky because if you barely miss it, you’ll be off the pace. But if you get the right-rear in the wall too much and the front end comes around, you’ll pretty much knock the right front off and can’t drive it anymore.”

Despite the earlier tangle with the lapped car, Tucker was able to nurse his beaten Swindell SpeedLab eSports #00 home to his fifth-straight podium finish of Season 2. Bottom-feeding for most of the 40-lap contest, Tucker once tried the high line but couldn’t make it work in order to regain the lead.

“I just had too much damage to run up there with them guys. Luckily, I was able to put around that bottom on the slider line in [Turns] 3 and 4 and keep enough speed to keep them guys behind me,” Tucker said.

Matjoulis crossed the line in third after a solid outing in only his third appearance with the Tour this season. Coming from fifth, the Ashville, NY-native picked up $100 for his efforts, but was left with much to be desired from his performance.

“Hayden would have been hard to get by,” Matjoulis commented on his perceived chances to make a move for the lead. “I couldn’t pass; just couldn’t go anywhere. In [turns] 1 and 2, there were a couple grooves but in 3 and 4, it was so single-lane. It was a bummer, honestly.”

The DIRTcar eSports Tour action picks back up next Wednesday night, Jan. 6, with the NOS Energy Drink 305 Sprint Cars at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, OK. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision!

Summit Racing Equipment Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [4]; 2. 00-Kendal Tucker [3]; 3. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 4. 331-Dustin Hall [13]; 5. 112-Devon Morgan [2]; 6. 01-Austin Carr [1]; 7. 29-Richie Yost [9]; 8. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [12]; 9. 1-Jesse Enterkin [6];  10. 12-Alex Bergeron [16]; 11. 787-Cody Zobrist [11]; 12. 8-Matthew Howard [20]; 13. 171-Brandon Freeburg [10]; 14. 41-Matthew Logan [8]; 15. 242-Blake Stieb [19]; 16. 16-Tyler Kruep [14]; 17. 64-Dawson Cook [7]; 18. 19-Seth Smyser [15]; 19. 46-Jonathan Nause [18]; 20. 34-David Ortiz II [17]

12/30/20 – Street Stocks at Weedsport Speedway

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Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 9-Dalton Peavy [3]; 2. 26-Sage Luther [1]; 3. 93-Steve Miskolczi [4]; 4. 15-Michael Putnam [8]; 5. 48-Grant Parr [7]; 6. 0-Mitchell Clark [12]; 7. 026-Sean Stevens [9]; 8. 002-Clifford Bellomy [11]; 9. 66-Preston Dimsdale [18]; 10. 17-Jack Brown [15]; 11. 7-Jaxon Steele [19]; 12. 23-Jason Metoxen [21]; 13. 28-Ron Snyder [10]; 14. 95-Brian Brunscheen [22]; 15. 5-Zak Williams [16]; 16. 04-Joshua Dennison [13]; 17. 56-Tyler Schneider [17]; 18. 880-Calvin Anderson [6]; 19. 13-Jordan Gage [14]; 20. 77-Anthony Corini [20]; 21. 111-Lewis Clark [5]; 22. 29-Richie Yost [23]; 23. 14-Brandon Minnick [2]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 26-Sage Luther [18.331]; 2. 14-Brandon Minnick [18.374]; 3. 9-Dalton Peavy [18.377]; 4. 28-Ron Snyder [18.389]; 5. 13-Jordan Gage [18.394]; 6. 880-Calvin Anderson [18.409]; 7. 93-Steve Miskolczi [18.413]; 8. 111-Lewis Clark [18.414]; 9. 17-Jack Brown [18.42]; 10. 04-Joshua Dennison [18.428]; 11. 29-Richie Yost [18.441]; 12. 0-Mitchell Clark [18.444]; 13. 48-Grant Parr [18.452]; 14. 15-Michael Putnam [18.461]; 15. 66-Preston Dimsdale [18.471]; 16. 95-Brian Brunscheen [18.508]; 17. 002-Clifford Bellomy [18.62]; 18. 026-Sean Stevens [18.624]; 19. 5-Zak Williams [18.644]; 20. 77-Anthony Corini [18.702]; 21. 23-Jason Metoxen [18.861]; 22. 7-Jaxon Steele [18.876]; 23. 56-Tyler Schneider [DNQ]

Heat 1 (8 Laps) – 1. 26-Sage Luther [1]; 2. 93-Steve Miskolczi [3]; 3. 48-Grant Parr [5]; 4. 28-Ron Snyder [2]; 5. 04-Joshua Dennison [4]; 6. 5-Zak Williams [7]; 7. 7-Jaxon Steele [8]; 8. 95-Brian Brunscheen [6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 14-Brandon Minnick [1]; 2. 111-Lewis Clark [3];3. 15-Michael Putnam [5]; 4. 002-Clifford Bellomy [6]; 5. 13-Jordan Gage [2]; 6. 56-Tyler Schneider [8]; 7. 77-Anthony Corini [7]; 8. 29-Richie Yost [4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 9-Dalton Peavy [1]; 2. 880-Calvin Anderson [2]; 3. 026-Sean Stevens [6]; 4. 0-Mitchell Clark [4]; 5. 17-Jack Brown [3]; 6. 66-Preston Dimsdale [5]; 7. 23-Jason Metoxen [7]

12/30/20 – UMP Modifieds at Fairbury Speedway

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Summit Racing Equipment Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [4]; 2. 00-Kendal Tucker [3]; 3. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 4. 331-Dustin Hall [13]; 5. 112-Devon Morgan [2]; 6. 01-Austin Carr [1]; 7. 29-Richie Yost [9]; 8. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [12]; 9. 1-Jesse Enterkin [6];  10. 12-Alex Bergeron [16]; 11. 787-Cody Zobrist [11]; 12. 8-Matthew Howard [20]; 13. 171-Brandon Freeburg [10]; 14. 41-Matthew Logan [8]; 15. 242-Blake Stieb [19]; 16. 16-Tyler Kruep [14]; 17. 64-Dawson Cook [7]; 18. 19-Seth Smyser [15]; 19. 46-Jonathan Nause [18]; 20. 34-David Ortiz II [17] 

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [12.932]; 2. 112-Devon Morgan [12.936]; 3. 00-Kendal Tucker [12.967]; 4. 01-Austin Carr [13.007]; 5. 127-Blake Matjoulis [13.039]; 6. 1-Jesse Enterkin [13.137]; 7. 64-Dawson Cook [13.139]; 8. 8-Matthew Howard [13.14]; 9. 29-Richie Yost [13.169]; 10. 331-Dustin Hall [13.223]; 11. 34-David Ortiz II [13.241]; 12. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [13.267]; 13. 12-Alex Bergeron [13.276]; 14. 41-Matthew Logan [13.287]; 15. 19-Seth Smyser [13.382]; 16. 242-Blake Stieb [13.395]; 17. 787-Cody Zobrist [13.434]; 18. 46-Jonathan Nause [13.527]; 19. 171-Brandon Freeburg [13.567]; 20. 16-Tyler Kruep [13.677]; 21. 33-Ricky Vinson [DNQ]

Heat 1 (10 Laps) – 1. 01-Austin Carr [2]; 2. 07-Hayden Cardwell [1]; 3. 64-Dawson Cook [3]; 4. 171-Brandon Freeburg [7]; 5. 331-Dustin Hall [4]; 6. 12-Alex Bergeron [5]; 7. 242-Blake Stieb [6]

Heat 2 (10 Laps) – 1. 112-Devon Morgan [1]; 2. 127-Blake Matjoulis [2]; 3. 41-Matthew Logan [5]; 4. 787-Cody Zobrist [6]; 5. 16-Tyler Kruep [7]; 6. 34-David Ortiz II [4]; 7. 8-Matthew Howard [3] 

Heat 3 (10 Laps) – 1. 00-Kendal Tucker [1]; 2. 1-Jesse Enterkin [2]; 3. 29-Richie Yost [3]; 4. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [4]; 5. 19-Seth Smyser [5]; 6. 46-Jonathan Nause [6]

CLARK IN CONTROL: Street Stock Guru Lewis Clark Wins at Volusia, Makes Three Winners in Four Races

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Lewis tops Mitchell, Richie Yost Fourth in Return to League Action

Just three weeks ago, the Yost brothers of Richie and Zane stood atop the DIRTcar eSports Chevy Performance Street Stock League with podium finishes in the season opener. Now, it’s the Clark family’s turn.

Family-duo Lewis and Mitchell Clark, of Victoria, AUS, put on a great display of close-quarters racing skill and full-fendered patience in Wednesday night’s 30-lap Feature event at the virtual Volusia Speedway Park; Lewis earning $100 for his first career win with the League while Mitchell claimed $50 for third-place honors.

In short, it was a clean sweep for Lewis. He set the fastest time overall in Qualifying, won his Heat Race and led every lap of the Chevy Performance Feature to become the third different winner in four races in Season 2.

Right there with him was Mitchell, who was second-quick in Qualifying and also won his Heat Race. He had to work slightly harder in the Feature to keep his position, losing his podium spot a few times from challengers, but ultimately was able to defend after battling with fourth-place Richie Yost and runner-up Jordan Gage.

Gage came from fifth on his way to crossing in second. Try as he may, however, he couldn’t seem to muster up the speed necessary to make the move around the leader. Gage largely ran Lewis’ line in the closing laps, which had him nervous as the laps wound down, but was not enough to get the job done in the end.

“At the end, I think Jordan [Gage] was in second and had something for us, so I was a bit worried and didn’t want to check-up, but we held onto it,” Lewis said in the DIRTVision post-race interview.

The Chevy Performance Street Stock League action continues next Wednesday night, Dec. 30, with round #5 from the Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, NY. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision!

Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 111-Lewis Clark [1]; 2. 13-Jordan Gage [5]; 3. 00-Mitchell Clark [2]; 4. 29-Richie Yost [3]; 5. 48-Grant Parr [8]; 6. 82-Paul Visage [13]; 7. 78-Blake Pryor; 8. 8-Tyler Jackson [8]; 9. 002-Clifford Bellomy [15]; 10. 026-Sean Stevens [9]; 11. 04-Joshua Dennison [12]; 12. 77-Anthony Corini [23]; 13. 56-Tyler Schneider [11]; 14. 93-Kyle Young [14]; 15. 5-Zak Williams [17]; 16. 69-Sage Luther [24]; 17. 95-Brian Brunscheen [22]; 18. 33-Ricky Vinson [20]; 19. 26-Jack Brown [16]; 20. 17-Mike Arnold [10]; 21. 15-Trevor Speed [4]; 22. 7-Jaxon Steele [21]; 23. 11-Sterling Beard [19]; 24. 122-Brian Dickens [18]

HEILEMANIAC: Turn 4 Slide Job Gives Heileman First Career Tour Victory with 360 Sprints at Knoxville

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Bailey denied back-to-back wins after leading late; Tucker notches fourth-straight podium

White flag. Bryce Bailey was five turns away from capturing his second-straight DIRTcar eSports Tour victory as he rounded the high side of Turn 4.

Slide job. David Heileman had stolen the lead and began to drive away as the field dashed into Turn 1.

Checkered flag. Heileman becomes the fourth different Tour winner in four races with the 360 Sprint Cars presented by NOS Energy Drink at Knoxville Raceway.

Bailey, of Waverly, NY, gave it all he had in the final corners, but just couldn’t make the bottom work well enough to close the gap Heileman had opened up with the big slider in Turn 4.

“I can’t roll the bottom here very well. I knew I had to stick to the top or I was just gonna drop and anchor and go backwards,” Bailey told announcer Rick Eshelman in the DIRTVision post-race interview.

But Heileman, of Milwaukee, WI, used up every inch of the bottom lane throughout Wednesday night’s 30-lap Feature event to pick up the $250 paycheck, making the shortest way around the virtual half-mile the best way around right from the drop of the green.

Starting from the outside pole, Bailey got the early jump and led the race through the halfway point, surviving a few restarts while the major players made their way to the front. Specifically, iRacing’s two-time and defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car World Champion, Alex Bergeron, who was forced to come from 16th after an incident in his Heat Race put him in a Last Chance race to get him in the show.

Bergeron, of Drummondville, QC, had made his way up to fourth and, after a restart on Lap 16, gave race leader Bailey a big challenge for the top spot as they sped down the backstretch. Heileman was right on his heels heading into Turn 3 and looked low to retake second, but got a nose full of rear bumper.

Bergeron slipped up after the contact while Heileman moved down even lower, but a wheel hop onto the inside berm sent Heileman back up into Bergeron out of Turn 4, sending him into the outside wall and tangling with other cars on the front stretch. The caution was thrown, and for the second time in one night, Bergeron was headed for pit road.

Heileman (49) and Bailey (2) battling for the lead down the backstretch (Joe Grabianowski Photo)

“We came down from the top, had a little more momentum and knocked [Bergeron] off the line a little bit,” Heileman said of the incident. “I thought about back when he jumped the start in the Heat Race, so I saw an open door and took it. That’s just short track racing.”

With Bergeron again forced to come from the back, this opened the door for Heileman to put his focus back on Bailey. Which, he did, pulling even with him as they raced side-by-side under five laps to go. He out-muscled Bailey on the low side to grab the lead with just three-to-go before Bailey returned the pass with a little shove out of the groove down low next lap as they entered Turn 1.

Then, the big slider from Heileman to force the third lead change of the night. He carried the top spot all the way back around to the checkers for his first career victory with the Tour.

“When you’re racing like that, with three to go, especially on the DIRTVision broadcast… it’s kinda like all bets are off. You don’t care about finishing top-three or anything, it’s like we’re either gonna win-it-or-ding it at that point,” Heileman said.

As for Bailey’s second-straight podium finish in as many starts, he was obviously not as pleased this time as he was in Victory Lane the week prior. However, he’s a great sport and realizes a silver medal is just a result of the stiff competition.

“I just made a couple mistakes there at the end,” Bailey said. “When you’re racing people with this high-caliber field, you can’t really make that big of a mistake.

“I jumped the cushion a couple laps in-a-row and couldn’t really get momentum off of [Turn] 2. I knew I was faster in 3 and 4, I just couldn’t really get through 1 and 2 for the last 10 laps.”

An unsung hero of the race was Mt. Airy, NC’s Kendal Tucker, who had a mostly quiet night aboard his Swindell SpeedLab eSports #00. He’s now amassed four-straight podium finishes in as many starts and will retain his points lead heading into Week 5 of Tour competition next Wednesday night, Dec. 30, with the UMP Modifieds presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

“We were right there at the end. We finally figured out how to run some fast laps there towards the end. I know the two leaders had a little contact that helped us get a little closer there. Who knows, maybe if it was 35 or 40 laps, we would’ve had something for them,” Tucker said.

After all he’d been through, Bergeron still was able to make it back up to fourth when the checkered was thrown, which serves as another solid points night for Team ABR.

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-David Heileman [3]; 2. 02-Bryce Bailey [2]; 3. 00-Kendal Tucker [4]; 4. 12-Alex Bergeron [16]; 5. 24-Shaun Timmerman [5]; 6. 331-Dustin Hall [13]; 7. 025-Tyler Ducharme [6]; 8. 30-Stevin Goldner [7]; 9. 99-Gregory Lamey [11]; 10. 33-Evan Seay [1]; 11. 25-Richie Preston [8]; 12. 64-Dawson Cook [10]; 13. 1-Jesse Enterkin [18]; 14. 28-Jordan Porier [9]; 15. 3-Cody Hillman [21]; 16. 787-Cody Zobrist [23]; 17. 15-Brett Punkari [17]; 18. 42-John Smith III [15]; 19. 69-Matthew Schelk [24]; 20. 72-Broc Lawrence [22]; 21. 77-Anthony Corini [20]; 22. 17-Billy Richardson [19]; 23. Thomas Brandon [14]; 24. 13-Chris Papa [12]

12/23/20 – Street Stocks at Volusia Speedway Park

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Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 111-Lewis Clark [1]; 2. 13-Jordan Gage [5]; 3. 00-Mitchell Clark [2]; 4. 29-Richie Yost [3]; 5. 48-Grant Parr [8]; 6. 82-Paul Visage [13]; 7. 78-Blake Pryor [7]; 8. 8-Tyler Jackson [6]; 9. 002-Clifford Bellomy [15]; 10. 026-Sean Stevens [9]; 11. 04-Joshua Dennison [12]; 12. 77-Anthony Corini [23]; 13. 56-Tyler Schneider [11]; 14. 93-Kyle Young [14]; 15. 5-Zak Williams [17]; 16. 69-Sage Luther [24]; 17. 95-Brian Brunscheen [22]; 18. 33-Ricky Vinson [20]; 19. 26-Jack Brown [16]; 20. 17-Mike Arnold [10]; 21. 15-Trevor Speed [4]; 22. 7-Jaxon Steele [21]; 23. 11-Sterling Beard [19]; 24. 122-Brian Dickens [18]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 111-Lewis Clark [20.116]; 2. 00-Mitchell Clark [20.165]; 3. 29-Richie Yost [20.174]; 4. 15-Trevor Speed [20.202]; 5. 13-Jordan Gage [20.206]; 6. 026-Sean Stevens [20.221]; 7. 78-Blake Pryor [20.239]; 8. 56-Tyler Schneider [20.258]; 9. 8-Tyler Jackson [20.298]; 10. 17-Mike Arnold [20.298]; 11. 122-Brian Dickens [20.302]; 12. 04-Joshua Dennison [20.308]; 13. 5-Zak Williams [20.311]; 14. 48-Grant Parr [20.37]; 15. 82-Paul Visage [20.418]; 16. 33-Ricky Vinson [20.421]; 17. 93-Kyle Young [20.423]; 18. 69-Sage Luther [20.437]; 19. 002-Clifford Bellomy [20.44]; 20. 55-Joe Grabianowski [20.442]; 21. 26-Jack Brown [20.47]; 22. 95-Brian Brunscheen [20.551]; 23. 11-Sterling Beard [20.561]; 24. 77-Anthony Corini [20.606]; 25. 7-Jaxon Steele [20.664]; 26. 127- Mikey Wilson [DNQ]

Heat 1 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 111-Lewis Clark [1]; 2. 15-Trevor Speed [2]; 3. 78-Blake Pryor [3]; 4. 17-Mike Arnold [4]; 5. 5-Zak Williams [5]; 6. 002-Clifford Bellomy [7]; 7. 33-Ricky Vinson [6]; 8. 7-Jaxon Steele [9]; 9. 95-Brian Brunscheen [8]

Heat 2 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 00-Mitchell Clark [1]; 2. 13-Jordan Gage [2]; 3. 48-Grant Parr [5]; 4. 56-Tyler Schneider [3]; 5. 93-Kyle Young [6]; 6. 122-Brian Dickens [4]; 7. 11-Sterling Beard [8]; 8. 55-Joe Grabianowski [7]; 9. 127- Mikey Wilson [9]

Heat 3 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 29-Richie Yost [1]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [3]; 3. 026-Sean Stevens [2]; 4. 04-Joshua Dennison [4]; 5. 26-Jack Brown [7]; 6. 82-Paul Visage [5]; 7. 69-Sage Luther [6]; 8. 77-Anthony Corini [8]

B-main 1 (14 Laps) (Top 12 transfer) – 1. 82-Paul Visage [6]; 2. 93-Kyle Young [2]; 3. 002-Clifford Bellomy [4]; 4. 26-Jack Brown [3]; 5. 5-Zak Williams [1]; 6. 122-Brian Dickens [5]; 7. 11-Sterling Beard [8]; 8. 33-Ricky Vinson [7]; 9. 7-Jaxon Steele [10]; 10. 95-Brian Brunscheen [13]; 11. 77-Anthony Corini [12]; 12. 69-Sage Luther [9]; 13. 55-Joe Grabianowski [11]; 14. 127- Mikey Wilson [14]