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SHARK BITE: Jackson Wins Third Street Stock Feature of Season 2 at Lanier

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McMahan, Erickson garner Tyler Bachman Enterprises’ first top-10 finishes in final race

Tyler Jackson has reigned supreme over the Chevy Performance Street Stock League in DIRTcar eSports Season 2.

With his third Feature win in eight weeks of competition Wednesday night at Lanier National Speedway, Jackson remained the only driver on the circuit to win multiple Feature events.

But what was his secret to success at Lanier?

“I finally put a Qualifying effort together, and that makes a huge difference in these Street Stocks,” Jackson told announcer Rick Eshelman in the DIRTVision post-race interview. “They’re just so slow and heavy; if you bury yourself in Qualifying, it’s really hard to pass.”

While the League does not tally points throughout the season and declare an eventual champion, Jackson may as well have been the informal “champion” with his performances throughout the season, which never saw him finish outside of the top-10 one time in seven starts.

Another strong driver who competed mostly in the latter half of the League schedule was Paul Visage, who collected his third top-10 of the season Wednesday night after chasing Jackson down for the better part of the race.

“I got down there and hung the left sides in the moisture there, but you couldn’t really pass. You could get a good enough run to get up beside [Jackson], but not get by cleanly, so it was a lot of throttle control to really get around that place,” Visage said.

TBE entrants Nick Graziano (left) and Jaxon Steele (right) (Joe Grabianowski Photo)

While they had several entries over the course of the eight-race schedule, the Tyler Bachman Enterprises (TBE) team, headquartered in scenic Morgantown, WV, was unable to muster a top-10 finish through the first seven events of the season.

That all changed Wednesday night with newcomers Brayden McMahan and Mitch Erickson posting seventh and tenth-place finishes, respectively. The team’s biggest night of the season came with all the firepower the 25-car field could handle, as a grand total of six TBE cars made the Feature, much to the delight of team executives who are currently working on their plans for competition in Season 3.

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. Tyler Jackson, 2. Paul Visage, 3. Preston Dimsdale, 4. Caleb Hudgeons, 5. Steve Miskolczi, 6. Nathan Lemons, 7. Brayden McMahan, 8. Larry Barber Jr, 9. Mark Mitchell, 10. Mitch Erickson, 11. Hank Silver, 12. Tyler Schneider, 13. Sage Luther, 14. Dennis Anderson Jr, 15. Jaxon Steele, 16. Nick Graziano, 17. Mike Watt, 18. Dakota Osborn, 19. Anthony Corini, 20. Blaze Benedict, 21. Robert Palmer; 22. Clifford Bellomy; 23. Brian Brunscheen, 24. Sterling Beard

1/27/21 – Big-Block Modifieds at Lernerville Speedway

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VP Racing Fuels Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 33-Evan Seay [1]; 2. 0-Kendal Tucker [4]; 3. 6-Logan Rumsey [8]; 4. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [16]; 5. 331-Dustin Hall [5]; 6. 5-Chris Hile [17]; 7. 127-Blake Matjoulis [3]; 8. 0-Kevin Dedmon [6]; 9. 1-Jesse Enterkin [11]; 10. 112-Ross Wece [21]; 11. 35-William Racine [10]; 12. 98-Michael Canady [20]; 13. 34-Matt Yorker [15]; 14. 12-Alex Bergeron [14]; 15. 99-Matty Watkins [19]; 16. 4-CJ LaVair [24]; 17. 55-Joseph Grabianowski [22]; 18. 11-Joshua Kunstbeck [12]; 19. 2-Chance Carr [9]; 20. 25-Tyler Ducharme [13]; 21. 46-Jonathan Nause [23]; 22. 115-Boddie Parker [18]; 23. 787-Cody Zobrist [7]; 24. 07-Hayden Cardwell [2]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 33-Evan Seay [15.464]; 2. 07-Hayden Cardwell [15.508]; 3. 127-Blake Matjoulis [15.571]; 4. 00-Kendal Tucker [15.607]; 5. 1-Jesse Enterkin [15.631]; 6. 0-Kevin Dedmon [15.649]; 7. 787-Cody Zobrist [15.659]; 8. 331-Dustin Hall [15.663]; 9. 25-Tyler Ducharme [15.677]; 10. 35-William Racine [15.682]; 11. 6-Logan Rumsey [15.7]; 12. 11-Joshua Kunstbeck [15.752]; 13. 34-Matt Yorker [15.772]; 14. 12-Alex Bergeron [15.786]; 15. 2-Chance Carr [15.811]; 16. 99-Matty Watkins [15.812]; 17. 112-Ross Wece [15.829]; 18. 4-CJ LaVair [15.857]; 19. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [15.861]; 20. 2-Bradley Steinruck [15.889]; 21. 115-Boddie Parker [15.909]; 22. 55-Joseph Grabianowski [15.912]; 23. 46-Jonathan Nause [15.926]; 24. 78-Baily Gelinas [16.043]; 25. 79-Maxime Plante [16.112]; 26. 86-Eric Schroeter [16.218]; 27. 29-Billy Richardson [16.221]; 28. 71-Cruz Pedregon [16.241]; 29. 56-Tyler Schneider [16.276]; 30. 5-Chris Hile [16.279]; 31. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [16.369]; 32. 98-Michael Canady [16.49]

Heat 1 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 33-Evan Seay [1]; 2. 0-Kendal Tucker [2]; 3. 787-Cody Zobrist [3]; 4. 35-William Racine [4]; 5. 34-Matt Yorker [5]; 6. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [7]; 7. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [11]; 8. 55-Joseph Grabianowski [8]; 9. 99-Matty Watkins [6]; 10. 79-Maxime Plante [9]; 11. 71-Cruz Pedregon [10]

Heat 2 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell [1]; 2. 331-Dustin Hall [3]; 3. 6-Logan Rumsey [4]; 4. 1-Jesse Enterkin [2]; 5. 12-Alex Bergeron [5]; 6. 2-Bradley Steinruck [7]; 7. 98-Michael Canady [11]; 8. 112-Ross Wece [6]; 9. 86-Eric Schroeter [9]; 10. 46-Jonathan Nause [8]; 11. 56-Tyler Schneider [10]

Heat 3 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 127-Blake Matjoulis [1]; 2. 0-Kevin Dedmon [2]; 3. 2-Chance Carr [5]; 4. 11-Joshua Kunstbeck [4]; 5. 25-Tyler Ducharme [3]; 6. 115-Boddie Parker [7]; 7. 5-Chris Hile [10]; 8. 29-Billy Richardson [9]; 9. 78-Baily Gelinas [8]; 10. 4-CJ LaVair [6]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (14 Laps) (Top 6 transfer) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [1]; 2. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [2]; 3. 115-Boddie Parker [3]; 4. 98-Michael Canady [4]; 5. 55-Joseph Grabianowski [5]; 6. 4-CJ LaVair [9]; 7. 79-Maxime Plante [8]; 8. 29-Billy Richardson [6]; 9. 86-Eric Schroeter [7]; 10. 56-Tyler Schneider [10]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (14 Laps) (Top 6 transfer) – 1. 25-Tyler Ducharme [2]; 2. 34-Matt Yorker [1]; 3. 5-Chris Hile [5]; 4. 99-Matty Watkins [7]; 5. 112-Ross Wece [6]; 6. 46-Jonathan Nause [9]; 7. 2-Bradley Steinruck [3]; 8. 78-Baily Gelinas [8]; 9. 03-Justin Ziemiecki [4]; 10. 71-Cruz Pedregon [10]

E-DIRT TO REAL DIRT: Rising iRacing Star Bryce Bailey Goes Real World Racing at Lake View Motor Speedway

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CONCORD, NC – Since the inception of sim racing, fans have dreamt of taking their virtual skills and applying them on a real-world race track. Bryce Bailey, from Waverly, NY, has used winnings from iRacing leagues and specials to help put himself on track in a DIRTcar Sportsman Modified. 

Bailey, a rising iRacing talent, won the first DIRTcar eSports race behind the wheel of a Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified against a field of premier iRacing pros and real-world drivers alike. Now, he is taking his real signature red #2B to Lake View Motor Speedway in South Carolina along with nearly 40 other DIRTcar Sportsman Modified drivers. 

Bailey is not the first and certainly not the last to go from virtual-to-reality racing. In 2008, Nissan created a program to train sim drivers on the Playstation game Gran Turismo with the intention of putting them into real race cars and did so with success. 

In 2021, iRacing leads the world in auto racing simulation. With the introduction of Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds and DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, dirt track drivers and fans can hone their skills on the virtual dirt in the same race cars we race on tracks across the Northeast, Canada, and down through the eastern US. 

“The hand-eye coordination you get from iRacing separates the kids now,” Bailey said. “Kids are coming up so fast. We have so many resources to fall back on. The feel of iRacing may not be exact but we’re still staying sharp. It helps you read tracks too as far as what lines you need to run, especially with Weedsport Speedway on here now. The lines you run on Weedsport are the same you would run in real life.”

In addition to his DIRTcar eSports checkered flag, where he held off some of the best in the business, Bailey won the Empire Super Sprint iRacing Series plus other leagues and high profile money races. Now, he is focused on taking that iRacing success to his DIRTcar Sportsman Modified program, starting with Lake View. 

Last year, Bailey bought a four-cylinder asphalt racer and won at Lake Erie Speedway against a very strong field of Race of Champions drivers. Now he’s ready for the dirt.

“I ran twice in my Sportsman Modified last year, but 2021 will be my true rookie season,” he said. “This race at Lake View coming up is already one of the most prestigious DIRTcar Sportsman races you can run with all the money they are putting up down there in purse and bonuses.”

The South of the Border Showdown marks the first time DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds have raced at Lake View Motor Speedway. Although Bailey is up against the best Sportsman drivers out of the Northeast like Kevin Root, Andrew Buff, Zach Sobotka, Kevin Ridley, Tyler Cocoran, and Alan Fink, they will all see Lake View for the first time starting on Thursday, Jan. 28, with a free-to-the-public practice session. That levels the playing field a degree in terms of experience. 

“There are a ton of top runners down there,” Bailey said. “Anyone that has won in a Sportsman is going like Kevin Root. The goal is to make the show and maybe get a top 15 but if we can keep our nose clean I’ll be happy. I gotta keep my goals realistic. Kevin Root and I have the same sponsor, FX Caprara. He’s already played a role in my career in helping me out. We actually traded iRacing help for some real-life racing help.”

Bailey has big plans for the rest of 2021, too.

“This year’s plan is to run DIRTcar shows,” he said. “We’ll be at Brewerton, Fulton, Weedsport, Can-Am, plus the big shows. We’ll hit up what we can and race as much as possible.” 

Watch Bailey and the stars of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds take on Lake View Motor Speedway Thursday-Sunday, January 28-30 live on Speed51.com. 

Turn on DIRTVision tonight, Wednesday, January 27, for free and catch the season 2 DIRTcar eSports finale featuring the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds at Lernerville plus Street Stocks at Lanier. Racing begins at 7pm(ET) live only on DIRTVision. 

1/27/21 – Street Stocks at Lanier National Speedway

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Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 8-Tyler Jackson [2]; 2. 82-Paul Visage [3]; 3. 66-Preston Dimsdale [1]; 4. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [12]; 5. 93-Steve Miskolczi [6]; 6. 25-Nathan Lemons [13]; 7. 7-Brayden McMahan [11]; 8. 54-Larry Barber Jr. [5]; 9. 07-Mark Mitchell [14]; 10. 6-Mitch Erickson [8]; 11. 32-Hank Silver [17]; 12. 56-Tyler Schneider [21]; 13. 26-Sage Luther [10]; 14. 04-Dennis Anderson Jr. [16]; 15. 8-Jaxon Steele [22]; 16. 11-Nick Graziano [9]; 17. 84-Mike Watt [19]; 18. 18-Dakota Osborn [15]; 19. 77-Anthony Corini [4]; 20. 47-Blaze Benedict [18]; 21. 76-Robert Palmer [23]; 22. 2-Clifford Bellomy [7]; 23. 95-Brian Brunscheen [24]; 24. 22-Sterling Beard [20]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 66-Preston Dimsdale [17.159]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [17.172]; 3. 82-Paul Visage [17.25]; 4. 77-Anthony Corini [17.272]; 5. 6-Mitch Erickson [17.288]; 6. 93-Steve Miskolczi [17.299]; 7. 002-Clifford Bellomy [17.305]; 8. 54-Larry Barber Jr. [17.312]; 9. 11-Nick Graziano [17.373]; 10. 18-Dakota Osborn [17.384]; 11. 22-Sterling Beard [17.385]; 12. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [17.391]; 13. 26-Sage Luther [17.399]; 14. 7-Brayden McMahan [17.406]; 15. 07-Mark Mitchell [17.409]; 16. 56-Tyler Schneider [17.417]; 17. 25-Nathan Lemons [17.431]; 18. 95-Brian Brunscheen [17.448]; 19. 32-Hank Silver [17.469]; 20. 84-Mike Watt [17.485]; 21. 04-Dennis Anderson Jr. [17.511]; 22. 8-Jaxon Steele [17.522]; 23. 47-Blaze Benedict [17.588]; 24. 02-Bradley Steinruck [17.607]; 25. 76-Robert Palmer [17.903]

Heat 1 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 66-Preston Dimsdale [1]; 2. 77-Anthony Corini [2]; 3. 2-Clifford Bellomy [3]; 4. 26-Sage Luther [5]; 5. 18-Dakota Osborn [4]; 6. 32-Hank Silver [7]; 7. 56-Tyler Schneider [6]; 8. 76-Robert Palmer [9]; 9. 8-Jaxon Steele [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 8-Tyler Jackson [1]; 2. 54-Larry Barber Jr. [3]; 3. 6-Mitch Erickson [2]; 4. 7-Brayden McMahan [5]; 5. 25-Nathan Lemons [6]; 6. 22-Sterling Beard [4]; 7. 47-Blaze Benedict [8]; 8. 84-Mike Watt [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 82-Paul Visage [1]; 2. 93-Steve Miskolczi [2]; 3. 11-Nick Graziano [3]; 4. 10-Caleb Hudgeons [4]; 5. 07-Mark Mitchell [5]; 6. 04-Dennis Anderson Jr. [7]; 7. 95-Brian Brunscheen [6]; 8. 2-Bradley Steinruck [8]

B Main (11 Laps) (Top 12 transfer) – 1. 25-Nathan Lemons [2]; 2. 07-Mark Mitchell [3]; 3. 18-Dakota Osborn [1]; 4. 04-Dennis Anderson Jr. [6]; 5. 32-Hank Silver [4]; 6. 47-Blaze Benedict [8]; 7. 84-Mike Watt [11]; 8. 22-Sterling Beard [5]; 9. 56-Tyler Schneider [7]; 10. 8-Jaxon Steele [13]; 11. 76-Robert Palmer [10]; 12. 95-Brian Brunscheen [9]; 13. 2-Bradley Steinruck [12]

THE BIG 127: Matjoulis Captures First Tour Victory of Season 2 with Pro Late Models at Eldora

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Former World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series champ makes seven winners in seven races

He might have been racing from his house in Ashville, NY, but Blake Matjoulis was right at home at Rossburg, OH’s Eldora Speedway Wednesday night.

The 2019 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model iRacing World Champion led all 40 laps around The Big E behind the wheel of his Swindell SpeedLab #127 en route to his second career DIRTcar eSports Tour Feature victory presented by Hoosier Racing Tire.

Matjoulis cracked the whip right at the drop of the green, took the lead from outside the front row and made the 24-car field pay, never once letting any of his competition get too far underneath him in attempts to steal the spotlight. More specifically, his three biggest threats in the field – Alex Bergeron, Dylan Houser and Kendal Tucker.

Matjoulis and Bergeron stuck to the bottom in the opening stages of the race while before long, Tucker and Houser began to make the high side work. Those three swapped spots all race long, passing inside and outside and using every lane available on the track. However, this only allowed Matjoulis to ride out front comfortably.

Houser, of Ocala, FL, eventually proved he knew the high side the best and was able to close-off the runner-up spot to his competition just after the halfway point, then sight his sights on the leader. And Matjoulis knew he was coming.

“Houser was definitely good up there,” Matjoulis told DIRTVision announcer Josh Pike in the post-race interview. “He tracked me down a little and I was just able to hold onto the top spot. It would have been hard for him to pass, but he was definitely right there.”

With less than 10-to-go, Houser had caught Matjoulis’ rear deck lid and was gaining a tenth on him each lap. Until he made a critical mistake and scrubbed the Turn 3-4 wall with six laps remaining, breaking his momentum just enough to throw his chance for victory out the window.

Joe Grabianowski Photo

Matjoulis held off one final charge from Houser and third-place Evan Seay in the final corners to score his second career Tour victory and first since the second race of Season 1, back in May of 2020.

“Definitely a close race between the top three, no breathing room, no room for mistakes. When you get to these races, it’s all about being consistent. Frankly, we didn’t make any and were able to hold on for a win,” he said.

The DIRTcar eSports Tour action wraps up in just two weeks’ time with the eighth and final race of Season 2 at Lernerville Speedway on Wednesday, January 27, once again featuring the ground-pounding, Earth-shaking, window-rattling Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds! Register today at DIRTcar.com/eSports and watch all the action live on DIRTVision!

Hoosier Racing Tire Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 127-Blake Matjoulis [2]; 2. 2-Dylan Houser [6]; 3. 33-Evan Seay [8]; 4. 00-Kendal Tucker [1]; 5. 12-Alex Bergeron [3]; 6. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [4]; 7. 1-Jesse Enterkin [13]; 8. 49-David Heileman [7]; 9. 79-Maxime Plante [17]; 10. 000-Kevin Dedmon [11]; 11. 115-Boddie Parker [18]; 12. 71-Keven HÈbert [16]; 13. 171-Brandon Freeburg [14]; 14. 02-Chance Carr [15]; 15. 787-Cody Zobrist [12]; 16. 54-Larry Barber Jr [5]; 17. 7-Aaron Sparks [19]; 18. 34-Corey Mullinax [20]; 19. 03-Lyndon Whitfill [10]; 20. 89-Austin Friedman [9]; 21. 46-Jonathan Nause [22]; 22. 07-Marko Mitchell [21]; 23. 56-Tyler Schneider [23]; 24. 75-Andrew Piercefield [24]

KILLED IT: First-Time Street Stock League Starter Kilgore Wins at USA Int’l

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Jackson notches another podium finish, Hackney places third in debut

After leading all but one lap of the 30-lap Feature in his Chevy Performance Street Stock League debut Wednesday night, Carl Kilgore could barely believe his eyes when the caution flag flew with just three laps remaining.

“It all started at that restart,” Kilgore told announcer Josh Pike in the DIRTVision post-race interview. “When we had that caution come out… man, my guts were turning, I ain’t gonna lie to you.”

Tyler Jackson, the two-time Feature winner in Season 2, had been breathing down his neck for several laps before the caution, and was ready to make the move to put himself in DIRTcar eSports Victory Lane at USA International Speedway.

“I knew Tyler Jackson was going to have something because right before the caution came out, I saw him go to the top of Turns 1 and 2. Those last two laps when he came off of 2, and had the run down the backstretch, I was watching my mirror and seeing where he was wanting to go,” he said.

Green flag; pedal down. Kilgore stayed glued to the bottom lane in the corners and hugged the outside wall down the straightaways as the field raced out the final laps in green-white-checkered fashion.

Jackson was unable to make the move on the top side that he found advantageous to his run earlier, but he had one option left as he flew down into Turn 3 for the final time around the virtual three-quarter-mile oval.

A bump, a tap, a shove… call it what you will, but it didn’t work to Jackson’s favor in the end. Kilgore somehow was able to hang onto his #021 Street Stock through Turns 3-4, beating Jackson in a drag race to the stripe to pick up his first career DIRTcar eSports victory.

“Going into 3 on that last lap, I had a feeling something was coming… so I just kinda prepared myself for it, drug the brake a little bit though the center to keep the side-bite in there, and we got the drive off to get the win.”

Kilgore’s teammate, Keith Hackney, crossed the line in third after running a good slice of the race in second and smashing into a spinning lapped car towards the home stretch. He also picked up his first career podium with the League and a $50 check for his efforts.

The Chevy Performance Street Stock League action wraps up in just two weeks’ time on Wednesday, January 27, with the eighth and final race of Season 2 at Lanier National Speedway. Register today at DIRTcar.com/eSports and watch all the action live on DIRTVision!

Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 021-Carl Kilgore [2]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [5]; 3. 69-Keith Hackney [3]; 4. 18-Kyle Sirratt [1]; 5. 111-Lewis Clark [8]; 6. 9-Dalton Peavy [6]; 7. 0-Mitchell Clark [9]; 8. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [16]; 9. 2-Bradley Weaver [17]; 10. 5-Jason Metoxen [15]; 11. 11-Sterling Beard [10]; 12. 93-Steve Miskolczi [11]; 13. 15-Michael Putnam [23]; 14. 5-Zak Williams [18]; 15. 7-Brayden McMahan [21]; 16. 89-Billy Smith [22]; 17. 002-Clifford Bellomy [24]; 18. 82-Paul Visage [4]; 19. 66-Preston Dimsdale [13];  20. 95-Brian Brunscheen [19]; 21. 26-Sean Stevens [14]; 22. 79-Dakota Osborn [12]; 23. 26-Sage Luther [7]; 24. 02-Bradley Steinruck [20]

1/13/21 – Street Stocks at USA International Speedway

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Chevy Performance Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 21-Carl Kilgore [2]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [5]; 3. 69-Keith Hackney [3]; 4. 18-Kyle Sirratt [1]; 5. 111-Lewis Clark [8]; 6. 9-Dalton Peavy [6]; 7. 0-Mitchell Clark [9]; 8. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [16]; 9. 2-Bradley Weaver [17]; 10. 05-Jason Metoxen [15]; 11. 11-Sterling Beard [10]; 12. 93-Steve Miskolczi [11]; 13. 15-Michael Putnam [23]; 14. 5-Zak Williams [18]; 15. 7-Brayden McMahan [21]; 16. 89-Billy Smith [22]; 17. 002-Clifford Bellomy [24]; 18. 82-Paul Visage [4]; 19. 66-Preston Dimsdale [13];  20. 95-Brian Brunscheen [19]; 21. 026-Sean Stevens [14]; 22. 79-Dakota Osborn [12]; 23. 26-Sage Luther [7]; 24. 2-Bradley Steinruck [20]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 82-Paul Visage [27.269]; 2. 21-Carl Kilgore [27.296]; 3. 69-Keith Hackney [27.344]; 4. 26-Sage Luther [27.355]; 5. 8-Tyler Jackson [27.399]; 6. 9-Dalton Peavy [27.472]; 7. 18-Kyle Sirratt [27.483]; 8. 111-Lewis Clark [27.498]; 9. 66-Preston Dimsdale [27.512]; 10. 15-Michael Putnam [27.534]; 11. 93-Steve Miskolczi [27.562]; 12. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [27.565]; 13. 002-Clifford Bellomy [27.596]; 14. 5-Zak Williams [27.605]; 15. 2-Bradley Weaver [27.605]; 16. 11-Sterling Beard [27.61]; 17. 05-Jason Metoxen [27.623]; 18. 0-Mitchell Clark [27.631]; 19. 026-Sean Stevens [27.698]; 20. 89-Billy Smith [27.703]; 21. 7-Brayden McMahan [27.739]; 22. 95-Brian Brunscheen [27.753]; 23. 2-Bradley Steinruck [27.81]; 24. 79-Dakota Osborn [27.915]; 25. 84-Mike Watt [27.966]; 26. 76-Robert Palmer [28.84]

Heat 1 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 18-Kyle Sirratt [3]; 2. 82-Paul Visage [1]; 3. 26-Sage Luther [2]; 4. 11-Sterling Beard [6]; 5. 95-Brian Brunscheen [8]; 6. 026-Sean Stevens [7]; 7. 84-Mike Watt [9]; 8. 002-Clifford Bellomy [5]; 9. 15-Michael Putnam [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 21-Carl Kilgore [1]; 2. 8-Tyler Jackson [2]; 3. 111-Lewis Clark [3]; 4. 93-Steve Miskolczi [4]; 5. 5-Zak Williams [5]; 6. 05-Jason Metoxen [6]; 7. 2-Bradley Steinruck [8]; 8. 76-Robert Palmer [9]; 9. 89-Billy Smith [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 69-Keith Hackney [1]; 2. 9-Dalton Peavy [2]; 3. 0-Mitchell Clark [6]; 4. 79-Dakota Osborn [8]; 5. 66-Preston Dimsdale [3]; 6. 2-Bradley Weaver [5]; 7. 7-Brayden McMahan [7]; 8. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [4]

B Main (11 Laps) (Top 12 transfer) – 1. 66-Preston Dimsdale [3]; 2. 026-Sean Stevens [4]; 3. 05-Jason Metoxen [5]; 4. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [12]; 5. 2-Bradley Weaver [6]; 6. 5-Zak Williams [2]; 7. 95-Brian Brunscheen [1]; 8. 2-Bradley Steinruck [8]; 9. 7-Brayden McMahan [9]; 10. 89-Billy Smith [14]; 11. 15-Michael Putnam [13]; 12. 002-Clifford Bellomy [10]; 13. 76-Robert Palmer [11]; 14. 84-Mike Watt [7]

1/13/21 – Pro Late Models at Eldora Speedway

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Hoosier Racing Tire Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 127-Blake Matjoulis [2]; 2. 2-Dylan Houser [6]; 3. 33-Evan Seay [8]; 4. 00-Kendal Tucker [1]; 5. 12-Alex Bergeron [3]; 6. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [4]; 7. 1-Jesse Enterkin [13]; 8. 49-David Heileman [7]; 9. 79-Maxime Plante [17]; 10. 0-Kevin Dedmon [11]; 11. 115-Boddie Parker [18]; 12. 71-Keven Hèbert [16]; 13. 171-Brandon Freeburg [14]; 14. 002-Chance Carr [15]; 15. 787-Cody Zobrist [12]; 16. 54-Larry Barber Jr [5]; 17. 7-Aaron Sparks [19]; 18. 34-Corey Mullinax [20]; 19. 03-Lyndon Whitfill [10]; 20. 89-Austin Friedman [9]; 21. 46-Jonathan Nause [22]; 22. 07-Marko Mitchell [21]; 23. 56-Tyler Schneider [23]; 24. 75-Andrew Piercefield [24]

Qualifying (2 Laps) – 1. 00-Kendal Tucker [16.279]; 2. 127-Blake Matjoulis [16.306]; 3. 12-Alex Bergeron [16.326]; 4. 49-David Heileman [16.346]; 5. 1-Jesse Enterkin [16.351]; 6. 2-Dylan Houser [16.368]; 7. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [16.417]; 8. 115-Boddie Parker [16.439]; 9. 89-Austin Friedman [16.449]; 10. 71-Keven Hèbert [16.459]; 11. 54-Larry Barber Jr [16.471]; 12. 787-Cody Zobrist [16.472]; 13. 03-Lyndon Whitfill [16.485]; 14. 0-Kevin Dedmon [16.487]; 15. 7-Aaron Sparks [16.531]; 16. 34-Corey Mullinax [16.533]; 17. 07-Marko Mitchell [16.588]; 18. 002-Chance Carr [16.59]; 19. 79-Maxime Plante [16.602]; 20. 33-Evan Seay [16.608]; 21. 56-Tyler Schneider [16.614]; 22. 171-Brandon Freeburg [16.639]; 23. 02-Bradley Steinruck [16.668]; 24. 46-Jonathan Nause [16.686]; 25. 75-Andrew Piercefield [16.95]

Heat 1 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 00-Kendal Tucker [1]; 2. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [3]; 3. 49-David Heileman [2]; 4. 03-Lyndon Whitfill [5]; 5. 171-Brandon Freeburg [8]; 6. 71-Keven Hebert [4]; 7. 79-Maxime Plante [7]; 8. 34-Corey Mullinax [6]; 9. 75-Andrew Piercefield [9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 127-Blake Matjoulis [1]; 2. 54-Larry Barber Jr [4]; 3. 33-Evan Seay [7]; 4. 0-Kevin Dedmon [5]; 5. 115-Boddie Parker [3]; 6. 1-Jesse Enterkin [2]; 7. 07-Marko Mitchell [6]; 8. 02-Bradley Steinruck [8]

Heat 3 (10 Laps) (Top 4 transfer) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [1]; 2. 2-Dylan Houser [2]; 3. 89-Austin Friedman [3]; 4. 787-Cody Zobrist [4]; 5. 002-Chance Carr [6]; 6. 7-Aaron Sparks [5]; 7. 56-Tyler Schneider [7]; 8. 46-Jonathan Nause [8]

 B-main 1 (14 Laps) (Top 12 transfer) – 1. 1-Jesse Enterkin [5]; 2. 171-Brandon Freeburg [1]; 3. 002-Chance Carr [3]; 4. 71-Keven Hebert [4]; 5. 79-Maxime Plante [7]; 6. 115-Boddie Parker [2]; 7. 7-Aaron Sparks [6]; 8. 34-Corey Mullinax [10]; 9. 07-Marko Mitchell [8]; 10. 46-Jonathan Nause [12]; 11. 56-Tyler Schneider [9]; 12. 75-Andrew Piercefield [13]; 13. 02-Bradley Steinruck [11]

CLARK IN THE PARK: Mitchell Clark Wins First Career Street Stock League Race at Limaland

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Jackson runner-up in return, Visage posts career-best in third

Nothing like a walk in the park victory for Australian Street Stock guru Mitchell Clark. Particularly, Limaland Motorsports Park.

That’s exactly what Clark set himself up for Wednesday night, setting fast-time in Qualifying and leading every lap of his Heat Race and the 30-lap Feature for his first career Chevy Performance Street Stock League Feature win on iRacing.

Nobody seemed to have anything to challenge the Track Tech #0 on his way to Victory Lane, as Clark rode the high side for much of the race, kept his nose clean and made the good restarts count.

League regular and two-time winner in Season 2, Tyler Jackson, rejoined the roster this week after missing last week’s race over the holiday break and came back with his A-game, placing second after a tremendous battle for the runner-up spot in the final laps.

He and former League winner Lewis Clark joined third-place Paul Visage and Larry Barber Jr. with less than five laps remaining in a slide-job fest for position. Inside, then back to outside Jackson and Clark swapped spots before Visage joined in as the white flag waved. When all was said and done, Jackson was able to pull the crossover move out of Turn 4 on Lap 30 to claim second, while Visage slipped by up high to take third.

“Once you get two or three guys battling for second, that leader just runs away from us,” Jackson told announcer Rick Eshelman in the DIRTVision post-race interview. “I think if all 30 laps were green, we might’ve had something.”

Joe Grabianowski Photo

The DIRTcar eSports Chevy Performance Street Stock League action continues next Wednesday night, Jan. 13, with a second visit to the USA International Speedway for Round #7 of the Season 2 campaign. Sign up today at DIRTcar.com/eSports or watch all the action live on DIRTVision!

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]

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]