DIRTcar eSports Tour points leader Alex Bergeron extended his lead in the standings last Wednesday night with a NOS Energy Drink 305 Sprint Car victory at the Tulsa Expo Square Chili Bowl. The three-time iRacing World Champion won the last Tour race at the Chili Bowl in Season 2, and successfully defended it with an early pass for the lead on Dylan Yeager to score his third victory of Season 4.
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!
Taking the lead from Tyler Jackson in the final laps after a race-long battle with he and Kendal Tucker, Bergeron showed the DIRTVision presented by Drydene audience just how exciting and competitive the DIRTcar eSports league is every week.
“Qualified first, won the Heat Race and won the Feature, so I can’t ask for more,” Bergeron told announcer Chase Raudman in the DIRTVision post-race interview.
Bergeron may have won the war, but he initially did not win the battle of the opening stages, despite leading the first lap.
Jumping to the early race lead was DIRTcar Street Stock guru Tyler Jackson, who had a very impressive run inside the podium throughout the race, mixing it up with the iRacing Pro-license drivers while trying to become the very first non-Pro driver to win a DIRTcar eSports event.
Through the first three quarters of the race, it looked as though Jackson was going to break through and accomplish the feat, leading laps 2-27 of the 30-lap contest.
Bergeron was running third with four laps to go after chasing fellow iRacing Pro Kendal Tucker and leader Jackson for most of the race in traffic. With the race going caution-free, lapped traffic played a big role in the outcome, as a slower car was thrown right in the middle of the leaders’ race with just three circuits remaining.
The top-three of Bergeron (12), Tucker (10) and Jackson (1a) battle for position in lapped traffic. (Joe Grabianowski Photo)
Going down the backstretch with just five laps remaining, Jackson had committed to the low side of a lapped car heading into Turn 3 while Tucker went to his outside. The slower car bobbled and made contact with Tucker, sending both into the outside wall and opening the door for Bergeron to slip right through the middle for second.
“The lap car was there, Tucker went to the outside, I took the middle and just sent it in there. [Tucker] got shoved out, so I took the spot. I ran the top and just tried to be as fast as possible and get around Tyler [Jackson], and that’s what I did,” Bergeron said of the pass for second.
With Tucker behind him, Bergeron made a beeline for Jackson’s spot out front. Using that high side momentum, the Team ABR-pilot took advantage of another slower car right in Jackson’s middle groove just two laps later and took the lead away as they crossed the line with two-to-go.
Jackson and Tucker came together on the white-flag lap, allowing Tucker to scoot by for second and moving Jackson back to third. Back out front, it was all Bergeron, who crossed the line first on Lap 30 to pick up the $300 victory and the $25 bonus from VP Racing Fuels.
After the checkered, Bergeron commended Jackson and his skills, running out front with he and Tucker as a non-iRacing Pro.
“He was pretty good. I didn’t know who he was, but he was pretty good, for sure. I’m glad that he was able to get up here; it was a fun race,” Bergeron said of Jackson.
Back in second, behind Bergeron for what is now the third time in his DIRTcar eSports career, and fifth runner-up finish overall, Tucker felt the bad luck falling on him again Wednesday night.
Jackson (1a) battling with Bergeron (12) for position early in the race. (Joe Grabianowski Photo)
“Honestly, just another Kendal Tucker-type of run,” Tucker said after the race. “Always up front, and something just always happens. I was able to catch back up to Tyler [Jackson] right there with about four-to-go, and I was going to make a move on him… I guess the dude who was apologizing was the lapper who slid all the way up the front stretch and pretty much ended all hope for me in winning that race.”
As for the Street Stock prodigy and his impressive run up front, Jackson was just thrilled to even be up front with such great competition, especially in a car class he very rarely is seen in.
“I’m pretty excited to run that well, but it sucks leading all those laps and losing,” Jackson said. “But, [Bergeron and Tucker] are pros for a reason. I don’t really even drive the Sprint Cars much, I just drive Street Stocks and Late Models.”
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar eSports league action continues in just two weeks’ time – DIRTcar Pro Late Models tackle the Limaland Motorsports Park on Sept. 9. Fixed setups, $20 registration fee with $300 going to the winner. $200 for second, $100 for third and contingencies for all qualifying events available.
Catch all the action LIVE on DIRTVision presented by Drydene!
SARVER, PA – In one of the most incredible battles seen in virtual racing action on DIRTVision presented by Drydene all year, Alex Bergeron became the first repeat winner in DIRTcar eSports competition Wednesday night at virtual Lernerville Speedway.
Bergeron and fellow iRacing pro license driver Kendal Tucker took center stage in the final six laps of the 30-lap DIRTcar 305 Sprint Car contest and engaged in a heated game of cat-and-mouse that ended with big contact between the two, sending Tucker almost completely around as Bergeron drove away for the $300 check and his first DIRTcar eSports victory since his win in the Pro Late Models at virtual Volusia Speedway Park on May 9.
“Tucker got into me a little bit on the front straightaway there, we were very close there. It was a close race, close battle, especially the start with Bryce [Bailey]. Sliders on sliders. But to be able to come out here and win another DIRTcar eSports race is awesome,” Bergeron told DIRTVision host Chase Raudman in the post-race interview.
Every story has two sides, and Tucker saw the contact between the two quite a bit differently than Bergeron.
“I think we had that one won, but I don’t know. I went to cross over under [Bergeron’s] slider, and I don’t know if the world champ can’t hold a line or what, but I was holding my line down below him and he just came right down into me,” Tucker said.
Joe Grabianowski Photo
Tucker had led the race since wrestling the top spot away from Bergeron and third-place Bryce Bailey in a seven-lap side job fest that saw a new leader every other corner. Back-and-forth the three wheelmen traded slide jobs, inside-and-outside, putting on a fantastic show out front. Until Tucker made a superb door-slamming maneuver in Turns 1-2 on Lap 8 to cut Bergeron and Bailey off from any further bids for the lead.
“That was a fun race, for sure,” Bailey said, reflecting back on the ultimate duel for the lead in the early going. “The first 10 laps were just crazy. Whatever happened, happened. But the first 10 laps, that’s what we race for. It was just a blast.”
Tucker’s lead held up until just under 10 laps to go, when Bergeron finally wound-up enough momentum behind the Swindell SpeedLab #00 and threw a big slide job into Turn 3 to take the lead, only to have Tucker cross back underneath to steal it back as they crossed the flag stand. Bergeron tried it again two laps later and this time was successful, but not without some controversial nerf bar banging.
Tucker crossed back underneath Bergeron’s slide job coming out of Turn 4, and space between the two just plain ran out. They bounced off one another, Bergeron off the outside wall, but both kept it rolling into Turns 1-2 where even further contact was made.
Joe Grabianowski Photo
“He went to slide me down there. On the straightaway, instead of keeping his car straight, he just decided to hook a hard left into me. I got my car all squirrely. I went down into Turn 1 the next lap and got into his tail tank and it about spun me out,” Tucker said of his view inside the cockpit.
“I came off of Turn 4 and the car got loose a little bit,” Bergeron said of the incident. “I was able to stay straight, but then [Tucker] came up a little bit. So, it was kind of a racing incident, pretty much. He came up, I came down, and we tangled up. I didn’t expect to stay in the wall like that on the front straightaway, I almost flipped my car there.”
Now with the lead and several lapped cars in between he and Tucker, Bergeron put his ABR #12 machine on cruise control and led the field back around to the checkered flag unchallenged for yet another virtual Sprint Car victory for the two-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car iRacing World Champion.
Shortly after the big three-car battle out front for the lead ended, Bailey broke his stride and slipped over the banking in Turns 1-2, losing several spots of track position in the process. But he was able to recover, using the lone caution flag and some smart passing to climb his way back up to a podium finish.
“I just made a mistake on the cushion. I just overdrove it. When those guys found the bottom, I’m not a very good bottom feeder, I just kinda jumped it,” Bailey said.
The DIRTcar eSports action continues in just two weeks’ time – DIRTcar Pro Late Models at virtual Eldora Speedway. Catch all the action on DIRTVision presented by Drydene – the broadcast home of DIRTcar eSports!
DIRTcar eSPORTS HOOSIER RACING TIRE 305 SPRINT CAR SHOWDOWN RESULTS; June 3, 2020 at Lernerville Speedway
