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.
Alex Bergeron and Tyler Jackson are not unaccustomed to parking their digital dirt cars in virtual Victory Lanes across the iRacing simulator-verse. Bergeron won the 50-lap Bicknell Racing Products Big Block Modified Feature at Weedsport Speedway while the defending DIRTcar eSports Chevrolet Performance Street Stock champion Tyler Jackson picked up where he left off last season by winning at Volusia Speedway Park.
DIRTcar eSports Bicknell Racing Products Big Block Modifieds
Alex Bergeron’s name is synonymous with success in iRacing. He’s won everything including the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car iRacing Series and even dabbles in other disciplines like Rallycross on iRacing as well. Despite all of that versatility and success, Bergeron has yet to put it all together and win a DIRTcar eSports championship.
His quest for a first Tour title started off strong Wednesday night, when Bergeron found the fast way around Weedsport Speedway in a Bicknell Racing Products Big Block Modified, leading flag-to-flag to pick up the win.
Bergeron led the entire race but not without real-life drivers Nick Cooper and Bryce Bailey shadowing his every move. Cooper was ready for any slight mistake or bobble by Bergeron.
Over the course of the 50-lap Feature, the surface of Weedsport Speedway changed and so did the racing line. Cooper made up ground running the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 but lost ground in Turns 3-4 as Bergeron was able to keep a lot of speed and momentum around the top. Bergeron rode that wave all the way across the finish line.
Bergeron crossed the line first with Nick Cooper and Bryce Bailey filling out the podium.
“I am kind of mad at myself,” DIRTcar Sportsman Modified driver Nick Cooper said. “I hit the wall pretty hard halfway through that. I broke the suspension a little bit nevertheless I finished second to Bergeron and I’ll take it.”
If not for one mistake, it could have been another story for Cooper and Bergeron.
DIRTcar eSports Chevrolet Performance Street Stocks
Six Heat Races of Chevrolet Performance Street Stocks assembled at the virtual Volusia Speedway Park in an effort to make the first DIRTcar eSports Street Stock race of season four.
Qualifying is always important with the talent at the front of DIRTcar eSports events. Feature winner Tyler Jackson had to be at the top of his game all night.
“That was an interesting night,” Jackson said. “I qualified third, which is great because I didn’t think I’d qualify that well. In the Heat I was just missing something. Sage was catching me and he threw a slider. He didn’t quite clear me but luckily he missed me off enough that I was able to keep the hammer down on the bottom. We were able to find a new lane that no one else had.”
In the Feature, star iRacers Zane Yost and Carl Kilgore battled for the lead early but with 20 laps to go Kilgore was sent spinning into the infield off of Turn 4 resulting in a massive pile up.
“In the Feature there, Carl got sideways and by the time I realized and checked up I think four or five guys got me,” Tyler Jackson said of the melee. “My right front was so bent in it handled so bad I think it made it good.
Yost brought the field back to green with Tyler Jackson close behind looking to strike on the bottom. Jackson dove under Yost with 15 laps remaining, sliding under him only to give the position back on the over-under.
Jackson continued working on Yost and finally completed the pass only to be turned completely sideways down the backstretch. Jackson somehow hung on for the lead.
The defending eSports champ survived one final restart to hang on for the Feature win.
NEXT UP: DIRTcar eSports season four, race two, is next Wednesday, November 17. The Tour visits Fairbury in the UMP Modifieds while the Chevrolet Performance Street Stocks pick up the fight at Lanier. Join the fun by signing up now on iRacing or watch the racing live every Wednesday night on DIRTvision presented by Drydene.
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!
BARBERVILLE, FL – Alex Bergeron stormed his way to the front of the field Saturday night to win the Weekly DIRTcar eSports Showdown at virtual Volusia Speedway Park.
A force to be reckoned with, the 2019 iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car World Champion from Drummondville, QUE, managed to find his way around the virtual DIRTcar Pro Late Model well enough to claim the $300 winner’s share at the end of the 35-lap Chevy Performance Feature.
“I was following Mike [McKinney] and Tucker while I was running third, and I decided to take it easy until the final couple laps when I made my move on the outside and I was able to get the run off of turn two,” Bergeron said of his race-winning lap-29 pass on real-world driver Mike McKinney.
Contact, however, was prevalent throughout the race although rarely was it enough to result in caution flags.
“It was pretty rough for sure,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron is notable for his new role as an iRacing mentor to the pros, who are finding themselves in the virtual cockpit more than ever. His experience in simulators allows him to anticipate the changing track conditions, and be able to quickly analyze how to wheel a DIRTcar Pro Late Model around The World’s Fastest Half-Mile:
“The bottom was not really there,” he said. “It was pretty much middle in Turns 1 and 2. Going into Turns 3 and 4, the high side wasn’t there at all and if you got off the line you’d fall back a lot. Going into 1 and 2 you get into the middle and hit the apex, then let the car go up and get the moisture off the back straightaway.”
An obviously disappointed Kendal Tucker finished second to Bergeron, who took advantage of a battle between Tucker and Mike McKinney.
His race day started by grabbing the Cometic Gasket Fast-Time Award in Racing Electronics Qualifying with a lap around the World’s Fastest Half-Mile in 16. 561 seconds.
After leading the first 18 laps, pole-sitter Tucker was forced out of the lead by Mike McKinney gave him a few taps before barging his way to the lead.
After retaking the lead, Tucker was dispatched similarly by Bergeron but not without dishing out some hard-nosed racing of his own in the closing stages.
“Alex [Bergeron] got to us and instead of trying to pass he hit us four times in one lap and to finish it off he doored us out of the way,” said the fired up Tucker.
The battle in the top 5 was wild over the course of 2 green/white/checkered flag attempts where the field fanned out going for the lead.
Evan Seay, a World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models iRacing World Champion, crossed the line in third hoping to make that top-side work on the leaders. Seay fell just short, but knew from Lap 1 the competition at the front would be extremely tight.
“This was a good finish tonight,” Seay said. “With Fixed Setups it’s always going to be close. You get into tight battles like that. I was kind of rolling the top there in three and four. It was just as fast as the middle. I stuck with that plan on the last restart and it worked out.”
Notably, Weekly DIRTcar eSports Showdowns feature a Fixed Setup, which means all cars have precisely the same setup including tire pressures, gearing, fuel, suspension and more. This puts everything in the driver’s hands and there’s no room for error at the front.
It also makes for some of the best iRacing eSports competition out there.
The DIRTvision Hard Charger was Dan Hoekstra, who powered the Taylor Farms No. 52 ahead nine positions to finish 15th.
Upcoming Weekly DIRTcar eSports Showdown events will be released soon. Check DIRTcar.com, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
Weekly DIRTcar eSports Showdown RESULTS; May 9, 2020 at Volusia Speedway Park