{"id":2075,"date":"2021-04-22T07:33:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T07:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/esports\/?p=2075"},"modified":"2021-04-22T07:33:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T07:33:50","slug":"one-start-one-win-cardwell-nets-first-season-3-tour-victory-in-first-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/esports\/2021\/04\/22\/one-start-one-win-cardwell-nets-first-season-3-tour-victory-in-first-start\/","title":{"rendered":"ONE START, ONE WIN: Cardwell Nets First Season 3 Tour Victory in First Start"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tucker bags third runner-up finish and points lead, Matjoulis back-to-back podiums<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Until Wednesday night, he hadn\u2019t made a start with the DIRTcar eSports Tour since the final race of Season 2 in January. Turns out, Hayden Cardwell didn\u2019t even need it to take down an entire field of iRacing\u2019s best with the Big Block Modifieds.<\/p>\n Coming from eighth on the starting grid, Cardwell advanced his #07 seven positions in the first 15 laps around Lernerville Speedway to get his first taste at the lead, using the very bottom lane and sneaking underneath his opponents to get the spots.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of grip on the bottom early on,\u201d Cardwell told Chase Raudman in the DIRTVision post-race interview. \u201cIf you could get down there and shoot off [Turns] 1 and 2, it was so much better than the top.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardwell, the defending World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model iRacing World Champion from Knoxville, TN, made the pass for the lead on the Tour\u2019s own defending champion Kendal Tucker with his left-side tires touching the grass as he slid through the corners.<\/p>\n \u201cI got to second and then the bottom started to go away in [Turns] 3 and 4,\u201d Cardwell said. \u201cKendal moved up, so I just tried to stay down there. By the time I got to the lead, the bottom was about gone, but all it took was him to get off the bottom in 3 and 4.\u201d<\/p>\n