For the second straight season, Gavin Eisele struck first in the battle to become DIRTcar Sportsman Series champion.
The LaFargeville, NY driver led 37 of the 40 laps and held off a late charge from Tavien Blowers to win Sunday’s Championship Series opener at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park for the second straight year.
“We built this car overnight and this morning,” Eisele said. “It’s pretty cool to get this thing out and go to Victory Lane on the first night.”
Eisele led the field to the green in the 40-lap Feature, outdueling Tristan Ladouceur as they battled into Turns 1 and 2. The driver of the No. 18 quickly pulled away, but his momentum was halted by the race’s only yellow flag for East Region champion Zach Buff, who slowed on Lap 7.
When the race resumed, Eisele held off a challenge from Ladouceur and reclaimed the lead as he stormed down the backstretch. From there, the Central Region champion cruised out front until he hit lap traffic on Lap 17.
While Eisele tried getting around Tim Wilmont and E.J. Gallup, who were lap cars, it allowed Ladouceur and Blowers to close in on the lead. Eisele snuck by Wilmont, and it wasn’t long before Blowers also got by Wilmont’s No. 14W, passing Ladouceur for second in the process. However, it wasn’t as easy for Eisele to get by Gallup, allowing Blowers an opportunity to strike.
Blowers got his chance to sneak by Eisele in traffic on Lap 34, when he dove underneath him in Turns 3 and 4, taking the lead when he crossed the start/finish line. But this was where Eisele’s experience took over. Eisele immediately went to the bottom and got his chance to get the lead back in traffic three laps later.
When racing through Turns 1 and 2, Blowers slipped up from the bottom. That allowed Eisele to dive underneath him in Turn 2, where he stormed past the No. 43 car to retake the lead.
That was all Eisele needed, as he held on to score his fourth career DIRTcar Sportsman Series victory, and second at Glen Ridge.
In Victory Lane, he said he knew traffic would be tough, based on the size of the track.
“I felt good, it’s just tough with the lap cars to know where they’re going to be,” Eisele said. “Tavien passed me on the bottom, and then I knew where I needed to be. And once I got by him, I knew I wasn’t leaving the bottom.”
Blowers settled for second, earning his best DIRTcar Sportsman Series finish. The Caroga Lake, NY driver had to get his car together quickly, after he said he destroyed it last night at Bear Ridge Speedway.
“I don’t really know if we could’ve been much better,” Blowers said. “Gavin is a little bit better at navigating through lap traffic. We don’t really run with a lot of lap cars and stuff.”
Ladouceur, from Alexandria, ON, grabbed the final spot on the podium. He said he had trouble navigating through traffic but was happy with his finish.
“We had a really great car tonight,” Ladouceur said. “We just made a couple of mistakes in lap traffic. I probably would’ve been able to fight it out up there with him, just need to get better in lap traffic.”
Tim Hartman Jr. finished fourth, and Jessica Power rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship season continues with a stop at Ransomville Speedway on Tuesday, Aug. 12, as part of the Ron Martin Summer Nationals with the Super DIRTcar Series.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Feature (40 Laps): 1. 18E-Gavin Eisele[1]; 2. 43-Tavien Blowers[6]; 3. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[2]; 4. 22-Tim Hartman Jr[10]; 5. 52P-Jessica Power[3]; 6. 64-Tyler Corcoran[8]; 7. 88-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[5]; 8. 07-Taylor Wason[14]; 9. 0S-Shane Pecore[7]; 10. 33-Richard Murtaugh[12]; 11. 4-Emmett Waldron[11]; 12. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[13]; 13. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[9]; 14. RB21-Ryan Barrett[15]; 15. 0-Tony Finch II[16]; 16. 10X-Cory Castell[24]; 17. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[21]; 18. 916-Nick Brundige[20]; 19. 6-Cody Manitta[17]; 20. 01-Zach Buff[4]; 21. 14-Camdin Cook[18]; 22. 16X-Savannah Laflair[23]; 23. 311-Zachary Graham[19]; 24. 10-Trevor Houghton[22]; 25. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[25]; 26. 14W-Tim Wilmont[26]; 27. (DNS) 67W-Zack Welch
Hoosier Racing Tire Award (Free Tire): Cody Manitta
