BERGERON’S BACK: Pro Series Sprint Car Champ Gets 358 Modified Victory at USA Int’l
Points difference now at 75, Tucker will clinch championship next week at Charlotte
May 19, 2021 – He’s a multi-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Series Sprint Car iRacing World champion, and now the winner of the first-ever DIRTcar 358 Modified race contested on the DIRTcar eSports Tour.
Alex Bergeron showed an impressive display of resiliency Wednesday night at USA International Speedway, holding off defending Tour champion Kendal Tucker for over half the race to pick up his first Tour victory of the season with the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modifieds.
“We did what we had to do – protect the line there in [Turns] 3-4 and got the win. Pretty happy about this,” Bergeron said.
This win comes as a bit of redemption for the Team ABR leader after a costly penalty nixed his win in the 360 Sprint Car race last week, handing the victory over to Tucker. But this week was a different story – both drivers battled hard, but clean, and put on a show for the DIRTVision presented by Drydene audience.
While Richard Murtaugh Jr. led the field around the big 3/4-mile for the first 18 circuits, Bergeron was forced to wrestle the lead away from him in a big slide job-fest that lasted several laps and involved most of the top-five.
Once Bergeron grabbed the lead, his competition was in trouble. Tucker was his biggest thorn-in-the-side through the rest of the race, clinging right to his rear bumper, just waiting for a mistake to be made by the leader.
But a mistake never showed from the ABR #12. Bergeron led the final 22 laps to pick up his first $250 check of the season and first since January 6 of Season 2.
“I always had great restarts, and made the most out of it,” Bergeron said. “We just had to stay really patient and try not to make any mistakes out front – it’s always easy to make mistakes when you’re leading.”
Tucker crossed the stripe in second, extending his streak of top-two finishes to a whopping eight in his eight starts this season. Now sitting an even 75 points ahead of Bergeron in the standings, Tucker will hoist his second consecutive DIRTcar eSports Tour trophy next week after the Big Block Modifieds wrap up the season in the 10th and final race of Season 3 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
VP Racing Fuels Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [1]; 2. 00-Kendal Tucker [2]; 3. 33-Evan Seay [6]; 4. 000-Kevin Dedmon [13]; 5. 85-Tyler Schell [8]; 6. 22-Mason Hannagan [9]; 7. 48-Dylan Yeager [4]; 8. 17-Brett Rowles [16]; 9. 717-Bobby Rafferty [17]; 10. 13-Matt Remick [18]; 11. 10-Ryan Gregoric [19]; 12. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [3]; 13. 018-Tyler Jackson [14]; 14. 013-Shane Andrews [21]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [24]; 16. 115-Boddie Parker [15]; 17. 78-Justin Bishop [22]; 18. 26-Sage Luther [12]; 19. 71-Claude Jr Fournier [23]; 20. 2-Chance Carr [11]; 21. 1-Jesse Enterkin [10]; 22. 72-Joseph Grabianowski [20]; 23. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 24. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [7]
STREET STOCK LIMBO: Kilgore Bests Jackson in Low-Groove Battle at Williams Grove
Jackson takes 43-point lead into final race next Wednesday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
The two biggest forces in the Chevy Performance Street Stock League have battled neck-and-neck all season long, and it came to a boiling point on Wednesday night at Williams Grove Speedway – just one week out from their epic championship finale.
With points, pride and money on the line, Carl Kilgore hung tough out front of points leader Tyler Jackson through 20 defensive laps on the very bottom of the track, enduring relentless pressure from behind to win his fourth Feature of the season.
“I love it when this place gets around the bottom,” Kilgore said. “It’s a hit-your-mark kind of place and we just hit ‘em every lap.”
With both drivers making up the front row for the initial start, Kilgore, of Greenville, MS, had to get a great start to get the jump on Jackson and win the battle heading into Turn 1. Which, he did, setting him right up for a non-stop defensive battle on the bottom over the next 20 circuits.
Jackson, of Rockford, IL, did all he could to try and pry the top spot from Kilgore’s hands, but could only muster a few thwarted pass attempts by the checkered flag. Digging harder every lap, Jackson tried and tried to get even lower than Kilgore on the track but could not do so without hitting the inside wall.
In the final laps, Jackson knew he had to try something quick. He drove his Osman Racing #25 in deep and gave Kilgore a few taps on the quarter-panel to try and break the defending race winner loose, but was unsuccessful in the end.
“He left a little crack open down there and I figured I’d shove it in there and see what happened, but he did a good job of cutting back down,” Jackson said.
Kilgore was able to hold it together and drive back around to the stripe to collect another $100 prize check.
Coming into Wednesday night, Jackson sat a comfortable 48 points ahead of Kilgore in the standings, on the back of three Feature wins since the start of the season. With Kilgore’s fourth win of DIRTcar eSports Season 3 Wednesday, he shaves five points off Jackson’s lead heading into the final race at Charlotte.
And while 43 points in one race is a lot to make up, considering Jackson’s finishes this season, Kilgore’s not out yet. A big wreck, technical difficulties or one bad miscue somewhere in the qualifying events does have the potential to ruin Jackson’s lead.
Kilgore has the scenario in the back of his mind, but isn’t going to let that distract him from getting a fifth win next Wednesday night on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
“We’re gonna give it our all, but we’re here for the $100-to-win though,” Kilgore said.
UP NEXT
The Chevy Performance Street Stock League puts a cap on its second season of action next Wednesday night, May 26, with a final stop at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision with a FAST PASS subscription.
Chevy Performance Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 021-Carl Kilgore [1]; 2. 25-Tyler Jackson [2]; 3. 69-Keith Hackney [9]; 4. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [3]; 5. 17-Brett Rowles [8]; 6. 225-Nathan Lemons [7]; 7. 077-Holden English [5]; 8. 71-Daniel Stiffler [13]; 9. 26-Sean Stevens [10]; 10. 48-Kyle Vaughn [4]; 11. 21-Jim Reavis [14]; 12. 546-Randy Axner [15]; 13. 111-Jaron Valley [21]; 14. 73-Scott Reid [17]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [11]; 16. 5-Jason Metoxen [20]; 17. 002-Clifford Bellomy [12]; 18. 92-Payton Gries [18]; 19. 717-Bobby Rafferty [6]; 20. 79-Dean Reynolds [22]; 21. 38-Ryan Carlisi [24]; 22. 84-Mike Watt [16]; 23. 27-Christopher Reckner [23]; 24. 11-Trevor Depriest [19]
DIRTcar Racing is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, and NAPA Auto Parts (SDS). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear (SDS), Bassett Racing Wheel, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing Products (SDS), Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux (SDS), Cometic Gasket (SDS), COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, K1 Race Gear, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Mulit FireX, Quarter Master, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, Velocita USA, Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum), and Xceldyne. Along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FireAde, Intercomp, and Racing Electronics.
Sources: Jordan DeLucia, DIRTcar Racing PR