Dominance is the only way to describe Braden Eyler’s performance in the opening round of the iRacing Dirt Track Digest Lockdown Showdown presented by SprintCarUnlimited.com at the virtual Knoxville Raceway.
The only hiccup for Eyler on the night was that he didn’t set overall fast-time. That honor went to defending Knoxville Nationals champion David Gravel. Other than that, he was flawless. Eyler timed third, won his heat then ran away from the competition to win the Dig Race Products A-Main.
He is the high point man at the end of the night with 496 points to lock himself into Saturday’s finale.
“We got more guys here tomorrow,” commented Eyler, of Franklin, Pa. after the win. “I’m sure Alex Bergeron is running and he’s never a slouch. He’s a champion for a reason. We’ll see what we can do here on Saturday. I’m going to try to give her a good run.”
Eyler wasted little time getting the lead in the 25-lap feature. Northeast Modified driver Anthony Perrego started on the pole of the feature after dominating the final heat race of the night with David Flick next to him. The pair raced each other hard going into the first corner opening up the bottom lane, that was all Eyler needed.
Eyler dove low going into turn one and stayed there at the exit of turn two. He got a monster run of the second corner which propelled to the race lead.
“The bottom of one and two was really there pretty much the whole race,” mentioned Eyler. “The top was just; it was just really burned off. There was a lot to lean on. It wasn’t grip. You couldn’t really make it work. All you would do is go up there and bounce around.”
From there, Eyler extended his advantage over the field. The battle for second was a good one as Australian Craig Dunn contended with Flick. They waged a war for the position until the only caution of the race was necessary two cars got together in turn one.
Eyler lined up as the leader for the restart with Dunn, Flick, Perrego and seventh starting Jeremy Zarfos in the fifth position. Eyler had choice of lanes so he went to the outside for the green.
As he raced away as the action resumed, the battle for fifth heated up between Brett Michalski, Adam Buchanan and Zarfos battled while Flick and Dunn exchanged blows for second.
By the time things settled down, Eyler stretched the lead with Dunn comfortably in the second position. Zarfos eventually grabbed the third spot from Flick with Buchanan also getting by him as well.
Buchanan briefly grabbed the third position from Zarfos before Zarfos rallied to get back by just after the halfway point.
Eyler went on to score the easy victory when he crossed the line with nearly a five second advantage and the overall point lead after the first qualifying night.
Dunn, of Maryborough, Queensland, Australia ended up finishing second. Dunn searched around late in the race trying to find a quicker lane, but it was all for naught.
“It was pretty good,” stated Dunn. “I’m a little disappointed with my qualifying run. I was hoping to be bit higher in qualifying. It was nice to get a heat win and then I stayed out of trouble in the feature.”
Zarfos completed the podium at a track that he admittedly doesn’t usually run well at. The Pennsylvania driver was pleased with the outcome as he looks for more on Saturday night.
“I’ll take it,” said Zarfos after the main. “I don’t do a lot of practice to be honest. I think I hold my own on this whole iRacing deal for not practicing much. I actually got 100 laps of practice in tonight before the race. It had to play a part in it some how or another. I’ll take it for sure.”
Buchanan finished in fourth allowing him to rebound from a poor qualifying effort. Eighth starting Richie Preston completed the top five.
Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux heat race wins went to Dunn, Michalski, Eyler, Flick and Perrego. Chris Hile won the C-Main and Wyatt Brown won the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint B-Main.
The DTD Lockdown Showdown presented by SprintCarUnlimited.com is an iRacing event being held at the virtual Knoxville Raceway. Th event is broadcast on the Dirt Track Digest Facebook page for FREE each night and continues on Friday night, April 10 at 8 p.m. The Lockdown Showdown finale goes green at 7 p.m. on April 11. The best iRacers in the country are taking on the some of the best the Northeast racing scene has to offer.
Stay tuned to Dirt Track Digest as well as our Facebook page for the latest developments for the first ever Lockdown Showdown. Check out SprintCarUnlimited.com for the latest in the world of Sprint Car racing.
DTD LOCKDOWN SHOWDOWN PRESENTED BY SPRINTCARUNLIMITED.COM – VIRTUAL KNOXVILLE RACEWAY (4/9/20)
DIG RACE PRODUCTS A-MAIN FINISH (25-LAPS)
1 Braden Eyler
2 Craig Dunn
3 Jeremy Zarfos
4 Adam Buchanan
5 Richie Preston
6 Jesse Dakus
7 Brett Michalski
8 David Flick
9 Larry Moody
10 Wyatt Brown
11 Brandon Planck
12 Kevin Loveys
13 David Gravel
14 John Guarino
15 Anthony Perrego
16 Brad Patton
17 Madison Mulder
18 Kyle Rochinski
19 Eric Rutz
20 Brian Parr
21 Zane Scott
22 Matthew Hearn
23 Christopher Hockley
24 AJ Kingsley
LUCAS OIL EMPIRE SUPER SPRINTS B-MAIN FINISH (16-LAPS) – 4 TRANSFER
1 Wyatt Brown
2 Kyle Rochinski
3 Kevin Loveys
4 Matthew Hearn
5 Jeffrey Herrick
6 Christopher Hile
7 Bobby Hackel
8 Michael Phelps
9 Tyler Puchalski
10 Stewart Friesen
11 Bruce Hilton
12 Michael Rozendahl
13 Brian Hoag
14 Dylan Ondek
15 Ted Barcomb
16 William Suave
17 John McPhee
18 Jordan Poirier
19 William Richardson
20 Justin Demontigny
21 Mike Schultz
22 Peter Dance
23 Trevor Years
24 Matthew Henniger
25 Maxime Pauquette
C-MAIN FINISH (10-LAPS) – 4 TRANSFER
1 Christopher Hile
2 Kevin Loveys
3 Jordan Poirier
4 Michael Rozendahl
5 Jared Turnbull
6 Rylin Turley
7 Shayne Pierce
8 Brandon Chretien
9 Christopher Papa
10 David Emigh
11 Curtis LaMEre
12 Kyle Perry
13 Joseph Achzet
14 Austin Comes
15 Gavin Collins
16 Lance Dewease
17 Demetrios Drellos
18 Ted Starr
19 Matt Yorker
TIME-TRIAL RESULTS (2-LAPS)
1 David Gravel 15.123
2 Larry Moody 15.132
3 Braden Eyler 15.138
4 Maxime Pauqette 15.175
5 Jesse Dakus 15.212
6 Jordan Poirier 15.217
7 Jeremy Zarfos 15.219
8 Richie Preston 15.224
9 Kevin Loveys 15.227
10 Brad Patton 15.229
11 Craig Dunn 15.234
12 Jeffrey Herrick 15.239
13 Gavin Collins 15.243
14 Jared Turnbull 15.246
15 Ted Barcomb 15.249
16 Brandon Plank 15.255
17 Brett Michalski 15.260
18 Michael Rozendahl 15.267
19 Matt Yorker 15.270
20 Kyle Perry 15.275
21 Brian Parr 15.276
22 Michael Phelps 15.287
23 Stewart Friesen 15.295
24 David Flick 15.296
25 Demetrios Drellos 15.298
26 Lance Dewease 15.301
27 Ted Starr 15.307
28 Aj Kingsley 15.320
29 Madison Mulder 15.322
30 Anthony Perrego 15.337
31 Kyle Rochinski 15.342
32 John Guarino 15.343
33 Bobby Hackel 15.347
34 Eric Rutz 15.351
35 Christopher Hockley 15.355
36 Brian Hoag 15.355
37 Bruce Hilton 15.357
38 Rylin Turley 15.358
39 Matthew Hearn 15.367
40 Mike Schultz 15.368
41 William Suave 15.368
42 Christopher Hile 15.373
43 Matthew Henninger 15.381
44 Adam Buchanan 15.383
45 William Richardson 15.391
46 Brandon Chretien 15.392
47 Christopher Papa 15.395
48 Zane Scott 15.417
49 Peter Dance 15.421
50 Shayne Pierce 15.425
51 Trevor Years 15.459
52 Dylan Ondek 15.475
53 Wyatt Brown 15.475
54 David Emigh 15.493
55 Joseph Achzet 15.623
56 John McPhee 15.625
57 Austin Comes 15.630
58 Curtis Lamere 15.670
59 Tyler Puchalski 15.714
60 Justin Demontigny 15.717
BILLY WHITTAKER CARS AND TRUX HEAT RACE RESULTS (10-LAPS)
HEAT 1 – 4 TRANSFER
1 Craig Dunn
2 Brandon Planck
3 Brian Parr
4 David Gravel
5 Kyle Rochinski
6 Brian Hoag
7 John McPhee
8 Trevor Years
9 William Suave
10 Jordan Poirier
11 Brandon Chretien
12 Lance DeWease
HEAT 2 – 4 TRANSFER
1 Brett Michalski
2 Jeremy Zarfos
3 Larry Moody
4 John Guarino
5 Jeffrey Herrick
6 Michael Phelps
7 Dylan Ondek
8 Bruce Hilton
9 Austin Comes
10 Christopher Papa
11 Christopher Hile
12 Ted Starr
HEAT 3 – 4 TRANSFER
1 Braden Eyler
2 Richie Preston
3 Zane Scott
4 AJ Kingsley
5 Wyatt Brown
6 Stewart Friesen
7 Matthew Henninger
8 Bobby Hackel
9 Gavin Collins
10 Curtis LaMere
11 Rylin Turley
12 Michael Rozendahl
HEAT 4 – 4 TRANSFER
1 David Flick
2 Adam Buchanan
3 Madison Mulder
4 Eric Rutz
5 Matthew Hearn
6 Tyler Puchalski
7 Peter Dance
8 Maxime Paquette
9 Kevin Lovies
10 Jared Turnbull
11 David Emigh
12 Matt Yorker
HEAT 5 – 4 TRANSFER
1 Anthony Perrego
2 Brad Patton
3 Christopher Hockley
4 Jesse Dakus
5 Mike Schultz
6 William Richardson
7 Justin Demontigny
8 Ted Barcomb
9 Joseph Achzet
10 Demetrios Drellos
11 Kyle Perry
12 Shayne Pierce
QUALFYING NIGHT #1 POINT STANDINGS (invitational drivers in bold)
1 Braden Eyler 496
2 Jeremy Zarfos 481
3 Craig Dunn 478
4 Larry Moody 476
5 Richie Preston 475
6 Jesse Dakus 473
7 David Gravel 467
8 Brett Michalski 456
9 Brad Patton 451
10 Brandon Planck 447
11 David Flick 440
12 Kevin Loveys 438
13 Brian Parr 416
14 Anthony Perrego 414
15 Jeffrey Herrick 408
16 Madison Mulder 406
17 Adam Buchanan 405
18 John Guarino 403
19 Kyle Rochinski 394
20 AJ Kingsly 391
21 Eric Rutz 389
22 Christopher Hockley 382
23 Jordan Poirier 379
24 Michael Phelps 379
25 Maxime Pauqette 375
26 Ted Barcomb 373
27 Stewart Friesen 373
28 Matthew Hearn 370
29 Wyatt Brown 366
30 Michael Rozendahl 361
31 Zane Scott 360
32 Bobby Hackel 353
33 Brian Hoag 341
34 Jared Turnbull 339
35 Bruce Hilton 337
36 Christopher Hile 328
37 Gavin Collins 324
38 Mike Schultz 320
39 William Suave 316
40 William Richardson 311
41 Kyle Perry 310
42 Dylan Ondek 304
43 Tyler Puchalski 303
44 Matthew Henninger 302
45 Matt Yorker 295
46 Peter Dance 294
47 Demetrios Drellos 293
48 John McPhee 290
49 Trevor Years 288
50 Lance Dewease 287
51 Rylin Turley 286
52 Ted Starr 285
53 Justin Demontigny 276
54 Brandon Chretien 266
55 Christopher Papa 265
56 Shayne Pierce 257
57 David Emigh 246
58 Joseph Achzet 244
59 Curtis Lamere 239
60 Austin Comes 238
QUALIFYING NIGHT #1 CONTIGENCY AWARDS
David Gravel QuickTime Award courtesy of Jeremy Elliott’s SprintcarUnlimited.com $25.00
Craig Dunn Heat 1 winner courtesy of Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux $10.00
Brett Michalski Heat 2 winner courtesy of Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux $10.00
Braden Eyler Heat 3 winner courtesy of Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux $10.00
David Flick Heat 4 winner courtesy of Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux $10.00
Anthony Perrego Heat 5 winner courtesy of Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux $10.00
Wyatt Brown B-Main winner courtesy of Empire Super Sprints $25.00
Braden Eyler A-Main 1st Place courtesy of DIG Race Products $30.00
Craig Dunn A-Main 2nd Place courtesy of DIG Race Products $20.00
Jeremy Zarfos A-Main 3rd Place courtesy of Ground Control Lawn and Snow $15.00
Jesse Dakus A-Main Hard Charger Award Courtesy of Ground Control Lawn and Snow $20.00
Brett Michalski Highest finishing PA Sprint Car driver courtesy of Beer Hill Gang Tv $20.00
Jeremy Zarfos Highest finishing PA iRacing driver courtesy of Beer Hill Gang TV $20.00
Jeffrey Herrick “Just Missed” Award, Fifth place in the B-Main courtesy of Camp Mayhem $10.00
