Alex Bergeron, your Lockdown Showdown at Knoxville winner just two weeks ago, dominated once again to take home the checkered flag in tonight’s Billy Whittaker Confinement Classic 40-lap finale presented by Dirt Track Digest at the virtual Eldora Speedway.  He was followed by David Heileman and Braden Eyler.

“To be able to win this big event with all the real-life guys and all the tough competition on iRacing is good,” said Bergeron.

From the second the green flag dropped, the drivers were hungry to get to the front. Bergeron, the driver out of Drummond, Quebec, quickly jumped out front after throwing an early slide job on polesitter Richie Preston. The caution flag flew for the first time on lap two, and once more on lap eight.

As Bergeron continued to dominate out front, Eyler, your Thursday night winner, quickly worked his way up to second place on lap 11 after battling hard with Bryce Bailey, the newly-appointed Max McLaughlin Racing driver out of Waverly, New York. Eyler secured his second-place spot after swapping a few slide jobs and locked his sights on the leader.

As another caution flag flew on lap 15, Bergeron remained out front followed by Eyler, Zane Scott, and Bryce Bailey. The field would quickly begin to shift.

Joel Berkley worked his way into the picture by taking over third from Scott on lap 17. As they battled back and forth, Bergeron and Eyler began to run away from the field single file until Eyler made a move and took over first place at the halfway point after swapping a few slide jobs.

Bergeron took back over first place on lap 23. Joel Berkley looked to be a contender until a late-race jumble between him and Eyler traded paint and were both shuffled back into the pack. David Heileman snuck into second place where he would also stay for the remainder of the event.

After the fifth and final caution was thrown on lap 30 with 10 to go, Eyler began working the high side looking to scratch his way back into the top three, taking the position away from Nelson Webster. Heileman was unable to reel in Bergeron, giving Bergeron his second win of the week where it really counted.

“I felt like the track was rough tonight compared to the previous nights. I had to work the line and drove it low into turns one and two, and felt fast,” said Bergeron. “Running down on the bottom is tough. It makes it very tough to do repeatedly but it paid off and I was able to pull away every time and picked up the win.”

Heileman, who finished on the podium every night this week, stated “I would have liked to win my heat tonight to set us up for a better starting spot. After the mid-race shuffle that sent us back a few spots, we had to fight our way up.”

When asked about running down Bergeron, Heileman commented that “Bergeron was running a defensive line lap after lap, and we were so even that it would have been hard to put a move on him.”

Eyler, your third-place finisher, had similar remarks as Bergeron about the track conditions stating, “I was pretty fast and then the track just went away there at the end. It didn’t have the best grip, and I ended up making contact with Joel Berkley which absolutely set us back. After that contact, I felt like I was broke so I was proud to work my way back up to finish on the podium.”

Stay tuned to Dirt Track Digest as well as our Facebook page for the latest developments for the first ever Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Confinement Classic presented by Dirt Track Digest.  Be sure to continue to check out Dirt Track Digest for information on future iRacing events. With over 150 drivers signing up and over $2,000 of purse money raised through sponsors, the demand for more is certainly apparent.

The Confinement Classic is supported by the following sponsors: Bill Brown and Company, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Burton’s Logging & Equipment, Camp Mayhem, DIG Racing Products, Empire Super Sprints, Ground Control Lawn and Snow, JZ iRacing Photos, KBS Racing Photos, Milton Cat, NESCOT, Ohsweken Speedway Racesource, Racers Preferred Models, RL Cleaning and Sprint Car Unlimited.

BILLY WHITTAKER CARS & TRUX A-MAIN FINISH (40-LAPS):
1 Alex Bergeron
2 David Heileman
3 Braden Eyler
4 Brian J Cross
5 Nelson Webster
6 Zane Scott
7 Kevin Click
8 Bryce Bailey
9 Tyler Ducharme
10 Kevin Swindell
11 Kevin Loveys
12 Billy Rowlee
13 Jason Nygard
14 Darren Dryden
15 Brett Michalski
16 Kevin Hanley
17 Kyle Sosnoski
18 Joel Berkley
19 Richie Preston
20 Mason Hannagan
21 Chad Homan
22 Tyson Landis
23 Jeremy Zarfos
24 Michael Sheridan