Hayden Cardwell has shown his eSports chops with good runs during big events. Specifically, this year’s ASCORS Chili Bowl.

There was a $1,000 prize on the line in the Chili Bowl competition. Cardwell was leading and cruising to victory when his internet dropped out, which ended any chance of earning the biggest win of his career.

It was a bitter pill to swallow.

But, Cardwell didn’t go into eSports hibernation. He came back during the Racing Xtravaganza weekend and earned the victory in the Wicked Cushion eSports Championship Series event at the York show.

This was a biggie. Not only did Cardwell tame super-tough Williams Grove Speedway to snag the win in the first ever Live broadcast event, he traded the lead with Alex Bergeron and held off the standout late to take the victory.

With a large crowd watching Live and online, Cardwell led early before Bergeron grabbed the lead entering Turn 1 before the caution came out just past the halfway point. Bergeron took off on the restart and looked like he was going to speed away for the expected win.

That wasn’t the case, as Cardwell closed on Bergeron and made a race of it. Cardwell was better on restarts and took advantage of one of several caution periods late in the race to wrestle the lead back.

Bergeron had a couple of cracks late, but he got tight and couldn’t make it happen. Cardwell, who joined the competition online, didn’t make a mistake over the final two circuits and was able to score his biggest eSports win.

As for Bergeron, who was in attendance at Racing Xtravaganza, he was forced to settle for second. Austin Carr, James Edens, and Davin Cardwell completed the top five.

NOTES: Braden Eyler had a busy day, advancing from the F-Main to the A-Main to run the alphabet soup. He carved his way into the fifth position before spinning on a late-race restart. He finished 19th. … Austin Carr came from Tampa, Fla., to participate in the Live version of the program. He finished third and was the highest finisher on a single monitor … Local Sprint Car drivers Kyle Keen, who runs a 305, and Troy Wagaman Jr., who is moving up to the 410 Sprint Car division this year, participated in the event and made the A-Main. Keen finished 11th, with Wagaman placing 12th. Kody Hartlaub also finished 15th, with another local driver, Brett Strickler placing 16th.