Over the first two rounds of the 2022 iRacing World of Outlaws ButtKicker Late Model Series, Evan Seay got about as close as a driver could get to winning without pulling it off. He led every lap but the last one from the opener at Fairbury Speedway, falling short of 2020 champion Hayden Cardwell in a photo finish, and backed up teammate and 2019 champion Blake Matjoulis in the second event at Cedar Lake Speedway.
But on Monday night at Eldora Speedway, Seay finally got his win—although it came after contact with Cardwell. When that duo touched across the start-finish line with nine laps to go, sending Cardwell spinning into the Turn 1 wall and collecting Matjoulis in third, it cleared the path for Seay to not only take his first win of the season, but also extend his points lead.
The feature had been clean and green up to that point, reflective of a largely wreck-free night on the Ohio half-mile from the start of the heats and a departure from the six cautions that flew in the feature at Cedar Lake. Cardwell, Matjoulis, and Seay qualified in the top three spots and each won their heats to lock in the top three spots for the main, while Dylan Yeager won the fourth after taking the lead from Steven Wilson early. Chase Barbara, who went from the last spot on the grid to sixth at Cedar Lake, and Mike Augustine won the last chance qualifiers.
The top handful of starters would hold their positions for the first half of the race, with Seay finally getting past Matjoulis for the runner-up spot just after halfway and setting his sights on Cardwell. He erased a deficit of about a second in the next 10 laps, began looking to make a move, and saw his opening to the inside as they started Lap 42. Both Seay and Cardwell went down the track before Cardwell’s car shot to the right towards the outside wall, and Matjoulis had nowhere to go. Seay would survive two more cautions that kept the field bunched up to take the win over Yeager and Felix Roy, who clawed his way from 16th to third at the finish.
iRacing World of Outlaws ButtKicker Late Model Series results from Eldora Speedway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Driver | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts. |
| 1 | 3 | 33 | Evan Seay | 50 | 9 | 15.917 | 78 | |
| 2 | 4 | 48 | Dylan Yeager | 50 | -0.772 | 0 | 15.924 | 75 |
| 3 | 16 | 91 | Félix F. Roy | 50 | -1.056 | 0 | 16.124 | 69 |
| 4 | 10 | 00 | Kendal Tucker | 50 | -1.249 | 0 | 15.988 | 67 |
| 5 | 12 | 41 | Logan Rumsey2 | 50 | -1.259 | 0 | 15.952 | 64 |
| 6 | 6 | 82 | Dezmond Busby | 50 | -1.337 | 0 | 15.937 | 62 |
| 7 | 8 | 52 | James Edens | 50 | -1.759 | 0 | 16.000 | 59 |
| 8 | 7 | 80 | Dylan Wilson | 50 | -2.022 | 0 | 15.997 | 56 |
| 9 | 5 | 13 | Travis StClair | 50 | -2.050 | 0 | 16.011 | 53 |
| 10 | 14 | 3 | Barrett Bishop | 50 | -2.374 | 0 | 15.968 | 48 |
| 11 | 18 | 19 | Mike Augustine | 50 | -2.443 | 0 | 15.919 | 43 |
| 12 | 9 | 5 | Nathan R Waddell | 50 | -2.609 | 0 | 16.025 | 45 |
| 13 | 15 | 4 | Justin Norwood | 50 | -2.864 | 0 | 16.032 | 42 |
| 14 | 2 | 127 | Blake Matjoulis | 50 | -3.223 | 0 | 15.916 | 43 |
| 15 | 17 | 23 | Chase Barbara | 50 | -3.450 | 0 | 16.003 | 37 |
| 16 | 11 | 157 | Drew Hopkins | 50 | -3.665 | 0 | 16.083 | 37 |
| 17 | 13 | 79 | Blake Murray | 50 | -3.941 | 0 | 16.098 | 34 |
| 18 | 19 | 21 | Damian Kiefer | 50 | -4.554 | 0 | 16.040 | 28 |
| 19 | 20 | 2 | Jesse Wall | 50 | -4.971 | 0 | 16.111 | 28 |
| 20 | 1 | 07 | Hayden Cardwell | 42 | -8 L | 41 | 15.838 | 31 |
iRacing World of Outlaws ButtKicker Late Model Series points through three rounds are as follows:
- Evan Seay, 227
- Dylan Yeager, 199
- Kendal Tucker, 196
- Blake Matjoulis, 191
- Logan Rumsey, 169
- Barrett Bishop, 153
- Dylan Wilson, 145
- Chase Barbara, 143
- Damian Kiefer, 137
- Dezmond Busby, 136
The 2022 iRacing World of Outlaws ButtKicker Late Model Series season continues on Monday, August 15 at Williams Grove Speedway. Coverage kicks off at 9PM ET on DirtVision and iRacing social media channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
