CONCORD, N.C. – The virtual Eldora Speedway trophy was already having Logan Seavey’s name etched into the plate with three laps to go in Sunday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car iRacing Invitational.
Seavey had been the dominate force of the night. Untouchable. However, he almost let a mistake cost him a win for the second race in a row.
He missed his marks enough times to allow Pennsylvania’s Brett Michalski to catch him in the closing laps. Michalski fired a slide job at Seavey in turn one and took the lead with two laps to go.
However, his moment of glory was for a brief second. Seavey charged back underneath him and reclaimed the lead by the next corner. He couldn’t pull away, though. Michalski rushed back underneath Seavey into turn one; the two cars close enough for the drivers to grab each other’s shoulders.
Both cars charged off the corner, with Seavey having the advantage. Focused and intent on winning, the Sutter, Calif., driver pulled ahead of Michalski and claimed the win at the virtual Eldora Speedway – his third Sprint Car Invitational win. He also became the third different winner in three races.
“Brett was incredibly good there at the very, very end,” Seavey said. “I felt like I was a little too good early. I was driving away from the field there and I knew that my car was really good. I didn’t know if it would stay good. We just kept having cautions which puts you in a bad spot and lets everyone attack real hard on restarts. Luckily, I was able to get some good jumps. At the end I seen Brett there behind me and I made a few mistakes and almost gave one away there.”
Seavey was on track to potentially pick up the win last Tuesday at the virtual Williams Grove Speedway. But by focusing on where drivers where running in his rear-view mirror – an iRacing feature – he misjudged where the best line was and allowed Robbie Kendall to charge by him for the victory.
At Eldora, Seavey was prepared to leave with the $1,000 winnings. He set Cometic Gaskets Quick Time in Radio Electronics Qualifying and went on to win Drydene Heat Race No. 1. That put him on the pole for the 30-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature.
He was the class of the field the entire race, pulling away to about a three second lead at times. Behind him was an epic duel for second between Troy Wagaman Jr., Tony Gualda and Carson Macedo. Logan Schuchart and NASCAR star William Byron, who ran the NASCAR iRacing event at Talladega early in the day, also poked their nose into the battle at times. Michalski, who started fourth, fell back early on, but eventually worked his way back up through the field.
Three cautions flew throughout the night. Seavey was able to pull away from the 24-car field each time. On the final restart, with about five laps to go, Michalski made quick work of Macedo and Wagaman to take the runner up spot and hunt down Seavey.
Michalski was then on a mission to give the PA Posse two wins in a row as he dueled with Seavey for the lead. His final shot at Seavey was on the last lap, going into turn one when he dove underneath him and the two raced inches apart. When they exited turn two, Seavey knew he had the race won.
“I knew when we got off of turn two and I was in the moisture and he wasn’t I figured I had a pretty good enough run to be able to just protect and not give up much time,” Seavey said. “I think the race was kind of over going down the backstretch once he didn’t clear me through one and two. That was really big. He got a huge run and I was able to block just enough to where we weren’t able to crash, and he couldn’t clear me either. That was a heck of a finish.”
While Seavey crowded Michalski’s No. 73 car a little going into turn one, Michalski said it was good, clean, hard racing.
“We were rolling tonight,” Michalski said. “I gave him (Seavey) something. Let him know I was there. He did everything right. Zero mistakes. When I did get by him, he drove back by and slid me and ran nice and clean. Hats off to him for the win there. We definitely, hopefully, put on a good show for everyone and see you at the next one.”
After the 30-lap duel in the top-five for position, Tony Gualda rounded out the podium with Logan Schuchart finishing fourth for the second race in-a-row and Wagaman ended up fifth.
While real racing continues to be on hold for now, the iRacing Invitationals are allowing drivers a chance to stay fresh, have fun and earn some money. Between his Sprint Car and Late Model iRacing Invitational wins, Seavey has collected $4,000 dollars in the past month.
“Definitely when you win a thousand bucks it’s not a bad deal,” he said. “We’ve got a couple more this week to try and win. I just can’t thank the Outlaws for putting these things on. It’s just fun to come race and have something to do.”
The finish:
1. 19-Logan Seavey [1] [$1,000]; 2. 73-Brett Michalski [4]; 3. 99-Tony Gualda [3]; 4. 1-Logan Schuchart [8]; 5. 19-Troy Wagaman Jr. [2]; 6. 117-Mike McKinney [7]; 7. 5-Chase Briscoe [9]; 8. 37-Mitchell Faccinto [15]; 9. 39-Kevin Swindell [19]; 10. 23-Cole Macedo [18]; 11. 2-Carson Macedo [6]; 12. 41-David Gravel [14]; 13. 7-Justyn Cox [23]; 14. 5-Brent Marks [12]; 15. 91-Cale Thomas [16]; 16. 11-Zeb Wise [21]; 17. 25-William Byron [5]; 18. 6-Juan Pablo Montoya [20]; 19. 17-Austin McCarl [10]; 20. 21-Brian Brown [24]; 21. 43-Seth Bergman [17]; 22. 17-Max McLaughlin [13]; 23. 55-Robbie Kendall [11]; 24. 46-Michael Bauer [22].