Steven Wilson Scores General Tire eShort Course Pro 2 Triple Crown Victory - Speedway Digest

Stewart-Haas eSports’ Steven Wilson took the victory in the General Tire eShort Course Pro 2 Triple Crown race from Detroit Belle Isle, the second of three races in the virtual iRacing-based series, in his first start in the promotion. The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver started on the front row of a 24-truck feature after inversion and ran second for much of the race, before contact with teammate Dylan Duval in a battle for the lead swung the race in his favor with two laps to go.

Jim Beaver eSports eNASCAR driver Blake Reynolds was second, leading a five-truck JBES contingent that also included Connor Parise, 2020 eShort Course World Cup winner Cam Pedersen, three-time eShort Course race winner Brandyn Proudfoot, and 2022 eShort Course World Cup Pro 2 race winner Josh Edmundson. All but three of the main event starters finished on the lead lap, with the top spots covered by a blanket for much of the race as drivers looked to manage fuel loads over the 12-lap feature.

Pedersen and Proudfoot took the two heat victories, with Wilson and Duval finishing fourth to earn front row spots in the final and the top six advancing from each. That set up a 20-truck last chance qualifier, but while 12 trucks were due to advance, many drivers took a winner-take-all approach, and some of the top names in the series ended up on the outside looking in after crashing from top-five and top-10 positions.

The main event was much cleaner, with Duval settling into the lead early, Wilson behind him, and Reynolds leading the JBES squad through the rest of the top five. After Duval led the first 10 laps, Wilson saw his opportunity to make a move with two to go, and when both drivers looked to occupy the same space, Duval got the short end of the stick, flipping into the tire barriers. Parise and Pedersen were among those who also took the fight to Reynolds in the closing laps, but neither could finish the pass, allowing Wilson to extend more of a gap at the finish.

As a result of the victory, Wilson will be guaranteed a spot in the 2023 General Tire eShort Course World Cup. He joins 2022 World Cup winner Connor Barry, Pedersen, and Edmundson among drivers who have guaranteed their World Cup slots through 2022 results.

The 2022 General Tire eShort Course Triple Crown concludes with a Pro 4 event at Crandon International Raceway. With an expanded roster of celebrity drivers that includes action sports legends Travis Pastrana and Jim DeChamp, NFL All-Pro Kyle Long, and eNASCAR driver Cody Byus, the final opportunity for drivers to win their way into the 2023 World Cup will be fiercely contested. Luke Knupp (2020 Crandon World Cup) and Holden Heitritter (2021 World Cup) are the two previous winners of eShort Course events at Crandon.

The General Tire eShort Course Pro 2 Triple Crown will re-air on the CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, March 9 at 10:30AM ET, while the Pro 4 Triple Crown race will air later this month. For more information, follow Jim Beaver eSports on Facebook and Twitter.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.