MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022
120 of iRacing's best drivers entered the 15th Annual 2022 Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling Presented by The Dirt Track at Charlotte and broadcast by XR as part of their groundbreaking Colossal 100 coverage. By the end of the second night of competition, Tuesday, May 10, only one name mattered. Blake Matjoulis. His dominant performance in the 100-Lap A-Feature race left no doubt whose name should be etched into the trophy. Taking home victory in two consecutive Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling events, Matjoulis becomes the first driver to ever win the event in back-to-back years and also becomes the first multi-time winner of the event since the move to iRacing in 2017.
His road to the top of the podium wasn't easy. With the 120 drivers split into two fields, Matjoulis' would need an excellent performance on the Garrett Smith Performance preliminary racing night. And it didn't start off strong.
Matjoulis would only be able to qualify third in the WR1 Sim Chassis Qualifying event for his server, qualifying a mere 0.02 seconds off the top time set by fast qualifier Matthew Selby. (Koulten Herbert would set the fast time in Server 2) Rolling him off on pole of the @Spartan Transportation LLC Heat #3.
Matjoulis was challenged by John Ruggiero Jr. and Jacob Fields in his heat race, but ultimately emerged victorious to line himself up third for the Spartan Transportation LLC Qualifying-Feature.
Pole-sitter Matthew Selby held the lead of the Spartan Transportation LLC Qualifying-Feature for 10 laps before being bested by Matjoulis who never looked back. The Qualifying-Feature was eventful, and saw Logan Rumsey and Chase Barbara move from the back row all the way into 9th and 12th position respectively, locking themselves into Tuesday night's Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling.
Steven Whitaker Racing Server 2 saw plenty of action too. WR1 Sim Chassis fast qualifier Koulten Herbert battled with Dylan Houser for the top position before a Lap 21 incident saw Herbert to the back of the field. Houser would not have a comfortable end to the race, and battled with Evan Seay and Brandon Freeburg throughout the remainder of the race before taking the checkered flag to set himself up for an outside-pole start on the Dirt Track at Charlotte Night 2.
Kicking off the second night of competition was not short on drama. The Garrett Smith Performance LCQ had plenty at stake, with a full-field payout that allowed the winner the option to take guaranteed money or to tag the end of the field of the 2022 Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling.
With 9 lead changes during the race between three drivers, the drama really picked up in the last four laps as Koulten Herbert and Ryan Underwood traded the lead back and forth. However, on the last turn of the last lap, Underwood threw caution to the wind and sent a slider that caused significant contact with then race leader Herbert. After brief deliberation, race admins decided to swap the finishing order between Herbert and Underwood, giving Herbert the race victory and a chance to compete in the 2022 Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling.
Following a brief session of track prep, the 2022 Spring Fling was underway. Blake Matjoulis and Dylan Houser comprised the front row and the two cars moved with precision around the track. With Matjoulis in the lead and Houser inches behind, the race remained in green flag racing conditions for 71 straight laps.
With Matjoulis in control of the first 50-laps, the onus was on Dylan Houser to make a move. On Lap 51, Houser and Matjoulis made heavy contact in turn 1 which resulted in Houser gaining the lead. Matjoulis would squeeze Houser to the top of the race track exiting turn 4 and compromise his entrance into turn 1 of Lap 52 where Matjoulis would regain the lead. While the gap was mere inches for the first portion of the race, contact with the wall by Dylan Houser would result in some damage to his car that would see him unable to keep up with the blistering pace of Matjoulis who made a cleve move on lap 57 to pass multiple lap cars.
The late-race caution bunched the field up and opened the opportunity for chaos. By lap 82, Dylan Houser had fallen to 5th and Evan Seay took control of the 2nd podium spot. All the remained was the third podium spot. In the remaining 10 laps of the race, three drivers challenged. Barrett Bishop, Kendal Tucker and World of Outlaw Sprint Car champion Alex Bergeron would all battle before the Quebecois driver Alex Bergeron walked away with the final podium spot.
While Seay, Bergeron, Bishop, Tucker and Houser battled for the podium, Matjoulis wasted no time extending his lead which stretched to an impressive 3.37 seconds on the final lap. In a world of his own on the night, Matjoulis chiseled his name into Schaeffer's Oil Spring Fling history and made himself $6,000 richer.
Congratulations to all drivers who signed up to be a part of this historic event. A huge thank you to all of our sponsors who helped make the event possible too.
Schaeffer's Oil
XR
The Dirt Track at Charlotte
Garrett Smith Performance
Spartan Transportation LLC
ML Performance
iRacing iFlag
Steven Whitaker Jr.
Gauge Martinez
KBN Signs and Graphics
Matjoulis-Seay Speed Shop
Brent New
WR1 Sim Chassis
Sweet Victory Apparel Co.
Forward Bite Podcast
Apex Industries
Chaz Thompson