Kennon and Schildhouse Entertain with their Monday Night Podium Finishes

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

With victory in the Big Green Egg Dirt Derby out of reach, Max Kennon and David Schildhouse opted to make their finish dramatic.

For the second week in a row in Monday Night Racing, 2016 Repco Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) dominated the race. That left the rest of the field battling for second at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Three attempts at an overtime finish allowed both Kennon and Schildhouse to battle for second on the final lap.

Before the final overtime attempt, control for second appeared to be locked down for Schildhouse with NASCAR driver Will Rodgers in third. The final overtime restart saw the Season 2 champion spin, opening the door for Kennon. The NASCAR engineer slipped by Schildhouse on the final lap.

Kennon moved forward just enough that nothing that the Twitch streamer and NASCAR spotter could do would change the finishing order. Deciding to make the finish at least look dramatic, Schildhouse hooked Kennon as the duo crossed the line. The move pitched Kennon’s virtual No. 21 Cacti Chevrolet Silverado on its’ side. 

Schildhouse’s virtual No. 20 Advanced.gg Chevrolet Silverado took the checked in third. NASCAR Cup Series driver Anthony Alfredo had a front-row seat to the action in fourth.

“I think depending on what number was on your car all bets were off at the drop of the green flag,” admitted Schildhouse. “It was fun in that first run, but then we got into the yellow flags. Less and less ‘give a damn’ from people. I had my issue, used my quick repair, don’t know how I drove back up into the top three like that. It was unexpected, but it was fun. 

“I had a shot at it there with SVG. It’s tough to be on the outside of the front row, you don’t know when he’s going to go. That second restart I really did a good job, but we got that caution when it should have been the white flag taken. Really good points day. Not sure anyone had anything for the No. 97 (SVG).”

Kennon took the dramatic finish in stride. Both drivers joked about the finish post-race. The good-hearted banter even spread to Twitter. The Twitter thread can be found below.

“My whole thing was that I got in a crash early and I just tried to stay patient running the bottom,” explained Kennon. “On those restarts I just knew those guys would go into the corner so hard towards the wall. So, I just eased up and dragged the brake a little bit and ran the bottom. It was amazing.”

As both drivers explained, they were in early race incidents. Both Kennon and Schildhouse were swept up in a crash on lap 35. Schildhouse dropped to 20th on track while Kennon was 23rd.

Kennon and Schildhouse are currently on the Monday Night Racing playoff grid. Kennon is 26-points above the cutoff while Schildhouse is 32 above the cutoff. Gary Sexton currently holds the playoff cutoff based on a tie-breaker.

Next up for the iRacing league is the $300 to win Indianapolis 500k. The race will showcase the Dallara iR18 IndyCar and have double points.