Two weeks ago, all signs pointed to Alex Bergeron and Timothy Smith facing off for the 2022-23 iRacing World of Outlaws Carquest Sprint Car Series championship over the final two rounds at Weedsport Speedway and The Dirt Track at Charlotte. But the drivers don’t run the races on paper, they run them in the sim—and sometimes things can change in an instant. And so they did: after two phenomenal weeks of action, it was Tyler Schell who took his first career series title, the lion’s share of the $25,000 series purse, and a trip to the DIRTcar Nationals next month.

After keeping Timothy Smith out of the Weedsport final to jump to second in points, Schell capitalized on a strong qualifying run to win the second heat and start on the front row, while Bergeron would have to weather one of the last chance races to start near the back. Schell would shadow polesitter Aiden Forster in the early stages of the race as Bergeron made his charge through the field, and as both drivers battled with those around them, the points lead changed lap by lap until the first caution flag of the night flew.

From there, it was about which driver could rise to the occasion. Bergeron began to falter after driving so hard to get back in points contention, while Schell ping-ponged between fourth and first in a four-car battle for the lead with Forster, James Edens, and Kenny Miller. Finally, on Lap 27, Schell took the point for good, leading his first laps of the season in the process. Edens made a final charge coming off the last corner, but Schell hung on in a photo finish split by just .016 seconds.

When all was said and done, Schell won the title by eight points as Bergeron faded to 10th at race’s end. The Pennsylvania native will now get ready to head to the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida next month, where he’ll receive VIP treatment as he claims his $10,000 champion’s prize and series trophy. Bergeron will lead a group of 14 other drivers who are in position to be invited back next season, while the bottom 20 will need to qualify their way back in.

iRacing World of Outlaws Carquest Sprint Car Series results from The Dirt Track at Charlotte were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts.

1 2 85 Tyler Schell 35 9 13.932 78
2 8 52 James Edens 35 -0.016 0 14.033 74
3 1 20 Aiden Forster 35 -0.377 25 13.952 72
4 19 1 Mason Hannagan 35 -0.891 0 14.149 64
5 5 86 Timothy S Smith 35 -1.067 0 13.913 65
6 3 23 Kenny Miller 35 -1.634 0 14.040 63
7 11 24 Tanner Pettit 35 -1.774 0 13.948 58
8 7 00 Kendal Tucker 35 -1.847 0 14.124 56
9 4 5 Braden Eyler 35 -2.360 0 14.016 54
10 17 12 Alex A Bergeron 35 -2.801 0 13.983 47
11 6 41 Logan Rumsey2 35 -3.684 0 14.069 48
12 15 13 Aiden Bierlein 35 -4.166 0 14.138 44
13 13 16 Blake Giglio 35 -4.466 0 14.202 42
14 18 9 Tanner Miller3 35 -4.666 0 14.077 39
15 16 22 Bryce Lucius 35 -5.138 0 14.100 38
16 9 48 Dylan Yeager 35 -5.738 0 14.108 37
17 12 25 Tyler Ducharme 35 -6.539 0 14.089 35
18 20 14 JD Brown 35 -6.571 0 14.137 29
19 14 11 Kenny Hoffman 35 -9.002 0 14.229 30
20 10 4 Ross Keiser2 21 -14 L 0 14.202 29

 

iRacing World of Outlaws Carquest Sprint Car Series points are as follows:

  1. Tyler Schell, 610
  2. Alex Bergeron, 602
  3. Timothy Smith, 581
  4. James Edens, 565
  5. Kendal Tucker, 500
  6. Kenny Miller, 487
  7. JD Brown, 486
  8. Mason Hannagan, 451
  9. Aiden Forster, 446
  10. Braden Eyler, 411

For more information on the iRacing World of Outlaws Carquest Sprint Car Series, visit www.iracing.com/woosc. For more information on the World of Outlaws, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here