The showdown between Alex Bergeron and Hayden Cardwell for the 2020-21 iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship is shaping up to be one for the ages.
Bergeron swung the pendulum back in his favor at Lernerville Speedway on Monday night, taking his second straight series victory and third overall after taking the lead for good from Kendal Tucker early in the 35-lap feature. Combined with third place in qualifying and a heat victory, the win was enough to reclaim the championship lead from Cardwell by a razor-thin two-point margin at the halfway mark of the season.
At first, Monday looked like it could’ve been rookie Logan Rumsey’s night. The series newcomer qualified first and won the first heat over Cardwell to take the advantage into the main event, but an immediate caution including previous Lernerville winner James Edens forced the first of four cautions on the night. Both Tucker and Bergeron got past Rumsey on the restart, but he held onto a top-five spot for much of the race before becoming the final caution and the only DNF of the race.
Series veterans Tyler Ducharme and Adam Elby completed the top five, while Colton Hardy was the biggest gainer on the night as he climbed from last on the grid to 12th. Knoxville winner and former series champion Tim Ryan was ninth, and sits just six points behind Tucker for third in the standings.
iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship results from Lernerville Speedway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Driver | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts. |
| 1 | 3 | 12 | Alex A Bergeron | 35 | 30 | 14.427 | 78 | |
| 2 | 2 | 00 | Kendal Tucker | 35 | -1.585 | 4 | 14.262 | 75 |
| 3 | 5 | 22 | Hayden Cardwell | 35 | -1.933 | 0 | 14.396 | 71 |
| 4 | 7 | 25 | Tyler Ducharme | 35 | -2.123 | 0 | 14.528 | 68 |
| 5 | 9 | 74 | Adam Elby | 35 | -2.612 | 0 | 14.588 | 64 |
| 6 | 11 | 5 | Braden Eyler | 35 | -3.181 | 0 | 14.602 | 61 |
| 7 | 10 | 18 | Austen Semmelmann | 35 | -3.783 | 0 | 14.476 | 58 |
| 8 | 6 | 27 | Colton Davis | 35 | -3.924 | 0 | 14.686 | 56 |
| 9 | 4 | 98 | Tim Ryan | 35 | -4.386 | 0 | 14.645 | 54 |
| 10 | 16 | 10 | Rusty L Kruger | 35 | -4.882 | 0 | 14.684 | 48 |
| 11 | 14 | 211 | Alex Smolders | 35 | -5.251 | 0 | 14.928 | 46 |
| 12 | 20 | 34 | Colton W Hardy | 35 | -5.474 | 0 | 14.797 | 41 |
| 13 | 18 | 114 | JD Brown | 35 | -5.709 | 0 | 14.784 | 40 |
| 14 | 17 | 2 | Daniel Gow | 35 | -5.880 | 0 | 14.895 | 38 |
| 15 | 19 | 9 | Dustin Griffitts | 35 | -7.194 | 0 | 14.941 | 34 |
| 16 | 8 | 52 | James Edens | 35 | -8.597 | 0 | 14.740 | 38 |
| 17 | 15 | 8 | Cole Neuhalfen | 35 | -8.809 | 0 | 14.821 | 34 |
| 18 | 13 | 37 | Zane Scott | 35 | -9.801 | 0 | 14.555 | 32 |
| 19 | 12 | 17 | Cameron Merriman | 35 | -13.697 | 0 | 14.688 | 31 |
| 20 | 1 | 41 | Logan Rumsey | 22 | -13 L | 1 | 14.574 | 31 |
iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship points through five rounds are as follows:
- Alex Bergeron, 373
- Hayden Cardwell, 371
- Kendal Tucker, 315
- Tim Ryan, 309
- Nick Cooper, 253
- Tyler Ducharme, 238
- Tyler Schell, 221
- James Edens, 220
- Braden Eyler, 210
- Austen Semmelmann, 199
The iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship takes a one-week break for the 2021 iRacing Season 1 build, which features the release of Cedar Lake Speedway, before returning to action on December 21 from Weedsport Speedway for the first time. As always, the race can be streamed live on DirtVision on Monday at 9PM ET. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
