Images via Justin Prince
Swindell Speedlab Esports’ James Edens scored his second straight iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series win on Monday night, backing up last week’s win from Bristol Motor Speedway with another checkered flag at Eldora Speedway. Unlike last week, when he had to hold off multiple hard-charging rivals like Hayden Cardwell in a flurry of late-race restarts, Edens turned the tables by making the winning pass himself on Cardwell on the final lap of the 35-lap race.
Cardwell, Kendal Tucker, Cameron Merriman, and Brayden Shute were Monday’s heat winners, while top drivers like Volusia winner Blake Matjoulis and series veteran Adam Elby had to earn their way into the feature through the last chance qualifiers. Edens started eighth, alongside three-time defending series champion and incoming points leader Alex Bergeron, and began to claw his way through the field while Cardwell initially hung onto the top spot.
A major caution midway through the race would catch multiple cars, including Braden Eyler and Justin Sherman, but the moment that may have turned the championship on its head came a few laps later when Bergeron dropped out of the race. That relegated him to a disappointing 17th place finish on the session, swinging the door wide open for Edens, Merriman, and Matjoulis to capitalize.
It looked like Cardwell would avenge last year’s loss after the battle of the season last year with Bergeron and Tim Ryan, but it wasn’t to be. Edens made contact with Cardwell coming to the white flag, setting up a drag race down the backstretch. He’d slide up the track and into the top spot in Turns 3 and 4, and hang on by .032 seconds in a near-photo finish.
iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series results from Eldora Speedway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Driver | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts. |
| 1 | 8 | 52 | James Edens | 35 | 1 | 14.345 | 77 | |
| 2 | 1 | 07 | Hayden Cardwell | 35 | -0.031 | 34 | 14.298 | 75 |
| 3 | 9 | 33 | Evan Seay | 35 | -0.725 | 0 | 14.393 | 70 |
| 4 | 2 | 00 | Kendal Tucker | 35 | -0.862 | 0 | 14.271 | 69 |
| 5 | 18 | 127 | Blake Matjoulis | 35 | -1.722 | 0 | 14.417 | 61 |
| 6 | 3 | 17 | Cameron Merriman | 35 | -1.937 | 0 | 14.310 | 63 |
| 7 | 4 | 76 | Brayden Shute | 35 | -2.125 | 0 | 14.338 | 60 |
| 8 | 6 | 85 | Tyler Schell | 35 | -2.253 | 0 | 14.482 | 56 |
| 9 | 12 | 69 | Shae Paulo | 35 | -2.544 | 0 | 14.544 | 52 |
| 10 | 19 | 74 | Adam Elby | 35 | -2.926 | 0 | 14.440 | 46 |
| 11 | 10 | 99 | Gregory Lamey | 35 | -3.414 | 0 | 14.473 | 47 |
| 12 | 20 | 41 | Logan Rumsey2 | 35 | -4.040 | 0 | 14.426 | 43 |
| 13 | 15 | 14 | JD Brown | 35 | -4.906 | 0 | 14.604 | 42 |
| 14 | 14 | 91 | Ernie Williams Jr. | 35 | -7.204 | 0 | 14.500 | 40 |
| 15 | 5 | 25 | Tyler Ducharme | 30 | -5 L | 0 | 14.413 | 40 |
| 16 | 17 | 1 | Jérémy St-louis | 30 | -5 L | 0 | 14.899 | 35 |
| 17 | 7 | 12 | Alex A Bergeron | 24 | -11 L | 0 | 14.457 | 36 |
| 18 | 16 | 6 | Rylan Gray | 24 | -11 L | 0 | 14.519 | 32 |
| 19 | 11 | 5 | Braden Eyler | 18 | -17 L | 0 | 14.386 | 31 |
| 20 | 13 | 00 | Justin Sherman3 | 17 | -18 L | 0 | 15.011 | 28 |
iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series points through five rounds are as follows:
- James Edens, 272
- Cameron Merriman, 257
- Blake Matjoulis, 251
- Alex Bergeron, 250
- Evan Seay, 238
- Logan Rumsey, 231
- Hayden Cardwell, 225
- Kendal Tucker, 224
- Tyler Schell, 188
- Adam Elby, 166
The iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series season continues next week at Williams Grove Speedway, where Tyler Schell will look to defend his victory from last year. The event will stream live on iRacing social media and DirtVision on Monday at 9PM ET/6PM PT. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
