Edens Becomes First iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Repeat Winner of 2020
Swindell SpeedLab Esports’ James Edens didn’t just beat defending iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Champion Alex Bergeron to the finish line with Monday night’s victory at Limaland Motorsports Park. He also did something that few may have predicted coming into the 2020 season: he also became the first repeat winner of the season, halfway into this year’s campaign.
“Last week, I thought we gave one away by not putting enough fuel in,” admitted Edens, who nearly had a repeat victory at Knoxville Raceway one week prior after leading most of the race. “We went a gallon earlier this week to make sure we wouldn’t need to slow up at the end of the race. It was redemption, and it feels good because Limaland’s definitely a tricky track for me.”
For just the second time this season, all 20 drivers who made the main event were able to complete all 35 laps, and only one caution for Heat 3 winner Joel Berkley on Lap 29 slowed down the proceedings. Edens, Knoxville winner Braden Eyler, and Shaun Timmerman took the other three heat wins, while Dillon Semmelmann and Tyler Ducharme punched their tickets to the final through the last chance qualifier.
While Edens proved to be untouchable in the feature, leading every single lap thanks in part to a solid restart in crunch time, the rest of the field saw plenty of slicing and dicing among the sport’s quickest drivers. Bergeron fought his way up to second overall from fifth on the grid, while David Heileman returned to the podium by climbing four spots to third place. Eyler and Dylan Houser rounded out the top five.
Full results from iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship action at Knoxville Raceway were as follows:
iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship standings through five rounds are as follows:
- Alex Bergeron, 311
- James Edens, 302
- David Heileman, 296
- Braden Eyler, 281
- Kendal Tucker, 280
- Cameron Merriman, 267
- Adam Elby, 256
- Dillon Semmelmann, 197
- Blake Cannon, 196
- Cole Cabre, 196
The second half of the 2020 iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car World Championship season begins next Monday at 9PM ET with a return to Lernerville Speedway, the only track with two dates on this year’s calendar. As always, the race will stream live on the iRacing eSports Network. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
Originally published at https://www.iracing.com on April 23, 2020.
