By Justin Melillo
A trip to Pevely, Missouri is in the cards for Monday night as the top dirt racers gear up for the fifth race of the 2023-24 iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series season at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
Three drivers have made their way into victory lane so far, including Alex Bergeron on two occasions, Timothy Smith, and most recently, Kenny Miller. However, it’s Lemoore, California’s Ryan Avila who leads the standings after four races, having two top-fives and a perfect set of four top-10 finishes thus far.
The I-55 action from Pevely starts on December 11 at 9PM ET, live on both DIRTVision and iRacing’s social media channels.
Last Race: Last season, hometown hero Kenny Miller scored his first career Sprint Car victory at Lincoln Speedway in the venue’s debut on the calendar. Miller followed that up a year later with a second career victory at the same track, dominating the fourth race of the year. Miller took the first heat victory from Bergeron, the man with the quickest lap in qualifying, and then went on to lead every lap from the pole in the main event. Fellow Pennsylvania native Logan Rumsey finished second while rookie Joey Lingron rounded out the podium.
Last Season: Similarly to Lincoln, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 made its debut on the 2022-23 season calendar after its release in the 2022 Season 2 update. In that first rodeo, James Edens was victorious, leading 13 laps and scoring the win over Smith for his ninth career series victory. Smith led 19 of the 35 laps, but lost out on the lead late to Edens while also maintaining second over Dylan Yeager in third.
Track Info: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri is a high-banked, 1/3-mile clay oval. It features an incredibly fast surface and layout, as Sprint Cars can lap around, or even under, the 10-second mark. Legendary racing driver Ken Schrader is a part of the ownership group, and the venue not only features World of Outlaws competition, but also DIRTcar, and just last year, the Superstar Racing Experience.
Race Format: These races feature qualifying and heat racing to determine the 20 drivers that will compete in the main race. There will be four heat races of 10 laps each, where the top four will advance forward through to the main event. There will also be two 12-lap consolation races where the top two finishers in each will move on. In the 35-lap feature races, caution laps do not count. This is the first Sprint Car season since iRacing’s Dirt Refresh was launched in June.
Next Up: When the schedule flips into the second half of the 2023-24 series calendar, drivers will be faced with taking on the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”, Knoxville Raceway. Well known for the Knoxville Nationals in the real world, Knoxville has been a staple on the iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car schedule, as the series contested the 1/2-mile oval eight previous times since the inaugural 2018 season. Three-time series champion Bergeron has the most virtual wins here with four, including the last two seasons back-to-back.
For more information on the 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.