By Justin Melillo
When Lincoln Speedway debuted on last season’s iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series schedule, Morgantown, Pennsylvania’s Kenny Miller was the first to take a virtual victory, the rookie taking his first career win at a track that he’s driven in real-world competition. A year later, having collected a real-world trophy from the same track back in August, Miller was untouchable once again, winning for the second time in his virtual career and for the first time in the 2023-24 season.
Miller laid down the fifth fastest lap in qualifying, behind Alex Bergeron, Hayden Cardwell, Logan Rumsey, and Ryan Avila. That placed the hometown hero in second for the first heat, where he was able to outduel Bergeron for the top spot by the third lap. Behind, Bergeron looked to settle in, but contact with defending series champion, Tyler Schell, sent the three-time series champion towards the inside wall, forcing a trip to the last chance races for the second week in a row.
Heat 1 wouldn’t be the only wacky heat, as all four would include their own brand of twists and turns. Heat 2 saw rookie Joey Lingron pull up to take the lead from Cardwell. Cardwell looked to get back around, but instead caught the inside guardrail and spun out of a transfer spot. The third heat race was dominated by Rumsey, still sporting a sling, but behind him, Kendal Tucker was fuming after contact with Alec Serzynski took him out of contention. Noah Carpenter, who was second in points entering, also missed the transfer as a result. The fourth and final heat was won by Avila, but again, there were championship implications as incoming points leader Evan Seay was caught up in a race for the transfer.
With so many big names entered into the two LCQ races, there were sure to be some surprises heading home early. Bergeron did not want to be one of those drivers for the second week in a row. From the seventh spot on the grid, he was able to take the lead just after halfway in the first LCQ and easily advance to the feature with Clayton Davies. Perhaps the best racing of the day came in the final LCQ, as all 10 cars raced under a blanket, sometimes three or four wide through the tight corners. Garrett Hulsey and Braden Eyler advanced, while the DNQ list for Lincoln included both Seay and Carpenter.
There hadn’t been a caution in a feature since the first race of the season, with both Weedsport and Williams Grove going flag-to-flag without stoppage. It was looking to be a third straight, but that yellow finally came on Lap 18, just past halfway, when Davies flew too close to the catchfence and ended his race early. Miller continued to lead through the restart, with Rumsey right on his tail in the runner-up spot. The two hometown drivers from Pennsylvania put on a show, but it was Miller on top with Rumsey second and Lingron on the final step of the podium after 35 laps.
With a fifth place finish and the two ahead of him entering Lincoln missing the main event, Avila now leads the way in the standings by 18 points over fellow sophomore Aiden Forster. The defending champion, Schell, moves up to third, 20 points back. Bergeron, who won the first two races of the season, bounces back up to sixth while Seay falls to seventh. With the victory, Miller moves up to 15th in the standings.
iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series results from Lincoln Speedway were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 1 | 23 | Kenny Miller | 35 | 0.000 | 34 | 13.702 | 78 |
| 2 | 3 | 41 | Logan Rumsey2 | 35 | -0.420 | 0 | 13.810 | 75 |
| 3 | 2 | 16 | Joey Lingron | 35 | -0.622 | 0 | 13.776 | 72 |
| 4 | 7 | 20 | Aiden Forster | 35 | -1.051 | 0 | 13.862 | 68 |
| 5 | 4 | 49 | Ryan Avila | 35 | -1.154 | 0 | 13.860 | 66 |
| 6 | 5 | 85 | Tyler Schell | 35 | -1.753 | 0 | 13.832 | 62 |
| 7 | 8 | 86 | Timothy S Smith | 35 | -2.271 | 0 | 13.857 | 59 |
| 8 | 6 | 52 | James Edens | 35 | -3.256 | 0 | 13.891 | 56 |
| 9 | 17 | 12 | Alex A Bergeron | 35 | -3.707 | 0 | 13.966 | 47 |
| 10 | 9 | 14 | JD Brown | 35 | -3.750 | 0 | 13.836 | 49 |
| 11 | 14 | 127 | Blake Matjoulis | 35 | -3.790 | 0 | 13.902 | 46 |
| 12 | 16 | 21 | Cameron Prichard3 | 35 | -4.801 | 0 | 13.999 | 44 |
| 13 | 10 | 25 | Tyler Ducharme | 35 | -4.872 | 0 | 13.956 | 43 |
| 14 | 18 | 88 | Garrett Hulsey | 35 | -6.070 | 0 | 13.944 | 39 |
| 15 | 20 | 5 | Braden Eyler | 35 | -6.646 | 0 | 13.835 | 37 |
| 16 | 15 | 1 | Mason Hannagan | 35 | -7.946 | 0 | 14.051 | 36 |
| 17 | 13 | 89 | Nathan Van de Wakker | 35 | -8.351 | 0 | 14.046 | 34 |
| 18 | 12 | 960 | Shawn English | 19 | -16L | 0 | 14.070 | 33 |
| 19 | 19 | 50 | Clayton Davies | 17 | -18L | 0 | 14.105 | 29 |
| 20 | 11 | 24 | Tanner Pettit | 15 | DNF | 0 | 13.966 | 29 |
iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series points after Race #4 are as follows:
- Ryan Avila, 249
- Aiden Forster, 231
- Tyler Schell, 229
- James Edens, 228
- Logan Rumsey, 207
- Alex A Bergeron, 203
- Evan Seay, 191
- Timothy S Smith, 186
- Noah Carpenter, 185
- Tanner Pettit, 185
WATCH: iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Cars at Lincoln – Race #4
Next up on the 2023-24 iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series calendar is a trip to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on December 11th. Last season, James Edens was able to score the win. The virtual Sprint Car racing action streams live on DIRTVision and across iRacing social media channels on Monday nights at 9PM ET.
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.
