Matjoulis Wins iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Opener

Matjoulis wins the iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Opener at Volusia Speedway Park with a fine performance.

The World Of Outlaws Sprint car series in iRacing has shown some top performances, Blake Matjoulis stepped up and took all the spoils in an impressive race at Volusia Speedway Park.

Blake Matjoulis isn’t the first driver in iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series history to cross over from the late model side of the sport, but if his run at Volusia Speedway Park on Monday night is any indication, he may soon call himself among the most successful.

The former Late Model champion made his debut on the winged side of things with Monday’s opener and made a massive statement to the field. The only driver to break the 13-second barrier in qualifying, Matjoulis first won his heat before leading every lap of the 35-lap feature, holding off pressure from big names like three-time defending series champion Alex Bergeron in the process. Past series race winner Cameron Merriman completed the podium.

All three of those drivers were joined by Kendal Tucker as Monday’s heat winners, while Mason Hannagan and Aiden Bierlein took the last chance qualifiers that completed the 20-car grid. Three cautions slowed the feature, the last of which set up a final shootout with 10 laps to go.

But even with the most successful driver in series history among those breathing down his neck on the restart, Matjoulis drove undeterred by the pressure. Bergeron also had his hands full attempting to defend second place from Tucker, as most of the drivers in the top five would shuffle among completely different lines—Bergeron high, Tucker and later Merriman low, Matjoulis running slider lines to quell their momentum. In the end, he’d extend the lead to .392 seconds at the finish, staying off the wall and mistake free as others pushed their limits.

iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series results from Volusia Speedway Park were as follows:

Fin.	St.	No.	Driver	Laps	Interval	Led	Best	Pts.
1	1	127	Blake Matjoulis	35		35	13.216	78
2	3	12	Alex A Bergeron	35	-0.392	0	13.266	75
3	4	17	Cameron Merriman	35	-0.590	0	13.387	72
4	2	00	Kendal Tucker	35	-1.108	0	13.241	69
5	8	5	Braden Eyler	35	-1.268	0	13.341	65
6	10	85	Tyler Schell	35	-2.001	0	13.426	61
7	5	41	Logan Rumsey	35	-2.079	0	13.414	59
8	7	33	Evan Seay	35	-2.286	0	13.414	56
9	14	25	Tyler Ducharme	35	-2.473	0	13.479	51
10	9	48	Dylan Yeager	35	-2.800	0	13.549	49
11	16	21	Chris Sabescay	35	-3.170	0	13.503	46
12	11	52	James Edens	35	-3.578	0	13.634	45
13	12	18	Austen Semmelmann	35	-4.996	0	13.494	43
14	20	51	Clayton W Tilley	35	-5.077	0	13.631	37
15	18	13	Aiden Bierlein	35	-5.724	0	13.495	36
16	15	1	Jérémy St-louis	35	-6.121	0	13.537	36
17	19	99	Gregory Lamey	35	-7.649	0	13.493	31
18	13	74	Adam Elby	35	-10.129	0	13.541	32
19	6	86	Timothy S Smith	34	-1 L	0	13.409	32
20	17	22	Mason Hannagan	18	-17 L	0	13.468	27

 

iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series points through one round are as follows:

1. Blake Matjoulis, 78
2. Alex Bergeron, 75
3. Cameron Merriman, 72
4. Kendal Tucker, 69
5. Braden Eyler, 65
6. Tyler Schell, 61
7. Logan Rumsey, 59
8. Evan Seay, 56
9. Tyler Ducharme, 51
10. Dylan Yeager, 49

The iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series season continues next week at Kokomo Speedway, where Hayden Cardwell took an important victory to keep his 2020-21 championship hopes alive. The event will stream live on iRacing social media and DirtVision on Monday at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

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