World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series Sprint Car Tournament at Knoxville belongs to Aiden Forster

The halfway mark to the 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series brought forth the first ever Tournament in series history, with 60 drivers entered for a shot at winning a share of $11,000, the winner on the night taking $6,000. Former iRacing World of Outlaws champion, Aiden Forster, showed up to Knoxville Raceway on Monday night just 10 points back of Alex Bergeron for the Sprint Car Segment title. By the end of the night, Forster’s accolades included the race-slash-tournament victory, the overall points lead, and the Sprint Car Segment title.

From the second row of the Feature grid, Forster worked his way around Kenny Hoffman, Ross Keiser, and with 16 laps to go, he passed race leader Tyler Schell to take control of the event. A late caution bunched up the field for a two-lap dash to the finish. Schell kept it close, but Forster was able to hang on for the win.

Aiden Forster is a Knoxville Tournament winner!!!

On the final restart, Forster holds off Tyler Schell, Alex Bergeron, and Tanner Pettit to take the win, the points lead, the Segment win… and he collects $6,000 in the process!!!@WorldofOutlaws | @dirtvision pic.twitter.com/b5pijo8C7G

— iRacing (@iRacing) December 16, 2025

“Man, it’s cool to get one of these again,” Forster said post-race. “We had a dream season two years ago, and this is up there with that. It feels really good. We had a really good car… just got into a good rhythm there, and was able to get out on Schell there, just clicking off really good laps… Man, this one feels good.”

Bergeron, who clawed his way into the Feature, managed to finish third overall, keeping the championship battle at 12 points entering the second half of the season, in the Super Late Models, starting at Oswego. The 410 Sprint Car section of the schedule, however, belongs to Forster, the fifth different winner in five races.

QUALIFYING

During the 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series season, 22 drivers are slated to qualify for each Feature race. Eight of those spots are filled almost immediately through Qualifying, where the first 25 points of the night are on the line. Setting quick time will earn 25 points, but will invert that driver to starting eighth in the Feature, whereas eighth will invert to the pole position, but only collect 17 points. Everyone from ninth on back in Qualifying are to be split into the Heat races.

With 55 drivers of the 60 eligible making the trip to virtual Iowa, Noah Carpenter showed up and showed out in qualifying, setting the quick time lap over the Knoxville dominator Logan Rumsey.

With the invert, Carpenter and Rumsey would be subject to starting in Row 4. Moving up to the front of the field would be Ross Keiser and Tyler Schell, with Kenny Hoffman and Aiden Forster rounding out the second row. Kellan Sabo and Ethan Johnson were the other two transfers, as the other 47 drivers would be forced to take part in the Heat races. Six Heat races were initially scheduled, but with the slightly shorter field, it was cut down to five Heats, with the Last Chance Showdowns picking up an extra position each to transfer to the Feature as well.

Qualifying Transfers:

1. Noah Carpenter
2. Logan Rumsey
3. Ethan Johnson
4. Kellan Sabo
5. Aiden Forster
6. Kenny Hoffman
7. Tyler Schell
8. Ross Keiser

HEAT RACES

In the five Heat races, up to 10 drivers would compete for eight laps, and the top-two finishers advanced onward to the Feature later in the night. Points were awarded to the top-nine finishing positions in each Heat. Heat winners earn 15 points, while ninth place finishers only claim seven points. The drivers that don’t advance to the Feature through Qualifying or the Heats are sent to one of the two Last Chance Shootout races.

Braden Eyler, Ryan Avila, Wyatt Schuchart, Landon Cardoza, and Dylan Yeager were all able to win their Heat to qualify into the Feature race. With only the top-two spots transferring this week, the battles were more fierce for the transfer spot. Aiden Price, Bradley Cox, Shaun Smith, Tanner Pettit, and Joey Lingron were the five drivers that finished in second to transfer on. Names such as Alex Bergeron and Mason Hannagan, winners earlier in the season, were forced to partake in the Last Chance Showdown due to incidents ending their Heat races early.

Heat 1 Transfers:

1. Braden Eyler
2. Aiden Price

Heat 2 Transfers:

1. Ryan Avila
2. Bradley Cox

Heat 3 Transfers:

1. Wyatt Schuchart
2. Shaun Smith

Heat 4 Transfers:

1. Landon Cardoza
2. Tanner Pettit

Heat 5 Transfers:

1. Dylan Yeager
2. Joey Lingron

LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWNS

The final shot to race in the Feature is normally by winning one of the two Last Chance Showdown races. These races normally include up to 10 cars each where only the winner can move on. For the Tournament, however, with up to 20 drivers per LCS, there were thankfully two spots available due to one of the Heats getting scrapped. There were still no points awarded in these races, but not moving to the Feature would prove to be a huge points loss for any contender in the mix.

Many cars were taken out early in the going of the first LCS. With just five cars with a true shot at the end of things, Steven Gaines and Ty Schobelock were able to take the first two transfer spots of the four remaining. In the final LCS, Hayden Cardwell was able to pull away and easily win, but the true battle was for second. Each time it got too close, and the battle would shift down the order. Alex Bergeron, down in 14th at the start of this grid, was able to bypass each incident and methodically work his way into position, ultimately taking the final spot to stay alive.

Last Chance Showdown #1 Transfers:

1. Steven Gaines
2. Ty Schobelock

Last Chance Showdown #2 Transfers:

1. Hayden Cardwell
2. Alex Bergeron

FEATURE RACE

The Feature was set for only 35 laps, so anyone who wanted to win had to be on it from the get-go. While the battle for the lead was intense between Tyler Schell and Aiden Forster, the real show came from the back of the grid, as Alex Bergeron just proved in the previous 12-lap Showdown that passing was possible at the half-mile dirt oval.

As the laps continued, the field fanned out three, four, and sometimes five-wide, and for the most part, everyone gave space, allowing for Bergeron to slice and dice. There were a few dicey moments, as at one point right before a caution, he got into both Ethan Johnson and Tanner Pettit, everyone thankfully keeping it straight and moving forward.

Cautions would eliminate hopefuls such as Landon Cardoza and Ryan Avila, two previous winners on the season. In fact, with those two out and Mason Hannagan eliminated in the LCS, Bergeron was the only previous winner on the season still left in the field.

Once Bergeron got through the multiple-wide pack, he started setting some blistering laps for as worn-in as the track was at that point. Sixth, then into the top-five around Pettit, who also climbed from the back of the field from 17th. As Bergeron settled into fourth behind Forster, Schell, and the defending winner and champion, Logan Rumsey, it looked as though that would be his ceiling in the short Feature race.

Rumsey, however, made another uncharacteristic move with just three laps remaining, jumping the cushion into the wall, flipping violently to bring out one last caution, setting up for a two-lap dash. Forster, who had made his way around Schell for the lead and pulled away, would not only have to worry about the fast driver of the No. 85, but also the drivers in the row behind that had worked their way up from the back of the pack.

Thankfully for Forster, Row 2 couldn’t figure it out, with Bergeron ultimately claiming the third spot over Pettit by the checkers. Schell kept close, but the advantage belonged to Forster, who was able to cruise to victory.

FEATURE RESULTS FROM RACE NO. 5 AT KNOXVILLE RACEWAY

POINTS EARNED FOR DRIVERS THAT DID NOT QUALIFY FOR THE FEATURE

DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE NO. 5 AT KNOXVILLE RACEWAY

1. Aiden Forster, 523 points
2. Alex Bergeron, -12
3. Kenny Hoffman, -69
4. Landon Cardoza, -75
5. Tanner Pettit, -83
6. Joey Lingron, -107
7. Tyler Schell, -111
8. Logan Rumsey, -131
9. Noah Carpenter, -152
10. Ryan Avila, -158

The first half of the 2025-26 season is officially complete, and Aiden Forster is the 410 Sprint Car Segment champion. The full season championship, the one that pays out at the end of the season, is still close between Forster and Bergeron, but now they’ll have to battle it out utilizing the other car on the calendar, the Dirt Super Late Model.

Logan Rumsey was among the winners of the Late Model portion of the 2024-25 season, winning twice. Other Late Model winners included Connor New, Robbie Buchanan Jr, and JD Brown. Will the Late Model segment of the season allow for Rumsey to rebound from his Knoxville disaster, and close a 131 point gap to defend his title? Or will Forster or Bergeron be able to hold their advantage through the rest of the season?

NEXT UP: Late Model Season Segment begins at Oswego in 2026

The World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series returns after the new year with the sixth round of the 2025-26 season at Oswego Speedway. The World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Qualifying Series will open up on Tuesday, December 30th, at 8:00 p.m. ET with its first of three races for the week, the other two at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night and Thursday night the same week. 40 drivers from the top of the standings will be invited to race in the next Pro Series event.

The Pro Series action resumes on Monday, January 5th, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. The action will be live on DIRTVision and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

For more details on the World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series and the World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Qualifying Series, check out www.iRacing.com/WoO-Pro-Series/
For more information about iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iRacing.com.

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