Conner New dominates 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series Late Model Segment opener at Oswego

The 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series returned on Monday night with the first race of the season within the Dirt Super Late Model Segment. 23 new drivers were entered into the festivities as the series swapped things over from the 410 Sprint Car, and for the sixth time on the season, a different winner—this time in the form of Conner New—claimed the victory.

New qualified in eighth, which allowed him to invert to the pole position for the Feature. From there, he led from flag to flag, holding off teammate Blake Matjoulis during a late-race restart for the win. Ethan Johnson rounded out the podium.

Conner New leads them all, and holds off Blake Matjoulis on a late race restart to take his first win of the World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series season at Oswego!@WorldofOutlaws | @dirtvision pic.twitter.com/mkfQf2nVGH

— iRacing (@iRacing) January 6, 2026

“We had to push pretty early there,” New said post-race. “I was just trying not to lose the lead, I knew it was going to be really hard to pass there at the end with no (track) reset… It’s pretty hard on the tires, running in the grip. I was trying to hit my marks and hold on at the end, not miss my line, just try to keep them behind me… We was (sic) horrible in the Sprint Car. It’s big for my team and my sponsors. We ran 1-2 tonight, and have been super good all week. Huge shoutout to Matjoulis-Seay Speedshop for building some really, really, really fast sets, and Wyatt Miller for all he did for me, sponsoring us for this Pro Series.”

Having not made a start yet this season, New slots in 33rd overall with his victory, and leads the Late Model Segment standings. The top-60 in the segment standings by the end of the ninth race of the season, and fourth race in the Late Models, will be invited to partake in the Tournament at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Not only will the overall champion get crowned and win $3,000, but the Tournament winner will walk away with $6,000, just like Aiden Forster a few weeks ago at Knoxville in the Sprint Car Segment Tournament.

QUALIFYING

During the regular races in the 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series season, 22 drivers will 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 four equal Heat races.

This week, it was Jaycee Floyd setting the quick time in qualifying. Lucius scored 25 points, but inverted down to eighth for the Feature. Moving up to the pole position was Conner New after qualifying in eighth.

Qualifying Transfers:

1. Jaycee Floyd
2. Dylan Yeager
3. Colton Jordan
4. Hayden Cardwell
5. Ethan Johnson
6. Mike Augustine
7. Blake Matjoulis
8. Conner New

HEAT RACES

In the four Heat races, up to eight drivers compete for eight laps, the top-three finishers advancing to the Feature later in the night. Points are awarded to the finishing positions in each Heat, that way all 40 drivers walk away with something for making the show. Heat winners earn 15 points, while eighth place finishers only claim eight points. The 20 drivers that don’t advance to the Feature through Qualifying or the Heats are sent to one of the two Last Chance Shootout races.

Steven Gaines, Lucas Ruark, Joey Lingron, and Hunter Rich were the four drivers to win their respective Heat races. Lingron was among three of the top-10 in the standings to make the field for Oswego, along with Ryan Avila and the defending series champion, Logan Rumsey. Avila joined Lingron in making the Feature, finishing third in his Heat to transfer, but Rumsey was forced to the Last Chance Showdown.

Heat 1 Transfers:

1. Steven Gaines
2. Kaden Reynolds
3. Aiden Stull

Heat 2 Transfers:

1. Lucas Ruark
2. Jesse Newsome
3. Ryan Avila

Heat 3 Transfers:

1. Joey Lingron
2. Willy Cuddy
3. Matthew Selby

Heat 4 Transfers:

1. Hunter Rich
2. Evan Seay
3. Carson Jenkins

LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWNS

The final shot to race in the Feature is by winning one of the two Last Chance Showdown races. These races include up to 10 cars each, but only the winner can move on. There are no points awarded in these races.

In the first LCS, Hayden Tollison went wheel-to-wheel with Caleb Durgan for the majority of the show. Tollison would win out as Durgan found the wall and ultimately retired early. The second and final LCS saw Matthew Watts hold off Knoxx Lumley in the closing laps, but in a twist for the points battle, Logan Rumsey finished eighth and failed to advance to the Feature.

Last Chance Showdown Transfers:

1. Hayden Tollison
2. Matthew Watts

FEATURE RACE

The track remained in the same state as it was from the Heats and LCS races, with drivers working the track for the last minute of warmup, setting up for a track that would be competitive, but could potentially wear out tires quicker. Conner New led the field to the green, the Feature races now set to 50 laps for the Late Model Segment.

For the most part, New led the way as the battle for second raged on between Blake Matjoulis and Ethan Johnson. Johnson got the spot for a good chunk of the laps, but just couldn’t shake Matjoulis. With a handful of laps to go, Matjoulis was able to strike back and take the runner-up spot once again.

A caution with three laps to go set up for a dash to the checkers, with New leading, but with some slight left front damage from running a bit too close to the inside wall. Matjoulis got a decent enough jump to keep on New’s back bumper, but New was able to run the right line for the final four turns of the event to claim the win.

FEATURE RESULTS FROM RACE NO. 6 AT OSWEGO SPEEDWAY

POINTS EARNED FOR DRIVERS THAT DID NOT QUALIFY FOR THE FEATURE

DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE NO. 6 AT OSWEGO SPEEDWAY

1. Aiden Forster, 523 points (did not race)
2. Joey Lingron, -9
3. Alex Bergeron, -12 (did not race)
4. Kenny Hoffman, -69 (did not race)
5. Landon Cardoza, -75 (did not race)
6. Ryan Avila, -80
7. Tanner Pettit, -83 (did not race)
8. Tyler Schell, -111 (did not race)
9. Logan Rumsey, -120
10. Noah Carpenter, -152 (did not race)
    33. Conner New, -406 (first start of season)

LATE MODEL SEGMENT STANDINGS AFTER RACE NO. 1 AT OSWEGO SPEEDWAY

1. Conner New, 117 points
2. Blake Matjoulis, -4
3. Ethan Johnson, -5
4. Mike Augustine, -9
5. Colton Jordan, -9
6. Joey Lingron, -19
7. Hayden Cardwell, -19
8. Jaycee Floyd, -24
9. Jesse Newsome, -25
10. Evan Seay, -29

Leaving Oswego, 410 Sprint Car Tournament at Knoxville winner, Aiden Forster, maintains the overall points lead despite not making the trip to Upstate New York. In fact, seven of the top-10 did not make it into the first Dirt Late Model race of the season, including three other Sprint Car winners, that group including Alex Bergeron, Landon Cardoza, and Mason Hannagan. The only previous winner to make the field was Ryan Avila, who finished 12th. The highest ranked driver that has made starts on both sides of the calendar is Joey Lingron, who finished sixth at Oswego.

NEXT UP: LATE MODELS SEGMENT CONTINUES AT CEDAR LAKE

The World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series returns next week with the seventh round of the 2025-26 season at Cedar Lake Speedway. The World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Qualifying Series opens up on Tuesday night 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. 40 drivers from the top of the standings will be invited to race in next week’s Pro Series event.

This particular venue returns to the calendar for the first time since the 2023 Late Model season, nearly two-and-a-half years ago, that race won by Blake Matjoulis. All of the action from Cedar Lake kicks off next Monday night at 8:00 p.m. ET and it 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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