Jesse Newsome wins Tournament; Joey Lingron claims 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series title at The Dirt Track at Charlotte

The final race of the 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series season—the Tournament at The Dirt Track at Charlotte—proved to be one of the greatest races of the season throughout the night.

Coming into the event, there had been nine different Feature winners in the nine previous events, the most recent being Hunter Rich at Fairbury. Overall championship leader Joey Lingron was not a part of those names, but on Monday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he was doing everything he could to cap off a championship season with a trip to virtual victory lane.

Alas, Lingron had to settle for second place, which still added $3,000 to his overall winnings for the season. The only car he couldn’t pass was Jesse Newsome, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. With less than 15 laps remaining in the season, Lingron put it on Newsome’s quarter panel, and the two began taking stabs at the lead. Former champions Evan Seay and Hayden Cardwell waited in the wings, hoping for the two ahead to miscommunicate and fight for real estate, but it stayed clean and green to the end, with Newsome on top of the Tournament, $6,000 richer.

What a BATTLE for the $6,000! Jesse Newsome claims it, but he had to beat the new champion of the series, Joey Lingron, to do it!

Congrats to both drivers!@WoOLateModels | @dirtvision pic.twitter.com/0PqTOG1Ehw

— iRacing (@iRacing) February 3, 2026

“It means the world,” said Newsome about scoring the big prize on Monday night. “I never thought, in a million years, I’d win a race like this, much less for $6,000. Even a Pro Series win means a lot… I mean, I’ve never raced that hard in my life. I hate I had to block Joey there a little bit, and sort of put him in the infield, but I mean, we’re racing for $6,000, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

While just coming up short in the final race, Lingron did claim his first title over the defending series champion, Logan Rumsey, by 59 points. “It’s honestly surreal,” said Lingron post-race. “I’ve been trying for a few years now. Finally, the cards fell our way this year, and finally got one done. It doesn’t feel real yet, it’s going to take about a day or two to feel real, but once we’re in Volusia… then it will feel real then.”

Ethan Johnson came into the night with a longshot chance at the title should Lingron or Rumsey fail to make the Feature. Despite this, Johnson rallied from a qualifying ban to make the Feature and win bragging rights for the Dirt Super Late Model segment of the season, outscoring Blake Matjoulis by 32 points over the final five races of the year. Simply put, one of the most competitive seasons in this series’ history, with 10 different winners in 10 races, and the two drivers with the most points in their respective standings, Johnson for the Dirt SLM and Lingron for the overall, didn’t even score wins themselves.

QUALIFYING

During 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.

Evan Seay made sure to solidify his place in the Feature with the quick time on the night. Just behind him, the two title contenders also made sure they were in the mix for the main event, with Logan Rumsey scoring second and Joey Lingron taking third. There would, of course, be the invert to take into consideration, and that put Jesse Newsome at the top of the board for the Feature race by qualifying in eighth.

Qualifying Transfers:

1. Evan Seay
2. Logan Rumsey
3. Joey Lingron
4. Mike Augustine
5. Jaycee Floyd
6. Ryan Avila
7. Hayden Cardwell
8. Jesse Newsome

HEAT RACES

In the six Tournament Heat races, up to nine drivers compete for eight laps, the top-two finishers advancing to the Feature later in the night. Points are awarded to the finishing positions in each Heat, that way all 60 drivers walk away with something for making the show. Heat winners earn 15 points, while ninth place finishers only claim seven points. The 40 drivers that don’t advance to the Feature through Qualifying or the Heats are sent to one of the two Last Chance Shootout races.

Matthew Selby was able to take the first win on the night, but that was just before the track started to get properly worn in. There were glimpses of good battles in Heats 2 and 3, with Nathan Waddell and Dylan Yeager taking victories. The heat turned all of the way up for Heat 4, which saw Kaden Reynolds take the win, but also saw Ethan Johnson work his way from last to second to transfer to the Feature. The battling continued into Heat 5, won by Blake Matjoulis over Chance Carr in the closing laps. Finally, Hayden Tollison held off Caleb Durgan for the Heat 6 win.

Heat 1 Transfers:

1. Matthew Selby
2. Hunter Rich

Heat 2 Transfers:

1. Nathan Waddell
2. Brady Thompson

Heat 3 Transfers:

1. Dylan Yeager
2. Tyler Orr

Heat 4 Transfers:

1. Kaden Reynolds
2. Ethan Johnson

Heat 5 Transfers:

1. Blake Matjoulis
2. Chance Carr

Heat 6 Transfers:

1. Hayden Tollison
2. Caleb Durgan

LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWNS

The final shot to race in the Feature is by winning one of the two Last Chance Showdown races. These races in the Tournaments include up to 20 cars each, but only the winner can move on. There are no points awarded in these races.

In both cases, the track was properly used up, allowing for the leaders in each respective LCS to pull away and never look back. Kory Roberts and Conner New took advantage of the situation and ran perfect laps in their respective races to transfer forward. This meant that the track would get a refresh before the Feature race, to allow for the racing to get competitive once again.

Last Chance Showdown Transfers:

1. Kory Roberts
2. Conner New

FEATURE RACE

Jesse Newsome led the way on the reworked surface, but behind, the pack was snarling, and at times, there were hopefuls getting bit by the action. There would be two cautions in the first third of the night, the first one involving Blake Matjoulis and Kaden Reynolds. Reynolds shipped it to make a move on two cars ahead of him, but Matjoulis was already coming down to exit the corner at that same point, and the two collided. The second caution saw Matthew Selby get loose after a checkup ahead from Reynolds, and it unfortunately cost Kory Roberts a shot at continuing on.

The race resumed with 35 laps to go. At this point, Newsome was still in control, but Joey Lingron was restarting on the bottom, in fifth, and was finding room to move up the field. First, Lingron made his move around both Ryan Avila and Hayden Cardwell to move up into third. A few laps later, Lingron traded sliders with Jaycee Floyd for second, ultimately taking that spot. By the time Lingron made his way to the rear spoiler of Newsome, they were clear of the rest of the field by multiple car lengths, which meant the two could fight and safely keep themselves in the top-two.

Evan Seay and Cardwell managed to clear the traffic eventually, moving into third and fourth, respectively, but all eyes were at the front. Newsome was under pressure from Lingron. With 11 laps to go, Lingron finally made a move, a move which Newsome was able to counter immediately. For a few laps, the two traded barbs, with Newsome having the advantage. At one point, the advantage flipped to Lingron for a few laps, but Newsome was able to reclaim that advantage once more with two laps to go, holding on for his first career win in the series on the grandest stage.

TOURNAMENT FEATURE RACE RESULTS FROM RACE NO. 10 AT THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE

POINTS EARNED FOR DRIVERS THAT DID NOT QUALIFY FOR THE FEATURE

DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE NO. 10 AT THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE

1. Joey Lingron, 864 points
2. Logan Rumsey, -59
3. Ethan Johnson, -111
4. Blake Matjoulis, -206
5. Hayden Cardwell, -230
6. Dylan Yeager, -234
7. Tanner Pettit, -337
8. Aiden Forster, -341
9. Ryan Avila, -352
10. Alex Bergeron, -353
    Jesse Newsome, -353

LATE MODEL SEGMENT STANDINGS AFTER RACE NO. 5 AT THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE

1. Ethan Johnson, 518 points
2. Blake Matjoulis, -32
3. Hayden Cardwell, -39
4. Joey Lingron, -70
5. Logan Rumsey, -111
6. Hayden Tollison, -120
7. Jesse Newsome, -123
8. Hunter Rich, -139
9. Evan Seay, -155
10. Mike Augustine, -157

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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