Ayden Young, Martin Kadlečík claim inaugural Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series oval wins at Richmond
July 4th, 2026 by Justin Melillo
The 2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series took on new roads on Thursday night as the road racing series went oval racing for the first time in series history at Richmond Raceway. In the dueling 15-minute races at “The Action Track”, there was indeed plenty of action and uncertainty, with Ayden Young winning the first race and Martin Kadlečík claiming the second, both times having Brandon Hawkin finish runner-up.
As a result, Hawkin now owns the most points earned so far through 10 races, but the drops will be on the table for the final round in two weeks at Circuit of the Americas. That gives Kadlečík back the lead with drop races factored in entering the last two races of the season, the last two chances at scoring up to 35 points. Five drivers remain eligible entering, and as a reminder, the top-three finishers in the final standings after the drops will be invited to compete for a real-world seat later in the year.
Circuit of the Americas will play host to the finale. Hot Lap Qualifying begins July 10th and ends July 12th. The main events will be scheduled at 7:00 p.m. ET on July 16th, and will be live on iRacing’s social channels.
RACE #1
While Brandon Hawkin has competed in other real-world racing opportunities previously, such as Racing Prodigy, and his road racing skills are up there with some of the best in the business, he has been known to dabble in oval activities before. While a shock to some, Hawkin laid down a solid lap for his first pole position of the season, and led the field to the green flag for the first oval race of the series.
Almost immediately, the lead went three-wide, but the top level drivers were able to give space and race clean. Ayden Young, who started on the outside of the front row, took advantage of the three-wide move and claimed the lead momentarily, but Hawkin fought back and led the opening eight laps. The man who took them three-wide, Matt Caruana, was in the fray as well, and the trio swapped the lead throughout the night.
Young, however, had the advantage in traffic. Both Hawkin and Caruana did everything they could, but it was Young who held on for the win, his second of the season.
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #9 at Richmond | RESULTS
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Ayden Young | 42 | 0.000 | 28 | 21.144 | 35 |
| 2 | 1 | 8 | Brandon Hawkin | 42 | -0.154 | 8 | 21.121 | 32 |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Matt Caruana | 42 | -0.267 | 6 | 21.116 | 30 |
| 4 | 5 | 16 | Martin Kadlečík | 42 | -0.398 | 0 | 21.144 | 28 |
| 5 | 7 | 14 | Guglielmo Callegari | 42 | -0.485 | 0 | 21.137 | 26 |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | John Melchiorri | 42 | -1.283 | 0 | 21.163 | 25 |
| 7 | 8 | 19 | Deklan Webb | 42 | -1.394 | 0 | 21.174 | 24 |
| 8 | 17 | 7 | Austin O’Neal | 42 | -3.111 | 0 | 21.217 | 23 |
| 9 | 14 | 9 | Daniel Lilov | 42 | -3.3 | 0 | 21.153 | 22 |
| 10 | 13 | 18 | Bryce Weyer | 42 | -3.801 | 0 | 21.205 | 21 |
| 11 | 19 | 12 | Ross Banfield | 42 | -4.692 | 0 | 21.250 | 20 |
| 12 | 11 | 20 | JJ Williams | 42 | -5.249 | 0 | 21.191 | 19 |
| 13 | 15 | 10 | Vicente Aparicio | 42 | -8.466 | 0 | 21.198 | 18 |
| 14 | 10 | 6 | Luke Falken | 39 | -3 L | 0 | 21.189 | 17 |
| 15 | 16 | 11 | Gregory Kohler | 39 | -3 L | 0 | 21.250 | 16 |
| 16 | 4 | 2 | Leo Ovtcharov | 39 | -3 L | 0 | 21.190 | 15 |
| 17 | 18 | 4 | Max Repolust | 39 | -3 L | 0 | 21.194 | 14 |
| 18 | 20 | 15 | Elijah White | 3 | -39 L | 0 | 21.669 | 13 |
| 19 | 9 | 13 | Ezekiel Weiss | 3 | -39 L | 0 | ——– | 12 |
| 20 | 12 | 17 | Seungin Park | 2 | -40 L | 0 | ——– | 11 |
RACE #2
Now with Young in control on the start, the field once again took the green, and once again, it was Hawkin taking control, this time from the outside lane. Perhaps it was too aggressive early in the going, but the early lead once again led to Young passing back by, this time on Lap 8, leading for a spell, looking as though he would sweep the night.
With only a few minutes remaining in the 15 minute race, Hawkin made a move back towards the lead, leading the 31st lap, but losing it back to Young the next time by. Waiting in the wings, moving up methodically, it was Martin Kadlečík, who finished fourth in the first race. Kadlečík made a move to get around Caruana for third, and suddenly, with just a few laps left to decide it, he was unstoppable.
Kadlečík took control on Lap 35 as the field sorted it out behind him. Young slipped back to fifth as Caruana, Hawkin, and Guglielmo Callegari all fought for second. Hawkin managed to get the spot for a final shot, but Kadlečík held on for his fourth win of the season.
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #10 at Richmond | RESULTS
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 4 | 16 | Martin Kadlečík | 42 | 0.000 | 8 | 21.090 | 35 |
| 2 | 2 | 8 | Brandon Hawkin | 42 | -0.160 | 8 | 21.171 | 32 |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Matt Caruana | 42 | -0.287 | 0 | 21.123 | 30 |
| 4 | 5 | 14 | Guglielmo Callegari | 42 | -0.386 | 0 | 21.181 | 28 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Ayden Young | 42 | -0.421 | 26 | 21.123 | 26 |
| 6 | 7 | 19 | Deklan Webb | 42 | -1.428 | 0 | 21.128 | 25 |
| 7 | 11 | 12 | Ross Banfield | 42 | -3.604 | 0 | 21.259 | 24 |
| 8 | 12 | 20 | JJ Williams | 42 | -3.633 | 0 | 21.173 | 23 |
| 9 | 17 | 4 | Max Repolust | 42 | -4.149 | 0 | 21.267 | 22 |
| 10 | 16 | 2 | Leo Ovtcharov | 42 | -4.373 | 0 | 21.307 | 21 |
| 11 | 8 | 7 | Austin O’Neal | 42 | -5.999 | 0 | 21.262 | 20 |
| 12 | 18 | 15 | Elijah K White | 42 | -7.500 | 0 | 21.398 | 19 |
| 13 | 6 | 3 | John Melchiorri | 41 | -1 L | 0 | 21.242 | 18 |
| 14 | 10 | 18 | Bryce Weyer | 40 | -2 L | 0 | 21.208 | 17 |
| 15 | 19 | 13 | Ezekiel Weiss | 39 | -3 L | 0 | 21.345 | 16 |
| 16 | 15 | 11 | Gregory Kohler | 26 | -16 L | 0 | 21.483 | 15 |
| 17 | 9 | 9 | Daniel Lilov | 19 | -23 L | 0 | 21.517 | 14 |
| 18 | 14 | 6 | Luke Falken | 2 | -40 L | 0 | ——– | 13 |
| 19 | 13 | 10 | Vicente Aparicio | 2 | -40 L | 0 | ——– | 12 |
| 20 | 20 | 17 | Seungin Park | 2 | -40 L | 0 | ——– | 11 |
2026 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Points Standings after Race #10 at Richmond (including drops):
Pos. |
Driver |
Country |
Points |
Wins |
T5’s |
T10’s |
| 1 | Martin Kadlečík | Czech Republic | 248 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | Matt Caruana | United Kingdom | -10 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 3 | Ayden Young | United States | -12 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 4 | Brandon Hawkin | Canada | -15 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Guglielmo Callegari | United States | -16 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
35 points are on the table in each race on the night. With 10 races in the books, and two races to go, when considering drops entering the finale, it is anyone’s guess as to who can claim the title.
Kadlečík has two zeroed races from Laguna Seca, but all of his other finishes are solid, which moves him into the proverbial lead, granted he has nothing to fall back on. Caruana jumps to second, dropping the opening round results at Lime Rock for now, but he does have a 21 point race to fall back on should there be any misfortune in the finale. Same with Young, who has a 23 point drop in the bank, also from Lime Rock.
Callegari is dropping opening races at Laguna Seca and Sonoma entering, 17 points and 21 points respectively, but the man with the most points in the bank is Hawkin, who would be the points leader without a drop. Hawkin is dropping the same races as Callegari, but with 24 points and 23 points from those races instead.
The gap between finishing in first and third is five points, which means if Kadlečík scores at least a second place and a third place at worst over a double-winning Caruana, he will claim the title. The top-three, however, are the drivers that will be invited to the shootout later this year with the real-world racing seat on the line, and that gap between third and fifth is just four points.
Next up for the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series is the season finale at Circuit of the Americas.
The Hot Lap Qualifier for COTA is active from Friday, July 10th, at 12 a.m. ET to Sunday, July 12th at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The entry fee for each Hot Lap Qualifier is $50, and the top 20 drivers on the Time Attack leaderboard will be invited to run each race. They’ll also get to take part in an open test with Skip Barber Racing School instructors on hand to provide feedback.
The race itself is scheduled for Thursday, July 16th, once again at 7 p.m. ET. It will be live on iRacing.com/live and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.
To learn more about the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series, visit https://www.skipbarber.com/iracing-series/.
For more information about iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
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