Matt Caruana earns Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series title; splits victory lane at COTA with Ayden Young

The 2025 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season wrapped up at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday night. While the title was mostly decided coming in, it was confirmed by the end of the first race that Matt Caruana had won it after taking the checkered flag for the seventh time on the season, holding off rivals Aaron Vazquez and Ayden Young for the opening race win.

In the final race, Young capitalized on contact ahead in the final corner to grab his second win of the season, cementing his third place points position in the final standings behind Caruana and Vazquez.

This Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season has belonged to Matt Caruana! He takes it from Aaron Vazquez on the final lap and becomes the provisional champion of the 2025 season!

Tune in for the second and final race of the season NOW! https://t.co/3zRHcs8Rff pic.twitter.com/F45MXwT7CQ

— iRacing (@iRacing) September 4, 2025

“It is an amazing opportunity,” Caruana said about locking in his place at the Skip Barber Racing School contest later in the Fall. “I’m over the moon with that result, that was a really good race, a great way to secure my place,” he continued, speaking on his seventh win on the season. “I think now, just focusing on all of the stuff that you do for real life, like fitness, obviously a bit of sim prep… hopefully, everything transfers over in the F4 car.”

While there was intense fighting among the top-three, down to the very last lap, the respect was on display throughout the entire season. The trio of Caruana, Vazquez, and Young are set to travel to the Skip Barber Racing School to compete against one another for a chance at a real-world racing seat for the 2026 calendar year, the same seat currently held by Ivan Machado, the ultimate winner in 2024’s contest.

THE EVENT

Matt Caruana had the field on notice throughout final practice and qualifying, setting the fastest laps in each session, claiming the final pole position of the season. With Circuit of the Americas clocking laps over two minutes, the laps would be fewer, but the opportunities to pass would be greater, especially on the long back straightaway.

Caruana, Ayden Young, and Aaron Vazquez made it clear early in the going that they would be the three to beat. Vazquez, having a shot at taking the virtual title away from Caruana, needed to win out the remaining two races to have a chance. That would all hinge on Caruana needing to fall back on his drop weeks from prior races, which meant finishes of sixth or worse through both events.

Vazquez led five of the eight laps, Caruana leading the other three, and Young leading at times when there was no line to cross to count it. On the final lap of the opening race, Caruana got the tow on the backstretch and slingshot around Vazquez for the lead. The two ran side-by-side through the stadium section, but by the final corner, Caruana had managed to take it fully. Vazquez wound up going slightly wide, allowing for Young and also Leo Ovtcharov to get by at the line.

The second race lined the drivers up in the same order as their finish from the race prior. Once again, it was Caruana, Vazquez, and Young leading throughout. Still with fourth and fifth positions to be determined, Matt Bussa still had potential prizes on the line with Felipe Cabrera not qualifying for the finale up in the fourth spot in the standings. After finishing eighth in the opening race of the night. As a result, his only mathematical shot was to tie Cabrera, and that would be by winning. His night would come to a premature end, unfortunately, and Cabrera would maintain the fifth spot, getting leaped by Ovtcharov getting the podium early in the night.

Up front, Young still had a shot at stealing second away from Vazquez in the final standings. A win would be his best chance. On the final lap, Vazquez once again had the lead, and just like a replay of the first race, Caruana waited until the backstretch to make his move. Vazquez was able to keep it closer this time, and into the final corner, he made one last move.

The contact forced both leaders out of the groove, allowing Young to claim the victory. It would not be enough to take second in the points, however, as Vazquez was able to recover for second.

After the race, Young gave a play-by-play of his thoughts on the final lap of the final race. “I was just like, ‘Okay, well, I’m a little far back, so let me try and push as hard as I can to catch them,'” Young said. “Then right by the end of the lap, I got in within two-tenths. When I saw both Matt and Aaron intensely fighting there, I was like, ‘Okay, if one of these guys messes up, then I need to be right there to capitalize,’ so when Aaron sent it in the final corner, I watched him lose the rear of his car a little bit, and I just I moved over to the right. I was like, ‘If I can time this right, then I can cross them both over and get them,’ so, I braked at what I thought was the right spot, and then I told myself, ‘one, two, wait,’ and then when I did, I turned and I just hit the gas, just floored it.”

“It was really close to the line. At first, my timing didn’t say I had it, but then when it said I had it, I was just relieved. That race was a lot of fun. I lost my voice from screaming and, I don’t know if you could see, but I was going pretty crazy there.”

WHAT A FINISH!!! The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season concludes in dramatic fashion among the three top drivers through the year. It was Aaron Vazquez versus Matt Caruana but Ayden Young steals it at the line!

Congrats again to Matt Caruana on claiming the title! pic.twitter.com/si3YbIdw39

— iRacing (@iRacing) September 4, 2025

Vazquez had the chance to win out on both races, but settled for second in the final race and in the overall standings at the end of the day. “I’m really happy,” Vazquez stated post-race. “My dream in this life is to try to test a car in real life… like it’s crazy. I didn’t expect that I could make this dream in racing happen. I don’t have words right now, but yeah, the dream is here. We have the chance now to test the Formula 4 in Virginia. I hope in going, it will be amazing there.”

Leo Ovtcharov and Felipe Cabrera round out the top-five, and by finishing fourth and fifth, both earn a 1 Day Racing School certificate. Hard Chargers in each race also earned 1 Day Racing School certificates, this week those drivers being Ryan Oddo in the first race and Matt Adams in the second race.

2025 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #11 at Circuit of the Americas | RESULTS

2025 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series | Race #12 at Circuit of the Americas | RESULTS

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Points Standings after Race #12 at Circuit of the Americas:

1. Matt J Caruana | United Kingdom | 337 points
2. Aaron Vazquez | Spain | -23
3. Ayden Young | United States | -27
4. Leo Ovtcharov | United States | -70
5. Felipe Cabrera Loyola | Chile | -88
6. Matt Bussa | United States | -108
7. Cameron Martineau | United States | -113
8. Cade Middleton | United States | -119
9. Victor Wolfsohn | Denmark | -121
10. Ross Banfield | United States | -123

The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series standings were determined by the total number of points earned during the season, excluding the lowest two individual race scores which will be deducted to determine the final points (includes zeros, disqualifications, as well as races a driver did not participate in). Points are awarded in both 15 minute sessions.

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.

You may also like...

Recommended

iRacing Weekly Tune-in | eSports & Community Events | December 4th to December 10th

Recommended

World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Qualifying Series | Race 4 at Lincoln Speedway | December 2nd-4th

Recommended

Mason Hannagan claims first 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series win in dominant form at Williams Grove

Recommended

This Week in iRacing | December 2 to December 8, 2025