iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series Race Preview: Knoxville
December 15th, 2023 by Justin Melillo
The sixth race of the 2023-24 iRacing World of Outlaws Thrustmaster Sprint Car Series season takes place on Monday night at the Sprint Car Capital of the World, otherwise known as Knoxville Raceway. A marquee event on every season’s calendar, Knoxville will be the final race of 2023 before a two-week break for the holidays and New Years, returning in 2024 with the final four races in the season.
Knoxville will begin on December 18 at 9PM ET, and it will be live on both DIRTVision and iRacing’s social media channels.
Last Race: Kenny Miller went back-to-back last Monday night for his third career victory in 15 starts. After achieving back-to-back wins at Lincoln Speedway two races ago, Miller kept up the momentum with a quick time in qualifying and a heat win right after. In the feature, Hayden Cardwell gave him a shot on the final lap, but Miller was able to zoom back by and take his second win of the 2023-24 season.
Last Season: Three-time series champion Alex Bergeron has the most virtual wins at Knoxville with four, including the last two seasons in a row. In the 2022-23 season, Bergeron led all but two laps after starting in third behind Tyler Ducharme and Kenny Miller. The top two starters made contact after Bergeron had gotten by, giving the winningest driver an easy path towards another victory as he led the rest of the way.
Track Info: Based on the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, Knoxville Raceway is known as the “Sprint Car Capital of the World.” Besides its premier event, the Knoxville Nationals, the track has also been home to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum since 1992. The Knoxville Nationals pay out more than $1 million to competitors, with $175,000 of that reserved for the A-Main winner.
Race Format: These races feature qualifying and heat racing to determine the 20 drivers that will compete in the main race. There will be four heat races of 10 laps each, where the top four will advance forward through to the main event. There will also be two 12-lap consolation races where the top two finishers in each will move on. In the 35-lap feature races, caution laps do not count. This is the first Sprint Car season since iRacing’s Dirt Refresh was launched in June.
Next Up: Following Knoxville, the series takes a two-week break before returning in 2024 at Fairbury Speedway on January 8th. The Illinois-based venue was also the site of the return from break last season, where James Edens took his second win in a row that season.
For more information on the series, visit www.iracing.com/woosc. For more information on the World of Outlaws, visitwww.worldofoutlaws.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.