KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Braden Eyler raced to his first World of Outlaws iRacing Sprint Car World Championship victory in a thrilling finish Monday night at the virtual Knoxville Raceway.

Eyler, who rode the top side of the track all night, ran down polesitter and race-long leader James Eden inside of 15 to go in the 35-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature at the simulated black-dirt half mile.

The Pennsylvania teenager stayed committed to his line and it eventually paid off, with a soaring pass around the outside that gave him a lead he wouldn’t relinquish on lap 26.

However, it didn’t mean there weren’t a few nervous moments for Eyler down the home stretch.

Eyler was set to have to contend with a charging Alex Bergeron, who started ninth and had raced up to second utilizing a groove even higher than Eyler’s, in the final five laps of the main event.

But Bergeron dropped out of the sim coming to two to go, leaving Eyler with no challenge from behind as he took the checkered flag 1.128 seconds ahead of runner-up Cameron Merriman.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Eyler noted after the race. “I was starting to get worried at the end there and started running the bottom because we were running out, and we were actually out of fuel as I crossed the line. That was definitely a factor. I wasn’t expecting to have to run the top the whole race; I just didn’t think it was going to be there, but our car was flying up top.

“After we got to the lead, I just went to the bottom and held my own with Cameron (Merriman) and (James) Edens down there, but we brought it home,” he continued. “That was insane.”

In regards to the late-race challenge from Bergeron, Eyler noted that his focus was straight out front in the closing laps.

“We were just trying to run our race at that point,” he said. “I really have to thank everyone at Kinser Sim Team. We put in lots of work this week to try to do some tuning, and it paid off. … This is unreal, though. It’s really cool and I can’t believe we finally got one of these (wins).”

Merriman snuck into the mix amid the late-race shuffling of positions, finishing just ahead of Edens, who led the first 25 laps but struggled to find a comfortable line in the closing stages.

“Eyler was good on the top, but the crew chief must have missed one of the five gallon drums, because we were a little light on fuel,” Edens noted. “We just had to cruise around there a little bit (to conserve). Once he took the lead outside of me there, I just conceded and made sure we at least finished.

“It’s definitely disappointing to lead that many laps and have such a good car, only to miss out on the sweep,” added Edens, who set fast time and won his heat race prior to his podium finish in the feature.

David Heileman and Dylan Houser completed the top five, followed by Kendal Tucker, Chase Cabre, Rusty Kruger, Joel Berkley and Adam Elby.

With Bergeron’s misfortune and Blake Cannon – who entered the night second in points – not even making the main event, the season standings are substantially tighter heading toward the midpoint of the schedule.

Bergeron remains the point leader, but his advantage is just nine over Tucker, with Heileman sitting 12 points back of Bergeron in the third spot. Eyler’s win catapulted him to sixth in the standings, 25 adrift.

While Eyler got the job done on this night, he tipped not to expect him up in the same position when the WoO iRacing World Championship returns to action April 20 at the virtual Limaland Motorsports Park.

“To be honest, I’m awful at Limaland, but I’m going to do a lot of work and see what I can put together,” Eyler noted. “Hopefully I can hold my own and we can get a top 10, but that’s going to be a difficult one for me.”

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.