Kevin Swindell has spent plenty of time leading laps at the front of the field during iRacing events over the last couple of weeks.
As for winning, well, that’s been a bit of a chore. Swindell has been thwarted by fellow competitors, bad luck, or a car that went away in the crucial closing stages of World of Outlaws main events.
That didn’t happen Wednesday night. Swindell was the class of the field through the middle and end of the 35-lap World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink iRacing Invitational from Knoxville Raceway.
“It was awesome,” Swindell said after his win on FS1. “The last couple of these, I’ve led laps and kind of choked last night’s DIRTVision race. I just didn’t get my car near tight enough and let Logan kill us.
“I learned a little bit there to not make that mistake tonight, and I think that played big into it, just making sure I was good and tight.”
Brian Brown got the early jump, but Robbie Kendall shot to the bottom of Turns 3 and 4 and led the first lap. Chase Briscoe held down the third spot.
Kyle Larson was on the move through the beginning stages of the event. After starting seventh on the grid, the NASCAR star advanced past Briscoe by the completion of Lap 4 and ducked under Brown for second on the fifth circuit.
Logan Schuchart brought out the first caution on Lap 10. He stalled on the frontstretch and backed into Brown, who was trying to miss the stalled car.
The race went back to green on Lap 14, with Kendall leading Larson and Swindell, who started eighth. The top three ran under a blanket for two laps before Swindell split the front two to take the lead.
Larson followed Swindell’s lead and shot under Kendall to take second on Lap 17. He closed on Swindell two laps later and shot into the lead on the low side of Turns 1 and 2.
Swindell peeked to the inside of Larson on Lap 20, but Larson shut the door. The caution came out on Lap 22 when Aaron Reutzel flipped heading into the first corner and slowed the event for the final time.
Larson continued to lead, but Swindell wasn’t going away. He stayed within .250 seconds over the next seven laps before making his move with six laps to go.
Swindell dove to the bottom of Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 29. He surged through the corner and exited the second corner in front of Larson. Within two laps, Swindell was able to put 10 car-lengths on second place.
The Swindell SpeedLab machine was on rails, and Swindell knew what to do with it. He blasted through the middle of the corners and stretched his lead. Meanwhile, Larson got into the first corner a little hot and collected the fence, sending him down a few spots in the running order.
Swindell was flawless in the middle of the track over the last couple of circuits and took the win by 2.2 seconds. Christopher Bell came up to second, with Austin McCarl finishing third. Bill Balog and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
“Obviously, I learned the other night what not to do,” Swindell sald. “In the practice race, I stayed really free and was able to do the same thing. It just didn’t work last night, but I wasn’t going to make that mistake.
“The way the hand controls are, I can’t hustle very well like when I could use my feet. It makes it tougher, because it forces me to put myself in a situation where I can be smooth. A lot of times, I have to shy away from the top, but I was really happy to drive away like that.”
Sprint Car Feature Finish, 35 Laps: 1. Kevin Swindell; 2. Christopher Bell; 3. Austin McCarl; 4. Bill Balog; 5. Logan Schuchart; 6. Kyle Larson; 7. David Gravel; 8. Max McLaughlin; 9. Brad Sweet; 10. Carson Macedo; 11. Robbie Kendall; 12. Trent Ivey; 13. Ron Capps; 14. Tyler Courtney; 15. Bubba Wallace; 16. Brian Brown; 17. Juan Pablo Montoya; 18. Chase Briscoe; 19. Wayne Johnson; 20. Aaron Reutzel.