The 2024 INEX Racing Series season officially concluded Sunday, with four road course championship features at VIRginia International Raceway’s Patriot Course. The 2024 Road Course World Finals had a total of 83 participants, representing eight different countries. Of which, four countries were represented in the top five finishers in at least one of the four Legend Car divisions at VIR.

The Young Lions feature went under yellow immediately as Finn Buckley spun up the hill to turn one and while trying to avoid Buckley, Adam Harrison clipped him and lost his left front wheel. Pole sitter Carter McMurray established the lead on the second attempt to start the race, leading Neal Dulin by just a car length or two for the majority of the lap. National points lead, Ben Morabito, hanging close behind.

After four laps, McMurray and Dulin were beginning to separate themselves from Morabito, who was also putting distance between him and fourth-place Spencer Bradshaw. As the laps continued to click away, Morabito was hanging with the top two, but the combined trio were outpacing the rest of the field and Bradshaw was smaller and smaller in their mirrors.

Dulin was a constant presence in McMurray’s mirror until a series of missed apexes on Lap 11 just before the start/finish line threw off his rhythm and for the first time all race, McMurray had more than a two-car length lead. But Dulin showed his speed and prowess as he closed back up to McMurray’s bumper. Meanwhile, Morabito was losing distance to the top two.

With seven laps remaining, Kaden Bradshaw was stopped off course after his Legend Car got light through the final set of esses of the lap, but refired to prevent a caution.

With four laps to go, Keaton Harbison’s engine suffered a failure and required cleanup, bringing out the second caution of the race. A three-lap shootout decided the Young Lions feature after a fantastic 17-lap green flag run. Dulin hit a curb wrong up the hill towards the first corner, allowing Morabito to sneak by to take second and Spencer Bradshaw snuck by sending Dulin back to fourth. Dulin out braked Bradshaw into the downhill esses

Trent Dillard snuck past Brody Rhodes for fourth place with two laps to go, and Spencer Bradshaw was now sixth pushing the issue with Rhodes, before sneaking past coming to the white flag. But out front, McMurray (USA) had a comfortable enough lead to cruise to victory, scoring the 2024 Road Course World Finals Young Lions Championship Feature victory, his first INEX national event championship.

Morabito (USA) finished second, followed by Dulin (USA), Dillard (USA), and Spencer Bradshaw (USA) to close out the top five. Morabito’s second place finish was enough to make him the provisional 2024 INEX Young Lions Road Course National Championship.

The second race of the day, the Semi-Pro Division Championship Feature, was a little bit more than hectic. Thirty-one drivers took the green flag. The front half of the field got through turn one relatively unscathed. Fourth-place starter and Semi-Pro national points leader, Reilly O’Connell, had an off-track excursion following tight racing with championship rival, Cole Robie. That knocked O’Connell back to 14th in the running order in just a half-a-lap.

One lap was completed before the caution flew for the first time. Mason Walters and Dean Lambros had put tons of separation between them and Robie before the caution was displayed for the safety crews to attend to the track. Chaos was the name of the restart, with cars scattering up the hill and through turn one, then in the carousel Oliver Dibble spun Lincoln Kearchner nearly flipped when his Legend Car was propelled into the air after his tire struck Dibbles. The yellow flag flew as Luigi Maselli’s car wasn’t rolling fast enough as the field approached his location.

Walters stumbled on the restart and stacked up the field going up the hill and Connor Yonchuk launched his Legend Car over the left rear of Lambros, climbed over the side of him, and barrel rolled. Yonchuk climbed out of the car. Lambros was determined to be the leader and assumed control when Walters stumbled and struggled to continue. Robie started on his outside with O’Connell starting on the outside of row four. Robie and Alberto Naska touched wheels and sent Robie down the running order and was back up to speed side-by-side with O’Connell.

The race went yellow when two cars spun and crashed into the tire barriers before the downhill esses into the carousel. Oli Schlup and Chris Kuhn tangled, ending both drivers’ days. And still, only two laps had been completed.

The next restart was single file and led by Dean Lambros. By virtue of the caution, scoring reverted back to the previously scored lap, granting Robie back his second-place running position, followed by Naska, Kitzmiller, Preston Wrisley, JC Fickenscher, Alessandro Bollini Frigerio and O’Connell back in eighth. Naska and Robie had another moment, that sent Naska through the carousel grass, falling from third to seventh. The race started to find a rhythm, with Lambros and his wounded Legend Car led the way over Robie, who had Kitzmiller hot on his bumper.

With 14 laps to go, six laps completed, two cars were stalled in the grass at two different locations on the second half of the track. Walters and Nate DiVone had pulled off the racing surface, effectively putting the second half of the lap under a local caution. With 13 to go, Naska had moved up past O’Connell and Frigerio and was now on the heals of Devin Kelly. The full course caution for the two stalled cars along the track.

The time flag was displayed for before the restart with eight laps completed and 12 laps to go. Lambros once again led Robie, Kitzmiller, Wrisley, Fickenscher, Kelly, Naska, Frigerio, and O’Connell. Naska made quick work of Kelly into turn one and set his sights on Fickenscher with Robie giving Lambros everything he had to let him know he wanted by. Behind them, two big moments that easily could have resulted in a caution or wreck. Naska sent it to the inside of Fickenscher, that sent the latter wide and through the grass. Then behind them, cars were smoking their tries and Frigerio spun into the grass.

With 11 to go, Robie looked to Lamrbos inside but Lambros worked through the gears faster to retain the lead, but still had Robie and Kitzmiller on his rear. O’Connell had made his way up to fifth, getting past Kelly and Naska and was on the heals of Fickenscher and made the pass for fifth with nine laps remaining. Kitzmiller gave the bumper to Robie with seven laps to go up the hill and into turn one, taking second. On the same lap, O’Connell made his way around Wrisley for fourth.

Up front, Kitzmiller had caught Lambros and was in hot pursuit as the field crossed the line, starting Lap 16 of 20. Suddenly exiting the carousel, O’Connell spun out while on the bumper of Robie, sending down the running order with major national championship implications. With four to go, Kitzmiller made Lambros’ Legend Car a little upset in the first corner, but Lambros stayed ahead. Then the caution flew for a crash involving Fickenscher and Kelly. Both drivers were okay.

Lambros (USA) was declared the winner of the 2024 Semi-Pro Road Course World Finals Championship Feature, his first INEX national event championship. Kitzmiller (USA) had to settle for second, and rounding out the top five was Robie (USA), Wrisley (USA), and Naska (Italy). With his finish, Robie earned the provisional 2024 INEX Semi-Pro Road Course National Championship.

Michele Locatelli lead the Masters Division field to green and immediately had Kevin Nowak on his bumper. Mahar slipped down the hill into the esses before the carousel on Lap 2, loosing third place to Darren Gallant, and Peter Barrable went around, too. Gayton then had his own off-track adventure on Lap 4, and was pass by Lonnie Hochstetler for sixth.

After five laps, the top four had separated themselves from the rest of the field, being led by Locatelli. With Nowak running second at the time, that gave him the edge over Gallant, who was third, in the national points battle. The pair entered the weekend squared up at 1100 points. Locatelli slowly started to widen his delta back to Nowak as the race approached the halfway mark, meanwhile, Gallant was chopping time off his delta to Nowak.

Drafting help from Gallant helped push Nowak back to Locatelli, but they all were still separated by a few car lengths. But with nine to go, a chance opened up for Nowak to take control when Locatelli stumbled as he worked around a slow car. Nowak put his nose to Locatelli’s outside, but backed off before getting run off track, or worse, a collision. Nowak checked up so much that it brought Gallant right to his left and around Gallant went into the downhill esses. Now the chase was on for Nowak against Gallant as the championship table had flipped.

Nowak lost another spot to Barrable after going wide in turn one, allowing Barrable through to third. Gallant nearly lost second to Barrable exiting turn one just one lap later, as Locatelli pulled away. Turn one was proving to be the trickiest part of the track for the Masters, because with four to go, Gallant had a big moment going off track, kicking up dust, and was passed by Barrable and Nowak.

Disaster nearly struck Locatelli when Michael Sauer and Bryan Waller tangled in the carousel right in front of him. Sauer continued but the caution flew for the first time when Waller couldn’t restart his car. This set up a two-lap shootout with Locatelli the control car to the inside of Barrable. Nowak was on the inside with Gallant to his right. Barrable dipped his tires off the surface, slowing his momentum and Gallant moved up to his bumper. The next thing Barrable knew was that he was nearly spinning around in the grass, dropping from second back to the tail end of the field. This allowed Mahar to move into third, as Nowak slipped into second. Gallant was fourth and needing to find two positions in less than two laps.

Nowak knew he had to make a pass quickly, and worked hard to get to Locatelli’s inside exiting the carousel, but Locatelli prevailed and led at the white flag. There wasn’t another challenge, sealing the victory for Michele Locatelli and Italy. Nowak (USA), Mahar (Canada), Gallant (USA), and Hochstetler (USA) rounded out the top five and Nowak earned the provisional 2024 INEX Masters Road Course Championship title, by virtue of his second-place finish over Gallant’s fourth.

Fighting for every inch wasn’t lost on the start of the Pro Division race from the middle of the pack on back, but everyone managed to keep their cars pointed in the correct direction with dirt and grass getting kicked up behind. Out front, Landen Lewis lead Danny Chisholm with Keelan Harvick in third, Jase Mongeon in fourth and Daniel Silvestri in fifth. As the field worked lap two, Devin O’Connell spun into tire barriers after being unable to regain control from getting in the grass. O’Connell had a chance at the INEX national championship, but needed poor performances from Mongeon and Arto Ojaranta. Sadly, O’Connell’s day ended after just one lap on the hook.

The race restarted with 18 laps to go, and contact between Lewis and Chisholm, nearly resulted in Lewis going for a spin, while others banged wheels. The field single filed out as Harvick passed Chisholm for second, leaving him battling to keep Silvestri and Mongeon behind him. Trouble struck Ojaranta and he had to pull off the track, effectively ending his championship hopes with a mechanical issue.

With 14 to go, Noah Korner was beached in the grass but the field continued until the caution flew on Lap 9, one lap later. Once Korner was pushed off, Lewis led the double filed field back to green as Harvick was passed by Silvestri and Lachlan Ward spun at the top of the hill before the esses into the carousel. He continued before a caution could be flown. Next time around, Jake Bollman was tagged by Heady who suddenly had to check up. Bollman spun and was nudge by a braking Will Lambros. Mongeon also spun and was stalled out in the middle of the stretch of track after the carousel after locking bumpers with Chisholm. The caution was displayed the cars assisted with 10 laps remaining.

On the restart, Chisholm slipped back into second around Harvick with Tyler Read moving into fifth behind Waltman. The settled in for a run to the finish. With five laps to go, Lewis, Chisholm, and Harvick had distance between them and fourth place Waltman, who had Read and Heady on his tail.

Chisholm had just crossed the line with two laps to go when his car sputtered going up the hill into turn one and Harvick blew by him.

Lewis (USA) drove to victory his, third-straight Pro Division Road Course World Finals victory, and fourth-straight overall, including his 2021 victory in the Semi-Pro Division. Harvick (USA), driving in his first Pro Division race, finished second, followed by Waltman (USA), Chisholm (Canada) and Read (UK). And despite his troubles, Mongeon’s 10th place finish was enough to make him the provisional 2024 INEX Pro Road Course Champion.

Replays of the 2024 Road Course World Finals from VIRginia International Raceway can be viewed on uslegendcars.tv.

RESULTS

PRO DIVISION

CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 99L-Landon Lewis[1]; 2. 62-Keelan Harvick[2]; 3. 87-Jake Waltman[11]; 4. 89-Danny Chisholm[3]; 5. 91-Tyler Read[8]; 6. 7NY-Caleb Heady[6]; 7. 7-Daniel Silvestri[4]; 8. 54-Heather Hadley[15]; 9. 21-Robert Barrable[20]; 10. 19MA-Jase Mongeon[5]; 11. 13-Jacob Bradley[13]; 12. 15-Trevor Krouse[10]; 13. 17-Lachlan Ward[9]; 14. 95J-Jack Walker[19]; 15. 25-James Anderson[22]; 16. 4-Jack Parker[21]; 17. 57-Will Gibson[14]; 18. 71-Jake Bollman[16]; 19. 77-Will Lambros[12]; 20. 203-Noah Korner[18]; 21. 860-Arto Ojaranta[7]; 22. 43-Devin O'Connell[17]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 99L-Landon Lewis[1]; 2. 19MA-Jase Mongeon[3]; 3. 89-Danny Chisholm[2]; 4. 87-Jake Waltman[6]; 5. 860-Arto Ojaranta[4]; 6. 17-Lachlan Ward[5]; 7. 54-Heather Hadley[8]; 8. 57-Will Gibson[7]; 9. 95J-Jack Walker[10]; 10. 43-Devin O'Connell[9]; 11. 4-Jack Parker[11]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7-Daniel Silvestri[2]; 2. 7NY-Caleb Heady[3]; 3. 77-Will Lambros[7]; 4. 91-Tyler Read[4]; 5. 15-Trevor Krouse[5]; 6. 62-Keelan Harvick[1]; 7. 71-Jake Bollman[8]; 8. 21-Robert Barrable[10]; 9. 13-Jacob Bradley[6]; 10. 203-Noah Korner[9]; 11. 25-James Anderson[11]

Qualifying 1: 1. 99L-Landon Lewis, 00:47.616[13]; 2. 62-Keelan Harvick, 00:47.826[8]; 3. 89-Danny Chisholm, 00:47.910[5]; 4. 7-Daniel Silvestri, 00:47.955[19]; 5. 19MA-Jase Mongeon, 00:48.010[14]; 6. 7NY-Caleb Heady, 00:48.035[9]; 7. 860-Arto Ojaranta, 00:48.063[16]; 8. 91-Tyler Read, 00:48.119[18]; 9. 17-Lachlan Ward, 00:48.175[22]; 10. 15-Trevor Krouse, 00:48.175[11]; 11. 87-Jake Waltman, 00:48.206[21]; 12. 13-Jacob Bradley, 00:48.228[4]; 13. 57-Will Gibson, 00:48.358[6]; 14. 77-Will Lambros, 00:48.420[12]; 15. 54-Heather Hadley, 00:48.439[7]; 16. 71-Jake Bollman, 00:48.476[3]; 17. 43-Devin O'Connell, 00:48.634[15]; 18. 203-Noah Korner, 00:48.673[10]; 19. 95J-Jack Walker, 00:48.696[20]; 20. 21-Robert Barrable, 00:48.705[2]; 21. 4-Jack Parker, 00:48.874[17]; 22. 25-James Anderson, 00:50.249[1]

SEMI-PRO DIVISION

CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 17-Dean Lambros[2]; 2. 97-Isaac Kitzmiller[6]; 3. 29-Cole Robie[3]; 4. 35-Preston Wrisley[10]; 5. 9N-Alberto Naska[7]; 6. 87-JC Fickenscher[18]; 7. 93-Devin Kelly[11]; 8. 34-Reilly O'Connell[4]; 9. 9W-Sterling Wrisley[15]; 10. 81-Hunter Jordan[21]; 11. 22NH-Max Berry[17]; 12. 31C-Claudio Cappelli[13]; 13. 39-Luigi Maselli[12]; 14. 10M-David Markham[28]; 15. 40-Luca Verdi[25]; 16. 23-Josh Lowe[22]; 17. 22-Ryan Demartini[29]; 18. 14S-David Sullivan IV[30]; 19. 99-Ryan Carlson[33]; 20. 11-Elias Dib[32]; 21. 14-Roxali Kamper[27]; 22. 10-Alessandro Bollini Frigerio[8]; 23. 99M-Nicolo Meacci[20]; 24. 44-Oliver Dibble[16]; 25. 64-Devin Deshaies[9]; 26. 3NJ-Nathan Divone[24]; 27. 16-Mason Walters[1]; 28. 93Y-Connor Yonchuk[5]; 29. 18-Chris Kuhn[26]; 30. 9-Oliver Schlup[14]; 31. 31-Lincoln Kearchner[23]; 32. 19P-Ryan Pomposelli[19]; 33. (DNS) 19-MAX OPALSKI

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 16-Mason Walters[1]; 2. 97-Isaac Kitzmiller[3]; 3. 39-Luigi Maselli[5]; 4. 35-Preston Wrisley[4]; 5. 81-Hunter Jordan[8]; 6. 93Y-Connor Yonchuk[2]; 7. 19P-Ryan Pomposelli[7]; 8. 10M-David Markham[10]; 9. 14S-David Sullivan IV[11]; 10. 18-Chris Kuhn[9]; 11. 99M-Nicolo Meacci[6]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Dean Lambros[1]; 2. 34-Reilly O'Connell[2]; 3. 10-Alessandro Bollini Frigerio[3]; 4. 9-Oliver Schlup[5]; 5. 93-Devin Kelly[4]; 6. 40-Luca Verdi[9]; 7. 44-Oliver Dibble[6]; 8. 3NJ-Nathan Divone[8]; 9. 23-Josh Lowe[7]; 10. 22-Ryan Demartini[10]; 11. 11-Elias Dib[11]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 29-Cole Robie[1]; 2. 64-Devin Deshaies[3]; 3. 22NH-Max Berry[7]; 4. 9W-Sterling Wrisley[5]; 5. 9N-Alberto Naska[2]; 6. 31-Lincoln Kearchner[8]; 7. 87-JC Fickenscher[6]; 8. 31C-Claudio Cappelli[4]; 9. 14-Roxali Kamper[9]; 10. 99-Ryan Carlson[11]; 11. 19-MAX OPALSKI[10]

Qualifying 1: 1. 16-Mason Walters, 00:47.749[30]; 2. 17-Dean Lambros, 00:48.195[17]; 3. 29-Cole Robie, 00:48.373[26]; 4. 93Y-Connor Yonchuk, 00:48.481[33]; 5. 34-Reilly O'Connell, 00:48.535[23]; 6. 9N-Alberto Naska, 00:48.552[22]; 7. 97-Isaac Kitzmiller, 00:48.643[15]; 8. 10-Alessandro Bollini Frigerio, 00:48.645[2]; 9. 64-Devin Deshaies, 00:48.698[6]; 10. 35-Preston Wrisley, 00:48.780[31]; 11. 93-Devin Kelly, 00:48.795[14]; 12. 31C-Claudio Cappelli, 00:48.832[3]; 13. 39-Luigi Maselli, 00:48.863[20]; 14. 9-Oliver Schlup, 00:48.874[27]; 15. 9W-Sterling Wrisley, 00:48.953[32]; 16. 99M-Nicolo Meacci, 00:48.980[21]; 17. 44-Oliver Dibble, 00:49.128[8]; 18. 87-JC Fickenscher, 00:49.218[10]; 19. 19P-Ryan Pomposelli, 00:49.321[25]; 20. 23-Josh Lowe, 00:49.339[18]; 21. 22NH-Max Berry, 00:49.346[1]; 22. 81-Hunter Jordan, 00:49.353[11]; 23. 3NJ-Nathan Divone, 00:49.398[9]; 24. 31-Lincoln Kearchner, 00:49.415[13]; 25. 18-Chris Kuhn, 00:49.457[16]; 26. 40-Luca Verdi, 00:49.488[29]; 27. 14-Roxali Kamper, 00:49.604[12]; 28. 10M-David Markham, 00:49.726[19]; 29. 22-Ryan Demartini, 00:50.039[5]; 30. 19-MAX OPALSKI, 00:50.399[24]; 31. 14S-David Sullivan IV, 00:50.702[28]; 32. 11-Elias Dib, 00:51.044[7]; 33. 99-Ryan Carlson, 00:51.266[4]

MASTERS DIVISION

CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 85-Michele Locatelli[1]; 2. 53-Kevin Nowak[3]; 3. 66-Daryl Mahar[5]; 4. 05-Darren Gallant[4]; 5. 31-Lonnie Hochstetler[9]; 6. 58-Carl Cormier[6]; 7. 1-Robert Gayton[7]; 8. 64J-Zeke Hanger[8]; 9. 88-Peter Barrable[2]; 10. 22-Dwayne Holder[14]; 11. 33-Claude Watteyne[12]; 12. 84-Michael Sauer[11]; 13. 4-Bryan Waller[13]; 14. 30K-Seth Kearchner[10]; 15. (DNS) 20-Mike Weddell

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1-Robert Gayton[4]; 2. 31-Lonnie Hochstetler[5]; 3. 53-Kevin Nowak[2]; 4. 66-Daryl Mahar[3]; 5. 88-Peter Barrable[1]; 6. 4-Bryan Waller[7]; 7. 84-Michael Sauer[6]; 8. (DNS) 20-Mike Weddell

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 85-Michele Locatelli[1]; 2. 05-Darren Gallant[2]; 3. 58-Carl Cormier[3]; 4. 64J-Zeke Hanger[4]; 5. 30K-Seth Kearchner[5]; 6. 33-Claude Watteyne[6]; 7. 22-Dwayne Holder[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 88-Peter Barrable, 00:48.883[1]; 2. 85-Michele Locatelli, 00:48.904[9]; 3. 53-Kevin Nowak, 00:49.121[11]; 4. 05-Darren Gallant, 00:49.149[3]; 5. 66-Daryl Mahar, 00:49.231[10]; 6. 58-Carl Cormier, 00:49.372[2]; 7. 1-Robert Gayton, 00:49.668[4]; 8. 64J-Zeke Hanger, 00:49.670[5]; 9. 31-Lonnie Hochstetler, 00:49.780[6]; 10. 30K-Seth Kearchner, 00:49.897[8]; 11. 84-Michael Sauer, 00:50.624[12]; 12. 33-Claude Watteyne, 00:50.633[14]; 13. 4-Bryan Waller, 00:50.672[13]; 14. 22-Dwayne Holder, 00:51.420[7]; 15. (DNS) 20-Mike Weddell

YOUNG LIONS DIVISION

CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 40-Carter McMurray[1]; 2. 17-Ben Morabito[4]; 3. 79-Neal Dulin[2]; 4. 34-Trent Dillard[9]; 5. 99-Spencer Bradshaw[3]; 6. 16-Finn Buckley[5]; 7. 46-TJ Moon[13]; 8. 9R-Brody Rhodes[7]; 9. 55-Mardy Roberts III[11]; 10. 68-Luke Giglio[6]; 11. 9-Kaden Bradshaw[8]; 12. 2B-Keaton Harbison[10]; 13. 47RI-Adam Harrison[12]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Carter McMurray[1]; 2. 99-Spencer Bradshaw[2]; 3. 16-Finn Buckley[3]; 4. 9R-Brody Rhodes[4]; 5. 55-Mardy Roberts III[6]; 6. 46-TJ Moon[7]; 7. 34-Trent Dillard[5]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Ben Morabito[2]; 2. 79-Neal Dulin[1]; 3. 9-Kaden Bradshaw[4]; 4. 68-Luke Giglio[3]; 5. 2B-Keaton Harbison[5]; 6. 47RI-Adam Harrison[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 40-Carter McMurray, 00:48.149[9]; 2. 79-Neal Dulin, 00:48.613[5]; 3. 99-Spencer Bradshaw, 00:48.712[2]; 4. 17-Ben Morabito, 00:48.773[11]; 5. 16-Finn Buckley, 00:48.821[3]; 6. 68-Luke Giglio, 00:48.910[6]; 7. 9R-Brody Rhodes, 00:49.110[12]; 8. 9-Kaden Bradshaw, 00:49.124[1]; 9. 34-Trent Dillard, 00:49.523[4]; 10. 2B-Keaton Harbison, 00:50.117[7]; 11. 55-Mardy Roberts III, 00:50.221[13]; 12. 47RI-Adam Harrison, 00:50.641[8]; 13. (DNS) 46-TJ Moon, 00:50.641