Team Watson Racing drivers Matthew Linde and Zak Blanch won the 5^th edition of the Sierra Nevada 100, the first round of #Yes2Motorsport’s 2026 Virtual Off-Road Team Endurocross (VORTEX) season. The multi-class, team-based iRacing event was presented by iRacing Short Course, streamed live across iRacing social media channels with production from Maconi Entertainment, and featured an all-star lineup of more than 60 racers—including X Games gold medalist and rallycross champion Mitchell deJong, two-time iRacing Off-Road Champion Connor Barry, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver Nate Stewart, and action sports personality Street Bike Tommy.

Linde and Blanch traded the lead throughout the night with Channel 199 x Pimax drivers Josh Edmundson and Cam Pedersen, who won last year’s Limited Car class and were four for four on winning their class previously. The final lead change came on Lap 110 of the 122 that were completed in the 100-minute race.

As part of the event, which was held on 4/3 Day in honor of Ken Block, more than $350 was raised for the 43 Institute through donations from competitors.

Race Records and Notes

• The race totaled 122 laps (average lap: 49.317 seconds) with 11 lead changes and an average iRating of 3045. Margin of victory was 4.126 seconds.
• 32 entries set a record for the event; the previous record was 24, set in both 2022 and 2025. All but one of those entries completed at least 79 laps.
• The winning team’s 122 lap total equaled the record for the event; Carson McKenna and Alexander Abedi had previously turned 122 laps in 2023.
• Unlimited Car class entries have won the past four Sierra Nevada 100s.
• Three classes were represented in the overall top 10. Unlimited Car entries earned the first four overall spots, followed by four Unlimited Truck 4WD entries and two Limited Car entries.
• Three drivers defended class victories from 2025: Matthew Linde in Unlimited Car, and Sean Winkler and Zach Amspacher in Unlimited Truck 2WD.
• The #4 GridOne team (Connor Barry/Drake Mittag) completed an in-person driver change, satisfying their mandatory swap requirement. They finished second in the Unlimited Truck 4WD class and sixth overall.
• As of Monday evening, the race had generated 11,600 views on iRacing channels (6,700 Facebook; 2,700 YouTube; 2,200 Twitch).

Unlimited Car (Subaru WRX STI) – 7 entries, 1100 points to win

1. #123 Team Watson Racing, Matthew Linde/Zak Blanch, 122 laps/led 38, 1100 pts
2. #48 Channel 199 x Pimax, Cam Pedersen/Josh Edmundson, 122 laps/led 84, 1000 pts (Racecraft)
3. #129 Emperor, Evan MacFarlane/Josh Darnell, 121 laps, 900 pts (NASA Rallycross)
4. #40 #Yes2Motorsport Mint, Mitchell deJong/Chris Leone, 120 laps, 800 pts (#Y2M House)
5. #169 Team RICK, Cisco Scaramuzza/Keenan Kusan, 113 laps, 700 pts (#Yes2Motorsport)
6. #102 #Yes2Motorsport Blue, Russell Peterson/Aaron Bean, 106 laps, 600 pts (#Y2M House)
7. #21 Channel 199 x Fun Haver, Trever Teal/Street Bike Tommy, 105 laps, 600 pts (Racecraft)

Unlimited Truck 4WD (Pro 4) – 12 entries, 1600 points to win

1. #59 Lap Dogs, Cody Vanderveer/Austin Schiber, 120 laps, 1600 pts (Racecraft)
2. #4 GridOne, Connor Barry/Drake Mittag, 119 laps, 1500 pts (iRacing Short Course)
3. #221 Benson Motorsports, Noah Benson/Aaron Benson, 118 laps, 1400 pts
4. #46 Golgotha Esports, Chase Spaulding/David Holdren, 118 laps, 1300 pts
5. #26 Mink Motorsports, James Moench/Gunnar Olin, 116 laps, 1200 pts (#Yes2Motorsport)
6. #47 Ascension Racing, Michael Boyd/Justin Cunningham, 115 laps, 1100 pts (Special Stage)
7. #460 Dirt Team Special, Matt Schlosser/Joshua Motichek, 115 laps, 1000 pts (Special Stage)
8. #28 Ascension Racing, Jared Cockrum/Tyler Kalp, 114 laps, 900 pts (Special Stage)
9. #56 Queens’ Design, Ruby Nekomata/Mia Rose, 113 laps, 800 pts (#Yes2Motorsport)
10. #34 Orlando Outlaws eSports, Bobby Blowers/Wesley Worley, 109 laps, 700 pts
11. #72 Orlando Outlaws eSports Green, Chandler Bloxom/John Matthews, 106 laps, 600 pts
12. #946 Boozy Racing, Christian Noble, 0 laps, 500 pts

Limited Car (Volkswagen Beetle Lite) – 8 entries, 1200 points to win

1. #567 “car”, Kieran Liflander/Indy Kirchenbauer/John Michael Dunnigan, 117 laps, 1200 pts (NASA Rallycross)
2. #570 Yellovision WG, Aaron Smith II/Jacob Bradley, 116 laps, 1100 pts
3. #2 JC Simsport, Devin Hughes/Josh Mertz, 114 laps, 1000 pts (NASA Rallycross)
4. #535 Move Over It’s Speedy Time, Eric Caplinger/Raymond Rodriguez/Bryan Sawyer, 114 laps, 900 pts (NASA Rallycross)
5. #555 Crime Pays But Sim Racing Doesn’t, Chris Loonan/Matthew Grove/Robbie Kirtley, 113 laps, 800 pts (NASA Rallycross)
6. #000 Team Watson Racing, James Watson/Eric DuBois, 111 laps, 700 pts
7. #29 #Yes2Motorsport Teal, Ryder Poe/Devon Strauch, 109 laps, 600 pts (#Y2M House)
8. #505 Spin Diesel, Kevin Garcia/Jake Robichaud/Joe Pasucci, 109 laps, 500 pts

Unlimited Truck 2WD (Pro 2) – 5 entries, 900 points to win

1. #272 Bin It To Win It, Zach Amspacher/Sean Winkler, 114 laps, 900 pts (Racecraft)
2. #586 Ascension Racing, Ray Beaudoin/Joey Herbie, 110 laps, 800 pts (Special Stage)
3. #27 Derek Cowling, 107 laps*, 700 pts
4. #294 #Yes2Motorsport Red, Nate Stewart/John Dayhoff, 100 laps, 600 pts (#Y2M House)
5. #905 Dave Pearson, 78 laps*, 500 pts

*with 1-lap penalty plus end of current lap due to team registration

Cup of Leagues

The top two scoring teams that have declared a league on their entry form will earn points for their league in Cup of Leagues. In the event of a tie, the team that earns credit will be the highest overall finisher. #Yes2Motorsport declared teams and house teams are scored separately.

1. Racecraft: 2600 (1600 from #59 Lap Dogs, 1000 from #48 Channel 199 x Pimax)
2. NASA Rallycross: 2200 (1200 from #567 “car”, 1000 from #2 JC Simsport)
3. Special Stage: 2100 (1100 from #47 Ascension Racing, 1000 from #460 Dirt Team Special)
4. #Yes2Motorsport: 2000 (1200 from #26 Mink Motorsports, 800 from #56 Queens’ Design)
5. iRacing Short Course: 1500 (1500 from #4 GridOne)
6. #Y2M House: 1400 (800 from #40 #Yes2Motorsport Mint, 600 from #29 #Yes2Motorsport Teal)

2026 VORTEX Schedule

The remaining events on the 2026 VORTEX calendar are as follows. All events will be streamed via iRacing social media channels and produced by Maconi Entertainment:

• June 11: TBD 100, Crandon International Raceway
• September 24: 5^th Annual Great Lakes 100, Bark River International Raceway
• December 17: 6^th Annual Group Therapy 100, Crandon International Raceway