Matt Caruana earns Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series title; splits victory lane at COTA with Ayden Young

The 2025 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season wrapped up at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday night. While the title was mostly decided coming in, it was confirmed by the end of the first race that Matt Caruana had won it after taking the checkered flag for the seventh time on the season, holding off rivals Aaron Vazquez and Ayden Young for the opening race win.In the final race, Young capitalized on contact ahead in the final corner to grab his second win of the season, cementing his third place points position in the final standings behind Caruana and Vazquez."It is an amazing opportunity," Caruana said about locking in his place at the Skip Barber Racing School contest later in the Fall. "I'm over the moon with that result, that was a really good race, a great way to secure my place," he continued, speaking on his seventh win on the season. "I think now, just focusing on all of the stuff that you do for real life, like fitness, obviously a bit of sim prep... hopefully, everything transfers over in the F4 car."While there was intense fighting among the top-three, down to the very last lap, the respect was on display throughout the entire season. The trio of Caruana, Vazquez, and Young are set to travel to the Skip Barber Racing School to compete against one another for a chance at a real-world racing seat for the 2026 calendar year, the same seat currently held by Ivan Machado, the ultimate winner in 2024's contest.

THE EVENT

Matt Caruana had the field on notice throughout final practice and qualifying, setting the fastest laps in each session, claiming the final pole position of the season. With Circuit of the Americas clocking laps over two minutes, the laps would be fewer, but the opportunities to pass would be greater, especially on the long back straightaway.Caruana, Ayden Young, and Aaron Vazquez made it clear early in the going that they would be the three to beat. Vazquez, having a shot at taking the virtual title away from Caruana, needed to win out the remaining two races to have a chance. That would all hinge on Caruana needing to fall back on his drop weeks from prior races, which meant finishes of sixth or worse through both events.Vazquez led five of the eight laps, Caruana leading the other three, and Young leading at times when there was no line to cross to count it. On the final lap of the opening race, Caruana got the tow on the backstretch and slingshot around Vazquez for the lead. The two ran side-by-side through the stadium section, but by the final corner, Caruana had managed to take it fully. Vazquez wound up going slightly wide, allowing for Young and also Leo Ovtcharov to get by at the line.The second race lined the drivers up in the same order as their finish from the race prior. Once again, it was Caruana, Vazquez, and Young leading throughout. Still with fourth and fifth positions to be determined, Matt Bussa still had potential prizes on the line with Felipe Cabrera not qualifying for the finale up in the fourth spot in the standings. After finishing eighth in the opening race of the night. As a result, his only mathematical shot was to tie Cabrera, and that would be by winning. His night would come to a premature end, unfortunately, and Cabrera would maintain the fifth spot, getting leaped by Ovtcharov getting the podium early in the night.Up front, Young still had a shot at stealing second away from Vazquez in the final standings. A win would be his best chance. On the final lap, Vazquez once again had the lead, and just like a replay of the first race, Caruana waited until the backstretch to make his move. Vazquez was able to keep it closer this time, and into the final corner, he made one last move.The contact forced both leaders out of the groove, allowing Young to claim the victory. It would not be enough to take second in the points, however, as Vazquez was able to recover for second.