David Gravel won third straight World of Outlaws Sprint Car title
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 11, 2026
Sprint Car champion
The World of Outlaws closed its 2026 season Sunday night in Charlotte, North Carolina, by crowning David Gravel Sprint Car champion for the third straight year with Big Game Motorsports. Gravel put together another dominant run, finishing with 11 wins, 32 podiums, 48 top-fives and 66 top-10s while posting a 5.37 average finish. He also banked $350,000 in point fund money and added a record $300,000 payday at Huset’s Speedway to his season line. The championship extended a run that has kept Gravel at the center of the division for three straight years. His consistency carried through the entire schedule, and the final numbers showed how much separation he created over the rest of the field. The title capped a season in which he kept delivering results at a high level, week after week.
Late Model season
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series marked its 25th season at the awards banquet in Charlotte, and Bobby Pierce was the headliner after winning his third championship in four years. Pierce delivered a season built on volume and consistency, piling up 20 victories, including six straight wins in June, and finishing with a career-best 3.90 average finish. He earned the $225,000 title payout and added honors for hard charger and most Feature wins. Pierce’s run included the kind of sustained success that separates a good year from a championship year, and the six-win streak in June stood out as the defining burst of his campaign. His average finish underscored how hard it was for the rest of the field to make up ground. The series handed out more than $1.1 million in points fund checks and special awards as it wrapped up another season.
World of Outlaws awards
The banquet also recognized several other standouts across the World of Outlaws ranks. Daulton Wilson earned MD3 Rookie of the Year after finishing seventh in the standings, collecting 10 top-five finishes and 22 top-10 finishes and earning his first World of Outlaws victory at Stateline Speedway. Emerson Axsom took Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year honors after winning his first World of Outlaws race and earning $25,000 at Huset’s in September. Tyler Erb was voted Most Popular Driver, while Kyle Ripper received both the NOS Energy Drink Eloy Gutierrez Spirit Award and Crew Chief of the Year. Johnny Gibson won the Ted Johnson Award for his longtime work as the series announcer, and Ace Pruitt was named the Jason Johnson Sportsman of the Year. The season also has a quick turnaround on the horizon, with the 2027 World of Outlaws Sprint Car season set to open Feb. 10-13 at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. That gave the banquet a clean finish and a clear next step, with one season celebrated in Charlotte and the next already on deck.
