On Wednesday night (22nd June 2022), the opening race of the inaugural season of the new iRacing Off-Road Championship Series took place at the full layout of Crandon International Raceway. Each race week will contain a qualifying session and two races, inverting the Top 8 after each session ends.
After the first pair of races to start the season, Cam Pedersen and Connor Barry can consider themselves the first winners in the new World Championship’s history. Furthermore, Barry winds up leaving Crandon as the first points leader in series history with a four point lead over Quentin Dall’olmo.
The Championship Series was preceded by a pair of All-Star races in which Zachary Drapkin spanked the field of real racers, streamers, and other iRacing invitees. While the Championship Series will utilize the Pro 4 Truck the entire season, the All-Star Series will alternate between the Pro 4 Truck, the Pro 2 Lite Truck and the Beetle Rallycross car.
RACE #1: CAM PEDERSEN HOLDS OFF JOSH EDMUNDSON
The first qualifying session of the season saw Pedersen take the top time and the five bonus points that go with it. The Top 5 qualifiers get points, with the pole sitter getting five and the fifth place qualifier earning a single point. Jakob Rafoss, Keaton Swane, Connor Barry and Alex Bergeron rounded out the Top 5. The server would invert the Top 8 spots, but it wouldn’t be that big of an issue on this night.
At Crandon, the starts are standing, but trucks line up ten-wide as many rows deep that’s needed. Nicknamed a “land rush start”, essentially a cluster of trucks have to figure out how to not only get into a proper order, but also survive through the first few corners.
In the first event, the start was relatively clean as the field filed into line. Josh Edmundson looked to have the initial advantage, but Pedersen fought tough on the outside and was able to take it before the first of 10 laps began.
Pedersen and Edmundson stayed in close contact through the entirety of the race. The Dall’olmos, Quentin and Killian, were within striking distance as well for the first part. Towards the latter, they began to fall off the Top 2.
Edmundson made a move for the lead late, nearly clearing for the lead, but Pedersen was able to counter and take it back. After 10 laps, Pedersen scored the very first win of the series, heading into the second race of the night with a chance at a perfect score to start the season.
CRANDON RACE #1 TOP 10 RESULTS:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | INTERVAL | POINTS | AGG POINTS |
| 1 | 48 | Cam Pedersen | 10 LAPS | 50 | 55 |
| 2 | 58 | Josh Edmundson | +0.413 sec | 48 | 48 |
| 3 | 22 | Quentin Dall’olmo | +1.831 sec | 46 | 46 |
| 4 | 18 | Killian Dall’olmo | +4.071 sec | 44 | 44 |
| 5 | 2 | Connor Barry | +7.120 sec | 42 | 44 |
| 6 | 87 | Tommi Hallman | +8.742 sec | 40 | 40 |
| 7 | 36 | Christopher Plumley | +9.273 sec | 38 | 38 |
| 8 | 21 | Keaton Swane | +9.378 sec | 36 | 39 |
| 9 | 12 | Josh Fox | +9.741 sec | 34 | 34 |
| 10 | 6 | Brandyn Proudfoot | +9.930 sec | 32 | 32 |
RACE #2: CONNOR BARRY STEALS IT ON THE LAST LAP
Once again, the Top 8 would invert, which would put Keaton Swane in the number one spot for the second ‘land rush start’ of the evening. The field was sent away and this time, it wasn’t as clean.
Pedersen attempted to make the same move to the front on the outside, but there happened to be multiple trucks on the inside, which would push up into him and force him wide and off of the track. Swane and Connor Barry began to pull away as the field continued to figure out how to file out safely.
Unfortunately, the runner-up from the first race ran into bigger issues before the first lap began as well. Edmundson’s troubles would be big enough to kill the truck as he and Tommi Hallman collided, sending Hallman flying away in the process.
Once things settled down, Swane and Barry were gone from the rest of the field. While the battle for the third position was heavily contested among multiple drivers, the Top 2 kept calm for the most part.
Felix Roy wound up taking advantage of the many hairpins and passing zones to take that third place barely over Quentin Dall’olmo. Pedersen fought back and forth, up and down the pylon throughout the race and eventually took home a 10th place finish, preventing his perfect start to the season.
Up front, the battle began with two laps to go. Barry took the lead from Swane but Swane battled back. The elbows were out until the finish. Entering the final corner of the final lap, Barry went low on Swane and the two slid into the corner. Barry moved Swane out of the way to take the lead and the win.
CRANDON RACE #2 TOP 10 RESULTS:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | INTERVAL | POINTS | AGG POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Connor Barry | 10 LAPS | 50 | 94 |
| 2 | 21 | Keaton Swane | +0.328 sec | 48 | 87 |
| 3 | 91 | Felix Roy | +9.915 sec | 46 | 70 |
| 4 | 22 | Quentin Dall’olmo | +10.045 sec | 44 | 90 |
| 5 | 13 | Jakob Rafoss | +10.415 sec | 42 | 74 |
| 6 | 18 | Killian Dall’olmo | +11.472 sec | 40 | 84 |
| 7 | 12 | Josh Fox | +11.934 sec | 38 | 72 |
| 8 | 112 | Alex A Bergeron | +12.239 sec | 36 | 45 |
| 9 | 36 | Christopher Plumley | +12.338 sec | 34 | 72 |
| 10 | 48 | Cam Pedersen | +12.672 sec | 32 | 87 |
POINTS LEAVING CRANDON
With a fourth place qualifying effort, a fifth place finish in the first race and a win in the second, Connor Barry holds the points lead heading to Wild Horse Pass.
Quentin Dall’olmo was the only other driver to score two Top 5 finishes and sits second overall. Swane only lost two points by finishing second instead of first. He sits tied for third with the first race winner on the evening, Pedersen, at 87 points.
With the disaster in the second race, Edmundson won’t find himself in the Top 10. Also, Alex Bergeron had a tough first race but rebounded soundly for a great finish in the second. He also sits outside the Top 10 as a result.
2022 IRACING OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS THROUGH CRANDON:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | POINTS | WINS | T5’s | T10’s |
| 1 | 2 | Connor Barry | 94 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 22 | Quentin Dall’olmo | 90 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| T-3 | 21 | Keaton Swane | 87 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| T-3 | 48 | Cam Pedersen | 87 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 18 | Killian Dall’olmo | 84 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 13 | Jakob Rafoss | 74 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| T-7 | 12 | Josh Fox | 72 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| T-7 | 36 | Christopher Plumley | 72 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 91 | Felix Roy | 70 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| T-10 | 90 | Tyson Miller | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T-10 | 11 | Connor Parise | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ALL STARS: PERFECT NIGHT FOR ZACHARY DRAPKIN
To open the night, a pair of seven minute races for the Off-Road All-Stars took place with 15 of the scheduled drivers taking part. In both races, Zachary Drapkin was nearly untouchable.
In the first race, Drapkin’s biggest competition came in the form of Parker Retzlaff. After the full field invert for the second race, Blake Reynolds held the lead for a while before Drapkin eventually went back to the front and on to a second victory in as many races.
Drapkin leaves Crandon with a perfect 100 score as the All-Stars don’t score points for qualifying. Retzlaff sits in second, six points behind, while Reynolds is tied for third with Eliott Watson.
Traxion.GG has two entries in the All-Star ranks once again. While I’ll be piloting these off-road vehicles poorly in the back, Keenan Kusan, A.K.A. our resident drift specialist Aero, will be putting on a better show with the Traxion.GG colors.
Aero grabbed a Top 10 finish in both races tonight as he sits tied for ninth after the first event. Next week, the All-Stars will take on Wild Horse Pass with the Pro 2 Lite Trucks.
2022 IRACING OFF-ROAD ALL-STARS SERIES POINTS THROUGH CRANDON:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | POINTS | WINS | T5’s | T10’s |
| 1 | 56 | Zachary Drapkin | 100 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 42 | Parker Retzlaff | 94 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| T-3 | 66 | Blake Reynolds | 90 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| T-3 | 3 | Eliott Watson | 90 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 76 | Matthew Bisceglia | 80 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| T-6 | 85 | Mikey Lawrence | 78 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| T-6 | 760 | Adam Jones | 78 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 777 | Adam Briggs | 70 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T-9 | 72 | Trever Teal | 66 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T-9 | 03 | Keenan Kusan (Aero) | 66 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
NEXT RACE: WILD HORSE PASS
On paper, the off-road course at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park is a four-turn, 1.5-mile course in the United States. If I didn’t look at a map of the facility, I’d have thought it was a NASCAR cookie-cutter oval. It definitely is not that.
Wild Horse Pass has tons of elevation changes, jumps, and is just small enough to incite chaos throughout the race. Both the Championship Series and the All-Stars will be on display starting at 8:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 a.m. BST on iRacing.com/live or the iRacing social channels.
2022 iRACING OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCHEDULE
| Week | Date | Track | Race #1 Laps | Race #2 Laps |
| 2 | 29 June | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 3 | 06 July | Wild West Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 4 | 13 July | Bark River International Raceway | 11 | 11 |
| 5 | 20 July | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 6 | 27 July | Wild West Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 7 | 03 August | Bark River International Raceway | 11 | 11 |
| 8 | 10 August | Crandon International Raceway – Full | 10 | 10 |
