The 2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series is starting to come to a close, and what better time than now for the defending series champion Connor Barry to get hot and control the points lead.
After trailing Keaton Swane for the first half of the season by mere points, unable to score a victory, Barry now has won two weeks in a row, scoring the second race win of the night at Bark River International Raceway. Joel Blewitt was the dominant force in the first race of the night, winning handedly from the pole position.
In the first race, Blewitt led all 11 laps, managing to pull away from the outside pole sitter Jarrett Liebert as the two ran away from the rest of the pack. These two rookies have been impressive, scoring now five wins amongst the pair as Blewitt picked up his second of the season.
Barry finished third after starting in sixth, with the two Dall’olmos, Killian and Quentin, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Swane, meanwhile, had the virtual wheels fall off the cart when he made a rare mistake early in the first race. Racing against Barry for what was the sixth position at the time, the two collided off of a jump, sending the former points leader into the berm and subsequently into the path of Jakob Rafoss.
Finishing 17th in the first race with a single qualifying point, Swane only mustered 19 points and put himself in a hole for the second race, as that would be where he would start. Swane managed to get back up to eighth, minimizing what damages he could, but the championship has a whole new look with only two rounds left.
That’s because Barry would score that win and maximize his points, again starting from sixth, but once again passing all the trucks that he passed in the first race. The two he couldn’t catch started behind him and had a tougher time cutting through traffic.
Alex Bergeron was the pole sitter for the second race, starting alongside Tom Grady in his best effort of the season to date. Barry was no match, however, as he took the lead with five laps to go and never looked back.
The points battle leaving Bark River, with two rounds and four races left to decide the title, is still not over by any means, but it has become a lot harder for Swane being a full race back now. Barry leads Liebert by 27 points, about a half a race. Swane is now tied for third with Blewitt, who is 40 points in the hole from penalty points.
If not for those penalty points, the rookie Blewitt would be only 13 points out. Instead, Barry is starting to tighten his grip around what could be back-to-back championships in the series’ first two seasons.
Only two race weeks remain, with four races in total to go. Two races will take place next week at Wild Horse Pass, and then the finale will offer two races at Crandon to decide the championship.
Bark River Race #11 – Top 10 Results:
| FIN | STA | TRUCK # | DRIVER | INTERVAL | LED | PTS | AGG. PTS |
| 1 | 1 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | 11 LAPS | 11 | 50 | 55 |
| 2 | 2 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | +1.044 sec | 0 | 48 | 52 |
| 3 | 6 | 1 | Connor Barry | +3.627 sec | 0 | 46 | 46 |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | Killian Dall’olmo | +5.442 sec | 0 | 44 | 47 |
| 5 | 7 | 14 | Quentin Dall’olmo | +5.727 sec | 0 | 42 | 42 |
| 6 | 4 | 10 | Jakob Rafoss | +7.525 sec | 0 | 40 | 42 |
| 7 | 9 | 16 | Tom Grady | +9.876 sec | 0 | 38 | 38 |
| 8 | 15 | 9 | Alex A Bergeron | +12.004 sec | 0 | 36 | 36 |
| 9 | 13 | 12 | Josh Fox | +14.047 sec | 0 | 34 | 34 |
| 10 | 11 | 4 | Josh Edmundson | +14.556 sec | 0 | 32 | 32 |
Bark River Race #12 – Top 10 Results:
| FIN | STA | TRUCK # | DRIVER | INTERVAL | LED | PTS | AGG. PTS |
| 1 | 6 | 1 | Connor Barry | 11 LAPS | 5 | 50 | 96 |
| 2 | 1 | 9 | Alex A Bergeron | +1.622 sec | 5 | 48 | 84 |
| 3 | 2 | 16 | Tom Grady | +2.730 sec | 0 | 46 | 84 |
| 4 | 4 | 14 | Quentin Dall’olmo | +3.002 sec | 1 | 44 | 86 |
| 5 | 8 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | +5.780 sec | 0 | 42 | 97 |
| 6 | 3 | 10 | Jakob Rafoss | +6.636 sec | 0 | 40 | 82 |
| 7 | 7 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | +7.036 sec | 0 | 38 | 90 |
| 8 | 17 | 2 | Keaton Swane | +8.353 sec | 0 | 36 | 55 |
| 9 | 13 | 8 | Christopher Plumley | +10.675 sec | 0 | 34 | 60 |
| 10 | 9 | 12 | Josh Fox | +10.838 sec | 0 | 32 | 66 |
2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Standings:
| POS | TRUCK # | DRIVER NAME | POINTS | BEHIND | WINS | T5’s | T10’s |
| 1 | 1 | Connor Barry | 555 | LEADER | 2 | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | 528 | -27 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
| 3 | 2 | Keaton Swane | 502 | -53 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| 3 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | 502* | -53 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| 5 | 5 | Killian Dall’olmo | 443 | -112 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | 14 | Quentin Dall’olmo | 387* | -168 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | 10 | Jakob Rafoss | 377* | -178 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Josh Edmundson | 372* | -183 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | 12 | Josh Fox | 323* | -232 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | 20 | Tyson Miller | 309 | -246 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
* = penalty points assigned
2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Schedule
| Week | Date | Track | Laps |
| 7 | 16-August | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 8 | 23-August | Crandon International Raceway | 10 | 10 |
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