The return of iRacing‘s Off-Road Championship Series featuring the Lucas Oil Pro 4 Off-Road Trucks returned on Wednesday night (28th June) with many familiar faces and some new, fast ones joining the roster this time around.
One of those new faces, Joel Blewitt, came out swinging with the first pole of the 2023 season at Wild West Motorsports Park. The pole was no fluke, as he led the most laps in the opening round, but it was last season’s points runner-up Keaton Swane who stole the victory from Blewitt’s grasp.
The two traded the lead multiple times, with Blewitt leading at the white flag. Swane would not be denied as in the only right-handed corner of the track, he moved Blewitt aside and drove away.
After the Top 8 finishers inverted, as it was last season, another rookie in Jarrett Liebert found his way to the pole alongside returning competitor Crystal King. Swane managed to work his way back up to third, but was stopped by Connor Barry, the defending champion, who held on for second spot.
Meanwhile, Liebert managed to drive away for his first career win, leading all 16 laps in the second race. Swane leads the points through two races, just ahead of Barry by six points. Josh Edmundson separates the Top 2 from the two highest rookies on the night in third, with Blewitt fourth and Liebert in fifth.
The Wednesday night series also sees the return of its All-Star show, which for the first half of the season, places top esports drivers and sim racing influencers in the less-powerful Pro 2 Lite Off-Road Truck at the same venues as the World Championship drivers.
The All-Star is split into two categories this season (thankfully) which lets the good-at-everything crowd compete for their own title and the ones there mainly for a good time also have something to fight for. Zachary Drapkin and Leo Moura (a.k.a. Omega Sim Racing) were the two winners on the night.
Wild West Race #1 – Top 10 Results:
| FIN | STA | TRUCK # | DRIVER | INTERVAL | LED | PTS | AGG. PTS |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | Keaton Swane | 16 LAPS | 6 | 50 | 54 |
| 2 | 1 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | +0.651 sec | 10 | 48 | 53 |
| 3 | 6 | 1 | Connor Barry | +2.631 sec | 0 | 46 | 46 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | Josh Edmundson | +3.754 sec | 0 | 44 | 47 |
| 5 | 5 | 20 | Tyson Miller | +4.253 sec | 0 | 42 | 43 |
| 6 | 4 | 15 | Nicholas Dachelet | +5.375 sec | 0 | 40 | 42 |
| 7 | 8 | 19 | Crystal King | +6.426 sec | 0 | 38 | 38 |
| 8 | 12 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | +8.239 sec | 0 | 36 | 36 |
| 9 | 13 | 29 | Justin Kaye [R] | +9.529 sec | 0 | 34 | 34 |
| 10 | 7 | 22 | Trenton Briley | +10.948 sec | 0 | 32 | 32 |
Wild West Race #2 – Top 10 Results:
| FIN | STA | TRUCK # | DRIVER | INTERVAL | LED | PTS | AGG. PTS |
| 1 | 1 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | 16 LAPS | 16 | 50 | 86 |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | Connor Barry | +3.257 sec | 0 | 48 | 94 |
| 3 | 8 | 2 | Keaton Swane | +3.694 sec | 0 | 46 | 100 |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | Josh Edmundson | +4.863 sec | 0 | 44 | 91 |
| 5 | 2 | 19 | Crystal King | +6.535 sec | 0 | 42 | 80 |
| 6 | 4 | 20 | Tyson Miller | +7.690 sec | 0 | 40 | 83 |
| 7 | 7 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | +7.914 sec | 0 | 38 | 91 |
| 8 | 12 | 14 | Quentin Dall’olmo | +10.257 sec | 0 | 36 | 64 |
| 9 | 17 | 5 | Killian Dall’olmo | +13.399 sec | 0 | 34 | 52 |
| 10 | 9 | 29 | Justin Kaye [R] | +13.686 sec | 0 | 32 | 66 |
2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Standings:
| POS | TRUCK # | DRIVER NAME | POINTS | BEHIND | WINS | T5’s | T10’s |
| 1 | 2 | Keaton Swane | 100 | LEADER | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | Connor Barry | 94 | -6 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | Josh Edmundson | 91 | -9 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 27 | Joel Blewitt [R] | 91 | -9 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 25 | Jarrett Liebert [R] | 86 | -14 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 20 | Tyson Miller | 83 | -17 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 19 | Crystal King | 80 | -20 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 29 | Justin Kaye [R] | 66 | -34 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 14 | Quentin Dall’olmo | 64 | -36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 22 | Trenton Briley | 54 | -46 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 15 | Nicholas Dachelet | 54 | -46 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Schedule
| Week | Date | Track | Laps |
| 2 | 5-July | Crandon International Raceway | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 12-July | Bark River International Raceway | 11 | 11 |
| 4 | 19-July | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| All-Star | 26-July | Crandon International Raceway – SHORT | TBA |
| 5 | 2-August | Wild West Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 6 | 9-August | Bark River International Raceway | 11 | 11 |
| 7 | 16-August | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park | 16 | 16 |
| 8 | 23-August | Crandon International Raceway | 10 | 10 |
