iRacing Off-Road: Nicholas Dachelet, Keaton Swane score victories at Crandon

Rounds 3 and 4 of the iRacing Off-Road Championship Series took place at the long Crandon course on Wednesday night (5th July) and with that, we saw the first two “Land Rush” starts of the season, both of which led to a lot of contact and upset drivers.

Another new winner emerged from the pole position in the first race of the night. While in a Land Rush start, the first 10 trucks are all lined up on the same row, the pole still gets some bit of an advantage by being able to take the inside line. Nicholas Dachelet scored the pole and took the win, but he most definitely had to earn it.

A four-pack of previous winners in the series were all breathing down his neck through the race. Last week’s winner in the second race, rookie Jarrett Liebert, was in prime position to steal another one, but opted to take a less aggressive attitude, allowing the others to catch up.

Jakob Rafoss eventually won that battle out for the runner-up spot as Liebert had to contend with the defending champion and the current points leader in Connor Barry and Keaton Swane, respectively. Liebert was able to hang on for it as Barry moved Swane for fourth, allowing rookie Joel Blewitt to exact some revenge from the previous week and take fifth.

Swane would end up seventh, but essentially in the second best starting spot for the second race, starting alongside Quentin Dall’olmo who finished eighth. Up front, it was Dachelet taking the easy win, the first of his career.

The second race had a second crazy Land Rush start, and this time, Blewitt and Tyson Miller would end up going crowd surfing after decent runs in the first race. Pole sitter Dall’olmo was able to get away cleanly with Swane alongside and NASCAR Xfinity Series driver and Off-Road rookie Parker Retzlaff in pursuit.

Just after halfway, Swane made his move to the top spot, taking the point from Dall’olmo in the hairpin corner about halfway through the lap. This also allowed Retzlaff to catch and pass for second, but by that time, Swane was gone.

Blewitt, who had the early flip, recovered to finish in eighth. Barry wound up fifth and through four races, he’s the only driver to say that he’s got all four finishes in the Top 5, despite none of them being a win. Swane’s two wins have him at the top of the standings by seven over Barry.

Crandon Race #3 – Top 10 Results:

FIN	STA	TRUCK #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LED	PTS	AGG. PTS
1	1	15	Nicholas Dachelet	10 LAPS	10	50	55
2	4	10	Jakob Rafoss	+1.625 sec	0	48	50
3	2	25	Jarrett Liebert [R]	+1.757 sec	0	46	50
4	5	1	Connor Barry	+3.135 sec	0	44	45
5	12	27	Joel Blewitt [R]	+3.492 sec	0	42	42
6	9	22	Trenton Briley	+3.747 sec	0	40	40
7	7	2	Keaton Swane	+3.961 sec	0	38	38
8	11	14	Quentin Dall’olmo	+4.626 sec	0	36	36
9	14	9	Alex A Bergeron	+5.765 sec	0	34	34
10	6	20	Tyson Miller	+8.654 sec	0	32	32

Crandon Race #4 – Top 10 Results:

FIN	STA	TRUCK #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LED	PTS	AGG. PTS
1	2	2	Keaton Swane	10 LAPS	5	50	88
2	15	26	Parker Retzlaff [R]	+1.425 sec	0	48	70
3	1	14	Quentin Dall’olmo	+3.653 sec	5	46	82
4	8	15	Nicholas Dachelet	+4.862 sec	0	44	99
5	5	1	Connor Barry	+6.792 sec	0	42	87
6	20	4	Josh Edmundson	+7.216 sec	0	40	52
7	11	12	Josh Fox	+7.936 sec	0	38	68
8	4	27	Joel Blewitt [R]	+11.888 sec	0	36	78
9	9	9	Alex A Bergeron	+12.002 sec	0	34	68
10	3	22	Trenton Briley	+12.220 sec	0	32	72

2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Standings:

POS	TRUCK #	DRIVER NAME	POINTS	BEHIND	WINS	T5’s	T10’s
1	2	Keaton Swane	188	LEADER	2	3	4
2	1	Connor Barry	181	-7	0	4	4
3	25	Jarrett Liebert [R]	166	-22	1	2	3
4	27	Joel Blewitt [R]	159	-29	0	2	4
5	15	Nicholas Dachelet	153	-35	1	2	3
6	14	Quentin Dall’olmo	141	-47	0	1	2
7	4	Josh Edmundson	133	-55	0	2	3
8	22	Trenton Briley	126	-62	0	0	3
9	19	Crystal King	125	-63	0	1	2
10	20	Tyson Miller	121	-67	0	1	3

2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Schedule

Week	Date	Track	Laps
1	28-June	Wild West Motorsports Park	16 | 16
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