iRacing Off-Road: Rookies shine at Bark River as Joel Blewitt, Parker Retzlaff score first wins

It was all about the rookies in the fifth and six rounds of the 2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series at Bark River on Wednesday night (12th July).

Two brand new faces to the series in Joel Blewitt and Parker Retzlaff were victorious in the fifth and sixth rounds respectively, both winning in dominant fashion once they got to the lead position. Blewitt scored his second pole position of the season to lead the first race of the night initially, and after the start, he never looked back.

Like it was in the first race of the season, Keaton Swane was right alongside. Swane was not able to capitalize on the start this time as Blewitt drove away. With a runner-up finish to the defending champion Connor Barry’s fourth place finish, Swane added four points to his lead plus another four for qualifying second.

Again, like the first round of the season at Wild West, the way the invert would work out placed another rookie and winner back in Round 2 Jarrett Liebert on the pole position. Alongside NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Parker Retzlaff, the first lap of the sixth race of the season was much more chaotic behind.

After it all settled out, Retzlaff passed his fellow rookie to take control and began to pull away. Meanwhile, Liebert had fallen into the clutches of both the the defending champion Barry and Blewitt, looking for the sweep. Retzlaff would not be touched, however.

The battle ensued for second. Barry was able to get by initially, but Liebert managed to take it back as Blewitt and Jakob Rafoss rounded out the Top 5.

With Swane finishing in the eighth position, Barry was able to flip the script and essentially gain two points on the championship lead by nights end, scoring 90 in total to Swane’s 88. The rookies Blewitt and Liebert aren’t too far back either, 18 and 26 points respectively, as the championship heads to Wild Horse Pass in a week’s time.

Bark River Race #5 – Top 10 Results:

FIN	STA	TRUCK #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LED	PTS	AGG. PTS
1	1	27	Joel Blewitt	11 LAPS	11	50	55
2	2	2	Keaton Swane	+5.585 sec	0	48	52
3	3	5	Killian Dallolmo	+6.169 sec	0	46	49
4	9	1	Connor Barry	+7.042 sec	0	44	44
5	4	10	Jakob Rafoss	+8.199 sec	0	42	44
6	7	26	Parker Retzlaff	+8.443 sec	0	40	40
7	5	4	Josh Edmundson	+9.457 sec	0	38	39
8	10	25	Jarrett Liebert	+9.953 sec	0	36	36
9	11	20	Tyson Miller	+12.309 sec	0	34	34
10	12	8	Christopher Plumley	+18.098 sec	0	32	32

Bark River Race #6 – Top 10 Results:

FIN	STA	TRUCK #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LED	PTS	AGG. PTS
1	3	26	Parker Retzlaff	11 LAPS	11	50	90
2	1	25	Jarrett Liebert	+2.463 sec	0	48	84
3	5	1	Connor Barry	+2.886 sec	0	46	90
4	8	27	Joel Blewitt	+3.330 sec	0	44	99
5	4	10	Jakob Rafoss	+5.070 sec	0	42	86
6	6	5	Killian Dallolmo	+7.206 sec	0	40	89
7	2	4	Josh Edmundson	+7.573 sec	0	38	77
8	7	2	Keaton Swane	+7.983 sec	0	36	88
9	14	6	Connor Parise	+13.514 sec	0	34	58
10	11	17	Cody Retzlaff	+13.545 sec	0	32	62

2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Standings:

POS	TRUCK #	DRIVER NAME	POINTS	BEHIND	WINS	T5’s	T10’s
1	2	Keaton Swane	276	LEADER	2	4	6
2	1	Connor Barry	271	-5	0	6	6
3	27	Joel Blewitt [R]	258	-18	1	4	6
4	25	Jarrett Liebert [R]	250	-26	1	3	5
5	4	Josh Edmundson	210	-66	0	2	5
6	14	Quentin Dall’olmo	191	-85	0	1	2
7	26	Parker Retzlaff [R]	184	-92	1	2	3
8	15	Nicholas Dachelet	175	-101	1	2	3
8	5	Killian Dall’olmo	175	-101	0	1	3
8	20	Tyson Miller	175	-101	0	1	4

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