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.
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