iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Race Preview: Crandon Finale presented by CBR Performance Products
August 22nd, 2023 by Chris Leone
The iRacing Off-Road Championship Series wraps up its 2023 season on Wednesday night with its season finale at Crandon International Raceway presented by CBR Performance Products. Coverage kicks off at 8PM ET across iRacing social media channels with All-Star action featuring top real-world drivers and Twitch streamers, while the 24 top off-road sim racers in the world will take on this week’s showcase race at 9PM ET.
Last Week: Team Gold’s Joel Blewitt stole the first of two wins in last week’s doubleheader at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park from his team boss, Trenton Briley, after a thrilling late-race battle that saw Blewitt lead only the final lap and take the win by .058 seconds. In the second race, it was Nitro Circus Sim Racing Team driver Jakob Rafoss all the way, as he led every lap and won by .252 seconds over teammate Connor Barry. Barry, the defending series champion, takes a 62-point advantage over 2022 runner-up Keaton Swane of Factory Simsport into Crandon, and can thus clinch the title between this week’s two races.
Earlier This Season: Swane and teammate Nicholas Dachelet scored the wins at Crandon earlier this season, with Dachelet standing on top of the box in the series for the first time in the first race before Swane extended his then-points lead as the first repeat winner of the year. Only Dachelet and Connor Barry managed two top-fives on the night, with Dachelet running fourth in the second race and Barry collecting a decent points haul in fourth and fifth.
All-Star Series: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Team Gold’s Luke Knupp swept the two races at Wild Horse Pass, making him seven for eight on the Pro 4 season and giving him a healthy Pro eSports division points advantage over fellow real-world racer Zachary Drapkin. In the Celebrity class, Keenan Kusan and Trever Teal remain separated by the thinnest of margins—just two points—and any small swing either way could be the difference between winning and losing the class title at Crandon.
Track Facts: Crandon International Raceway has played host to the World Championship Off-Road Races for more than half a century, and the spring Brush Run for 30 years. The 1.5-mile track’s most unique feature compared to any other track on the schedule is its famed “land rush” start, where all trucks line up side by side and launch together.
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Image via Justin Melillo