Blewitt, Rafoss Split iRacing Off-Road Championship Wins at Wild Horse Pass

Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park has always been seen as the biggest wild card on the iRacing Off-Road Championship Series calendar, with its smallest layout, fastest laps, and crazy bumps. Wednesday night’s pro action was no exception, with a thrilling photo finish in the first race between Team Gold teammates Joel Blewitt and Trenton Briley and Jakob Rafoss’ first series win since joining Nitro Circus Sim Racing Team in the second.

Briley came out swinging in qualifying, as he earned the top spot by .017 seconds over points leader and defending champion Connor Barry, also of the Nitro Circus squad. They’d remain in those spots for the first five laps of the race before Blewitt finally got around Barry for second and set his sights on his teammate for the lead. As the laps wound down, the duo found themselves in one of the most entertaining, but also cleanest, battles for the win all season, as Blewitt threw sliders into the first turn and Briley reasserted the top spot down the backstretch. But on the last lap, Blewitt had just enough to get it done, nipping his teammate at the line by just .057 seconds. Factory Simsport’s Keaton Swane, Barry’s longest-standing rival over the past two seasons, got past the defending champion for third and was within two tenths of the victory himself.

Rafoss then took the point on the eight-truck invert for the second race and never looked back, leading all 16 laps. Barry worked his way up from fifth to second, passing Altus Esports’ Killian Dall’olmo for the spot on Lap 10, while Alex Bergeron got onto the podium by moving past Dall’olmo on the final lap. While it wasn’t another win, the Canadian remains a perfect four-for-four on scoring at least one podium in every Wild Horse Pass doubleheader in series history. Barry, meanwhile, extended his points lead to a healthy 62 over Swane with just two rounds remaining.

iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Round 13 results at Wild Horse Pass were as follows:

1. Joel Blewitt, 16 laps
2. Trenton Briley, -0.057
3. Keaton Swane, -0.168
4. Connor Barry, -1.065
5. Josh Edmundson, -2.581

iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Round 14 results at Wild Horse Pass were as follows:

1. Jakob Rafoss, 16 laps
2. Connor Barry, -0.252
3. Alex Bergeron, -2.528
4. Killian Dall’olmo, -2.672
5. Parker Retzlaff, -2.869

iRacing Off-Road Championship Series points through 14 of 16 rounds are as follows:

1. Connor Barry, 651
2. Keaton Swane, 589
3. Joel Blewitt, 583
4. Jarrett Liebert, 546
5. Killian Dall’olmo, 525

In the All-Star action, it was once again Pro eSports class leaders Luke Knupp of Team Gold and Zachary Drapkin battling up front in the first race, trading the lead between themselves and Celebrity points leader Keenan Kusan; all three would finish on the podium in that order. In the second race, Knupp was the quicker of the two to work his way up from the back, taking the lead from eventual Celebrity class winner Leo Moura on Lap 5 of 18. Drapkin would once again finish second, with Moura in third. Knupp remains comfortably up front in the Pro eSports class points, while a pair of top-five finishes for Nitro Circus team leader Trever Teal have him within two of Kusan for the Celebrity class lead.

Racing Off-Road All-Star Pro 4 Pro eSports points are as follows:

1. Luke Knupp, 417
2. Zachary Drapkin, 373
3. Scott Kerr, 320

Racing Off-Road All-Star Pro 4 Celebrity points are as follows:

1. Keenan Kusan, 328
2. Trever Teal, 326
3. Wes Graham, 290

The 2023 iRacing Off-Road Championship Series wraps up next Wednesday with the season finale at Crandon International Raceway, presented by CBR. Coverage will kick off once again at 8PM ET across iRacing social media channels with the All-Star action, followed by the sim racing pros at 9PM ET.

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

Images via Justin Melillo

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