iRacing Rallycross All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama Race Preview: Charlotte

The four-race iRacing Rallycross All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama wraps up for the spring on Tuesday, as both the celebrity drivers and sim pros finally reunite at Charlotte Motor Speedway just two days after the NASCAR Cup Series completed its longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600, at the real facility. Charlotte’s iRX layout is one of iRacing’s newest, and will be making its broadcast debut as part of the two-hour broadcast beginning at 5PM ET/2PM PT.

Real-world Rallycross Lites champions Henrik Krogstad and Conner Martell have taken the fight to Supercar pros like Scott Speed, Andreas Bakkerud, and Kevin Hansen in the first three races of the series for real pros and celebrities. As new drivers have made their way into the field, though, we’ve seen grids shuffle quite a bit going into the 10-lap, 10-car finals. Krogstad has been the class of the field thus far, but Subaru Motorsports USA stage rally driver Brandon Semenuk, veteran rallycross driver Tanner Whitten, ARCA driver Parker Retzlaff, and off-road young guns Connor Barry and Luke Knupp are among those expected to challenge him in Charlotte.

On the sim pro side, defending series champion Yohann Harth and Jonne Ollikainen haven’t let a fixed setup prevent them from being as dominant in the all-star races as they were in last year‘s World Championship. A win by Ollikainen here would even the score, but with past champion Sami-Matti Trogen expected to join the grid for this race, there’ll be an extra element of challenge to get it done.

Alongside that trio, a promising core of drivers like Kevin Ellis Jr., Luis Nunez, Luc Fournier, and Quentin Dall’olmo have also established themselves as threats to qualify for this year’s World Championship for the first time by making it into all four races via the Time Attack qualifying sessions. And don’t forget the rest of last year’s World Championship veterans, from guaranteed entrants like the returning Tommi Hallman, Jake Robertson, and Bobby Zalenski to Time Attack qualifiers like Killian Dall’olmo, Luke Crouse, and Vicente Salas.

Charlotte wraps up the iRX All-Star season, with sights soon to be set on the World Championship in the fall. With a globetrotting new schedule and many exciting new elements to be announced in the coming weeks, the drivers will be sure to leave iRX fans with a high note before the long countdown to September.

iRacing Rallycross All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama action from Charlotte kicks off at 5PM ET/2PM PT on iRacing, Nitro Circus, and Roadshow by CNET social media channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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