iORWildWestRecap

iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Race Preview: Bark River

The inaugural iRacing Off-Road Championship Series season hits its halfway point on Wednesday night with its first visit to Bark River International Raceway. As always, the action can be seen live at 8:30PM ET on twitch.tv/iracing with the All-Star race, followed by 24 sim racing pros doing battle for $25,000 at 9PM ET.

Last Race: After they both fought their way around first place starter Keith Jeffery in the second half of the race, Factory Simsport’s Keaton Swane made contact with Jim Beaver eSports’ Josh Edmundson in the final corner of last week’s first race from Wild West Motorsports Park to become the fifth different winner in five races to start the season. The second race saw Team General Tire teammates lead from flag to flag; Jakob Rafoss started first from the eight-truck invert, but Vision Wheel Pole Award winner Cam Pedersen finally completed his climb back from eighth on the initial invert to lead the closing laps and become the year’s first repeat winner.

All-Stars: After returning to the Pro 4 truck at Wild West, Luke Knupp paid off his pair of fastest laps in the Pro 2 Lite at Wild Horse Pass with a pair of race victories. He and Zachary Drapkin finished 1-2 in both races, coming from last to first in the 20-truck field after a full invert for the second race; Nitro Circus drivers Trever Teal and Adam Jones split the final podium slots across the two races. Bark River will see a return to the Pro 2 Lite.

Track Info: Located in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Bark River International Raceway is one of short course off-road racing’s most historic and popular tracks. Home to real-world short course racing every summer, the track is operated by the Bark River Lions Club and has been in continuous operation since the mid-1970s. The track will host its 46th annual event on August 12-14, with numerous iRacing Off-Road Pro and All-Star drivers expected to compete.

The iRacing Off-Road Championship Series is supported by CBR Performance Products, Vision Wheel, and Big Green Egg. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

Chris Leone

A veteran of the motorsports industry (both physical and digital), Chris Leone contributes coverage of race events of all types to Off-Road Racer. Elsewhere, he is the marketing/communications manager at iRacing, media director of Jim Beaver's Down & Dirty Show, and a frequent contributor to UTV Underground.