Bergeron, Roy Translate Dirt Oval Skills Into iRacing Off-Road Wins at Wild Horse Pass
June 30, 2022
Off Road Racer Staff
Alex Bergeron and Felix Roy have quite a few things in common: they're both from Quebec, they both have real-world dirt oval racing aspirations, and they both made it into the inaugural iRacing Off-Road Championship Series after having already raced at a pro level in iRacing World of Outlaws action. After Wednesday night, they're also both winners in iRacing's $25,000 championship series for Pro 4 off-road trucks, having split the two victories on offer at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the shortest track on the schedule.
Connor Barry earned the Vision Wheel Pole Award to kick off the night with a best lap of 35.511, while Killian Dall'olmo would earn the first Big Green Egg Green Flag Award by leading the first lap after the eight-truck invert. Unfortunately for Dall'olmo, he'd also roll his truck just three laps into the first 16-lap race, opening the door for Bergeron to take the lead ahead of Keaton Swane, runner-up in last week's second Crandon race. However, just like last week, Barry would make a late pass on Swane for position, taking second and relegating Swane to third, as the entire top four was separated by under a second.
Brandyn Proudfoot and Keith Jeffery would start on the front row for the second race with the invert, with Proudfoot scoring the second Big Green Egg Green Flag Award of the night as Roy quickly moved into second and set his sights on the lead. After multiple laps of pressure, he'd finally take the spot for good on Lap 6, as a gaggle of Jim Beaver eSports and Team General Tire drivers attempted to settle the top five spots among themselves. The battle between Barry, Proudfoot, and Josh Edmundson didn't just give Roy some breathing room, though; it allowed Swane to climb back into the fight as well, and he'd end up returning serve on Barry with a late pass of his own. In the end, Edmundson and Swane would settle into the final two podium spots.
With such a tight course to work with, the CBR Hard Charger Awards would prove to be hard to come by. In the first race, it was CBR-backed Barry and Jim Beaver eSports driver Connor Parise tying with six positions gained apiece, placing second and 10th, respectively. In the second race, Legion Speedsports driver Nicholas Dachelet clawed his way to 13th from the 21st starting spot for a gain of eight, best among all drivers on the night.
iRacing Off-Road All-Stars would return as well with a major grid expansion, welcoming nine new names for a 24-truck field of its own. Real-world off-road racers Zachary Drapkin and Luke Knupp would be the class of the field for most of the night, with Drapkin winning the first race and Knupp setting the fast laps and placing second in both rounds even as the duo had to come from the last row in the second race. But after surviving early chaos in the second round thanks to a full-field inversion, it was former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion and iRacing eSports senior competition manager Tyler Hudson who would hang on to win in a photo finish.
Top five finishers from iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Round 3 at Wild Horse Pass were as follows:
iRacing Off-Road Championship Series points through four of 16 rounds are as follows:
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With such a tight course to work with, the CBR Hard Charger Awards would prove to be hard to come by. In the first race, it was CBR-backed Barry and Jim Beaver eSports driver Connor Parise tying with six positions gained apiece, placing second and 10th, respectively. In the second race, Legion Speedsports driver Nicholas Dachelet clawed his way to 13th from the 21st starting spot for a gain of eight, best among all drivers on the night.
iRacing Off-Road All-Stars would return as well with a major grid expansion, welcoming nine new names for a 24-truck field of its own. Real-world off-road racers Zachary Drapkin and Luke Knupp would be the class of the field for most of the night, with Drapkin winning the first race and Knupp setting the fast laps and placing second in both rounds even as the duo had to come from the last row in the second race. But after surviving early chaos in the second round thanks to a full-field inversion, it was former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion and iRacing eSports senior competition manager Tyler Hudson who would hang on to win in a photo finish.
Top five finishers from iRacing Off-Road Championship Series Round 3 at Wild Horse Pass were as follows:
- Alex Bergeron, 16 laps
- Connor Barry, +0.326
- Keaton Swane, +0.716
- Josh Edmundson, +0.951
- Trenton Briley, +1.811
- Felix Roy, 16 laps
- Josh Edmundson, +3.085
- Keaton Swane, +4.140
- Connor Barry, +4.795
- Brandyn Proudfoot, +5.052
iRacing Off-Road Championship Series points through four of 16 rounds are as follows:
- Connor Barry, 191
- Keaton Swane, 179
- Felix Roy, 163
- Josh Edmundson, 146
- Christopher Plumley, 142
- Killian Dall'olmo, 138
- Alex Bergeron, 136
- Brandyn Proudfoot, 126
- Jakob Rafoss, 124
- Connor Parise, 120