Monster Energy brought talent from around the globe to Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOOORRS) season finale.  Veteran short course racer Johnny Greaves made the long drive from Wisconsin while X Games gold medalist and rallycross star Liam Doran flew in from England and jumped right in to the fastest class in the series; the 4WD, 800 horsepower Pro4 Unlimited category.  Greaves and Doran joined the usual cast of Monster Energy LOORRS stars that includes Jeremy McGrath, Casey Currie, and Cameron Steele.

Saturday was the last race of the season and championships were on the line in all classes.  In the Pro Lite Unlimited class, Casey Currie and Cameron Steele took different paths in their quest for victory, with Currie’s truck powered by a factory sealed V8 engine and Steele’s sporting a high performance four cylinder.  Unfortunately the results were the same for the duo, as mechanical issues limited Steele to a seventh place finish and varying track conditions forced Currie, who was in second place for much of the race, back to fourth by the end.  When the dust settled Steele had finished third for the season and Currie finished fifth in points.

McGrath was coming off a win from the last LOORRS stop in Las Vegas and looking to repeat, but after running under the caution flag half way through the race he was shoved into Carl Renezeder on the first corner of the restart and forced to limp around the track for the remainder.  His injured Monster Energy 2WD truck could not make full use of the 800 horsepower and 35-inch tires and crossed the line in seventh place, putting him in fourth place for the season.  Neither Doran nor Greaves were running for season points in Pro4, so they had nothing to lose by going all out.  Greaves got mixed up in traffic early on and came away with damaged steering, but newcomer Liam Doran banged with Todd LeDuc lap after lap, hanging with the short course veteran right to the checkers to finish in fifth place.  “Short course has huge jumps, trucks sliding sideways, and lots of passing,” Doran commented.    “This is what every kid wants to watch.”

On Sunday the Lord (or at least LOORRS) made cup races, where buggies and trucks, 2WD and 4WD, ran on the track at the same time for five figure paychecks.  Cameron Steele chose to park his Pro Lite Unlimited truck for teammate Brandon Bailey’s Super Buggy, while Currie made suspension adjustments to best the competition.  Steele’s gamble did not pay off, but Currie finished third in a field of 27 drivers despite having zero visibility on the last lap after his hood folded back over the windshield.

The final race of the year pitted the Pro2 Unlimited trucks against the Pro4 Unlimiteds in the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup, with the faster 4WD trucks forced to start half a lap back.  Liam Doran  started dead last amongst the 25 truck field but weaved his way past half the competitors before his transmission called it quits.  Carnage came quickly and hardly a lap went by without a caution or black flag coming out.  Jeremy McGrath was in second place with two turns to go on the final lap when his Monster Energy truck was clipped from behind by Carl Renezeder and passed by two competitors in a controversial finish.  McGrath had some words with Carl and the officials had Jeremy’s back, DQ’ing Renezeder and awarding McGrath third place for a $7500 paycheck.  “The toughest part is having someone else dictate your race,” McGath commented.  “Third isn’t bad but next time things will go differently.”

Photos by Vincent Knakal of Mad Media

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RENO, NV – DECEMBER 9, 2010:  The Speed Technologies will work to podium in the final round of the 2010 Lucas Oil Of Road Racing Series in __ Arizona this weekend December 11, 2010, and then go out on the track Sunday to for the Rockstar Energy Challenge Cup an all-or-nothing season finale showdown. Mitchell DeJong has already clinched the Trophy Kart championship and John Harrah strives to be the Rookie of the Year. 
            John Harrah has had a great season in the Pro 4 Unlimited Truck, and will work to get on the podium for the last round of racing.  “I really enjoy racing this series and have learned a lot over the course of the season with the set up on the truck to be more successful,” commented John Harrah.  They made some additional changes after the last round of racing that should make him even more competitive. 
            Jeff Ward will race the Pro2 Unlimited on Saturday and dash for the cash on Sunday.  He actually had the fastest lap time in the last round, but was stuck in the back where he could not get out of the pack and was successfully dodging crashes.  “We just couldn’t get through the pack,” said Ward, “I am looking forward to this race and hopefully getting to the front and staying there.” 
            Sunday, Harrah and Ward will line up for the Rockstar Energy Challenge Cup where the Pro4 and Pro2 trucks where the payout for the winner is $30,000.  All the trucks will take to the course at one time in the ultimate pay day.
            Speed Technologies sponsored Dawson Kirchner and Wyatt Kirchner will be driving SuperLite Trucks.  Dawson had a great race taking a first and second place in Las Vegas, and hopes to repeat his wins.  He is currently sitting 5th place in points for the season.
            Mitchell DeJong has already clinched the points championship in the Modified Kart class.  He has had a very successful year with the Speed Technologies team and looks forward to a great race on Saturday, and another podium for the year.
            “We are all looking for the finishing podium to put a great end to an already fun season,” said John Harrah owner of Speed Technology. 
Complete coverage of Speed Technologies behind the scenes and racing action can be seen on SuperLite Live.  This episode of SuperLite Live will be hosted by Chuck Dempsey and co-hosted by Jeff “SurfRat” Arganda featuring exclusive interviews with Speed Technologies team members, others key racers and live race action.  Coverage can be seen at and sign up now to get the “On The Air” notices at http://www.justin.tv/superlitelive.
 
Speed Technologies Marketing Partners –  Exotic Engine Development, Fox Racing Shox, Lucas Oil Products, BFGoodrich Tires, Ringers Gloves, Safety Kleen, Baja Designs, VP Racing Fuels, StopTech Brakes, Method Wheels
About Speed Technologies:  Speed Technologies is a professional motorsports team founded in 2006 by John Harrah.  The team includes exceptional drivers on the short course tracks in Unlimited 2, Unlimited 4, Unlimited Lite, Super Lite and Trophy Kart, and in the desert in Class 1 buggies and a brand new Trophy Truck debuting later this year.
www.speed-technologies.com
 
WHAT:  Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series  Round 15 & Rockstar Energy Challenge Cup
WHERE:  Firebird Raceway,    Chandler, AZ
WHEN:  Friday December 10 – Sunday December 12
MORE INFORMATION: http://www.lucasoiloffroad.com/spectators.htm#event

Halloween weekend in Chandler, AZ usually brings high temps and trick or treaters; however this year would bring the rumble of Offroad racing.

October 31st marked the beginning of the Whiplash Halloween Race. This course is located at Firebird Raceway in chandler. The track is about a mile long, has long sweeping turns, fast straight aways, and close technical sections. All the racing took place on Sunday with the practicing happening all Saturday, and the practice would prove to be just as exciting as the racing.

Racers from all over Arizona, and from parts of California and Nevada, traveled out to Firebird Raceway to do battle with other competitors. A couple of young guns would shake things up this weekend, as Mitch Porter (Mark Porter’s son) would be taking over the reins of the Dragon Fire Pro2. He is 16 years old and doesn’t even have his driver’s license yet, this race would be his third time behind the wheel of the Pro2.

Dustin Smith, a local 1450 driver would be hungry for a win this would mark his second race. Saturday would be a long and hot day of practicing. While some drivers would take it easy and get a feel for the track which can change a lot during the race others pushed their racecars to the limit and then father.

As 1377 a buggy caught a rut and rolled coming into turn four. After the practice the UTV’s raced. The UTV’s were broken up into three classes, China Lites, Pro Mod, and Sport Mod. The UTV’s raced on the track for one hours, seeing who could last the one hour would prove to be more important than who had the fastest lap time, and after the dust settled Eric Bartlett in pro mod would come in first doing 47 laps, with Branden Sims and Mike Wolfskill taking a close second and third. In sport mod, Jerry Thompson would take first holding out for 43 laps, then Eric Bergman and Terri Kary rounding out the top three. That would conclude Saturday’s action.

Sunday the Trophy Karts would race first. They were broken up into two classes, PW and Mini class. They raced for 30 minutes, which once again would prove that you must first finish race to finish the race first. The Trophy Kart was a very competitive race as they were rolling and pushing their Karts to the edge, left and right. In the PW class Resse Bailey would clinch the first place spot doing 18 laps and Parker Steele would run a close second place one second behind bailey, and Kelsey Mao from Las Vegas would come in third. In the Mini class, Gray Steele would take the checker; he completed 19 laps, with Kol Bailey a close second only three seconds behind Steele, and Chris Neese rounding out the third spot. Earlier in the day Shannon Campbell showed up, and wanted to go racing, so he entered his old rock buggy in because the new one was clean and ready to go to SEMA. Before the race he took a couple of practice laps to get the feel for the course. Then the race took place; however before the race the decision was made to race all the trucks and buggies together at the same time on the track, so that was going to make for some exciting and intense racing.

After the race started Shannon Campbell (class One) and Scott Martenson (class 10) would battle back and forth for the lead. Then Martenson got tangled up with a lapped buggy putting him out of the race.

As for the trucks, Rick Thomas (TT) and Mitch Porter (Pro2) were challenging each other for the lead of the truck class, and then a mandatory caution went out, to clear a few wrecked racecars off the track. After the mandatory caution the exciting racing continued, as Shannon Campbell was again out in front, but close behind him was Lonnie Hart (class 10). As the white flag waived Campbell was out in front, but a rock punctured a hole in his radiator, causing him to drop back and Lonnie Hart to take the win, and Shannon Campbell to take Second with Mitch Porter reeling him in for third.

For the class break down, Mitch Porter took first in Unlimited Truck, Shannon Campbell took first in class one, Scott McCracken took first in class 8, Lonnie Hart took first in class 10, Carl Rohrer took first in class 5, Alan League took first in sport limited (class 13), and Dustin Smith took first in 1450 truck.

That would wrap up the exciting race weekend at Firebird Raceway.

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