Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Presented By Toyota
on CBS – January 7th at 1:00PM EST
ProLite VS. ProBuggy & PRO-2 VS. PRO-4
From Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ

January 7th at 1:00 PM EST. CBS Sports Spectacular will feature Lucas Oil Challenge Cup presented by Toyota showcasing the most chaotic racing action ever televised. Class on Class racing pairs ProLite VS ProBuggy and the culminating event of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series; PRO-2 VS. PRO-4 – the “Super Bowl” of Off Road Short Course Racing. This event puts up the richest payday in the sports history with $123,000 up for grabs.

ProLite VS. ProBuggy
A field of 26 vehicles made up of 13 Trucks and 13 Buggies racing for 19 laps on the same track for the same prize, sets the table for pure action oriented entertainment. #38 Brian Deegan coming off as the 2011 ProLite Champion and 2011 PRO-2 Champion is looking to cap off a marvelous season with a chance to win both Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Events. Can he pull off the impossible double-duty feat? Deegan barely edged out rival #82 Chris Brandt in the Championship who has been a serious factor all year. ProLite Truck drivers #19 Cory Sisler and #2 Casey Currie should be noted as a threat even though the Buggies have held the title for two years running. Be on the lookout for 2010 ProBuggy Champion, Cameron Steele, who parked his truck for the #17 Buggy, and then there is 2011 ProBuggy Champion #8 Mike Porter, the 2010 Challenge Cup Winner #96 Doug Fortin, and finally off road specialist #19 Justin “Bean” Smith who took the 2011 ProBuggy Rookie of the Year Title. All of these contenders will be driving their wheels off hoping to claim the $20,000 Winner’s Purse.

PRO-2 VS. PRO-4  The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series has crafted together an incredible formula of racing entertainment that can only be described as controlled chaos. With $30,000 going to the winner, 15 PRO-2 Trucks VS. 10 PRO-4 Trucks battle it out for all of off road racings richest purse. Kyle LeDuc, the 2010 Challenge Cup Champion will have his work cut out as he starts his #99 PRO-4 in 22nd position out of 25 trucks. #38 PRO-2 Brian Deegan, may be at an advantage as he his entered in both Challenge Cup Events. #54 Robert Naughton has a history as a smart & consistent driver always in the right place at the right time. It will be a challenge to pass the #99 Robby Woods as he can drive as fast as anyone out there and he starts on the front row. #17 Carl Renezeder, won the 2009 Challenge Cup, and has a history of winning the biggest cup races in his PRO-4. For this event he has opted to run his PRO-2 to prove he is equally as fast in both 2WD and 4WD. Last but not least look out for Adrian Cenni in his #11 PRO-4 who is known as the “Wildman” and one of the fastest drivers in short course off road racing.

This is true spectacle and we guarantee you have never witnessed anything like this before. Don’t miss the “Super Bowl” of off road racing and the world’s best short course drivers battle wheel-to-wheel for big money and the prestigious Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Title. Check local listings for more information and set your DVR’s now!

Today marked the last qualifying session of the year for the Lucas Oil Offroad Racing Series. Positions were set for the end of the year battle known as the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup, where all classes will battle it out for the big payday with nothing to lose.

In the Pro 4 class always fast Kyle Leduc qualified first with the fastest lap time of the day with a time of 41.209, followed by Johnny Greaves and Adrian Cenni to round out the top 3. Rally star Liam Doran looked fast out on the track before casing a berm and flipping his truck ending his day. In Pro 2 Carl Renezeder took the top spot followed closely by Brian Deegan and Rob Mac. To win the points championship Rob Mac must finish in front of Deegan in tomorrows race, and with how fast Deegan has looked lately it won’t be an easy task.

Prolite had 13 trucks all rallying for the number one position, but it was Brian Deegan who came out on top. Chris Brandt who is number two in points qualified 4th so he will have some work to do to take the championship.

Pro 2
1 17 CARL RENEZEDER 42.940
2 38 BRIAN DEEGAN 43.253
3 1 ROB MACCACHREN 43.312
4 54 ROB NAUGHTON 43.418
5 2 JEREMY MCGRATH 43.525

Pro 4
1 99 KYLE LEDUC 41.209
2 12 JOHNNY GREAVES 41.353
3 11 ADRIAN CENNI 41.833
4 4 TODD LEDUC 41.998
5 17 CARL RENEZEDER 42.092

Prolite
1 38 BRIAN DEEGAN 44.714
2 99 KYLE LEDUC 44.907
3 36 RODRIGO AMPUDIA 45.211
4 82 CHRIS BRANDT 45.291
5 92 JACOB PERSON 45.380

Limited Buggy
1 304 BRADLEY MORRIS 48.835
2 314 JOHN FITZGERALD 49.236
3 389 KEVIN MCCULLOUGH 49.298
4 377 QUENTIN TUCKER 49.316
5 398 DILLON AYERS 49.345

Superlite
1 25 PATRICK CLARK 47.539
2 42 CHAD GEORGE 48.333
3 88 AUSTIN KIMBRELL 48.386
4 21 BRENT FOUCH 48.667
5 0X Ryan HAGY 48.796

Pro Buggy
1 19 JUSTIN SMITH 45.854
2 23 STEVEN GREINKE 46.072
3 96 DOUG FORTIN 46.168
4 71X GARRETT GEORGE 46.942
5 3 JOHN HOLMES 47.176

Photos by Jason Zindroski of HighRev Photography

[Show as slideshow]

Riverside, California (November 1, 2011) – While a number of tragic events have rocked the motorsports world in recent weeks, none has had a greater effect on the Stronghold Motorsports organization than the tragic loss of short course off road racing Pro4 Champion Rick Huseman and his brother Jeff. Sharing roots in Riverside, California as well as a home in the paddock, the Stronghold organization’s admiration and respect for Rick Huseman and the entire Huseman family extended well beyond the race track. As Rounds 13&14 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series approach, participants and spectators who attend the event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will honor Huseman’s legacy as the humble, soft spoken man of faith who made history as he dominated the off road racing world.

The Pro2 duo of Rob Naughton and Jeremy McGrath arrive in Las Vegas determined to stand on top in these crucial final rounds of racing. At Las Vegas, Naughton will be feature a very special livery to coincide with the introduction of the first 1/5th scale four wheel drive RC car produced by manufacturer, Losi. With three victories among his four podium results this season, he has firmly entrenched himself among the elite in the class. McGrath, who has shown that he has the skill and determination to run at the front while finishing on the podium in four rounds, now looks to capture the victory that has eluded him thus far this season.

Cameron Steele #16 ProLite

Having equaled his career best fourth place finish in ProBuggy in his last outing, Brandon Bailey continues to fight his way through the pack as he battles with the best in the class. In Las Vegas, Bailey seeks to parlay his progress into a trip to the podium as he continues to elevate his expectations each time he pulls up to the starting line.

Brandon Bailey #17 ProBuggy

Contributions to the Huseman family may be made through The Huseman Memorial Fund

 

Acct#012026019

c/o Premier Services Bank

3637 Arlington Ave.

Suite D

Riverside, Ca. 92506

 

The 2011 Stronghold Motorsports Team:

 

Jeremy McGrath - Monster Energy/ReadyLift Stronghold Motorsports Pro 2 Unlimited (Toyo Tires)

 

Rob Naughton - Stronghold Motorsports/ReadyLift/ Lucas Oil Pro 2 Unlimited (Maxxis Tires)

 

Cameron Steele - Monster Energy/ReadyLift/Stronghold Motorsports ProLite Unlimited (Yokohama Tires)

 

Brandon Bailey - Stronghold Motorsports/Yokohama/ LambEnergy Pro Buggy  (Yokohama Tires)

 

 

Media Inquiries: Please contact Patrick Wagenbrenner – Patrick@Strongholdmotorsports.com

 

Stronghold Motorsports is Sponsored by:

Monster Energy Drink · ReadyLIFT · Lucas Oil Products · Maxxis Tires (Rob Naughton) · Toyo Tires (Jeremy McGrath)· Yokohma Tires  (Cameron Steele/Brandon Bailey) · Lamb Renewable Energy · ProAm Racing Products · Fox Shox · Motive Gear ·  Fiberwerx · Multi Mechanical · Makita ·  MSD Ignition · LOSI R/C · Dart · K&N Filters · Eibach Springs · Spy Optic · Roush Yates Engines · GoPro · Alpinestars · KCHiLites · RSC Equipment Rental ·  Environmental Logistics

 

Starting Friday, November 4th, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host rounds 13 & 14 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.  The
event guide gives you all the information needed to enjoy the event to the fullest including parking procedures, credentials being used and how to use them, track map, entry & exit points, media information, Race-day & Broadcast schedules, contact information and FanZone high lights.

Please find the event outline available for download here:
http://lucasoiloffroadracing.com/eventguide.pdf

We hope every one has a great time at the race track and enjoys the thrilling excitement of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

Also do not forget about the Lucas Oil Off Road Xperience Event being held at the track on Wednesday November the 2nd starting at 6:00PM. This event is free to all to attend and there is a free shuttle service available all evening to and from the track. Please go tohttp://lucasoiloffroadracing.com/xperience/ for more information.

About the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com

The off-road community is putting together a special event to celebrate the life of racing superstar Rick Huseman and his brother Jeff who were killed in a plane crash on Oct. 16 near Barstow. The event will be held at Pole Position Raceway in Corona on October 27 beginning at 6:00PM and will raise money for his wife Michelle and two-year-old son Ricky.

The event will feature both silent and live auctions along with world-class indoor karting, food and drink. The nation’s best racers are expected to be in attendance including:

-Jeremy McGrath
-Kyle LeDuc
-Brian Deegan,
-Carl Renezeder
-Rob MacCachren
-Scott Douglas
-Johnny Greaves
-Mike Childress
-Ricky Johnson

-Ryan Vilopoto
-Kyle Loza
-Ryan Friedlinghaus
-Ken Block
-and more to be announced…

Donations and trust fund info to be posted soon
For directions or more information check out www.PolePositionRaceway.com

Silent & Live Auction product donations please send to:
Att: Rick Huseman Memorial Race & Fundraiser
1594 E. Bentley Dr. Corona, CA 92879

For more details please contact:
-Stephanie Johnson 949/230-3750

Industry and Celebrity Benefit Races

We are now accepting driver registrations for both the Industry and Celebrity races at the upcoming benefit at Pole Position in Corona, CA. Because there are only a limited amount of spaces available, we will be accepting entries on a first come first served basis. Please keep in mind that a $50 donation is required to enter either of these races and all donations will go directly to the Huseman Fund. The race categories are defined below:

Celebrity Race - This race is for well known professional drivers or very well known members of the off road industry only.

Industry Race - This is open to anyone who is an active member of the off road industry (mechanic, racer, fabricator, shop owner, web ,marketing, sales in the off road industry, etc).

Below is a schedule of how the races will run:

*6:00pm*

Public Racing – No coupons, credits or comps – $19.95 – Open to all

*7:30pm*

Industry Heat 1 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

Industry Heat 2 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

Industry Heat 3 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

*8:00 pm*

Celebrity Heat 1 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

Celebrity Heat 2 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

Celebrity Heat 3 time (top 4 to main event) – No coupons, credits or comps – $50

*8:30pm*

Rick Huseman Memorial Video presented by Monster Energy produced by Mad Media

Silent Auction Ends

Live Auction

*9:30pm*

Industry Main (head to head racing scored by position)

Celebrity Main (head to head racing scored by position with trophies provided by Smithline)

Public Racing – No coupons, credits or comps – $19.95 – Open to all

If you are interested in participating in either of these events, please contact either myself or Sherry Vanillo (sherry@lucasoiloffroad.com) immediately to reserve your spot.

If anyone has any further questions, please contact Pole Position Raceway at 951-817-5032
Thank you for the support

Related Links:

Lucas Oil
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Pole Position

CBS Sports Spectacular to Feature

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing
Round 12 From SpeedWorld on CBS Sports,
Saturday October 15th, 2:00PM EST

See the CBS Show Trailer Here

This Saturday, October 15th, at 2:00 PM EST. (11:00 AM PST.) don’t miss Round 12 of the exciting Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series on CBS Sports. The E3 Sparkplugs Duel in the Desert, Presented by GEICO will feature intense racing action from the Pro-4 and Pro-2divisions at SpeedWorld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ. The close point battles in both division makes this CBS Sports Spectacular presented by Toyota one of the most thrilling events of the season. The Pro-4 Championship Chase is as exciting as ever and Carl Renezeder is the new points leader as he has surged ahead of defending champion, Rick Huseman. Huseman is only 11 points behind Renezeder and has 6 wins on the season, making the podium in every race except for 2. Kyle LeDuc is the wild card as he has 3 wins on the season and was the #1 Qualifier and Race Winner in Round 11.

The Pro-2 division is even more exhilarating with a full field of the world’s best off road drivers. Rob MacCachren is 3rd place in points and is climbing his way back up the ladder after a devastating injury at Glen Helen Round 10. Carl Renezeder sits in 2nd chasing class rookie, Brian Deegan after taking the win in Round 11. Deegan is on a roll and has campaigned a consistent season putting him in the points lead.  

Don’t miss the world’s best off road drivers battle and smash it out for 20 laps to the checkered flag. There are 4 Rounds left going into Round 12 making this a shootout till the end. Tune into CBS this Saturday, October 15th, at 2:00 PM EST. (10:00 AM PST.) for all the best action from Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Round 12. Check local listings for more information and set your DVR’s now!

Related Links:

CBS SportsLucas Oil
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Toyota
E3 SparkplugsGEICO

1. How did you get started racing off-road?

Deegan airs out his Rockstar Metal Mulisha Makita Pro 2 Unlimited truck.

It was a great weekend of racing for the Makita backed drivers and Makita tools was there with them all the way in the pits to help keep their trucks in race ready condition.  All of the action from this weekends racing will be broadcast on CBS Sports on Saturday, October 15th at 2pm eastern time.  Don’t miss it!

Riverside, California (Sept 28, 2011) -  Capacity crowds braved triple digit temperatures at Surprise Arizona’s, Speedworld Off Road Park as Stronghold Motorsports overcame a barrage of on-track chaos to come away with the hardware from Rounds 11&12 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The Pro 2 Championship is coming down to the wire and with fewer opportunities to earn crucial championship points, both Rob Naughton and Jeremy McGrath faced an endless onslaught of challengers on the edge of control. Naughton, unable to make the weekend’s qualifying session due to a motor change, was forced to start Saturday’s Pro 2 action in the back of the pack while McGrath had a more favorable starting position. As Naughton was patiently picking his way through the competition, McGrath quickly joined the leaders at the front. Throughout the 18 lap main event McGrath was in the hunt for a podium position, eventually gaining the third spot on the track which he never relinquished for his fourth trophy of the season. Naughton’s relentless perseverance battling though the field earned him a hard fought fifth place finish.

Jeremy McGrath #2 Pro 2 Takes 3rd Place at                                                          SpeedWorld

Sunday’s action was clearly the marquis event of the weekend. With Jeremy McGrath on the front row and Rob Naughton just a few rows behind him, the Stronghold team was poised for a return trip to the podium. Within the first two turns, optimism quickly turned to disappointment as both McGrath and Naughton were spun out in separate incidents. Shortly thereafter, another driver drifted off the course, made an ill advised return to the track and was met by an oncoming freight train of 900 horse powered trucks. The violent impact stunned the crowd as four separate vehicles, including McGrath, were collected in the incident. Once the dust settled, McGrath returned to the track, but with vital suspension components destroyed from the crash, he was unable to stay on pace with the leaders. By midrace, Naughton had worked his way from the back of the pack up to a top five position and was running strong. Continuing his advance throughout the remainder of the event, he ultimately captured an impressive second place finish.

 As McGrath and Naughton were facing their own challenges, Cameron Steele, who began the weekend third in the ProLite standings, had strong showings cut short both Saturday and Sunday with mechanical gremlins. Saturday, while challenging for the podium, Steele was cut down by a mechanical issue with just one lap remaining.  He returned on Sunday with a strong performance, but while once again contending for the lead, an issue with the truck’s steering system prevented him from competing for a podium result.

 

Cameron Steele #16 ProLite

 

Brandon Bailey’s impressive fourth place finish in Round 11 equaled his career best in the class. Taking that same momentum into Sunday’s round, he quickly found himself dicing with the front runners. Unfortunately, his race was cut short as a mechanical issue forced him to pull off the track, putting an abrupt end to Bailey’s otherwise successful weekend.

 

Brandon Bailey #17 Pro Buggy

 

Chad George races the #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama Tires/LazerStar SuperLite Championship truck

The ultra competitive SuperLite Championship has proven to be a true drivers class, but on Friday, Chad George put another stamp of approval on his resume as he qualified second amongst 13 other fierce drivers in his #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama Tires truck.  This also marked his sixth time qualifying in the Top-2 this season.

Chad George races the #1 Monster Energy Kawasaki Teryx to another WIN.

Photo by Joey DiGiovanni for

As the temperature creeped up under the blue skies of Arizona, the SuperLite Championship race was set to kick off for Round 12 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series. Chad had already put the UTV race behind him and had his sights set on one thing, WINNING. With a comfortable second-row starting position, Chad took the green flag and drove his own race for 6 laps, keeping clear of the chaos all around him.  After the half-way point, Chad took a spectacular green-flag restart toward the front, quickly passing 2 trucks in a tangle, and leading the 14 truck field. Chad continued to punish the King Shocks equipped #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama Tires truck off every jump until he launched through the checkered flag claiming his second SuperLite Championship victory of 2011. The WIN also boosted Chad into the series points lead marking him as the current target for 2011 SuperLite Champion.

“I’d like to dedicate this weekend to my Grandma Geri. She’s the reason why this Funco Motorsports family is here and thriving, but NOW it’s going to be even harder to keep up with her, she has a new high performance Pacemaker!  A big Thank You to all of my sponsors and fans for allowing me to do what I love.” – Chad George

Chad holds his 1st place trophy, two wins and one 2nd place for the weekend.

Watch for SuperLite Championship television coverage on CBS and SPEED channels throughout the 2011 season and join Chad at Rounds 13 & 14 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 5-6. You can also join Chad on Facebook and Twitter (@chadgeorgesxs)

###

After a seven-week break, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, is back in action this weekend, as the Speedworld Off Road Park plays host to Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2011 season this weekend. The temperatures were definitely warm here in the northern Phoenix suburb of Surprise, but some clouds overhead this morning made the day much more bearable, and a throng of hardy fans filled the stands to see their favorite drivers fly through the air and spray rooster tails of mud and gravel. The end of the season is now in sight, and with just five rounds left to run, the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been, and it showed in the fights that drivers put up on the track today. So you weren’t able to see it in person? Fear not; read on and get informed.

Modified Kart

Kicking off the action with a flying start were the young hotshoes of Modified Kart. From a row two starting position, Mitchell DeJong quickly moved his #1 Traxxas/Red Bull machine to the front of the pack to take the lead on the opening lap. Behind DeJong came Jerett Brooks in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Comfort Mechanical truck, Kyle Hart in his #523 GearUp2Go.com/Duncan Racing kart, Scotty Steele in the #548 Steele Racing/Racer X Motorsports machine, and Mitch Guthrie Jr. in the #555 Guthrie Racing/Pro Armor entry. Hart got by Brooks to take over second spot on lap two, and a bicycle by Steele on the following lap cost him a spot to Guthrie Jr. Brooks suffered a similar mistake on lap four, dropping him to fourth as Guthrie Jr. got into the top three. Up front, DeJong was pulling away from the field, opening a sizeable lead by the competition yellow. At this point, as the field bunched up behind DeJong and the new Sanderson Tomcar pace vehicle, Hart ran second, Guthrie Jr. third, Brooks fourth, and Steele fifth. On the restart, Bradley Morris got into Steele’s side and rolled him at turn one, forcing a second restart. As the field shuffled back in line, Brooks pulled off with a mechanical issue, moving Steele to fourth and Morris to fifth in the #504 K&N/Lucas Oil truck. With the drivers lined up in order again, the green flag came out, and this time Morris got his move done more cleanly, driving down the inside to take fourth from Steele. In the next corner, Blake Lenk also got by Steele to move into the top five in his #521Missing Lenk Motorsports/Walker Evans Racing kart. Morris then moved up to third, while behind him, Sheldon Creed had done a remarkable job of recovering from an opening lap rollover (which looked pretty ugly), and had passed his way all the way up to fifth in the #522 Camburg/A.M. Ortega entry. From there on in, the top five held their positions, with DeJong taking the win over Hart, Morris, Guthrie Jr., and Creed.

Junior 1 Kart

Front row starters Travis PeCoy and Dean Duro ran one-two after the opening lap in the Junior 1 Kart race, with Broc Dickerson, Preston Roben, and Darren Hardesty sitting third, fourth, and fifth. Plenty of shuffling went on in the first half of the race, with Duro rolling at turn two after contact with Dickerson, Wolfgang Ries and Eliott Watson moving into the top five, and Roben moving all the way from fifth to first by the competition yellow. At this point, Roben’s #210 Duggins Construction/Team Associated truck was up front, ahead of PeCoy in the #211 K&N/King Off Road Racing Shocks kart, Dickerson in the #223 Dickerson Motorsports/Kar Tek machine, Ries in the #273 McQueen Prototype Design/ProAm entry, and Watson in the #203 Lucas Oil/Hoosier kart. On the restart, Dickerson moved by PeCoy for second, with Ries then getting into PeCoy at turn one. Neither driver rolled, but the stutter they suffered dropped both of them back a few spots. Up ahead, Dickerson had now taken the lead with just two laps to go, but today’s victory would elude him, because on the final lap, it was Roben who got by at turn one to take the lead. Roben held on through finish to get the win, ahead of Dickerson, PeCoy, Gavin Harlien in the #232 Full Tilt kart, and Cole Dexheimer in the #226.

Junior 2 Kart

The final kids race of the morning was the Junior 2 Kart race, and like the two races before it, this one was a great race. Points leader Myles Cheek had the lead early in his #457 CMI/JamminProducts.com kart, with Jeremy Davis, Broc Dickerson, Weston Schuck, and Shelby Anderson running behind in the top five. Anderson moved up to fourth on lap two in her #405 Walker Evans Racing/Anderson’s Nu Power machine, with Preston Roben getting into the top five in his #414 Duggins Construction/Mad Graphix, Inc. truck on the same lap. On the following lap, Davis made a good run through the moguls and into turn two in his #485 Green Army/Gatorwraps.com entry, taking the lead from Cheek in the process. Dickerson and Anderson also got by Cheek on the following lap, and at the competition yellow, it was Davis, Dickerson, Anderson, Cheek, and Roben in the top five. On the restart lap, Anderson picked off Dickerson for second, while Schuck got back into the top five in his #404 Hoosier/Foddrill Motorsports truck. A mistake by Dickerson at turn two then dropped him down to sixth, while up front, Anderson was really putting the pressure on Davis for the lead. On the final lap, Anderson made a textbook pass down the inside of Davis, and made the move stick to take the lead. Anderson kept the lead when it counted most, picking up her first win of the season. Davis got an oh-so-close second place, with Cheek taking third, Schuck fourth, and Chad Graham fifth in the #410 Hart and Huntington/MavTV machine.

UTV

Next up was the first race on the full-length track: the UTV race, featuring both the SR1 and Unlimited UTV classes. Starting from the outside of row one, it was local driver Corry Weller in the #810 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha who shot into the early lead, with Robert Vanbeekum, John Dempsey, Code Rahders, and Ryan Beat close behind. On lap two, Dempsey and Beat each moved up a spot, and with Vanbeekum dropping by the wayside on the following lap, it was now Beat, Rahders, and Dan Kelly in third through fifth. Up front, Weller bicycled badly in turn four, and ended up driving over the outside burm to recover. This allowed both Dempsey and Beat to get by, and by the competition yellow, Rahders and Doug Mittag had done so as well. As the field stacked up behind the Toyota Tundra pace truck, it was Dempsey in the #855 Custom Off Road Design/Monster Energy Kawasaki, Beat in the #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino Kawasaki, Rahders in the #816 SuperChips/K&N Yamaha, Mittag in the #848 Gear One/Long Travel Industries Kawasaki, and Weller in the top five. On the restart lap, Beat got the lead from Dempsey, with Mittag also moving up to take over third place. Kelly was now fourth in the #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Kawasaki, and Rahders had dropped back to fifth. Rahders moved up on the next lap, though, as did Weller, as both drivers got by Kelly to take over fourth and fifth. On the final lap, however, Rahders went by the wayside, while up front, it was Beat who was clear of the field as he picked up his third straight SR1 and overall win. Second in SR1 and overall was Dempsey, and rounding out the SR1 podium was Mittag. Chad George had a great recovery from an early issue, and got the Unlimited UTV win in his #1 Monster Energy/King Off Road Racing Shocks Kawasaki with a last lap pass on Tyler Winbury. Winbury finished second in Unlimited UTV in his #694 Magnum Off Road/Funco Kawasaki, and Hans Waage was third in his #623 Dragonfire Racing/Earnhardt Toyota Kawasaki.

Limited Buggy

Bryan Freeman filled in for Bruce Fraley in the #312 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Wik’s Racing Engines Fraley today, and it didn’t take him long to get right into the rhythm of short course once again. Freeman grabbed the early lead over Curt Geer, Dave Mason, Bradley Morris, and John Fitzgerald, and held the top spot in the opening few laps. A full course caution was then thrown to allow course workers to clear a Lindsay Geiser and Jeff Knupp, whose cars were locked together at the entrance to turn six. Once they were set loose and the green flag was again out, Freeman resumed the race in the lead, with Mason second in the #365 B&R Buggie/BFGoodrich Tires AlumiCraft, Morris third in the #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft, Geer fourth in the #385 Gatorwraps.com/Vleet.com Lothringer, and Fitzgerald fifth in the #314 Aero Motorsports/Simpson buggy. The top five held their positions through the competition yellow, and after the restart, only Mason was able to stay within striking distance of Freeman. Unfortunately for Mason, he was up against one of the all-time greats in this class, and Freeman drove flawlessly to get the win, ahead of Mason, Morris, Geer, and Fitzgerald. On the podium, Freeman said he was happy to see the next generation of drivers giving him a close run, and added that these young drivers (i.e. Mason and Morris) would “do our sport proud.”

Pro Buggy Unlimited

Local driver Rich Ronco started from the pole position after a six-position inversion of the qualifying results, and led the field in his #99 Yokohama/FK Rod Ends Tatum after the opening lap. Cody Freeman ran second in his #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Racer, with Steven Greinke third in the #23 SC Fuels/Redline Performance Racer, Justin Davis fourth in the #85 General Tire/Jamar Racer, and Justin “Bean” Smith fifth in his #19 Competitive Metals/MasterCraft Safety AlumiCraft. A spin in turn four forced Davis to wait for the whole field to pass him before he could safely re-join the action on lap two, and shortly afterwards, a big mid-air collision resulted in a crash for Freeman as he landed off the jump out of turn three. This forced officials to throw a full course yellow, and as the field bunched up behind the pace truck, Ronco pulled into the hot pits, handing the lead to Greinke. Once Freeman’s wreck was cleared, racing resumed, and it was Porter who had a great restart, moving past Doug Fortin and into third place. On the same lap, Smith went wide at turn four, dropping him back two spots to fourth. At the competition yellow, Greinke still led, with Porter second, Fortin third in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Fox Racing Shox Racer, Smith fourth, and Brandon Bailey fifth in the #17 Stronghold Motorsports/LAMB Energy AlumiCraft. On the restart lap, Smith dove way inside in turn four, and managed to get enough of a run on Fortin to muscle his way by in turn five. On the next lap, Smith again moved up, making a great inside move on Porter to take over second at turn five. Smoke was coming out in little puffs from the back of Smith’s buggy, but it was Greinke who suddenly pulled off the track and out of the race, handing the lead to Smith. From there, Smith went unchallenged, and picked up his third win of the season. Points leader Porter took second in his #8 Redline Performance/Mickey Thompson AlumiCraft, with Fortin third, Bailey fourth, and Ronco rounding out the top five.

Pro 4 Unlimited

After Opening Ceremonies, racing resumed with Pro 4 Unlimited. Adrian Cenni grabbed the early lead in his #11 Atrium Payroll/4 Wheel Parts truck, with Kyle LeDuc second in the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Rick Huseman third in the #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota, Greg Adler (again filling in for the injured Travis Coyne) fourth in the #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford, and Carl Renezeder fifth in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford. Renezeder dove inside of Adler in turn four, and made the move stick to take over fourth on lap two. On the following lap, LeDuc got a good drive out of the same corner, and used it to pull past Cenni and into the lead. Laps later, Cenni then went wide coming into turn three, and with a little tire rubbing, Huseman got by on the inside to take over second spot. Renezeder was the next to have a race with Cenni, and after really putting the pressure on The Wildman, Renezeder got into Cenni’s right rear and helped him off the track coming out of turn four. Renezeder moved up to third, while Cenni was down to fourth, and at the competition yellow, it was LeDuc, Huseman, Renezeder, Cenni, and Adler in the top five. LeDuc was driving fantastically, and Huseman hadn’t made an inch into LeDuc’s sizeable lead thus far. After the restart, that storyline wasn’t changing, as LeDuc continued to blaze the trail up front, keeping the hard chargers Huseman and Renezeder at bay. Behind them, Cenni then slowed substantially, and though he was able to keep going, he was no match for those who could still run at full speed. This moved Adler to fourth and Jerry Daugherty to fifth in the #23 Magnaflow Exhaust Products/Tuff Country EZ-Ride Suspension Chevrolet. Todd LeDuc then got that fifth spot away from Daugherty, as he moved by in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford after serving a black flag penalty for contact with Josh Merrell. Up front, Huseman hadn’t been looking quite right, and as his truck came to the end of the moguls, his truck simply plowed straight ahead coming into turn four. Huseman lost control and spun, dropping him to third, too far behind Renezeder to have a chance of catching him before the finish. Kyle LeDuc stayed clear of all the carnage behind, and picked up a great win, his third of the season. Second went to Renezeder, third to Huseman, fourth to Adler, and fifth to Todd LeDuc.

Super Lite

After a disastrous weekend at Glen Helen, RJ Anderson turned things right around by jumping into the early lead in Super Lite in his #37 Dethrone Racing/Goodyear truck. Behind Anderson, it was Brent Fouch in the #21 Forgiven Energy/McKenzie’s machine, Patrick Clark in the #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels entry, Chad George in the #42 Kawasaki/Lazerstar LX LED truck, and Jessie Johnson in the #15 Lowe’s/MasterCraft Safety machine. Ryan Hagy then moved up to fifth in his #0X Metal Mulisha/Valli Construction Inc. entry on lap two, while up front, Anderson was quickly pulling away. The top five stayed in order through the competition yellow, and at that point, their running order was Anderson, Fouch, Clark, George, and Hagy. After the restart, George finally got by Clark after several laps of trying, while Hagy went wide out of turn three, which caused him to hit the outside wall and lose his fifth spot to Sheldon Creed (Hagy was able to continue at full speed). Anderson was again in the clear out front, but a great race was going on for second between Fouch, George, and Clark, and after Fouch bobbled coming out of turn six, his two rivals got by and into second and third. From there on in, the running order in the top five went unchanged, and it was Anderson getting back where he belongs with another fine win, ahead of George and Clark on the podium. Fourth went to Fouch, and Creed’s first venture into the full-size vehicle ranks paid off well, as he scored a fifth place in his #74 A.M. Ortega/Fox Racing Shox truck.

Pro Lite Unlimited

In the penultimate race of the day, it was Brian Deegan who took the lead after lap one in Pro Lite Unlimited. Behind Deegan’s #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, it was Corey Sisler in the #19 AEM Performance Electronics/Method Race Wheels Ford, Rodrigo Ampudia in his #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford, Chris Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota, and Casey Currie in his #2 Monster Energy/Magnaflow Performance Exhaust Nissan. On lap three, Austin Kimbrell moved into fifth in his #88 Toyo Tires/Fiberwerx Ford, just ahead of a full course caution, which was thrown after Sean Geiser stopped on track and looked to be somewhat on fire. Once that issue was under control, the green flag was waving again, and although the top five held their positions on the restart lap, Currie then moved back up to fifth on the following lap. One lap later, and it was the shock of the race to see Deegan legitimately passed, as Sisler went down the inside in turn two to take the lead. The top four drivers were in a train, and at the competition yellow, it was Sisler, Deegan, Ampudia, Brandt, and Currie up front. On the restart, Sisler had a great initial jump, and held his lead over Deegan and the rest. Not long afterwards, though, and after looking like he might finally get that elusive first win, his truck stuttered coming out of turn five, and then slowed again in turn six, dropping him down to last place as the field blazed past. Deegan re-gained the lead, and after some brief tense moments of holding off second-placed Ampudia, Deegan pulled a few truck lengths worth of lead, and held on to take his third successive win. Second went to Ampudia, and rounding out the podium was Brandt. A tragic blown engine left Cameron Steele stranded less than a lap from the end, and when his engine went, so did his fourth place. Currie inherited that spot, and was followed to the line by Jimmy Stephensen, who took fifth in his #33 Ironclad Energy/JS Pest Control Nissan.

Pro 2 Unlimited

Fresh off of his Pro Lite Unlimited win, Brian Deegan jumped straight to the front of the pack in the Pro 2 Unlimited race. Behind the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, it was Rob MacCachren in the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, Robby Woods in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford. Ampudia got by Woods for fourth on lap two, with Woods then pulling off and into the hot pits on the same lap (Woods was able to continue, but at a reduced pace). Just one corner later, Renezeder suddenly slowed to a stop; a mechanical issue ended his day, and is a severe hit to his title hopes. The running order in the top five was now Deegan, MacCachren, Ampudia, Jeremy McGrath in the #2 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford, and Robbie Pierce in the #30 Impact/Rockstar Ford. Pierce then over-rotated a bit coming out of turn five, and Greg Adler was able to get by and up to fifth in his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Speed Energy Ford. The top five were now well-spread around the track, and at the competition yellow, it was still Deegan, MacCachren, Ampudia, McGrath, and Adler up front. On the restart lap, Jeff Geiser moved past Adler and into the top five in his #44 Canidae/BulletProofDiesel.com Chevrolet. Up front, the two Rockstar drivers were moving clear of the field, and MacCachren was now starting to bare down on Deegan for the lead. Another battle was also developing, this one over third place, and Ampudia, McGrath, Geiser, and Adler all wanted to take that final step on the podium. Ampudia briefly slowed, dropping him to fifth, and allowing McGrath to get clearly into third, which he then kept quite convincingly. Up front, MacCachren gave it his all to catch Deegan, but just couldn’t get there, and a little mistake on the final lap erased any last chance he’d had of getting the win. Deegan led the race for all 18 laps to get his second straight win in the class, and along with three wins in Pro Lite Unlimited and an X Games gold medal, it has certainly been a great two months of racing for “The General.” Second went to MacCachren, third to McGrath, fourth to Geiser, and fifth to Rob Naughton in his #54 Stronghold Motorsports/ReadyLift Ford.

That wraps up today’s action from here at Speedworld. Join us again tomorrow as Round 12 gets underway, with gates opening to the public at 8:00 am. The first race of the day will be the always-exciting Modified Karts at 8:30 am, and Opening Ceremonies will be at noon. Don’t fear the heat; get out and have some fun with us!

About the  Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing  support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped  in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West  Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to  door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing  Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

After a seven-week break, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, is back in action this weekend, as the Speedworld Off Road Park plays host to Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2011 season this weekend. The temperatures were definitely warm here in the northern Phoenix suburb of Surprise, but some clouds overhead this morning made the day much more bearable, and a throng of hardy fans filled the stands to see their favorite drivers fly through the air and spray rooster tails of mud and gravel. The end of the season is now in sight, and with just five rounds left to run, the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been, and it showed in the fights that drivers put up on the track today. So you weren’t able to see it in person? Fear not; read on and get informed.

Modified Kart
Kicking off the action with a flying start were the young hotshoes of Modified Kart. From a row two starting position, Mitchell DeJong quickly moved his #1 Traxxas/Red Bull machine to the front of the pack to take the lead on the opening lap. Behind DeJong came Jerett Brooks in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Comfort Mechanical truck, Kyle Hart in his #523 GearUp2Go.com/Duncan Racing kart, Scotty Steele in the #548 Steele Racing/Racer X Motorsports machine, and Mitch Guthrie Jr. in the #555 Guthrie Racing/Pro Armor entry. Hart got by Brooks to take over second spot on lap two, and a bicycle by Steele on the following lap cost him a spot to Guthrie Jr. Brooks suffered a similar mistake on lap four, dropping him to fourth as Guthrie Jr. got into the top three. Up front, DeJong was pulling away from the field, opening a sizeable lead by the competition yellow. At this point, as the field bunched up behind DeJong and the new Sanderson Tomcar pace vehicle, Hart ran second, Guthrie Jr. third, Brooks fourth, and Steele fifth. On the restart, Bradley Morris got into Steele’s side and rolled him at turn one, forcing a second restart. As the field shuffled back in line, Brooks pulled off with a mechanical issue, moving Steele to fourth and Morris to fifth in the #504 K&N/Lucas Oil truck. With the drivers lined up in order again, the green flag came out, and this time Morris got his move done more cleanly, driving down the inside to take fourth from Steele. In the next corner, Blake Lenk also got by Steele to move into the top five in his #521Missing Lenk Motorsports/Walker Evans Racing kart. Morris then moved up to third, while behind him, Sheldon Creed had done a remarkable job of recovering from an opening lap rollover (which looked pretty ugly), and had passed his way all the way up to fifth in the #522 Camburg/A.M. Ortega entry. From there on in, the top five held their positions, with DeJong taking the win over Hart, Morris, Guthrie Jr., and Creed.

Junior 1 Kart
Front row starters Travis PeCoy and Dean Duro ran one-two after the opening lap in the Junior 1 Kart race, with Broc Dickerson, Preston Roben, and Darren Hardesty sitting third, fourth, and fifth. Plenty of shuffling went on in the first half of the race, with Duro rolling at turn two after contact with Dickerson, Wolfgang Ries and Eliott Watson moving into the top five, and Roben moving all the way from fifth to first by the competition yellow. At this point, Roben’s #210 Duggins Construction/Team Associated truck was up front, ahead of PeCoy in the #211 K&N/King Off Road Racing Shocks kart, Dickerson in the #223 Dickerson Motorsports/Kar Tek machine, Ries in the #273 McQueen Prototype Design/ProAm entry, and Watson in the #203 Lucas Oil/Hoosier kart. On the restart, Dickerson moved by PeCoy for second, with Ries then getting into PeCoy at turn one. Neither driver rolled, but the stutter they suffered dropped both of them back a few spots. Up ahead, Dickerson had now taken the lead with just two laps to go, but today’s victory would elude him, because on the final lap, it was Roben who got by at turn one to take the lead. Roben held on through finish to get the win, ahead of Dickerson, PeCoy, Gavin Harlien in the #232 Full Tilt kart, and Cole Dexheimer in the #226.

Junior 2 Kart
The final kids race of the morning was the Junior 2 Kart race, and like the two races before it, this one was a great race. Points leader Myles Cheek had the lead early in his #457 CMI/JamminProducts.com kart, with Jeremy Davis, Broc Dickerson, Weston Schuck, and Shelby Anderson running behind in the top five. Anderson moved up to fourth on lap two in her #405 Walker Evans Racing/Anderson’s Nu Power machine, with Preston Roben getting into the top five in his #414 Duggins Construction/Mad Graphix, Inc. truck on the same lap. On the following lap, Davis made a good run through the moguls and into turn two in his #485 Green Army/Gatorwraps.com entry, taking the lead from Cheek in the process. Dickerson and Anderson also got by Cheek on the following lap, and at the competition yellow, it was Davis, Dickerson, Anderson, Cheek, and Roben in the top five. On the restart lap, Anderson picked off Dickerson for second, while Schuck got back into the top five in his #404 Hoosier/Foddrill Motorsports truck. A mistake by Dickerson at turn two then dropped him down to sixth, while up front, Anderson was really putting the pressure on Davis for the lead. On the final lap, Anderson made a textbook pass down the inside of Davis, and made the move stick to take the lead. Anderson kept the lead when it counted most, picking up her first win of the season. Davis got an oh-so-close second place, with Cheek taking third, Schuck fourth, and Chad Graham fifth in the #410 Hart and Huntington/MavTV machine.

UTV
Next up was the first race on the full-length track: the UTV race, featuring both the SR1 and Unlimited UTV classes. Starting from the outside of row one, it was local driver Corry Weller in the #810 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha who shot into the early lead, with Robert Vanbeekum, John Dempsey, Code Rahders, and Ryan Beat close behind. On lap two, Dempsey and Beat each moved up a spot, and with Vanbeekum dropping by the wayside on the following lap, it was now Beat, Rahders, and Dan Kelly in third through fifth. Up front, Weller bicycled badly in turn four, and ended up driving over the outside burm to recover. This allowed both Dempsey and Beat to get by, and by the competition yellow, Rahders and Doug Mittag had done so as well. As the field stacked up behind the Toyota Tundra pace truck, it was Dempsey in the #855 Custom Off Road Design/Monster Energy Kawasaki, Beat in the #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino Kawasaki, Rahders in the #816 SuperChips/K&N Yamaha, Mittag in the #848 Gear One/Long Travel Industries Kawasaki, and Weller in the top five. On the restart lap, Beat got the lead from Dempsey, with Mittag also moving up to take over third place. Kelly was now fourth in the #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Kawasaki, and Rahders had dropped back to fifth. Rahders moved up on the next lap, though, as did Weller, as both drivers got by Kelly to take over fourth and fifth. On the final lap, however, Rahders went by the wayside, while up front, it was Beat who was clear of the field as he picked up his third straight SR1 and overall win. Second in SR1 and overall was Dempsey, and rounding out the SR1 podium was Mittag. Chad George had a great recovery from an early issue, and got the Unlimited UTV win in his #1 Monster Energy/King Off Road Racing Shocks Kawasaki with a last lap pass on Tyler Winbury. Winbury finished second in Unlimited UTV in his #694 Magnum Off Road/Funco Kawasaki, and Hans Waage was third in his #623 Dragonfire Racing/Earnhardt Toyota Kawasaki.

Limited Buggy
Bryan Freeman filled in for Bruce Fraley in the #312 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Wik’s Racing Engines Fraley today, and it didn’t take him long to get right into the rhythm of short course once again. Freeman grabbed the early lead over Curt Geer, Dave Mason, Bradley Morris, and John Fitzgerald, and held the top spot in the opening few laps. A full course caution was then thrown to allow course workers to clear a Lindsay Geiser and Jeff Knupp, whose cars were locked together at the entrance to turn six. Once they were set loose and the green flag was again out, Freeman resumed the race in the lead, with Mason second in the #365 B&R Buggie/BFGoodrich Tires AlumiCraft, Morris third in the #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft, Geer fourth in the #385 Gatorwraps.com/Vleet.com Lothringer, and Fitzgerald fifth in the #314 Aero Motorsports/Simpson buggy. The top five held their positions through the competition yellow, and after the restart, only Mason was able to stay within striking distance of Freeman. Unfortunately for Mason, he was up against one of the all-time greats in this class, and Freeman drove flawlessly to get the win, ahead of Mason, Morris, Geer, and Fitzgerald. On the podium, Freeman said he was happy to see the next generation of drivers giving him a close run, and added that these young drivers (i.e. Mason and Morris) would “do our sport proud.”

Pro Buggy Unlimited
Local driver Rich Ronco started from the pole position after a six-position inversion of the qualifying results, and led the field in his #99 Yokohama/FK Rod Ends Tatum after the opening lap. Cody Freeman ran second in his #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Racer, with Steven Greinke third in the #23 SC Fuels/Redline Performance Racer, Justin Davis fourth in the #85 General Tire/Jamar Racer, and Justin “Bean” Smith fifth in his #19 Competitive Metals/MasterCraft Safety AlumiCraft. A spin in turn four forced Davis to wait for the whole field to pass him before he could safely re-join the action on lap two, and shortly afterwards, a big mid-air collision resulted in a crash for Freeman as he landed off the jump out of turn three. This forced officials to throw a full course yellow, and as the field bunched up behind the pace truck, Ronco pulled into the hot pits, handing the lead to Greinke. Once Freeman’s wreck was cleared, racing resumed, and it was Porter who had a great restart, moving past Doug Fortin and into third place. On the same lap, Smith went wide at turn four, dropping him back two spots to fourth. At the competition yellow, Greinke still led, with Porter second, Fortin third in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Fox Racing Shox Racer, Smith fourth, and Brandon Bailey fifth in the #17 Stronghold Motorsports/LAMB Energy AlumiCraft. On the restart lap, Smith dove way inside in turn four, and managed to get enough of a run on Fortin to muscle his way by in turn five. On the next lap, Smith again moved up, making a great inside move on Porter to take over second at turn five. Smoke was coming out in little puffs from the back of Smith’s buggy, but it was Greinke who suddenly pulled off the track and out of the race, handing the lead to Smith. From there, Smith went unchallenged, and picked up his third win of the season. Points leader Porter took second in his #8 Redline Performance/Mickey Thompson AlumiCraft, with Fortin third, Bailey fourth, and Ronco rounding out the top five.

Pro 4 Unlimited
After Opening Ceremonies, racing resumed with Pro 4 Unlimited. Adrian Cenni grabbed the early lead in his #11 Atrium Payroll/4 Wheel Parts truck, with Kyle LeDuc second in the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Rick Huseman third in the #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota, Greg Adler (again filling in for the injured Travis Coyne) fourth in the #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford, and Carl Renezeder fifth in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford. Renezeder dove inside of Adler in turn four, and made the move stick to take over fourth on lap two. On the following lap, LeDuc got a good drive out of the same corner, and used it to pull past Cenni and into the lead. Laps later, Cenni then went wide coming into turn three, and with a little tire rubbing, Huseman got by on the inside to take over second spot. Renezeder was the next to have a race with Cenni, and after really putting the pressure on The Wildman, Renezeder got into Cenni’s right rear and helped him off the track coming out of turn four. Renezeder moved up to third, while Cenni was down to fourth, and at the competition yellow, it was LeDuc, Huseman, Renezeder, Cenni, and Adler in the top five. LeDuc was driving fantastically, and Huseman hadn’t made an inch into LeDuc’s sizeable lead thus far. After the restart, that storyline wasn’t changing, as LeDuc continued to blaze the trail up front, keeping the hard chargers Huseman and Renezeder at bay. Behind them, Cenni then slowed substantially, and though he was able to keep going, he was no match for those who could still run at full speed. This moved Adler to fourth and Jerry Daugherty to fifth in the #23 Magnaflow Exhaust Products/Tuff Country EZ-Ride Suspension Chevrolet. Todd LeDuc then got that fifth spot away from Daugherty, as he moved by in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford after serving a black flag penalty for contact with Josh Merrell. Up front, Huseman hadn’t been looking quite right, and as his truck came to the end of the moguls, his truck simply plowed straight ahead coming into turn four. Huseman lost control and spun, dropping him to third, too far behind Renezeder to have a chance of catching him before the finish. Kyle LeDuc stayed clear of all the carnage behind, and picked up a great win, his third of the season. Second went to Renezeder, third to Huseman, fourth to Adler, and fifth to Todd LeDuc.

Super Lite
After a disastrous weekend at Glen Helen, RJ Anderson turned things right around by jumping into the early lead in Super Lite in his #37 Dethrone Racing/Goodyear truck. Behind Anderson, it was Brent Fouch in the #21 Forgiven Energy/McKenzie’s machine, Patrick Clark in the #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels entry, Chad George in the #42 Kawasaki/Lazerstar LX LED truck, and Jessie Johnson in the #15 Lowe’s/MasterCraft Safety machine. Ryan Hagy then moved up to fifth in his #0X Metal Mulisha/Valli Construction Inc. entry on lap two, while up front, Anderson was quickly pulling away. The top five stayed in order through the competition yellow, and at that point, their running order was Anderson, Fouch, Clark, George, and Hagy. After the restart, George finally got by Clark after several laps of trying, while Hagy went wide out of turn three, which caused him to hit the outside wall and lose his fifth spot to Sheldon Creed (Hagy was able to continue at full speed). Anderson was again in the clear out front, but a great race was going on for second between Fouch, George, and Clark, and after Fouch bobbled coming out of turn six, his two rivals got by and into second and third. From there on in, the running order in the top five went unchanged, and it was Anderson getting back where he belongs with another fine win, ahead of George and Clark on the podium. Fourth went to Fouch, and Creed’s first venture into the full-size vehicle ranks paid off well, as he scored a fifth place in his #74 A.M. Ortega/Fox Racing Shox truck.

Pro Lite Unlimited
In the penultimate race of the day, it was Brian Deegan who took the lead after lap one in Pro Lite Unlimited. Behind Deegan’s #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, it was Corey Sisler in the #19 AEM Performance Electronics/Method Race Wheels Ford, Rodrigo Ampudia in his #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford, Chris Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota, and Casey Currie in his #2 Monster Energy/Magnaflow Performance Exhaust Nissan. On lap three, Austin Kimbrell moved into fifth in his #88 Toyo Tires/Fiberwerx Ford, just ahead of a full course caution, which was thrown after Sean Geiser stopped on track and looked to be somewhat on fire. Once that issue was under control, the green flag was waving again, and although the top five held their positions on the restart lap, Currie then moved back up to fifth on the following lap. One lap later, and it was the shock of the race to see Deegan legitimately passed, as Sisler went down the inside in turn two to take the lead. The top four drivers were in a train, and at the competition yellow, it was Sisler, Deegan, Ampudia, Brandt, and Currie up front. On the restart, Sisler had a great initial jump, and held his lead over Deegan and the rest. Not long afterwards, though, and after looking like he might finally get that elusive first win, his truck stuttered coming out of turn five, and then slowed again in turn six, dropping him down to last place as the field blazed past. Deegan re-gained the lead, and after some brief tense moments of holding off second-placed Ampudia, Deegan pulled a few truck lengths worth of lead, and held on to take his third successive win. Second went to Ampudia, and rounding out the podium was Brandt. A tragic blown engine left Cameron Steele stranded less than a lap from the end, and when his engine went, so did his fourth place. Currie inherited that spot, and was followed to the line by Jimmy Stephensen, who took fifth in his #33 Ironclad Energy/JS Pest Control Nissan.

Pro 2 Unlimited
Fresh off of his Pro Lite Unlimited win, Brian Deegan jumped straight to the front of the pack in the Pro 2 Unlimited race. Behind the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, it was Rob MacCachren in the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, Robby Woods in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford. Ampudia got by Woods for fourth on lap two, with Woods then pulling off and into the hot pits on the same lap (Woods was able to continue, but at a reduced pace). Just one corner later, Renezeder suddenly slowed to a stop; a mechanical issue ended his day, and is a severe hit to his title hopes. The running order in the top five was now Deegan, MacCachren, Ampudia, Jeremy McGrath in the #2 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford, and Robbie Pierce in the #30 Impact/Rockstar Ford. Pierce then over-rotated a bit coming out of turn five, and Greg Adler was able to get by and up to fifth in his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Speed Energy Ford. The top five were now well-spread around the track, and at the competition yellow, it was still Deegan, MacCachren, Ampudia, McGrath, and Adler up front. On the restart lap, Jeff Geiser moved past Adler and into the top five in his #44 Canidae/BulletProofDiesel.com Chevrolet. Up front, the two Rockstar drivers were moving clear of the field, and MacCachren was now starting to bare down on Deegan for the lead. Another battle was also developing, this one over third place, and Ampudia, McGrath, Geiser, and Adler all wanted to take that final step on the podium. Ampudia briefly slowed, dropping him to fifth, and allowing McGrath to get clearly into third, which he then kept quite convincingly. Up front, MacCachren gave it his all to catch Deegan, but just couldn’t get there, and a little mistake on the final lap erased any last chance he’d had of getting the win. Deegan led the race for all 18 laps to get his second straight win in the class, and along with three wins in Pro Lite Unlimited and an X Games gold medal, it has certainly been a great two months of racing for “The General.” Second went to MacCachren, third to McGrath, fourth to Geiser, and fifth to Rob Naughton in his #54 Stronghold Motorsports/ReadyLift Ford.
That wraps up today’s action from here at Speedworld. Join us again tomorrow as Round 12 gets underway, with gates opening to the public at 8:00 am. The first race of the day will be the always-exciting Modified Karts at 8:30 am, and Opening Ceremonies will be at noon. Don’t fear the heat; get out and have some fun with us!

About the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Under the heat of the Arizona sun, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by Geico, is back at the Speedworld Off Road Park here in Surprise, AZ, for Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2011 season. The temperatures were high, but not altogether overbearing, despite placing extra strain on both man and machine out on the track. As the final push towards the end of the season is now in full effect, drivers were pushing their throttle pedals harder and their braking points deeper in search of that extra edge for the pole position, and the extra one point and better starting position that come with it. In case you couldn’t be here, read on to find out what happened.

Pro 4 Unlimited

First out on track this afternoon was Pro 4 Unlimited, and hot off back to back wins at Glen Helen, it was Rick Huseman who came out at the top of heap after lap one, turning a 57.294 in his #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota. Huseman only managed one lap, however, and his time was quickly bettered by the #11 Atrium Payroll/Maxxis Tires truck of Adrian Cenni, who ran a 56.409 on lap two. Cenni bettered his session-leading time twice more on laps three and four, but that was all the longer he was able to run, and on lap five, it was the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford of Kyle LeDuc who took over the top spot with a 54.751. LeDuc went quicker twice more, ending the session on top with a 54.223, nearly a full second clear of runner-up Carl Renezeder, whose best lap was a 55.192 in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford. Cenni’s best time was a 55.328, and was good enough for third, with fourth going to Travis Coyne, who set a 56.764 in his #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford. Rounding out the top five was LeDuc’s dad, Curt, who hustled his #43 Rockstar/Makita Ford to a best lap of 56.860.

Super Lite

The boys of Super Lite are certainly turning this into one of the most fiercely-contested classes in this series, and that was made all the more evident this afternoon, as no fewer than five different drivers held the fastest time in the span of just six qualifying laps. Ryan Hagy got things started with a 1:03.605 on lap one in his Metal Mulisha/General Tire machine, but was quickly eclipsed by Brent Fouch, who turned a 1:02.902 on lap two in his #21 Bionic Cigs truck. Newcomer Drew Britt then grabbed the top spot for a couple of laps, with efforts of 1:02.527 and 1:02.485 on laps three and four, before giving way to Chad George, who set a 1:01.946 in his #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama machine. On the final lap, though, it was points leader Patrick Clark who grabbed the pole with a 1:01.403 in his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels truck. Second went to George, third to RJ Anderson in the #37 Dethrone/Walker Evans Racing entry (1:02.007), fourth to Fouch (who improved to 1:02.072), and fifth to Britt.

Pro Lite Unlimited

Unlike most qualifying sessions, this afternoon’s Pro Lite Unlimited fracas needed just one lap to determine a pole-sitter. Chris Brandt, coming off of his first winless weekend of the season, got right back in the swing of things by grabbing the top time of 58.348 on the opening lap in his #82 Aero Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota. Behind Brandt, a close second went to Brian Deegan, who turned a 58.620 in his #38 Metal Mulisha/Lucas Oil Ford, with third going to Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford (his best lap was a 58.852). In fourth it was the #19 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels Ford of Corey Sisler (59.213), and rounding out the top five was Cameron Steele in the #16 Monster Energy/Yokohama Ford; his best lap was a 59.691.

Pro 2 Unlimited

General Tire teammates Carl Renezeder and Robby Woods had a good battle for the pole in Pro 2 Unlimited, with Renezeder grabbing the early advantage in his #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford after turning a 58.175 on lap one. Woods then snagged the top spot with laps of 57.337 and 57.008 in his #99 Lucas Slick Mist/SuperChips Chevrolet on laps two and three. Woods’ time held through lap four, but on the fifth lap, Renezeder re-gained the top spot for good with a 56.501 to get the pole. Woods’ time held up for second, with third going to the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford of Rob MacCachren, whose best lap was a 57.038. Brian Deegan finished up the session fourth with a 57.252 in his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and Rodrigo Ampudia rounded out the top five with a 57.467 in his #36 Lucas Oil/BFGoodrich Tires Ford.

Pro Buggy Unlimited

It was an all-Justin affair in Pro Buggy Unlimited qualifying, with Justin “Bean” Smith grabbing the early top spot with a 58.455 in his #19 Competitive Metals/Metal Mulisha AlumiCraft. Smith improved his class-leading time to a 58.057 on lap two, and that time held up for two further laps, but it was then Justin Davis who, on lap five, moved ahead to take the top spot away and keep it, turning a 57.939 in his #85 Green Army/General Tire Racer. Smith’s time was still good enough to take second, with Steven Greinke rounding out the top three at 58.157 in his #23 SC Fuels/BFGoodrich Tires Racer. Jerry Whelchel finished fourth with a 58.377 in his #5 ProAm/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill, and fifth went to the #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Racer of Cody Freeman; his best lap was a 58.560.

Limited Buggy

In a classic battle of youth versus experience, it was the veteran Bruce Fraley, along with up-and-comers Dave Mason and Bradley Morris, who ran at the head of the field in Limited Buggy this afternoon. Fraley’s #312 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Motorsports Fraley was up front early, with laps of 1:04.455 and 1:03.692 on the first two laps. Fraley’s time was good through the end of lap three, but by lap four, young Mason had gone a bit quicker, with a lap of 1:03.246 in his #365 SR Performance/B&R Buggie AlumiCraft. Mason then improved to a 1:02.713 on lap five, but on the next (and final) lap, it was Morris who got the pole with a 1:02.669 in his #304 K&N/Lucas Oil AlumiCraft. Mason’s time was good enough for second, with Fraley improving to 1:02.941 for third. Fourth was Curt Geer, who ran a 1:03.091 in his #385 Green Army/Bowden Development, Inc. Lothringer, and John Fitzgerald rounded out the top five with a 1:03.228 in his #314 Aero Motorsports/Simpson buggy.

UTV

The final qualifying session of the afternoon was that of the UTVs, and by just one thousandth of a second, it was Corry Weller who had the fastest opening lap, her 1:01.681 putting her #801 Weller Racing/Tilted Kilt Yamaha just ahead of the #664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki of Robert Vanbeekum. On lap three, though, Code Rahders put the session away with a 1:01.020 in his #816 SuperChips/Black Rhino Yamaha, grabbing the overall and SR1 poles. Vanbeekum improved to 1:01.394 to get the Unlimited UTV pole, taking second overall, with Weller second in SR1, third overall after improving to 1:01.488. Fourth overall, third in SR1 was John Dempsey in the #855 Monster Energy/747 Ink Kawasaki (1:01.950), with Tyler Winbury fifth overall, second in Unlimited UTV at 1:02.645 in his #694 Deviate Films/4130 Clothing Kawasaki. Chad George took the third spot in Unlimited UTV, sixth overall, with a 1:03.201 in his #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki.

That wraps up our coverage from today’s qualifying sessions here at Speedworld. Get out here early tomorrow morning, as the gates open to the public at 8:00 am. Racing starts at 8:30, and Opening Ceremonies are at 12:00 pm. For all the information, get to lucasoiloffroad.com.

About the  Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing  support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped  in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West  Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to  door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing  Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rounds 11&12 – Speedworld Off Road Park – Surprise, Arizona

Riverside, California (September 20, 2011) – Fresh off of his decisive ProLite victory at Glen Helen Raceway, Cameron Steele is poised to continue his assault on the standings as he leads the Stronghold Motorsports team into Surprise, Arizona September 24th & 25th. While Steele has developed into a perennial ProLite front runner, his first win of the season had eluded him until his tenth round triumph.

Cameron Steele #16 ProLite

Now, with just three crucial rounds of racing remaining for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series championship, Steele will fight to capitalize on the momentum from his wire to wire conquest at Glen Helen. “This team has faced adversity and keeps coming back to battle race after race,” he said. “We had a great win at Glen Helen and now the ProLite championship is within reach. There is some ground to make up but we’re going to give it everything we have. We just have to take care of business, stay consistent and go into Arizona prepared to do what it takes to get the number sixteen back on top of the podium.”

As Steele sits in third place in the extremely competitive ProLite division, his teammates Jeremy McGrath and Rob Naughton make their final visit to Speedworld this season intent on making a decisive move through the Pro 2 championship rankings. Facing off against the deepest and most talented field ever assembled in the class, McGrath and Naughton have combined for a total of six podiums, including a pair of one-two finishes. McGrath, who has been focused on finding the formula to reach the top of the box, currently holds the fifth spot in the title chase as Naughton, with three wins on the season, is fighting his way through the field in seventh position in the season standings. “We have had some great practice sessions after Glen Helen and had a chance to really put in some good, fast laps,” said McGrath. “I think the truck is where it needs to be to run at the front and I’m excited to get in and go racing in Surprise.”

Jeremy McGrath #2 Pro 2

Rob Naughton #54 Pro 2

Brandon Bailey continues to develop his skills in this, his ProBuggy rookie season. Although Bailey enters Rounds 9&10 looking for his first podium of the year, his consistency and perseverance behind the wheel has put him within sight of the class lead in the seventh spot.

Brandon Bailey #17 ProBuggy

Please follow the link below to enjoy this video from Rounds 9&10 at Glen Helen Raceway where Cameron Steele lead wire to wire to take his first career ProLite win:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8_1y9VcPvo

Stronghold Motorsports is Sponsored by:
Monster Energy Drink · ReadyLIFT · Lucas Oil Products · Maxxis Tires (Rob Naughton) · Toyo Tires (Jeremy McGrath)· Yokohma Tires (Cameron Steele/Brandon Bailey) · Lamb Renewable Energy · ProAm Racing Products · Fox Shox · Motive Gear · Fiberwerx · Multi Mechanical · Makita · MSD Ignition · LOSI R/C · Dart · K&N Filters · Eibach Springs · Spy Optic · Roush Yates Engines · GoPro · Alpinestars · KCHiLites · RSC Equipment Rental · Environmental Logistics

09/15/11 El Cajon, CA- Black Rhino is pleased to announce the addition of Kyle LeDuc to the growing list of drivers representing Black Rhino. LeDuc will be racing in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series’ UTV Class for Black Rhino with all discussions based on the remainder of the 2011 season. With a name like Kyle LeDuc teaming up with Black Rhino, a tremendous amount of positive attention will be drawn to the class.  “There are a lot of good drivers and families involved in the UTV class and we will do everything we can to help it grow.” stated Kenny Osborn, owner of Black Rhino.

Osborn and LeDuc have been working out all of the details at the Black Rhino headquarters in El Cajon, CA over the last few weeks. Osborn explained, “The deal came about rather fast. It all started when we brought a new crew member on our team, Layton Kramer.  His first day at work he was telling me about the partially built SR1 Kyle LeDuc was selling.  I asked him to get some pictures and we would talk about it the next day.  Well not only did he get pictures but he also told me Kyle would be willing to help finish the car, help with the testing and possibly even race it for us.  We had our crew out the door within hours to pick it up and get it back to Black Rhino.  I spoke with Kyle for the first time the day after we got the SR1 into our shop.  During our conversation we discussed Kyle racing the SR1 the rest of this season for Black Rhino.  Kyle not only agreed to drive for us but he also offered to help teach and coach Bryan on how to further improve his racing skills.  Now that is what I would call one hell of a package deal.”

Bryan Osborn, driver of the Black Rhino #854, is looking forward to being coached by LeDuc, “He can help me with my lines, with driving competitive and pushing the car as much as I can.”

LeDuc said of his racing background, “We grew up playing in the dirt; we had a father that let us. He was always racing so we were always around racing. The first thing we started racing was mountain bikes and we became pros and had great careers.” Eventually the opportunity came up for the family to move to the world of off road. LeDuc started out by building a prolite and became hooked on the sport. He won his first race in 2003 and the following year in 2004 he won 6 rounds and the championship. In 2008 he built a pro4 and won 4 races his first season in the division. “It has been a class I’ve loved for a long time and have had great success in the division.” stated LeDuc.      ………………(Kyle LeDuc’s first time in an SR1)….….………….In 2011 he went back to prolite and added it to his pro4 program                                                                                                                                                                                                   …………………………………………………..…………………………………and currently campaigns both trucks.

When LeDuc talks about racing, his passion is obvious, “I have loved the thrill of competition my entire life. It’s the idea that if you work hard enough and keep your mind always advancing then it’s up to you to drive the he’ll out of it to finish the package and take home trophies! That’s what makes me smile; winning and being the fastest man alive.”

LeDuc’s goal is to help the SR1 class grow by bringing in more pro drivers. “I want to get them hooked on these stupid fun cars. They aren’t play toys anymore, these are serious machines that deserve to be watched and enjoyed by everyone that loves off road racing. Black rhino is obviously a huge name in the UTV world and I have been a huge supporter of the UTV classes. I have owned my own race car and have raced a lot with it. Now Black Rhino has taken on the chore of giving me the best car they possibly can and believe me, I will deliver. I also enjoy helping the younger kids coming up in the sport to get them fearless and skilled behind the wheel to keep this racing program up and chaotic for the fans to always enjoy.” said LeDuc………….………………….(LeDuc giving Bryan Osborn pointers during testing)

In addition to Black Rhino, Kyle Leduc is currently sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink, Makita Power Tools, Toyo Tires, K&N Air Filters, King Shocks, Sparco Racing Equipment, Kicker Sound Systems, Team Associated, KC Highlites, Truxx Lift and Level Kits and Wilwood Brakes.

For more information about Black Rhino, please visit their website at www.blackrhinoperformance.com. You can also visit them on their Facebook site at www.facebook.com/BlackRhinoFanPage.  For more information on Kyle LeDuc please visit his website at www.99duc.com or follow him on twitter @kyleleduc99. Photos courtesy of Papaian Enterprises, www.papaian.com.

Black Rhino: Setting the trend for today’s EXTREME Side X Sides.

Photos courtesy of Papaian Enterprises

With 17 trucks revved at the starting line of the Super Lite race Saturday, many of them piloted by seasoned racers, one might say 18-year-old Dawson Kirchner had the cards stacked against him. But he wasn’t giving up without a fight. Starting in the second row, he shot off to an early lead, leaving his competition in a cloud of dust. While the other racers scrambled to catch up, Kirchner didn’t break his concentration the entire race. The crowd’s excitement was palpable and a big rollover in turn two had viewers on the edge of their seats.

 

For media information, visit www.ctamedia.com or www.ctamedia.mobi.     For more than 90 years General Tire has offered a complete quality line of ultra-high performance, passenger, light truck, off-road and commercial tires to meet all your needs.  General Tire is a proud supporter of Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing, Chili Bowl, Pro-Pulling, Late- Model Dirt Series, Drag Boat Series, Boost Mobile FreestyleMx.com Tour, Spec Tire of Trophylite and Pro Truck.  Team GT supports off-road and short course teams including BJ Baldwin, Carl Renezeder, Rick D. Johnson, Jerry Zaiden/Jason Campbell, Jason/Rich Voss, Scott Steinberger, Ed “Clyde” Stout, Marc Burnett, Kent Kroeker, Mikey Childress, Carey Hart, Josh Merrell, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, Robby Woods and Jeff “Ox” Kargola.     General Tire is part of Continental Tire the Americas, LLC. (www.generaltire.com). CTA, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is a company of Germany-based Continental AG. With sales of approximately €20 billion in 2009 Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately 134,500 in 46 countries.

Santee, CA – The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is cooking its way through a mild summer and the fierce competition at Glen Helen Rounds 9 & 10 was hotter than ever. Drivers piloting Alumi Craft short course buggies raced their way to the podium 5 times during each of the 4 buggy races held. The capacity crowds were treated to cooling temperatures throughout the evening and burning action out on the track.

The Limited Buggy division was truly exciting with lots of battles throughout the weekend. New talent brought forth hard racing to the usual class dominators. Zac Hunt & Geoffrey Cooley both ran in top 5 and most of the time racing for position in the top 3 but faded in the final laps on Saturday, while Dave Mason put his Alumi Craft up front each day and finished 3rd in Round 9. Most impressive was on Sunday’s Round 10, both Cooley and Zac had to work from deep starting positions charging through the field. Geoffrey started back in 15th place and Zac in 11th. The young developing drivers proved resilient; Hunt finishing 3rd, Cooley taking 4th and out-lasting Mason who eventually slowed during Round 10.

Saturday

Limited Buggy    3rd Place – Dave Mason
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Sunday

Limited Buggy     3rd Place – Zac Hunt
Limited Buggy    4th Place – Geoffrey Cooley

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Something of particular interest is that three of the top four finishers came from the kart ranks. It appears that a graduating generation of drivers has found the buggy division to be well suited to accelerate driving careers into winning pro drivers.

On Friday, Cooley used a new Fat Performance engine to qualify his #322 Alumi Craft/Competitive Metals/MasterCraft Safety machine 2nd fastest only .105 behind Bradley Morris, Sundays race winner and one of the former Trophy Karts drivers. The Fat power plant and smart driving established Cooley as a class contender. He has one podium from Round 5 so far.

Dave Mason, who was ranked 3rd in points coming into the weekend, and another Trophy Kart driver, overcame a few obstacles on his trip to the podium. During Friday’s practice the transmission had issues staying in gear. With only two hours till qualifying, Mason recruits Matt Major from Alumi Craft to help remove and replace the gearbox. Job completed and out in qualifying, Dave races up to 5th fastest before realizing he has a flat and pulled off the track. Class rookie Zachary Hunt, qualified 6th; However Mason and Hunt were granted a six-car inversion and prime starting positions for Saturday.

The Pro Buggy division is stacked with professional driver talent as is most of the LOORRS Series. Saturdays racing demonstrates how sometimes anything goes, rough racing is normal and wheel-to-wheel racing is a dirty sport. Smart strategic driving can put you ahead or help you fight through the mess. Cool heads like Mike Porter and Justin Bean Smith prove that there are no guarantees. Mike who started in 10th on Saturday, raced his way up to a 2nd place finish and duplicated his effort for Sunday finishing 3rd. “Bean” would start his Competitive Metals Alumi Craft Pro Buggy in 6th but was pushed around and banged into for much of Round 9. He would fight to gain positions but in the end maintained for a well-deserved 5th place finish. A true testament to Smith’s heart as a driver and never give up attitude, the weekend’s race results moves him only 11 points out of the Pro Buggy Championship lead. Justin’s wire-to-wire race win on Sunday was a satisfying redemption moment for the natural talent.

Saturday

Pro Buggy           2nd Place – Mike Porter
Pro Buggy           5th Place – Justin “Bean” Smith
—————————————————————-

Sunday

Pro Buggy          1st Place – Justin “Bean” Smith

Pro Buggy          3rd Place – Mike Porter

Photography by Brian Binkert

Bink Designs – www.binkdesigns.com

Do not forget; “Alumi Craft is the Limited Buggy class sponsor in the Lucas Oil Regional Off Road Series. The next race events will be held at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA on August 20th.

About Alumi Craft: Alumi Craft is the premier racecar chassis manufacturer in the off road industry. Crafting cars from lengths of 4130 Chromoly tubing is our specialty. We offer a variety of vehicles to accommodate the professional off road racer to the recreational driver. For the past three years, ALUMI CRAFT has claimed Three Pro Buggy championships and a Super Buggy Championship in Short Course. The drivers who aided ALUMI CRAFT in achieving the repeat are Rob MacCachren, Chuck Cheek, and Cameron Steele and CJ Greaves.

For more information on Alumi Craft Race Cars  check out www.alumicraft.info

Temecula, CA (August 11, 2011) - Mitchell DeJong drove his #1 TRAXXAS/Red Bull DeJong SuperKart to the top of the podium and a 2nd place finish in front of 15,000 plus fans at Glen Helen Raceway for Rounds 9 & 10 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series.

Mitchell DeJong takes the checkered flag and 1st place in front of thousands of fans.

The stellar weekend started with the #1 qualifier, Mitchell DeJong, and his field of 18 competitors with heads down during opening prayer & remembrance of our recently fallen soldiers. Lucas Oil Off-Road quickly cranked it up with a spectacular hard rock guitar solo of the National Anthem bringing fans to their feet. Without hesitation the complete Kart field was announced and then those famous four words “Drivers start your engines!”
The highly anticipated Round 9 was underway with Kart Modified leading the show for the very first time and after a month of pre-race preparation, Mitchell was ready to battle for the championship points title. Starting on the inside first row, Mitchell launched his TRAXXAS/Red Bull SuperKart into the lead at the drop of the green flag and from there he set the pace. Just after the competition yellow flag lap, Mitchell had an abrupt scare when his tire caught a rut in turn 4, bicycling his truck on two wheels but he quickly regained control. After numerous cautions on the track, Mitchell stayed focused and flew through the checkered flags for his 4th victory and 8th podium of the season, with a special thanks to his guest spotter and multi-time Pro-4 champion, Johnny Greaves.

Mitchell DeJong stands high on the podium holding the #1 trophy.

After the television interview with CBS broadcasting, Mitchell stood high on the podium with a big smile. Commenting after the win, “My truck is SO fast right now, the Duncan Racing motor and Fox Racing Shox give me SO much confidence. I feel like I can drive as hard as I want!” Mitchell spent the rest of the night watching his heroes race while taking some mental notes for Sunday’s main event.

Mitchell DeJong interviewed by CBS after winning his 4th race of the season.

Round 10 promised to be a great fight, especially since an inversion starting order was drawn pushing the #1 TRAXXAS/Red Bull DeJong SuperKart to the 4th start position. While an obvious disadvantage, Mitchell has come to appreciate the challenge, and when it was time he charged hard for the lead quickly overtaking 3rd position. 2 laps later, Mitchell slid his #1 machine around the outside to claim the 2nd position. After the competition yellow lap it became a 5 lap chase and race for the lead, but in the end a risky pass attempt would have outweighed the reward, so the defending champ settled in for a 2nd place finish.

Mitchell commented after the race, “I tried to make an inside pass and realized that I was going to need to be more aggressive to make it stick. Winning races is what I want, but today I had to think about winning the championship, no mistakes.”

At the end of the weekend Mitchell claimed fastest practice lap, an extra point for fastest qualifier, and an additional point for leading the complete Round 9 race from start-to-finish. Those extra points, plus the well deserved 1st and 2nd place trophies are keeping the #1 TRAXXAS/Red Bull DeJong SuperKart pilot in a strong position for the title.

Join Mitchell through the final stretch of the 2011 season. This year has been highly competitive and the points chase could be down to the wire! He will be racing in the next ASCC Off Road Championship on September 10th at Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, Arizona then returns on September 24th-25th  for rounds 11 and 12 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series.

Special thanks to:  TRAXXAS, Red Bull, DeJong Off-Road, Fox Racing Shox, DWT, Method Race Wheels,  Simpson Racing, Ultra Custom Boats, Schampa, Eliminator Motorsports, Streight Edge, Duncan Racng, Zip-Tie Productions, Fast-Aid, and PayDirt Media.

Say “Hi” to Mitchell on Facebook, Twitter or check out his new website at www.MitchellDeJong.com

Rialto, CA (August 10, 2011) - Kawasaki’s Chad George claimed his first SuperLite victory of the season and filled the podium with 2nd, and 3rd place finishes during Rounds 9 & 10 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series at Glen Helen Raceway.

Chad George celebrates his SuperLite Win at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series. Photo by SuperLite Championship

After 8 rounds of hard fought battles, Chad was happy to be back at his home track, just a stones throw from his stomping grounds of Rialto, California. With a complete entourage of family and friends filling his race space, the pressure to succeed mounted on Saturday evening as he staged his Kawasaki/Yokohama Tires/Bull BBQ SuperLite Truck before thousands of horsepower hungry race fans.

As the green flag dropped, Chad put his Yokohama Geolander AT-S tires and King Shocks to the extreme test flying over 100ft. table tops, attacking each corner while moving up two positions. When pressuring for the final podium spot, Chad became tangled with another racer forcing him back to sixth position! With the taste of the podium still in his mouth, Chad used his Lazer Star LX LED lighting for some extra clarity under the dark sky and pushed his Kawasaki SuperLite to the edge of control. By the final lap, he proved he was capable of a come-back by claiming 3rd place and boosting his series points total closer to a championship title.

After the race Chad jokingly exclaimed, “Do we get passing points? If we get passing points, those guys don’t have a shot! I go to the back, to the front, to the back… For a bad luck race, I couldn’t be happier!”

Chad George launches to VICTORY at Glen Helen Raceway. Image By Ryan Torres Photography for UTVUnderground.com

As the race weekend rolled forward, Chad started Sunday’s Round 10 event in his #1 Monster Energy Kawasaki Teryx built by Funco Motorsports.   The 4-wheel drive Kawasaki Teryx UTV, boasting a C&G Performance tuned power plant, needed a good race to remind the crowd that the #1 defending champ is in town.  Saturday’s Round 9 UTV race was a roller coaster ride resulting in a 4th place, so Chad was pumped for Sunday’s fresh start.  With the Simpson Racing belts tight, Chad pounded the track lap after lap looking for that 1st place UTV Modified trophy. After 14 laps of searching Chad settled for a much needed and refreshing 2nd place podium finish!

Chad’s #1 Monster Energy Kawasaki Teryx takes 2nd Place. // Image By UTVunderground.com

After a quick break, Chad shifted gears into his #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama/Bull BBQ SuperLite. The SuperLite Championship class of 17 hungry drivers filed onto the track with Chad starting on the outside front row. After a quick flip of the green flag, Chad charged into the lead, powered left into the first turn and pulled away. 15 solid laps of looking back in his mirror, no one had the speed, consistency and determination needed to pass the ultra fast Kawasaki SuperLite. Chad George claimed his first SuperLite Championship victory of 2011 and boosted his points standing to 2nd, striking distance to the title.

Chad commented, “We’ve had all the speed and performance this year and this weekend it all came together to give us the WIN, plus two other podium finishes!  Thanks to Monster Energy Kawasaki, Kawasaki Motor Corp., Yokohama Tires, Bull BBQ , King Shocks, C&G Performance, Beard Seats and the whole Funco Team! I can’t wait to to see how the next round goes off!”

Join Chad at Rounds 11 & 12 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series at Speedworld Off-Road Park in Surprise, Arizona on September 24-25. You can also join Chad on Facebook and Twitter (@chadgeorgesxs)

Chad George Kawasaki SuperLite Partners: Kawasaki Motor Corp, Funco, Yokohama, Bull Outdoor Products, Beard, Simpson Racing, King Shocks, Lazer Star, California Performance, UTVunderground.com

Chad George Kawasaki Teryx UTV Partners: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Funco, C&G Performance Beard, King Shocks, Simpson Racing, Muzzy’s, DWT Racing, Dalton Clutch, UTVunderground.com

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About Funco Motorsports: Founded by Gil George over 30 years ago, FUNCO Motorsports is the leading manufacture of high performance sand, off-road cars and custom UTV’s . Their unique designs and family oriented service has sold over 400 Big 5 Model cars and their entry into the UTV market has been explosive too. With 4 consecutive championships, FUNCO Motorsports has proven that their experience on the track translates into quality, race-proven products for all UTV enthusiasts   www.funcoutv.com

About Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.: ATVs, Motorcycles, Utility Vehicles, Watercraft and Power Products are just some of the unique consumer products that have made the Kawasaki brand a household name around the world. From the class leading Ninja® sportbikes and thundering Vulcan™ cruisers to the rugged Brute Force™ ATVs, MULE™ utility vehicles and JET SKI® watercraft, Kawasaki products lead the powersports industry around the globe. The secret of Kawasaki’s success is in designing and manufacturing products that offer balanced performance, high quality, reliability and excellent fit and finish. So take a look at what Kawasaki has to offer you in the way of Leading Edge products! www.kawasaki.com

About SuperLite Championship: The SuperLite Championship Series features extensive national and international exposure through the Lucas Oil Series television package, which airs on such broadcast TV neworks as SpeedTV, NBC Sports, Outdoor Channel, Versus, Juntos Podemos and MavTV. The SuperLite Championship has secured an exclusive presence on its own dedicated TV show on the Outdoor Channel, providing comprehensive coverage of the off-road races, the sponsors, the trucks and the drivers.www.superlitechampionship.com

About Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series: The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, LOORRS brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit LucasOilOffRoad.com 

LAKE FOREST, CA (August 10, 2011) – Perhaps it was because of the bright lights on those warm summer nights, or the realization that the number of rounds of racing left in the 2011 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing season were quickly dwindling toward zero, or maybe it was just tough competition with an abiding desire to win – whatever the reason, the Pro-4 and Pro-2 classes left a lot of fiberglass on the track on the way to the checkered flag both days last weekend at Glen Helen.  Fans saw close battles, tons of passing, tempers as hot as the midday August sun, plenty of drama, and an abundance of great racing.  Some drivers ended up on the positive side of it all, some incurred the negative, but the majority left the track on Sunday night with both.

“We definitely didn’t have a great weekend, but it could have been a lot worse,” expressed Carl Renezeder, driver of the number 17 Lucas Oil/General Tire/Team Associated Ford F150s in Pro-2 and Pro-4.

With both trucks in serious need of quality time with their respective lead mechanics come Monday morning, it’s remarkable that Renezeder was able to turn such carnage into respectable results.  He was knocked sideways in the air, landed on, rode the k-rail for several feet, traded paint on both sides of both trucks, yet somehow managed to stay rubber-side down, with the nose pointed forward at the end of all four races.  He missed the podium in both of the Pro-2 races, which meant he took a hit in the overall points, finishing sixth on Saturday and fourth on Sunday.  He climbed on the podium both days in Pro-4, but never on the top spot, which also hurt him in the points.  He made a last-lap pass to finish second on Saturday, and then limped a right-rear flat around to a third-place finish on Sunday.

Renezeder was the first driver is short course history to win the Pro-2 and Pro-4 championships in the same season (2009), and he’s looking to repeat this year.  If Glen Helen is any indication of how the rest of the season will play out, then it’s definitely going to be a tough fight to the end.  Unquestionably, Renezeder and his crew are up for the challenge.

Five rounds of racing remain in the championship chase this season, and the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup will round out the year.  Two thirds of the races are in the books, and the teams have a seven-week break to think about how they’re going to attack the remaining third of the season.  Rounds 11 and 12 will take place the weekend of September 24-25 at Speedworld Motorsports Park in Surprise, Arizona, then the series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway November 5-6 before rounding out the season in Chandler, Arizona at Firebird International Raceway the weekend of December 10-11.

(photos © HighRev Photography)

About Carl Renezeder

Birth date: April 16, 1964
Residence: Laguna Beach, CA
Home Town: Montebello, CA
Family: Wife: Kelley; 4 Children

96 Career Short Course Wins (20 in Lucas Oil Off Road Series, 65 in CORR, 10 in WSORR, 1 in RJORGP) (Pro-2 = 45 wins; Pro-4 = 51 wins)

7-time National Champion (LOORRS U4 – 2009; LOORRS U2 – 2009; CORR Pro-4 – 2003, 2007, 2008; CORR Pro-2 – 2005 & 2006)

2011 to date: 2 LOORRS Pro-4 Win; 2 LOORRS Pro-2 Wins; Currently 1^st in Pro-4 points, 2^nd in Pro-2 points

2010: 2^nd in LOORRS Pro-2 Unlimited points with 3 wins; 3rd in LOORRS Pro-4 Unlimited points with 2 wins

2009: LOORRS Unlimited 4 Champion; LOORRS Unlimited 2 Champion; 8 Unlimited-4 wins including the inaugural Rockstar Energy Lucas Oil Challenge Cup; 3 Unlimited-2 wins; Dirtsports Magazine Short Course Driver of the Year

2008: CORR Pro-4 Champion; 4 CORR Pro-4 wins; 2 CORR Pro-2 wins; 2 WSORR Pro-4×4 wins; 2 WSORR Pro-2WD wins; 1 RJORGP GP4 win; Won Day 2 of SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge

2007: CORR Pro-4 Champion; 8 CORR Pro-4 wins including the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup; 3rd in CORR Pro-2 points; 7 CORR Pro-2 wins; 3 WSORR Pro4x4 wins including the FCP Chairman’s Cup; 3 WSORR Pro2WD wins; Won 40th Annual SCORE Baja 1000 with Riviera Racing

2006: CORR Pro-2 Champion; 6 CORR Pro-2 wins; 2nd in CORR Pro-4 points; 4 CORR Pro-4 wins; Won SCORE Laughlin Leap (159’), Won Day 1, 2nd overall at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge; 3rd in SCORE Las Vegas PRIMM 300; Dirtsports Magazine Driver of the Year

2005: CORR Pro-2 Champion; 9 CORR wins – 4 in Pro-2 and 5 in Pro-4, including the Nissan Nationals; 2nd in CORR Pro-4 points

2004: 8 CORR wins – 3 in Pro-2 and 5 in Pro-4, including the Governor’s Cup Championship; 2nd in CORR Pro-4 points; 3rd in CORR Pro-2 points

2003: CORR Pro-4 Champion; 8 CORR wins – 3 in Pro-2 and 5 in Pro-4, including the Borg Warner World Championship; 2nd in CORR Pro-2 points

1994-2002: 9 CORR wins (7 in Pro-2; 2 in Pro-4) and multiple podiums in CORR; Won SCORE Baja 1000 (Class 1 – 1994); 2 podium finishes in SCORE Baja 500

After a great Round 9 under the lights here at Glen Helen Raceway, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, came back to do it all again in Round 10. Another gorgeous evening unfolded in southern California, and with no racing to worry about after tonight, drivers threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the top step of the podium. Just about anything that could happen DID HAPPEN, with racecars flying every which way through the night sky, and, for the most part, landing safely to the delight of the crowd. Battles between drivers were as close as they’ve ever been this season, and those in attendance really got an eyeful tonight. We hope you were here to see all this for yourself, but if not, here’s what happened.

Modified Kart
Last night, the young aces of Modified Kart took a turn in the spotlight that follows Opening Ceremonies; tonight, they switched it up and got the whole ball rolling as the first class on track. After two attempts at starts, which ended in multiple crashes, the field managed to make it stick on the third try, with Bradley Morris grabbing the early lead in his #504 K&N/Tri-State Materials machine. Jerett Brooks ran second in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Maxima Racing Oils truck, with Mitchell DeJong third in the #1 Traxxas/Red Bull kart, Kyle Hart fourth in the #523GearUp2Go.com/Duncan Racing entry, and Sheldon Creed fifth (after starting on the last row!) in the #522 Camburg/ A.M. Ortega kart. DeJong and Hart both got by Brooks on the second lap to take over second and third spots, but Brooks got Hart back on the following lap to get back into the top three. Creed was quite a bit less fortunate on his third lap, as his right rear wheel came right off as he approached turn five, ending his charge for the evening. This moved Trent Williams into the top five in his #525 Victory Race Cars/Terrible Herbst machine, and at the competition yellow, the top five was made up of Morris, DeJong, Brooks, Hart, and Williams. These drivers held their spots on the restart, as well as for several successive laps afterwards, until Cole Mamer finally cracked the top five with just a few laps left in his #535 Full Tilt Trophy Karts/Simpson truck. On the final lap, Mitch Guthrie Jr. grabbed that fifth spot from Mamer, while up front, Morris was driving like a madman to hold of DeJong. Morris skied it high off the jump into turn two, and managed to keep the lead through the checkers to get the win, his first of the season. DeJong followed up yesterday’s win with a second place today, and was followed home by Brooks, Hart, and Guthrie Jr. in the #555 DASA/K&N entry.

Junior 1 Kart
Next up were the Junior 1 Karts, and it was Eliott Watson who took the early lead in his #203 Lucas Oil/Fox Racing Shox kart, ahead of Travis PeCoy in the #211 K&N/Hoosier Racing Tires truck, Cole Dexheimer in the #226 RC10.com/Racer X Motorsports entry, Wolfgang Ries in the #273 McQueen Prototype Design/ProAm machine, and Broc Dickerson in the #223 Dickerson Motorsports/KarTek truck. Yesterday’s winner Dickerson was on the move early, picking off Ries, Dexheimer, and PeCoy on successive laps, moving him up from fifth to second by lap four. At the competition yellow, Watson still led, with Dickerson hot on his heels, and PeCoy, Dexheimer, and Ries also close behind. On the restart lap, Ries moved up to fourth after getting by Dexheimer, and on the penultimate lap, Dickerson got a great drive out of turn two to pull past Watson and into the lead. From there, Dickerson continued to pull away, and got the win to make it a clean sweep of the weekend. Watson finished second, with PeCoy third, Ries fourth, and Dexheimer rounding out the top five.

Junior 2 Kart
The final race on the “short track” this weekend was that of the Junior 2 Karts, and it was yesterday’s winner Myles Cheek who was again up front today, grabbing the early lead in his #457 CMI/ JamminProducts.com kart after the first lap. Hailie Deegan ran second in the #438 Metal Mulisha/4 Wheel Parts machine, with Paige Porter third in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage Boats truck, Broc Dickerson fourth in the #423 Dickerson Motorsports/Eibach Springs entry, and Chad Graham fifth in the #410 MavTV/Hart and Huntington truck. Brock Heger briefly moved up to fifth spot in the early laps, but was black flagged after causing Graham to spin. This allowed Shelby Anderson to move up to fourth in her #405 Walker Evans Racing/Anderson’s Nu Power kart, with Dickerson now fifth. By the competition yellow, the running order in the top five was Cheek, Deegan, Porter, Anderson, and Dickerson, and these young drivers maintained their positions after the green flag dropped again. After the restart, Preston Roben moved into fifth and then fourth on laps seven and eight, while up front, Deegan was now closing on the leader Cheek. On the final lap, Deegan drove it really deep into turn two in a bid for the lead, but Cheek managed to hold her off and get the win and make it a sweep for the weekend. Deegan once again scored her best career finish, this time with a closely-fought second place, with Porter third, Roben fourth in the #414 DCI Duggins Construction/RC10.com kart, and Anderson fifth.

UTV
The SR1 and Unlimited UTVs took to the track next, and it was RJ Anderson who led the field in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/Kroyer Racing Engines Polaris after the first lap. Ryan Beat was already second after starting sixth in his #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino SR1, with Code Rahders third in the #816 SuperChips/Black Rhino Yamaha, John Dempsey fourth in the #855 Monster Energy/FineLineTShirts.com Kawasaki, and Tyler Winbury fifth in the #694 Magnum Off Road/Deviate Films Kawasaki. The greater power of the SR1 engines helped propel Beat into the lead on lap two, with Rahders following suit and moving into second on the next lap. Further back, Dan Kelly had moved into the top five overall in his #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Maxxis Tires, and was up to fourth by lap four. Up at the head of the field, Rahders was now putting the pressure on Beat for the lead, and got by on the outside at turn four to move up to first on lap five. On the next lap, Kelly moved up again, taking over third overall from Anderson. At the competition yellow, though, Kelly had gone off the track briefly, dropping him well down the running order. Meanwhile, Rahders had the lead, and was followed by Beat, Dempsey, Anderson, and Robert Vanbeekum in the #664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki. After the restart, Beat re-took the lead from Rahders, with Vanbeekum charging up to third. Corry Weller was also moving up, and was now fourth in her #810 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha. Two laps later, Vanbeekum rolled to a stop in turn five, moving Weller to third, Dempsey to fourth, and Anderson to fifth. Dempsey then dropped by the wayside on the penultimate lap, and at race’s end, it was Beat who swept the weekend with his second win in as many nights. Beat got the SR1 and overall wins, with Rahders and Weller second and third in SR1 and overall. Fourth overall, and tops in Unlimited UTV was Anderson, Chad George taking second in the class in his #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki, and third going Winbury.

Limited Buggy
The final race before Opening Ceremonies was the Limited Buggy race, tonight’s race was a special one for sure. Fresh off of his win in Modified Kart, Bradley Morris took the lead from the drop of the green flag in his #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft. Dave Mason slotted in second, with Curt Geer third, Jake Laff fourth, and Geoffrey Cooley fifth. Laff pulled off on the second lap, moving Quentin Tucker to fourth, ahead of Cooley, who remained fifth. On the same lap, Mason grabbed the lead from Morris in his #365 SR Performance/Eleven Western Builders AlumiCraft. Several young drivers were really making an impression on the field this evening, and the next to do so was Zac Hunt, who moved up to fifth in his #334 Speed Energy/Concrete Coring Company AlumiCraft. Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was still on, and Morris grabbed the lead back after driving inside of Mason at turn three on lap six. Two corners later, Geer also got by Mason and up to second in his #385 Bowden Development Inc./BFGoodrich Tires Lothringer. Mason’s drop in performance looked to be due to a flat left rear tire, and at the competition yellow, he pulled into the hot pits for a change, dropping him well back and moving Cooley up to fifth in the #322 Competitive Metals/USA Wheel AlumiCraft. The running order was Morris, Geer, Tucker in the #377 Fox Racing Shox/McKenzies buggy, Hunt, and Cooley as the field returned to green flag racing, but what appeared to be multiple flat tires forced Tucker to the hot pits and out of the top five. Cooley, who’d moved up to fourth on the restart lap, now ran third following Tucker’s misfortune, with Hunt fourth and Bruce Fraley fifth in the #312 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Motorsports Fraley. Hunt then moved past Cooley with an inside pass out of turn three to move into third, and from there on in, the top five drivers held their positions. Picking up the big win, his first in the class and his second of the day was Morris- way to go Bradley! Second went to Geer, third to Hunt, fourth to Cooley, and fifth to Fraley. Interesting side note: three of the top four finishers came from the kart ranks; it seems as though the premonition that these kids would be challenging the adults for wins is really starting to come true.

Pro 4 Unlimited
After Opening Ceremonies, it was time for Pro 4 Unlimited. Greg Adler, filling in for the injured Travis Coyne in the #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford, got the jump on the field on the first lap, and led Adrian Cenni, Rick Huseman, Kent Brascho, and Carl Renezeder after the first lap. Renezeder quickly moved his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford past Brascho on lap two, with Kyle LeDuc following suit on the same lap in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. On the next lap, Cenni bicycled in turn five, and was helped a little further by Huseman, as he went wide and lost two spots to Huseman and Renezeder. Huseman now ran behind the leader Adler, and only a few corners later, blew by him on the inside of turn two and into the lead. With flames spitting from Huseman’s exhaust, combined with the crackle of his screaming, 9800+ rpm engine, his #36 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota was a sight and sound to behold as he sped away up front, leaving Adler, Renezeder, Cenni, and LeDuc in a big pack, battling for second. All four drivers barreled into turn three on lap five, with Renezeder coming away the best as he moved up to second, ahead of LeDuc, Cenni, and Adler. Two laps later, LeDuc made a beautiful pass down the inside of Renezeder in the same corner, picking up second place for his efforts. Behind them, LeDuc’s brother Todd was up to fifth in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and at the competition yellow, it was Huseman, Kyle LeDuc, Renezeder, Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/Maxxis Tires truck, and Todd LeDuc in the top five. After the restart, Kyle LeDuc was really starting to pressure Huseman, but after going wide at turn five, the outside half of his truck went atop the outside barricade, sending him into a brief rail slide before he managed to pull himself back down on track. This cost him his second place, as Renezeder snuck by to pick up the spot, but with Renezeder then getting pushed wide at turn three, LeDuc had his position right back.

The final five laps were truly some of the most exciting that this reporter has ever seen. On lap 17, a near-spin by Kyle LeDuc allowed Renezeder and Cenni by, and as LeDuc tried to race back by, he and Renezeder touched in mid-air going into turn five. The contact looked to be sending both into a bad crash, but the two somehow managed to stick the landing without missing a beat. Two laps later, a half-spin by Cenni in turn two let Renezeder by, while a fire onboard Todd LeDuc’s truck forced a red flag of the race. Todd was out quickly and ok, and a green-white-checkers finish was called for. As the trucks prepared to roll out for the final two laps, Renezeder found himself with a right rear flat, while Cenni’s truck simply refused to re-fire. Sadly, Cenni was towed back to the hot pits, though he was able to get re-fired and re-join the race, albeit after the rest of the field had gone back to green. Up front, Renezeder was easy pickings for Kyle LeDuc, who moved past Renezeder’s compromised truck to take over second. LeDuc then set his sights on Huseman, and did everything he could to put pressure on the leader. Huseman was too good tonight, though, and kept the lead all the way to the checkers, making it a clean sweep of the weekend, and scoring all 103 available points along the way. Kyle LeDuc took second, with Renezeder hanging on to third, Adler fourth, and Brascho fifth in the #8 K&N/KMC Wheels Ford.

Pro Buggy Unlimited
Pro Buggy Unlimited saw some unfortunate faltering from three of the top points contenders, while the other two took full advantage of the opportunity they’d been handed. Doug Fortin failed to start the race, and Steve Greinke was sidelined after only a few laps, while up front, it was Jerry Whelchel grabbing the early lead in his #5 Select Glass/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill. Unfortunately, Whelchel lost a right rear wheel on the second lap, making him the third points contender to hit bad luck tonight. This gave the lead to Justin “Bean” Smith in the #19 Competitive Metals/Metal Mulisha AlumiCraft, with Cody Freeman second in the #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Racer, Mike Porter third in the #8 Redline Performance/Speed Energy AlumiCraft, Malcolm Pointon fourth in the #78 K&N/Southwest Processors buggy, and Pat Dean fifth in the #21 King Off Road Racing Shocks/Butch’s Speed Shop Tatum. Pointon got spun in turn three on the next lap, moving Dean to fourth and Brandon Bailey to fifth in the #17 Stronghold Motorsports/L.A.M.B. Energy AlumiCraft. Bailey then spun on lap four, moving Eddie Tafoya up to fifth in the #51 Specialty Fasteners/Crower Lothringer. The field was now spread all around the circuit, and at the competition yellow, it was Smith, Freeman, Porter, Dean, and Tafoya in the top five. Tafoya got up to fourth on the restart lap, and after stopping briefly on track, Dean dropped back to sixth, handing fifth back to Pointon. Dean then recovered from whatever issue had been slowing him for a few laps, and picked off both Pointon and Tafoya to move into fourth. Up front, Smith had once again opened up a lead, and was untouchable on his way to the big win and a nice boost in the points chase. Freeman finished second, with Porter taking another strong podium in third for some nice points. Fourth and fifth were taken by Dean and Tafoya.

Pro Lite Unlimited
What a thrilling race it was tonight in Pro Lite Unlimited! Cameron Steele started from pole in the #16 Yokohama Tires/Stronghold Motorsports Ford, and took the lead from the drop of the green flag. After the first lap, Steele still led, with Corey Sisler in the #19 BFGoodrich Tires/CBR Performance Ford, Brian Deegan in the #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, Chris Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/Oakley Toyota, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford right behind. Ampudia was having some sort of difficulty with turn three for a couple of laps, which soon cost him his fifth place to the #2 Monster Energy/Magnaflow Nissan of Casey Currie. Up front, Sisler was really hounding Steele for the lead, and it was great to see two drivers, each with no wins in this class, battling for first place. Just behind, Brandt had managed to pass Deegan for third, and by the competition yellow, the running order was Steele, Sisler, Brandt, Deegan, and Currie. After the restart, the top five was still the same, but Currie soon pulled into the hot pits and out of the race with an unknown issue. Just afterwards, Brandt suddenly stopped on track, and combined with Ampudia’s losing a right rear wheel and stranding him in turn three, the race went under full course caution. When the race resumed, it was then Deegan who dropped by the wayside with a mechanical issue, leaving the running order of Steele, Sisler, Jimmy Stephensen in the #33 Ironclad Energy/Yokohama Nissan, Matt Cook in the #55 Aero Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota, and Todd Cunningham in the #6 Mickey Thompson Tires/Traxxas Chevrolet. In the final few laps, Sisler was still pouring it on to try and get the lead, but Steele was unbeatable tonight, and after getting robbed of podium finishes several times this season, Steele made his first trip to the Pro Lite Unlimited box a good one as he grabbed his first win in the category, much to the delight of a throng of supporters who greeted him and cheered when he stepped onto the podium. While being interviewed, Steele admitted to the great difficulty he’d faced in losing his good friend Jeff “Ox” Kargola this spring, and how tough it’d been for him to return to racing- hopefully this is the start of better days for the man who is such a good friend to so many in our off-road family; congratulations, Cameron! Sisler picked up second place for the second time in as many nights, with Cook snagging the final podium spot after just managing to pass Stephensen, who suffered a complete failure, and subsequent destruction, of his right front suspension on the last lap. Stephensen did pick up fourth, and Cunningham rounded out the top five.

Super Lite
The penultimate race of the night was the Super Lite contest, and it was Chad George in the #42 Yokohama/Bull Outdoor Products machine who rocketed into the lead from the get-go. George was quickly opening a gap over the field by the end of lap one, leaving Patrick Clark, Austin Kimbrell, Jacob Person, and Dawson Kirchner to battle it out for the “best of the rest.” These five all stayed in order clear through the competition yellow, until finally, on the restart lap, Kirchner changed the order by moving up to fourth in his #16 Torchmate/Speed Technologies truck. Two laps later, Person then spun entering turn three, dropping him back to ninth, and moving Jessie Johnson to fifth in the #15 Lowe’s/A.M. Ortega entry. The order went unchanged for a couple more laps, but on the final lap, Kirchner again moved forward, picking off Kimbrell to grab the final spot on the podium. At race’s end, it was George who was simply un-catchable at the head of the field, as he led wire-to-wire for his first win of the season in this class. Second went to Clark and his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels machine for the second night in a row, with Kirchner rounding out the top three. Fourth went to an ever-improving Kimbrell in the #88 Xtreme Machine and Fabrication/Fiberwerx truck, and fifth went to Johnson.

Pro 2 Unlimited
The final race of the weekend was Pro 2 Unlimited. Starting from pole, Rodrigo Ampudia and his #36 Lucas Oil/Tecate Ford were leading the field after the first lap, followed by Robby Woods in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, Brian Deegan in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, and Greg Adler in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/BFGoodrich Tires Ford. On lap two, Rob MacCachren got by Adler to move into fifth in his #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, and on the following lap, Woods was slow coming out of turn two, which cost him three spots to Deegan, Renezeder, and MacCachren. Renezeder slowed just long enough to lose two spots coming into turn five on lap four, then dropped back to sixth after nearly spinning between turns one and two on lap seven. Adler re-took fifth spot here, while up front, Ampudia was holding off a very hard-charging Deegan to keep the lead. Renezeder managed to get back by Adler with a nice inside pass at turn four on lap nine, and at the competition yellow, the order was Ampudia, Deegan, MacCachren, Woods, and Renezeder in the top five. On the restart lap, MacCachren got by Deegan for second going into and out of turn three, then used his telltale inside line tactic to get by Ampudia in turn two on the next lap. MacCachren now led, and looked to be headed for a sweep of the weekend, but on lap 14, a strange rear end kick coming into turn four sent him end for end, very uncharacteristic for a driver who this reporter had never seen crash until tonight. Heads up driving kept Ampudia from getting caught up in the crash, and he re-took the lead as a full course caution came out. MacCachren was ok and he was able to continue, but substantial front end damage meant that his pace was nowhere near what it was. On the restart lap, Deegan, who’d looked like he had a steering issue while rolling around under yellow, now grabbed the lead after muscling by Ampudia through turns three and four. All of the top five drivers came into those turns hot, with Adler coming away well to move into third, ahead of Renezeder and Woods. Unfortunately for Adler, he was then passed back by both those guys, and at the white flag, it was Deegan, Ampudia, Renezeder, Woods, and Adler up front. On the final lap, a much more aggressive Renezeder tried to get Ampudia going into turn three, but was pushed wide and into the outside barrier. Ampudia was somewhat caught out here, and Woods was the big benefactor, moving clear and into second. Up front, Deegan was flying, and some quick blips of the throttle as he crossed the line meant that he got the big win, his first in this class- way to go Brian! Second went to Woods, third to Ampudia, fourth to Renezeder, and fifth to Adler.

That wraps up the action from here at Glen Helen. Join us again when the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series heads back to Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ for Rounds 11 and 12, September 24-25. In the meantime, get all the latest news from our series by logging on towww.lucasoiloffroad.com.

About the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Nighttime off-road racing is back in southern California, as the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, makes its triumphant return to the legendary Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. This is the home of off-road racing, and the once-a-year excitement of a packed house enjoying the balmy summer night and the hot action on the track make this race a fan favorite. With expectations high, the drivers didn’t disappoint, as they put on a performance that will keep those who played witness talking for a week. In case you missed it, read on to find out what so many got to enjoy.

Junior 2 Kart
With the sun already dropping nicely behind the mountains to the west, it was the young drivers of Junior 2 Kart who came out on track first. Brock Heger and Myles Cheek started up front, with Heger leading Cheek, Chad Graham, Maxwell Ries, and Hailie Deegan after the first lap. A battle for the lead between Heger and Cheek quickly emerged, with Cheek taking over the top spot following a nice dive past Heger into turn four on the second lap. These two were soon pulling clear of the field, while just behind, a five-kart train was locked in a close race for third through seventh places. After several laps of nose-to-tail running, Preston Roben was finally able to make a move, jumping up to fifth in his #414 DCI Duggins Construction/Ultra Custom Boats truck. At the competition yellow, the running order up front was still Cheek in the #457 CMI/Streight Edje machine, Heger in the #411 Hoosier/Team Associated entry, Graham in the #410 MavTV/Hart and Huntington truck, Ries in the #474 McQueen Prototype Design/ProAm kart, and Roben in the top five. These drivers held their positions following the return to green, but a lap later, Ries suddenly slowed and pulled off, moving Roben to fourth and Deegan back to fifth in her #438 Metal Mulisha/4 Wheel Parts truck. A couple of laps later, Graham dropped down to eighth after spinning out in the whoops, moving Deegan to fourth and Paige Porter to fifth in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage Boats entry. From there on in, the running order in the top five went unchanged, and it was Cheek who got the win, his fourth of the season. Heger finished second, with Roben rounding out the podium in third, Deegan fourth, and Porter fifth.

Junior 1 Kart
Next up were the youngest drivers, those of Junior 1 Kart. Broc Dickerson took full advantage of his pole starting position to move straight into the lead in his #223 Dickerson Motorsports/KarTek truck, ahead of Wolfgang Ries, Darren Hardesty, Dean Duro, and Eliott Watson. On lap two, Hardesty rolled upon entering the whoops section, and with nowhere to go, Watson ran right into Hardesty’s wreck. A red flag was then thrown following a wreck that caught out Tyler Stephensen and others, and though Stephensen was out of the race, he did seem to be ok, and racing soon resumed. The running order was now Dickerson, Ries, Duro, Cole Dexheimer, and Dylan Winbury in the top five, and these five held their positions on the restart lap. However, another rollover on that lap forced another full course caution, and on the ensuing restart, Duro’s machine slowed, forcing him to the sidelines. This moved Travis PeCoy to second, Dexheimer to third, Corey Geiser to fourth, and Bryce McDaniel to fifth, and from there on in, the top five went unchanged. Dickerson kept his nose clean to get the win, with PeCoy second in the #211 K&N/Racer X Motorsports kart, Dexheimer third in the #226 KarTek/King Off Road Racing Shocks machine, Geiser fourth in the #245 CANIDAE/BulletProofDiesel.com entry, and McDaniel fifth in the #225 Metal Mulisha/RSC Equipment Rental truck.

UTV
The action now moved to the full-length track as the UTVs emerged on track. With both the SR1 and Unlimited UTV classes again running together, it looked like it would be a great race between the two classes, as each had a representative starting from row one. Ryan Beat’s #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino SR1 grabbed the lead over RJ Anderson’s Unlimited, with Corry Weller and Code Rahders also slotting in ahead of Anderson, while Dan Kelly was just behind in fifth. Kelly moved past Anderson on lap two, and shortly afterwards, a left front suspension failure on Weller’s machine forced her to the sidelines. Rahders had nowhere to go when Weller broke, and he got hooked his UTV hooked onto Weller for long enough to drop him all the way down to last place. This all meant that while Beat still led, it was now Kelly in second, Anderson third, Doug Mittag fourth, and John Dempsey fifth. On the restart lap, Mittag was forced to pull off with a mechanical issue, moving Rahders to fourth, with Dempsey still fifth. Rahders then picked up another spot as he took over third, and from there on in, the top five spots remained unchanged. Standing on the podium, Beat said that he’d lost the motor on the final lap and was forced to “putt” to the finish line, but he was still good enough to grab the SR1 and overall wins. Second in SR1 and overall was Kelly in the #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Yamaha, ahead of Rahders in the #816 K&N/Black Rhino Yamaha, who was third overall and third in SR1. Anderson got the Unlimited UTV win in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/South Point Polaris, finishing ahead of the #694 Deviate Films/Magnum Off Road Kawasaki of Tyler Winbury, and the #664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki of Robert Vanbeekum.

Limited Buggy
A massive swarming beehive of a Limited Buggy field rolled out next, and was about to put on a great show as the day faded into night. Dave Mason grabbed the early lead in his #365 B&R Buggie/SR Performance AlumiCraft, with Curt Geer, Zac Hunt, Quentin Tucker, and Bradley Morris in hot pursuit. A brief full-course caution was thrown to allow crews to pull Kyle Lucas’ car off a barricade, and after the restart, Mason and Geer were still running first and second, with Sean Kennedy now third, Hunt fourth, and Geoffrey Cooley fifth. As a whole host of drivers jockeyed and crashed back and forth in a battle for third, Mason and Geer moved clear of the carnage in a close race for the lead. Following another full-course caution, this one for a rollover by Jeff Richards, the restart lap helped Tucker to move into third, with Hunt still fourth, and Bruce Fraley now fifth, as Mason and Geer still headed the field. The top two continued to battle, and after getting alongside Mason but failing to grab the lead, Geer made his move stick on the following lap, grabbing the lead after the briefest of contact coming out of turn two. Behind them, Hunt was now up to third in the #334 Speed Energy/BDI Bowden Development, Inc. AlumiCraft, while Fraley’s evening took a turn south as he rolled in turn two. Fraley’s misfortune moved Geoffrey Cooley up to fifth, and at the competition yellow, it was Geer in the #385 Green Army/Gatorwraps.com Lothringer, Mason, Hunt, Tucker in the #377 General Tire/Fox Racing Shox buggy, and Cooley in the #322 Competitive Metals/Fat Performance AlumiCraft running in the top five. On the restart lap, Mason dropped several spots after going wide in turn two, with Hunt also falling back after he and Tucker got together between turns four and five, which sent Hunt off the track. Tucker didn’t get away without incident, either, as he looked to have a flattening left rear tire. Tucker did well to keep driving despite his malady, and managed to maintain his second place, while up ahead, Geer was free to fly to the victory, his third of the year. Tucker took second, with Mason third, Lindsay Geiser a very impressive fourth in the #395 CANIDAE/Geiser Bros Design and Development Geiser, and Morris fifth in the #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft.

Modified Kart
Following a rousing edition of Opening Ceremonies, the future stars of short course off-road racing came out on track. In a first-time, very unique event, the Modified Karts took center stage in front of a packed house, with the entire field getting full driver introductions- they must have felt like rock stars! On the front row, it was defending champion Mitchell DeJong starting next to Modified Kart and Limited Buggy driver Bradley Morris, and it was the #1 Traxxas/Red Bull machine of DeJong who took the lead from the drop of the green flag. Slotting in behind DeJong was Mitch Guthrie Jr. in the #555 KarTek/Walker Evans Racing truck, Jerett Brooks in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Maxima Racing Oils entry, Morris in the #504 K&N/Kicker kart, and Kyle Hart in the #523 GearUp2Go.com/ Duncan Racing machine. Showing great maturity well beyond their years, all the top drivers held their spots despite maintaining a tremendous pace, and at the competition yellow, the running order in the top five was still the same. On the restart, a rollover forced a full course caution, and when the field took green again, Myles Cheek finally cracked into the top five by moving up to fifth in the #557 CMI/Lucas Oil kart. With a few drivers stopped on track, another full course caution was thrown, giving the track workers a chance to un-hook two drivers whose trucks were stuck together. Once the track was cleared, a green-white-checkers finish was called for, and for DeJong, there would be no option except victory. DeJong streaked away from those behind to open a comfortable cushion, and held off a hungry field through the checkers to pick up his fourth win of the season. Second went to Guthrie Jr., with Brooks taking third after holding off a hard-charging Morris in the final corner. Morris finished in fourth, and rounding out the top five was Cheek.

Pro 4 Unlimited
With all the stadium lights now shining bright, the monsters of Pro 4 Unlimited thundered out on track. After a six-position inversion of the qualifying results, it was Curt LeDuc and Greg Adler, filling in for the injured Travis Coyne, who started up front. Adler’s first foray into Pro 4 Unlimited started as well as it could have, as he took the early lead in his #5 ProComp/Lucas Oil Ford, ahead of Curt LeDuc in the #43 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Adrian Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/Maxxis truck, Rick Huseman in the #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota, and Todd LeDuc in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford. On lap four, Kyle LeDuc out-drove his brother Todd into turn three, moving up to fifth in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. Ahead of them, Huseman also picked up a spot to take over third from Cenni. On the following lap, Huseman picked off Curt LeDuc to take over second, and on the lap after that, he easily out-charged Adler through the rhythm section, nosing ahead and into the lead into turn three. As Huseman began to quickly pull open a gap over the competition, Curt LeDuc’s truck suddenly slowed near the start/finish line, which caught out Cenni who rear-ended him before managing to get by. This allowed Kyle LeDuc to move into third, with Cenni now fourth and Todd LeDuc fifth. Huseman continued to pull away from those behind, and had a good gap over second-placed Adler by the competition yellow. With the UTI Toyota pace truck picking up the field, Kyle LeDuc drove by and into the hot pits to fix a flat tire, dropping him to the back of the pack. At the restart, it was Huseman, Adler, Cenni, Todd LeDuc, and Carl Renezeder in the top five, with Adler getting shoved wide at turn two, dropping him back to fifth. Huseman still held the lead, with a fierce battle for second going on just behind between Cenni and Renezeder. As Renezeder tried every move in his repertoire to get past Cenni, Huseman’s lead suddenly looked tenuous, as wisps of smoke began shooting intermittently from the back of his truck. Cenni and Renezeder seemed to smell blood, and started to close the gap on the leader as the smoke began to come out in bigger puffs. Huseman kept his cool, though, and as the smoke output began to level off, his lead evened out as well. Behind him, Renezeder was still trying his best to grab second place, and on the final lap, he made a great outside-inside pass on Cenni through turn three to grab the spot, much to the delight of a packed house. Up ahead, Huseman got back to his winning ways after a very unusual (for him) four-race winless streak, as he picked up his fifth of the season. Renezeder came home second to keep a good lead in the points, with Cenni taking third, Todd LeDuc fourth, and Adler a fine fifth.

Pro Buggy Unlimited
The Pro Buggy Unlimited race was certainly a case of “it isn’t over ’til it’s over.” Cody Freeman put his pole starting position to good use as he grabbed the early lead in his #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Wik’s Racing Engines Racer, with Justin Davis, Steven Greinke, Justin “Bean” Smith, and Jerry Whelchel in tow. In the early going, Smith tried to get by Greinke for third, and in the process, drove over Greinke’s right side tires, which sent Greinke to the hot pits for the rest of the race. Shortly after that, Smith got by Davis going into turn three, but the two got together and Smith spun, which drew a black flag penalty for Davis. The order up front was now Freeman, Whelchel in the #5 Select Glass/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill, Doug Fortin in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./McGrath Fiberglass Racer, Smith in the #19 Competitive Metals/Metal Mulisha AlumiCraft, and Brandon Bailey in the #17 Stronghold Motorsports/Yokohama Tires AlumiCraft as the competition yellow came out. On the restart, a massive rollover by Eddie Tafoya forced a red flag of the race; Tafoya was ok, and his car was quickly moved to the infield, allowing racing to resume. The running order was still Freeman, Whelchel, Fortin, Smith, and Bailey, with Fortin then losing a spot to Smith after he went wide into turn three, leaving the door wide open for Smith to get by. Behind them, Bailey went into the hot pits, promoting Mike Porter to fifth in the #8 Redline Performance/Mickey Thompson AlumiCraft. The top four drivers were now running nose-to-tail, and some kind of incident seemed eminent. Just ahead of the white flag, that incident happened, as Whelchel, Smith, and Fortin piled up in turn four. Porter sped by and into second, with Fortin throwing it in reverse to get un-stuck and slot into third; Whelchel and Smith were less fortunate, losing several spots before finally getting moving again. Up ahead, Freeman drove a flawless race to lead wire to wire and pick up the win for the second consecutive race. Porter’s second place should move him into the lead in this class’ incredibly close points chase, while Fortin should now sit in second after finishing third. Fourth went to Malcolm Pointon, and rounding out the top five was Smith.

Pro Lite Unlimited
The Pro Lite Unlimiteds came out next, and it was Corey Sisler who turned his pole starting position into an early lead in his #19 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels Ford. Behind Sisler came Brian Deegan in the #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, Ryan Beat in the #51 Black Rhino/Fiberwerx Ford, Cameron Steele in the #16 Monster Energy/Stronghold Motorsports Ford, and Chris Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/Oakley Toyota. Beat’s truck suddenly slowed, dropping him out of the top five, and moving Steele to third, Kyle LeDuc to fourth in the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford, while Brandt remained fifth. Up front, Deegan was looking fast, and soon found his way by Sisler, driving right around him on the outside of turn three to grab the lead. Behind this, a series of mistakes by LeDuc meant that both Brandt and Rodrigo Ampudia were able to get by, picking up spots four and five. Steele was also on the move, picking off Sisler after a spin in turn four to move into second position. Ampudia was right behind Steele now, slotting into third in his #36 Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford, and by the competition yellow, Brandt had also gotten around Sisler for fourth. The running order was Deegan, Steele, Ampudia, Brandt, and Sisler as the field returned to green, but as they raced into turn two on the restart, Steele and Ampudia got together, with Steele going around and dropping several spots. Ampudia drew a black flag for his part in the incident, and the top five was now made up of Deegan, Sisler, Brandt, Steele, and LeDuc. From there on in, these drivers all held their places, and it was Deegan who went un-touched throughout the race to pick up his fifth win of the year. Sisler had a career-best finish of second, with Brandt rounding out the podium to maintain his record of finishing no worse than third in any race this season. Fourth went to Steele, with LeDuc finishing behind him in fifth.

Super Lite
Super Lite drew a massive field of 17 trucks to the start line tonight, and the race was made all the more exciting by the addition of AMA superstars Grant Langston and Ricky Dietrich, who both made their debut drives in Lucas Oil Off Road. On the opening lap, Dawson Kirchner came from row two on the starting grid to take the early lead in his #16 Torchmate/Speed Technologies truck, with Austin Kimbrell, Wyatt Kirchner, RJ Anderson, and Brent Fouch all in tow. The field was still bunched tightly as they roared into lap two, where Anderson suffered a big rollover into turn two, which forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the race and brought out a full course caution. Fouch also hit trouble, as his left front suspension gave out on him, ending his run. This moved Chad George to fourth in the #42 Yokohama/Kawasaki entry, with Jacob Person now fifth in the #92 Source Refrigeration and HVAC, Inc./Geiser Bros machine. Once the track was cleared and racing resumed, it was Patrick Clark who moved up in his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels truck, taking over fifth on lap five. A second full course caution followed shortly afterwards, this time to clear rollovers by Wyatt Kirchner and Langston. The running order was Dawson Kirchner, Kimbrell, George, Clark, and Ryan Hagy in the #0X General Tire/Metal Mulisha entry as the green waved again. On the restart lap, George got into Kimbrell in turn four, causing both drivers to spin, and letting Ron Duncombe, Person, and Dietrich through for third, fourth, and fifth. Duncombe then rolled in turn two, just ahead of the competition yellow, where the running order was Dawson Kirchner, Clark, Person, Dietrich in the #39 Rockstar/General Tire machine, and Hagy in the top five. These guys all held position on the restart, but a couple of laps later, Hagy was up to fourth after getting by Dietrich. On the next lap, George moved past both Dietrich and Hagy to grab fourth spot, and with one lap to go, was trying to hunt down Person for the final spot on the podium. George was successful in that quest, as he got around Person on the final lap to take third. Up ahead, Kirchner drove a masterful race, leading wire-to-wire for his second win of the season, with Clark taking second, George third, Person fourth, and Kimbrell fifth in the #88 Fiberwerx/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication truck.   

Pro 2 Unlimited
The final race of the night was the highly-anticipated Pro 2 Unlimited fracas. Brian Deegan started on pole after a six-position inversion of the qualifying results, and rocketed into the early lead in his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford. Rob Naughton ran second in the #54 ReadyLift/Stronghold Motorsports Ford, with Robby Woods third in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/SuperChips Chevrolet, Rob MacCachren fourth in the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, and Jeremy McGrath fifth in the #2 Monster Energy/ReadyLift Ford. Woods was really looking quick in the early going, and got by Naughton on the inside at turn three to grab second on lap three. Three laps later, Greg Adler moved his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford up to fifth, while at the head of the field, Deegan was starting to pull away, with Woods being the only driver who could hang with the leader’s pace. Deegan seemed to have control of the race, but as the field approached the halfway point, Woods suddenly drove deep into turn five to get by Deegan on the inside, grabbing the lead just ahead of the competition yellow. The running order was now Woods, Deegan, MacCachren, Naughton, and Adler, and a pile-up in turn two forced a red flag of the race just after the restart. Everyone was ok and the track was quickly cleared, with green flag racing quickly resuming. Carl Renezeder moved up to fifth in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, while up front, Deegan re-took the lead from Woods in turn four. Woods wasn’t having any of it, though, and got right back by in the next corner, with Deegan then dropping back two spots to fourth. Woods now led MacCachren, Naughton, Deegan, and Renezeder in the top five, and it was now MacCachren who was providing some real heat for Woods. MacCachren pulled alongside Woods on the front straight, setting himself up for the inside line into turn one and on into turn two, which he used perfectly to blow by Woods and into the lead. Behind all this, Rodrigo Ampudia had moved up to fifth in the #36 Lucas Oil/BFGoodrich Tires Ford, while Deegan had gotten by Naughton for third after jumping past him into turn five. Naughton grabbed the position right back, but then spun at turn two, dropping him to fifth. Up front, MacCachren was setting a blistering pace, and moved out to a comfortable margin over those behind on his way to his third win of the year. Woods finished second, with Deegan taking third, Ampudia fourth, and McGrath fifth.

That wraps up the evening’s events from here at Glen Helen. Be sure to join us again tomorrow, as we return for Round 10 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, with racing action going on under the lights for the last time this season. Gates open to the public at 3:00 pm, and racing starts at 4:30, so don’t miss it! You can also listen to a live broadcast of the action thanks to our friends at race-dezert.com; check out their website for all the details. Finally, don’t forget to check outlucasoiloffroad.com for all the latest information on all things Lucas Oil Off Road.

About the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: 
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

After a highly successful couple of rounds at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by Geico Powersports, now makes its triumphant return to the lights of Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA. Racing here is always a big hit with local fans, as this is the heart of the sport beats strong and proud here in so-cal. Qualifying position is all-important at this track, something all drivers had in the back of their minds in today’s qualifying sessions. The drivers took to the track here on a beautiful, sunny summer afternoon, and in case you couldn’t be here, read on to find out what you missed.

Pro 4 Unlimited
After what he might have deemed a “disastrous” weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, Rick Huseman came charging back with a vengeance in qualifying here at Glen Helen this afternoon. The Pro 4 Unlimited qualifying session was all about the local Riverside native, who led the field from the first lap with a 44.800 in his #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota. Huseman followed up his opening lap with a 44.662 on lap three, a 44.624 on lap five, and a 44.507 to take the pole on lap six. The only driver close to Huseman was new points leader Carl Renezeder, whose best lap of 44.638 was good enough for second in his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford. Third went to Todd LeDuc with a 45.374  in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Greg Adler (driving for an injured Travis Coyne) taking fourth in the #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford with a 45.956. Rounding out the top five was Curt LeDuc in the #43 Rockstar/Makita Ford; his best time was a 46.029.

Pro Buggy Unlimited
Pro Buggy Unlimited was the second class to take to the track today, and it was Round 8 winner Cody Freeman who grabbed the top spot early in his #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman’s Carpet Service Racer, setting the time to beat at 49.520. Freeman’s time held up for two laps, but it was then Justin Davis, back in action after missing the two rounds in Utah, who stole the top spot away with a 49.353 on lap three in his #85 Green Army/CBR Performance Products Racer. Davis was then pipped on the following lap by Steven Greinke in the #23 SC Fuels/BFGoodrich Tires Racer, whose time of 48.668 would hold up for the balance of the session to give him pole position. Doug Fortin took second with a 49.119 in his #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Fox Racing Shox Racer, while Freeman bettered his earlier time to take third with a 49.314. Davis’ early time turned out to be his best as he wound up fourth, and fifth went to Jerry Whelchel with a 49.404.

Pro Lite Unlimited
Pro Lite Unlimited qualifying was certainly the most eventful session of the afternoon, with Rodrigo Ampudia falling victim to a lost front wheel, and Stephan Papadakis taking a nasty tumble that will certainly keep his crew busy tonight and tomorrow (Papadakis was ok). At the head of the field, Cameron Steele had the field covered after lap one in his #16 Stronghold Motorsports/Monster Energy Ford, setting the benchmark at 49.228. After a couple of slow laps that followed Ampudia’s and Papadakis’ incidents, Kyle LeDuc just edged ahead of Steele by seven thousandths of a second to move to the head of the field in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. The lap  at the X Games, Deegan put in a blistering 48.073 to trounce the field by nearly eight tenths of a second- no small feat on this short, fast track. Second went to Steele, who improved to a 48.831, while third went to Chris Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota, who at 48.834, was just three thousandths of a second out of second place! LeDuc wasn’t far behind either after improving to a 48.866 to take fourth, and Ryan Beat, back in action in this class after racing only his UTV in Utah, took a fine fifth place with a 49.419 in the #51 Black Rhino/Fiberwerx Ford.

Super Lite
The battle for pole in Super Lite was, for the most part between Jessie Johnson and Dawson Kirchner this afternoon. Kirchner drew first blood with a 53.549 in his #16 Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems/General Tire machine, but was quickly surpassed by Johnson, who turned a 53.349 on the next lap in the #15 Lowe’s/MasterCraft Safety entry. Kirchner re-took the top spot on the following  lap with a 52.520, but was again answered by a 51.966 from Johnson on the very next lap. Johnson’s time went un-answered for the remaining laps, and he ended up the pole sitter, with Patrick Clark sneaking in a 52.126 in the #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels machine to nab second. Kirchner’s lap three time was good enough for third, with Austin Kimbrell finishing fourth at a 52.591 in his #88 Kimbrell Racing truck, and Kirchner’s younger brother Wyatt taking fifth at a 52.670 in his #26 Bull Outdoor Products, Inc./Speed Racing entry.

Pro 2 Unlimited
In perhaps the most fiercely-contested class of this series, Pro 2 Unlimited is one class where starting up front will almost certainly play a pivotal role in the outcome of any driver’s race, and that’s something that every driver in this field knows. Jeremy McGrath turned his best lap on the opening lap in his #2 Monster Energy/ReadyLift Ford, topping the field with a 46.361. Lap two saw Greg Adler, picking up right where he left off here at Glen Helen back in May, move to the front with a 46.088 in his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Speed Energy Ford. Adler’s time held up for a couple of laps, until Rob MacCachren came along and upped the ante to 45.961 in his #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford. MacCachren looked to have the field covered, but Adler wasn’t going to lie down easily, and edged back ahead on lap six with a 45.916, a time that would hold up for the rest of the session to give him the pole. MacCachren’s time was still quick enough for second, while Robby Woods moved up to third with a 46.166 in his #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet. McGrath’s early time netted him fourth place, and rounding out the top five was Rob Naughton, with a time of 46.409 in his #54 ReadyLift/Stronghold Motorsports Ford.

Limited Buggy
Following some vital track repair (Pro 2 Unlimiteds always leave their marks), a host of Limited Buggies took to the track, and it was John Fitzgerald who had the fastest first lap. A 53.059 meant that Fitzgerald was atop the time sheets early in his #314 Aero Motorsports/Wik’s Racing Engines buggy, but after a couple of laps , was bested by a 52.366 from Geoffrey Cooley in the #322 Competitive Metals/MasterCraft Safety AlumiCraft. Cooley’s lap held up through lap five, when Bradley Morris’ 51.817 moved him into the lead, where he would remain at the session’s end in his #304 Lucas Oil/K&N Filters AlumiCraft. Cooley improved to a 51.922, which kept him in second, ahead of Curt Geer, who took third with a 52.418 in his #385 Vleet/Lakeshore Homes and Stables Lothringer. Quentin Tucker came home fourth with a 52.499 in his #377 General Tire/USA Wheel buggy, and fifth went to Dave Mason, whose best lap was a 52.575 in the #365 BFGoodrich Tires/B&R Buggie AlumiCraft.

UTV
The final “big track” qualifying session of the day was that of the UTVs, with both the Unlimited and SR1 classes running together once again. RJ Anderson topped the combined field after the first lap, turning a 51.905 in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/HolzRacingProducts.com Polaris Unlimited UTV. For three laps, Anderson’s time went unbeaten, and would wind up only being bested by a single SR1. On lap four, Ryan Beat made his new #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino SR1 really move, and he grabbed the SR1 and overall poles with a 51.433. Anderson’s time netted him the Unlimited UTV pole and second place overall, with Corry Weller taking second in SR1, third overall with a  52.072 in her #810 Weller Racing/Tilted Kilt Yamaha. Third in SR1, fourth overall was Code Rahders in the #816 SuperChips/Frostyburger Yamaha; his best lap was a 52.658. Tyler Winbury took second in Unlimited UTV in his #694 Wagon Burners/UTVUnderground.com Kawasaki, turning a best lap of 52.917, and rounding out the Unlimited UTV podium was Chad George, whose best lap was a 54.025 in the #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki.

As the sun sets over Glen Helen, we now turn our attention to the nighttime action that is still to come tomorrow night and Sunday night. Racing for Rounds 9 and 10 will be under the lights here in southern California, and you won’t want to miss out. Both Lucas Oil Off Road race weekends that have been held here at Glen Helen so far have been sellouts, so get here early to get a good seat! Gates open to the public at 3:00 pm, and racing starts at 5:00 pm- don’t be late…

About the  Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing  support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped  in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West  Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to  door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing  Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Rounds 10 and 11 of the 2011 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series are coming up quick. This weekend’s event, the Canidae Off Road Nationals, Presented by Rockstar Energy, will be held Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, where the racers will get to deal with one track condition they haven’t had to deal with all year – the races will be held at night, under the lights.

This one variable has the power to change the racing conditions tremendously. One obvious variable is that the lighting will be different, which means shadows and the like will become an issue for the racers, but another less-obvious variable will come from moisture. When the sun goes down, temperatures drop, and many times this leads to moisture coming back to the surface of the track, which can put a much higher importance than usual on tire choice and track position.

With these new variables, defending Pro 4 champ Rick Huseman must be hoping he can try and steal some momentum from current points leader Carl Renezeder. Huseman had won the first four events of the 2011 season before Renezeder caught fire, and now Renezeder – at one point, a full 20 points behind defending champ Huseman in the title chase – leads the points by 18 over Huseman. And both of them have their hands full of late with Kyle Leduc, who has won two of the last three Pro 4 main events.

In Pro 2, it’s an even closer affair, with X Games Rallycross Champ Brian Deegan trailing Renezeder by only three points due primarily to his consistency. Deegan has a reputation for being a wild one, but he has been the most consistent driver on the track in Pro 2 this year so far. However, winner at round two, Robert Naughton, has recently caught fire again himself, winning the last two main events, so he’s someone who should make his presence felt under the lights at Glen Helen.

Despite his consistency in Pro 2, Deegan has suffered a bit in Pro Lite Unlimited. He has won half of the main events this year, but in the other four he has recorded two DNFs. This puts him 26 points behind Chris Brandt for this year’s title, and Deegan has stated multiple times that he wants to win this championship before moving up to Pro 2 full-time. Brandt will have something to say about that, though.

The championship looks similar right now in SuperLite, with RJ Anderson still leading the charge. He has been on the podium in every race this year except for one, which was a DNF, and he leads by 24 points over Patrick Clark. And at Glen Helen, they’ll all have to deal with motocross stars Nick Wey and Ricky Dietrich as well as the usual deep field of strong competitors.

And finally comes Pro Buggy Unlimited, with the tightest championship chase of the bunch this year. At the moment, Steven Greinke is leading the charge, but he only holds two points over Mike Porter, and then another two over Doug Fortin in third. And even more impressively, fourth and fifth in points – Jerry Whelchel and Justin Smith – are only eight and 14 points out of the championship lead, respectively. And all five of these men have won at least one race this year. It’s anyone’s game at Glen Helen.

Make sure you come out and check out the action at Glen Helen this weekend, and don’t worry about the heat, because with all of the action taking place at night, the heat should be confined mostly to the racetrack.

About the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com