The Monster Energy Off-Road Team assembled talent from around the globe to Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix for Round 15 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) season. Veteran short course racer Johnny Greaves made the long drive from Wisconsin while X Games Rally Car Gold medalist and international rallycross star Liam Doran flew in from England and jumped right in to the fastest class in the series; the 4WD, 800 horsepower Pro4 Unlimited category.  Greaves and Doran joined their Monster Energy Teammates, including Jeremy McGrath, Casey Currie, and Cameron Steele, for final and best round of the season. When it was all said and done, the Monster Energy Off-Road Team walked away from the 2011 LOORS season with with a staggering 16 podiums, including 8 first place trophies!

Directed by The Martelli Brothers – Produced by Mad Media

The Monster Energy Off-Road Team assembled talent from around the globe to Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix for Round 15 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) season. Veteran short course racer Johnny Greaves made the long drive from Wisconsin while X Games Rally Car Gold medalist and international rallycross star Liam Doran flew in from England and jumped right in to the fastest class in the series; the 4WD, 800 horsepower Pro4 Unlimited category.  Greaves and Doran joined their Monster Energy Teammates, including Jeremy McGrath, Casey Currie, and Cameron Steele, for final and best round of the season. When it was all said and done, the Monster Energy Off-Road Team walked away from the 2011 LOORS season with a staggering 16 podiums, including 8 first place trophies!

Directed by The Martelli Brothers – Produced by Mad Media

The Monster Energy Off-Road team battled the field and weather to come away with a single podium. Weather is always a factor in Crandon and Sundays racing would not be immune to mother natures wrath.

Song Info: Be Careful What You Wish For [INSTRUMENTAL] By Memphis May Fire
Available on Bullet Tooth Records

Directed by The Martelli Brothers. Produced by Mad Media.

The Monster Energy Off-Road team battled the field and weather to come away with a single podium. Weather is always a factor in Crandon and Sundays racing would not be immune to mother natures wrath. Rain soaked the track overnight and into the first half of the day turning the Pro-2  race into a “Who can survive the mud?” race. Marty Hart got a good start slipping by (literally) the competition moving up to third place. But the combination of running a manual transmission and the unpredictable track conditions took him out of the race. Hart slid into a giant mud bank in the back section of the racecourse and was stuck until a support vehicle could pull him out of the three and a half foot bank of mud. “That was crazy! I was just trying to get around the track. I couldn’t control the truck at all. Racing in conditions like this sucks because we don’t really get to race, we just have to survive.” Stated Hart.

Johnny Greaves had a rough start in Pro-4 getting caught in traffic into turn one. Undeterred Greaves stayed focused and fought his way up to 2^nd through the traffic, rain and super muddy track conditions. As Greaves began to stalk down the race leader Adrian Cenni he got a right rear flat causing him to go into the hot pits for a spare. Greaves returned to the race to get the finish putting him in the points lead for the championship as the weekend concluded.

Casey Currie and CJ Greaves both went out swinging in Pro-lite and managed to get through turn one in the front pack. Currie fought his way up to 3rd before he succumbed to a wheel/tire failure due to the combination of giant holes and embedded rocks. After getting a spare Currie returned to the race to get a finish. CJ also had a tire failure late in the race and was unable to return to the race in time.

CJ also racked up a first place finish in Pro-buggies earlier in the day besting a stacked field of experienced competitors. At just 16 years old, he undoubtedly has a bright future in off-road racing.

The Cup race is a spectacle to behold! The race puts pro-2’s and pro-4’s against each other in war to see who can get to the finish first. The pro-2’s are started first in an effort to even out the competition between the two classes. The Pro-2’s rarely win. The Pro-4’s rocketed off the line as Johnny Greaves managed to get into the front pack. After some heated battling Greaves got in a tangle in the back section with a group of pro-4’s, but managed to get through by driving over Kyle Leduc’s front hood. Greaves managed to get to third place before the checkered flag. “We got tangled up behind Kyle and I knew after that it was going to be hard to catch Chad Hord. I will take the podium, but I want that cup. I will be back for it next year! I hope the fans enjoyed the racing. I am glad they stayed and braved the weather. The fans at Crandon are the best off-road fans in the world!” stated the war torn Greaves.

Photos by Vincent Knakal of Mad Media

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Adrian Cenni wins his second-straight at Crandon
Bryce Menzies tops out in the PRO 2 class and Andrew Caddell remains perfect on the weekend in PRO Lights. Brian Deegan finds success with podium and Traxxas Maxx Cash!

By Pat Schutte   CRANDON, Wisc., (Sept. 3, 2011) – As heavy skies began to open up on the Crandon International Raceway faithful at round, the only thing brighter that the fast-approaching glowing red and yellow blobs on the Doppler was Adrian Cenni’s (Atrium Payroll/Maxxis/Mastercraft Safety) hunters orange Ford, which wrapped missile-like laps around the Crandon track, topping local favorite Johnny Greaves (Monster Energy/Toyota/Maxxis) and Ricky Johnson (Red Bull/KMC Wheels/Mopar/Ram) in a mad dash for the checkers before the storm hit.   With Greaves leading the race and running strong, the competition yellow flew and regrouped Cenni (2nd) and Johnson, along with Kyle Leduc (Rockstar/Makita/Toyo). The four off-road greats left the rest of the pack in a competition train, only to have Cenni bring the massive crowd to their feet when he returned from the far reaches of the expansive Crandon track – out front of Greaves and putting time on the Wisconsin native.   “I some weird way I liked chasing him (Cenni),” said Greaves. “And I’m kinda proud of him.”   Cenni, who scored his first career TORC PRO 4 win at Crandon on Friday, was again pumped with his team’s effort on Saturday at the legendary short course off-road track: “We had some contact and I did my best to get around (Greaves) clean … my team did such a great job today. I’m really, really proud of them.”   Racing back to the checkers Johnson was right on Greaves, but not in a position to pass – so he held onto 3rd. Fourth place went to Leduc while Mark Jenkins (Traxxas/BFG/AMSOIL) and Steve Barlow (Maxxis/Ebay Motors/Metal Mulisha) came together right at the finish line, bringing a thundering close to TORC’s Saturday at Crandon.   PRO 4     1 11 ADRIAN CENNI 9 0 01:23.7 01:20.2 7 2 22 JOHNNY GREAVES 9 0 01:23.2 01:20.9 7 3 48 RICKY JOHNSON 9 0 01:22.5 01:21.3 3 4 99 KYLE LEDUC 9 0 01:26.3 01:21.4 3 5 83 STEVE BARLOW 9 0 01:27.0 01:23.6 2 6 25 MARK JENKINS 9 0 01:25.8 01:22.9 8 7 47 MIKE JENKINS 9 0 01:30.2 01:23.5 2 8 7 SCOTT DOUGLAS 9 0 01:30.3 01:23.2 1 9 69 MILAN MAZANEC 9 0 01:38.2 01:31.7 5 10 6 CASE GUNDERSON 1 0 01:24.9 01:24.9 1 11 4 TODD LEDUC 7 0 01:33.6 01:24.5 2 12 43 CURT LEDUC 8 0 01:31.2 01:23.6 6     PRO 2 Having already taken the overall Traxxas TORC Series PRO 2 class season points lead from his mentor, Rob MacCachren (Traxxas/Mopar/AMSOIL) on Friday at Crandon, Bryce Menzies (Red Bull/KMC Wheels/Mopar/Ram) took advantage of an apparent Jeff Kincaid (Traxxas/Ford/BFG) mechanical malfunction late in the race and to record his 3rd win of the season with a hard-charging effort at the track where he holds the class fastest lap record.   “I can’t thank my team enough for setting this truck up – it ran as good today as it did earlier in the year at Crandon when we set the track record,” said Menzies. “Was hoping Jeff (Kincaid) and I could give the fans a great show with run to the end, but he ran into some trouble and that pretty much wrapped things up for us.”   For a time it looked like a rematch of the Menzies vs. Chad Hord (BOSS Snowplows/AMSOIL/Nissan) battle for 2nd place at Crandon on Friday was going to rematerialize, but Hord just didn’t have enough for the PRO 2 points leader as Menzies maintained a consistent 1.5 to 2-second lead on the Michigan local.   Benefitting the most from the mandatory restart was Marty Hart (Monster Energy/Maxxis/Toyota), who jumped up two spots to 4th. And just about as soon as Hart moved into 3rd, MacCachren, whose truck was limping to begin with, had a rear shock come flying off his truck which ended his day – and seriously dashed his 2011 TORC PRO 2 title hopes.   Kincaid, who had locked down the Oakley Bomb Award for the fastest PRO 2 lap, pulled off the track on the top of the right hand sweeper, obviously bummed that what looked to be in the bag in terms of a second-straight Crandon win was now done.   So with Menzies, Hord and Hart on the podium, the top five would be rounded out by Mike Oberg (AMSOIL/BFG/King Shocks) and Mikey Vanden Heuvel (Maxxis/ATD Trans/Boatec), who beat Scott Taylor (Miller Electric Welders) to the line for 5th in a great battle between those two that lasted the whole race.   PRO 2     Place No. Name 1 7 BRYCE MENZIES 2 9 CHAD HORD 3 15 MARTY HART 4 80 MIKE OBERG 5 77 MIKEY VANDEN HEUVEL 6 8 SCOTT TAYLOR 7 33 DOW WOERNER 8 4 JEFF KINCAID 9 21 ROB MACCACHREN 10 29 KEITH STEEL   PRO Light   For the second straight day Andrew Caddell (Traxxas/Mopar/AMSOIL/BFG) took charge of the TORC PRO Light class, pulling the holeshot, leading the race from green to checkers – and   But while the fans had one eye on Caddell, the other was trained intently (as was Caddell’s spotters’ eyes) on Brian Deegan (Rockstar/Metal Mulisha/Traxxas). The former supercross racers, X Games freestyle motocross star and, more recently, rally racer was on fire, getting past Samuel Hubinette (Traxxas/Mopar/AMSOIL/BFG) and Brad Lovell (AMSOIL/BFG/Torchmate) in his pursuit of the podium. Deegan would clock the Traxxas Maxx lap for the fastest PRO Light spin around the 1.5 mile Crandon track with a 1:27.113 in his pursuit of Caddell, but ran out of time. Lovell rounded out TORC PRO Light podium in 3rd.   Said Caddell: “I knew Deegan would be coming. Heard over the radio ‘He’s third and moving up,’ and I was like ‘OK, here we go.’   Added Deegan: “It’s cool to race in front of so many people.”   Noteworthy: Deegan was driving Caddell’s 2010 truck that holds the TORC PRO Light track record at Crandon.   Rounding out the top five in the PRO Light class on Saturday were Shawn Morris (Maxxis/Chevy) and defending TORC Series PRO Light champ Casey Currie (Monster Energy/General Tire/Nissan) in 4thand 5th, respectively.   PRO Light     Place No. Name 1 43 ANDREW CADDELL 2 38 BRIAN DEEGAN 3 44 BRAD LOVELL 4 27 SHAUN MORRIS 5 1 CASEY CURRIE 6 11 RANDY ELLER 7 77 SAM HUBINETTE 8 37 RJ ANDERSON 9 17 MITCH DORR 10 73 ERIC RUPPEL 11 4 JASON JANUSZ 12 8 MIKE PORTER 13 7 KEEGAN KINCAID 14 76 ANDY ZIPPERER 15 14 LUKE JOHNSON 16 33 CJ GREAVES 17 30 MARK OBERG 18 5 TODD CUNNINGHAM     Unofficial TORC season overall points   PRO 4   1 22 GREAVES JOHNNY TOYOTA/MAXXIS 181 3 2 48 JOHNSON RICKY RAM/BFG 175 2 3 7 DOUGLAS SCOTT FORD/BFG 154 1 4 25 JENKINS MARK FORD/BFG 130 0 5 83 BARLOW STEVE FORD/MAXXIS 128 0 6 47 JENKINS MIKE FORD/BFG 118 0 7 11 CENNI ADRIAN FORD/MAXXIS 94 2 8 69 MAZANEC MILAN 66 0 9 32 DREWS AL FORD/BFG 38 0 10 99 LEDUC KYLE FORD/TOYO 30 0 11 6 GUNDERSON CASE 6 0 12 4 LEDUC TODD FORD/TOYO 5 0 13 43 LEDUC CURT FORD/TOYO 4   PRO 2   1 7 MENZIES BRYCE RAM/BFG 176 3 2 21 MACCACHREN ROB RAM/BFG 156 2 3 9 HORD CHAD NISSAN MOTORSPORTS/BFG 149 1 4 4 KINCAID JEFF FORD/BFG 139 2 5 8 TAYLOR SCOTT FORD/BFG 122 0 6 80 OBERG MIKE CHEVY/BFG 116 0 7 15 HART MARTY TOYOTA/MAXXIS 112 0 8 77 VANDEN HEUVEL MIKEY CHEVY/MAXXIS 110 0 9 29 STEELE KEITH CHEVY/KUMHO 30 0 10 10 ADLER GREG FORD/BFG 28 0 11 30 PIERCE ROBBY FORD/BFG 18 0 11 33 WOERNER DOW CHEVY/BFG 18 0 13 218 BAKER MICHAEL 0 0 14 217 BADOUX DAN FORD/BFG 0   PRO Light   1 43 CADDELL ANDREW RAM/BFG 2 1 CURRIE CASEY NISSAN/GENERAL 3 77 HUBINETTE SAM RAM/BFG 4 44 LOVELL BRAD NISSAN MTRSPT/BFG 5 27 MORRIS SHAWN CHEVY/MAXXIS 6 5 CUNNINGHAM TODD CHEVY/MCK TMP 7 11 ELLER RANDY FORD/MAXXIS 8 37 ANDERSON RJ RAM/GOODYEAR 9 14 JOHNSON LUKE RAM/BFG 10 33 GREAVES CJ TOYOTA/MAXXIS 11 73 RUPPEL ERIC FORD/BFG 11 4 ELLENSON/JANUSZBRETT/JASONTOYOTA 13 17 DORR MITCH FORD/GDYR 14 76 ZIPPERER ANDY FORD/BFG 15 21 HOEK ROSS FORD/BFG 16 38 DEEGAN BRIAN FORD/BFG 17 8 PORTER MIKE FORD/BFG 18 7 KINCAID KEEGAN FORD/BFG 19 18 BAKER MICHAEL FORD 20 30 OBERG MARK 21 29 RAYFORD CHAD  NISSAN 22 26 PETERSON DERRY   Saturday Sportsman class results from Crandon   1600 Light     1 73 STEVE OMAN 5 0 01:49.3 01:49.3 5 2 28 MATT SOLKA 5 0 01:50.2 01:50.2 4 3 72 GREG STINGLE 5 0 01:47.6 01:47.6 5 4 95 MATT GERALD 5 0 01:45.2 01:45.2 5 5 14 BILL KORTENS 5 0 01:50.3 01:50.3 5 6 17 BARRY WHALEN 5 0 01:50.8 01:50.8 5 7 0 CRAIG PAITL 5 0 01:49.9 01:49.9 5 8 77 MATT ASHER 5 0 01:55.5 01:50.7 2 9 151 BILLY BUTH 5 0 01:52.3 01:52.3 5 10 81 MICHAEL CAREY 5 0 01:53.1 01:53.0 3 11 188 BEAU AMBOS 5 0 01:51.6 01:51.6 5 12 187 JUSTIN FOLKMAN 13 120 TRACI FLEISCHMAN 5 0 01:53.0 01:53.0 5 14 44 STEPH PAITL 5 0 01:54.7 01:54.7 5 15 111 JOSH FRANKLIN 5 0 01:52.2 01:52.2 5 16 169 ERIC LEAR 5 0 02:00.0 01:58.3 4 17 26 CRAIG RABE 5 0 02:00.2 02:00.2 5 18 170 WENDY LEAR 5 0 02:11.1 02:03.3 1 19 125 JAMIE KLEIKAMP 3 0 01:52.1 01:52.1 2 20 119 MAGGIE ZIPPERER 2 0 01:57.6 01:57.6 2 21 104 SPENCER FEDDER 2 0 03:30.1 02:27.9 1 22 9 TODD LEMKE 1 0 01:53.2 01:53.2 1     Stock Truck   Place No. Name Laps Adjust Last Time Fast Time Fast Lap Misc 1 587 MATT IVES 5 0 02:01.4 02:00.7 3 2 526 BOB BIRKHOLTZ 5 0 02:00.9 02:00.9 5 3 517 BEN WIERZBA 5 0 02:00.3 02:00.3 5 4 599 BOB REINHARDT 5 0 02:00.9 02:00.9 5 5 555 NICK BAUMGARTNER 5 0 01:59.4 01:53.9 4 6 521 TROY PETERSON 7 512 MARC ROGACZEWSKI 5 0 02:08.5 02:08.5 5 8 538 ROBERT CLEMO 5 0 02:06.9 02:03.6 3 9 577 MATT DALE 5 0 02:16.7 02:15.3 4   Classix     Place No. Name Laps Adjust Last Time Fast Time Fast Lap Misc 1 631 SCOTT MUELLER        5 0 02:18.9 02:06.5 2 2 612 JAKE VANDERVOORT 5 0 02:17.0 02:17.0 5 3 699 PETE DELOREY 5 0 02:20.1 02:20.1 5 4 682 KURT SCHUCH 5 0 02:15.6 02:15.6 5 5 687 MIKE MISCHLER 5 0 02:22.9 02:22.9 5 6 621 ROB WEILAND 5 0 02:41.7 02:16.8 4 7 640 AARON KONITZER 5 0 02:30.3 02:18.3 4 8 606 WILLIAM GROBOWSKI 5 0 02:19.0 02:19.0 5 9 646 JEREMY FORBES 5 0 02:28.0 02:28.0 5 10 696 JEREMY DRAKE 3 0 02:32.1 02:29.6 1 11 604 SHANE THEIL 12 613 DALE CHESTNUT 1 0 02:12.1 02:12.1 1 13 601 BILL WILSON 1 0 02:28.4 02:28.4 1

The Monster Energy Off-Road Team charged Day 2 of Crandon taking two podiums! Marty Hart managed to put it together in Pro-2 and come up with a third place finish after a hard fought battle. “It feels good to be on the podium! Now I just want to move up a couple spots. The truck feels good. It’s on for Sunday!” stated the confident Hart.

Crandon favorite Johnny Greaves dominated the Pro-4 class leading every lap until the last couple where Adrian Cenni got around him. Greaves still held on to 2nd. ” I made a mistake in the back section and allowed Cenni to get around me. It felt good to get the hole shot. I am ready to let it all hang out Sunday!” stated the champ.

In Pro-lite Casey fought back in forth through the field and finished a solid 5th place.

More action today including the notorious “Cup Race” that pits Pro-2′s and Pro-4′s against each other in an all out battle for off-road supremacy!

Photos by Vincent Knakal of Mad Media

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Crandon laid under a thick cloud of rain this morning and rumors of a cancellation where floating around, but mother nature seems to be a race fan and let the sun out throughout most of the day.

PROLITE

Today’s Prolite race started out similar to yesterday’s. Andrew Caddell right away stole the lead and never gave it away for the remainder of the race. Then the usual suspects lined up for battle.  Brad Lovell, Sam Hubinette, Brian Deegan, Schaun Morris, CJ Greaves and Casey Currie.

Not much changed in the positions until right after the mandatory yellow flag when Deegan inched himself from 5th to 4th, 3rd and then 2^nd place. The last 2 laps then had every fan on their feet watching Deegan chipping away on Caddell for the win, but all he could get was fast lap while trying.

Top 5:

1. Andrew Caddell
2. Brian Deegan
3. Brad Lovell
4. Sam Hubinette
5. Casey Currie

PRO2

Pro2  made for an interesting race until the checkered flag dropped.  Jeff Kincaid had the hole-shot out of the infamous Crandon turn 1 and he then defended it all the way until his truck let him down with some mechanical problems late in the race.

After Kincaid we had Bryce Menzies running up front followed by Rob McCachren then Chad Hord and Marty Hart. They where running hard with their Rev limiter kicking in on the straights yet maintaining huge gaps in between each other.

Right before the yellow flag Rob McCachren pulled over just to get passed by the entire field due to a failing drive shaft.

At the end it was Bryce Menzies, Chad Hord and Marty Hart on the podium

Top 5:

1. Bryce Menzies
2. Chad Hord
3. Marty Hart
4. Mike Oberg
5. Mikey Vanden Heuvel

PRO4

The Pro4 race was again the most exciting one of the three races we are reporting on. Johnny Greaves ran away with a strong lead early on and it looked like it was his to keep, but yesterday’s winner Adrian Cenni was drilling on Ricky Johnson for 2^nd place and ultimately for the win. The crowd was on their feet and when he ultimately passed Johnson and Greaves everyone went crazy rooting for the racer from New York.

The weather took a turn for the worse half way through the race with massive downpours just moments after the checkered flag.

Even long after the race in the local restaurants in town, everyone relived their favorite moment of that Pro4 race.

Top5:

1. Adrian Cenni
2. Johnny Greaves
3. Ricky Johnson
4. Kyle LeDuc
5. Steve Barlow

Words by Klaus Rasch.

Photos by Jason Zindroski of HighRev Photography.

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Follow the Monster Energy Off-Road team as they storm the biggest, most dangerous short course race of the year! Climb in the trucks of Pro-4 Champion Johnny Greaves, Pro-Lite Champion Casey Currie, Pro-2 charger Marty Hart, and rising star in Pro-lite and Pro-Buggy CJ Greaves. We will have new videos posted daily so you won’t miss any of the action!

Crandon Labor Day started out like every day with the usual Downtown exhibition and parade to the nearby race track facilities. The weather was the unpredictable Wisconsin type that brought in plenty of rain in the morning but cleared up into a partially overcast afternoon.

Todays event was unique since Friday was a makeup round from the June/Sprint Crandon race that was rained out while Saturday and Sunday will be the regular scheduled rounds.

ProLite

Caddell lead the entire race, CJ Greaves looked good until he blew up before the yellow flag and Brad Lovell finished 2^nd while Casey Currie took 3 place.

Top3:

1. Andrew Caddell
2. Brad Lovell
3. Casey Currie

Pro4

This was the more exciting race of the day despite the low entry of 9 competitors. Early on into the race Adrian ran away with the lead to never give it up again. The battle was between Greaves, Johnson and Douglas for 2^nd and 3^rd place. Jenkins got into each other a little bit sending Jenkins off track past the finish line.

Top3:

1. Adrian Cenni
2. Johnny Greaves
3. Ricky Johnson

Pro2

Very soon after the green flag dropped a single file formed that didn’t change order much until the end. In fact the Jeff Kincaid the won the race with multiple car lengths behind him.

Top3:

1. Jeff Kincaid
2. Chad Hord
3. Bryce Menzies

If you are the blood thirsty type of fan that hopes for spectacular crashes then your meets where not met at todays racing in Crandon.

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PRO4

Today’s Pro4 race was almost a carbon copy of Saturday and Friday’s races with the addition of rain half-way through the race.  Adrian Cenni killed it again and by lap 2 he was unstoppable; running so far in front of the pack that you would think he is in another faster class.  He wound up winning the race without a challenge.

The two rivals, Ricky Johnson and Johnny Greaves both ran into engine problems, Johnson’s transmission began to smoke early in the race, while Greaves got tangled up and was forced to limp around the track collecting points for the TORC championship.

Half-way through the race the rain kicked in, turning the track into a slippery slope.  Speeds went noticeably down as everyone tried not to slide off track while defending their position.

At the end it was Mark Jenkins in 2nd place followed by Steve Barlow.

Top5:

1. Adrian Cenni
2. Mark Jenkins
3. Steve Barlow
4. Todd LeDuc
5. Mike Jenkins

PRO2

The Pro2 race was a straight up mess.  Heavy rain delayed the start by over one hour over the scheduled time while track officials tried to push the heavy mud away.  Eventually they went green and Scott Taylor held the lead throughout most of the race until he spun-out and lost his podium position. Due to the mud and rain, speeds were a lot lower than what we’re used to for this class, plus they were covered in mud, making it impossible to identify the trucks. When it was all said and done, Bryce Menzies repeated his previous day’s win followed by Mike Oberg and Rob MacCachren.

Top4:

1. Bryce Menzies
2. Mike Oberg
3. Rob MacCachren
4. Chad Hord

PROLITE

Brian Deegan continued where he left off on Saturday.  Up front.  First RJ Anderson had the hole-shot out of turn one, but couldn’t hold on and wound up with a 4^th place finish.  CJ Greaves ran in the front of the pack but after he went too wide in the gravel pit turn he fell from 3^rd towards the back.  Andrew Caddell was fast but only fast enough for 2^nd place.  Brad Lovell finished again on the podium with a solid 3^rd place.  In his only second year of racing short course, the rock crawler by heart made it to the podium all three days.  Deegan took the win in his new V8 making his return to Crandon triumphant.

Top5:

1. Brian Deegan
2. Andrew Caddell
3. Brad Lovell
4. RJ Anderson
5. Randy Eller

AMSOIL CUP

The weekend’s highlight was the Amsoil Cup where the Pro2’s had a 20-second head-start over the Pro4’s for no less than $27,500 in prize money, the traveling trophy, and bragging rights to be the baddest driver of them all.

All bets where set on Adrian Cenni to conclude the weekend with 4 of 4 wins, but after lap 2 his early lead within the Pro4 pack changed when his front wheel drive failed and more things broke after a gnarly landing.

Since the Pro2’s started ahead for a Pro4′s to win they had to get around the Pro2’s entered. Chad Hord in his Pro2 gave them hell and no one came even close to passing him for a solid win in the Amsoil Cup.  It was only the third time in history that a Pro2 has won the cup.

Kyle LeDuc ran up front for a long time but after some fuel pickup issues he fell back all the way to the back but managed to finish 4^th.

Scott Douglas and Johnny Greaves ran at a steady pace the entire time without any major position changes. Good enough for 2^nd and 3^rd place.

Top5:

1. Chad Hord (PRO2)
2. Scott Douglas (PRO4)
3. Johnny Greaves (PRO4)
4. Kyle LeDuc (PRO4)
5. Todd LeDuc (PRO4)

In closing, this was a very exciting Crandon weekend but it’s unfortunate that politics between the two race series prevents a full house of racing. The race fan loses when all of the top competitors are not on hand to race.

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TORC Crandon live coverage

It’s that time again for the biggest short course race of the year.  Crandon is like the superbowl of short course racing and race-dezert.com is there to bring you the action.

Click here Friday through Sunday for all the race action.

• Race results
• Live video
• Produced videos
• Interviews
• Photos
• Live chat

If you build it they will come. It was true last year, and today the same held true as the grandstands were full here at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT. The racers put on a great show for the fans with hard fought battles in all classes. In Pro 2 Robert Naughton got his second win of the season as he proved to be the fastest from the start, with Stronghold teammate Jeremy McGrath coming in second place right behind him. In the Pro 4 race, Rick Huseman dropped out mid-race giving Carl Renzeder and Kyle Leduc room to battle it out till the end with Leduc coming away with the win.

In the Prolite race there were two big crashes with Matt Loidice nosing in on the rhythm section sending his truck into a cartwheel until it finally laid to rest. Cameron Steele led the majority of the race until Brian Deegan made contact and put PAB behind a few spots. Deegan finished first physically but was black flagged because of the incidence which gave the race win to Casey Currie, giving the V8 powered truck its first win of the year.

Pro 2
1. Rob Naughton
2. Jeremy McGrath
3. Rodrigo Ampudia
4. Carl Renezeder
5. Brian Deegan
6. Jeremy Stenberg
7. Rob MacCachrem
8. Jeff Geiser
9. Robby Woods
10. Greg Adler
11. Greg Nunley
12. Robbie Pierce
13. Phil Bollman

Pro 4
1. Kyle Leduc
2. Carl Renezeder
3. Adrian Cenni
4. Todd Leduc
5. Josh Merrell
6. Travis Coyne
7. Kent Brascho
8. Jerry Daugherty
9. Curt Leduc
10. Rick Huseman
11. Aaron Daugherty

Pro-Lite
1. Casey Currie
2. Rodrigo Ampudia
3. Chris Brandt
4. Cameron Steele
5. Jimmy Stephensen
6. Matt Cook
7. Brian Deegan
8. Austin Kimbrell
9. Jacob Person
10. RJ Andrewson
11. Kyle Leduc
12. Stephan Papadakis
13. Corey Sisler
14. Matt Loiodice

Super Lite
1. Partrick Clark
2. RJ Anderson
3. Chad George
4. Jacob Person
5. Jessie Johnson
6. Luke Johnson
7. Dawson Kirchner
8. Ron Duncombe
9. Jason Ellis
10. Ryan Hagy
11. Wyatt Kirchner
12. Mike McCarthy
13. Austin Kimbrell
14. Brent Fouch
15. Garrett Poleman

Unlimited Buggy
1. Justin Smith
2. Mike Porter
3. Doug Fortin
4. Steven Greinke
5. John Holmes
6. Bobby Pecoy
7. Jerry Whelchel
8. Brandon Bailey
9. Gregg Reichman
10. Cody Freeman

Limited Buggy
1. Quentin Tucker
2. Bruce Fraley
3. Bradley Morris
4. Curt Geer
5. John Fitzgerald
6. Dave Mason
7. Kevin McCullough
8. Kenny Freeman
9. Geoffrey Cooley
10. Zachary Hunt
11. Lindsday Geiser
12. Greg Crew

Photos by Jason Zindroski @ HighRev Photography.

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The Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series kicks off on Saturday March 19th at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, AZ. There’s been a ton of changes from last year so here are the drivers to watch.

Pro 4

Rick Huseman #36 – he dominated the Pro 4 class in 2010, winning 10 of 15 races. Expect Rick to be on top of the podium again this year as he’s only getting better and his #36 machine only gets faster.

Kyle LeDuc #99

Kyle Leduc #99 – second place finisher in the series, Kyle has been racing smart and fast. His truck has been dialed in and you know he has a shot to podium every race.

Adrian Cenni #2 – the “Wildman” is always a threat; either he’ll go balls-out to podium, or he’ll DNF taking half the field with him in a blaze of glory.

Johnny Greaves #16 – the TORC Series Champion, Johnny is guaranteed to be at the head of the pack. Switching tire sponsorship this year, Johnny is now on Maxxis. If he podiums enough at Lucas, you can expect to see him race, otherwise he’ll probably only race the TORC Series.

Travis Coyne #5 – he finished the year strong, getting to the podium in several of the final races of the year. Look for him to put up a strong showing.

Todd Leduc #4 – after a solid rookie season in monster truck racing, Todd is now stepping up to the Pro 4 class, to race alongside his father and brother. He just needs to remember he can’t drive over his competition like he could in his monster truck as he get’s used to the four-wheel action.

Carl Renezeder #17 – he had a tough last season, as he either made it to the podium or DNF’d. Carl’s program is always top notch so you can expect him to be in the hunt.

Ricky Johnson #48

Ricky Johnson #48 – moving up to Pro 4 from Pro 2 this year after winning the TORC Series in Pro 2, RJ is fast, but can he pull the same results in a new class? Racing with the Menzies Red Bull Team, hopefully RJ will race more often in the Lucas Series, but his loyalties to the TORC Series will probably rule him out for a lot of races later in the year.

Other notables: Mike Johnson, Curt LeDuc, Steve Barlow

Pro 2

Rob MacCachren #1

Rob MacCachren #1 – the 2010 season champ, if Rob Mac get’s into the lead, say goodnight, because you’re not going to get past him. He runs the cleanest lines and should continue with his winning ways.

Carl Renezeder #17 – Carl had a stronger showing in Pro 2 in 2010, but he couldn’t match the consistency of Rob Mac last year. It’s a solid bet that he’ll make the podium this year in Pro 2.

Rodrigo Ampudia #36 – after a quality year on a bum knee, Rod Amp is healthy this year and looking to push the older guys off the podium and himself into the spotlight. Look for his Papas and Beer

Robbie Woods #99 – he started 2010 with a number of spectacular crashes and finished it with several podiums. Robbie seemed to figure out how to race smarter as the year went along and proved that he had the right stuff going into 2011.

Greg Adler #10 – Greg had an up and down season in 2010. He was consistently fast in qualifying, but come race time, trouble always seemed to find him. He had a couple of quality podiums in 2010 and if he can keep clear of traffic he should be able to find a few more this year.

Jeremy McGrath #2 – joining the Stronghold Team for the full season in the Lucas Series, Jeremy had some great wins in the TORC series in 2010. This year he’s on Toyo’s and in a new truck, so we’ll see how long it takes the motocross legend to get up to speed.

Bryce Menzies #7 – featuring a new deal with Red Bull, Bryce had a strong showing in 2010 with multiple podiums. You can expect him to be fast, but no one is sure how many LOORS races he’ll attend since he has a commitment to the TORC Series.

Brian Deegan #38 – the General was a pleasant surprise in the few races he entered last season in Pro 2. He was fast and had several 4th place finishes. As he gets acclimated to Pro 2 racing, he’ll be looking be looking to push some of the big names out of the way.

Marty Hart #15 – the Pro Lite champ is moving up to Pro 2 this year and is racing for Johnny Greave’s team. Marty’s an all-around good-guy, so we hope he get’s up to speed quickly and can get in on the action.

Other notables: Rob Naughton, Jesse James, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg “Pistol” Pete Sohren

Pro Lite

Casey Currie #2 – the 2010 TORC Series champ, Casey is now racing on General Tires and is looking to grab some wins in what’s shaping up to be a competitive field in Pro Lite.

Chris Brandt #82 – last year’s runner-up in Pro Lite, Chris was usually a top 3 finisher in 2010. If he can avoid trouble he should be able to make the podium.

Brian Deegan #38 – he’s most likely racing Pro Lite and Pro 2, so we’ll see which one he pours more sweat and tears into. The General is fast in his RockStar Metal Mulisha Pro Lite, but he was inconsistent in 2010, and had a number of DNF’s.

Matt Loiodice #20 – had a very up-and-down season in 2010. He was often running up front, only to run into problems and drop back to the pack. That said he still had a number of podiums and if he can keep his Pro Lite healthy he should have some more this year.

Rodrigo Ampudia #36 – only ran a few races in 2010 due to a knee injury that forced him to cut back on the number of races he could enter. We’ll see what he can do this year running in Pro 2 and Pro Lite.

Kyle Leduc #99 – back running in the Pro Lite class after only running in Pro 4 the last few years. Look for Kyle to push the action and be in the lead.

Cameron Steele #16 – after winning the Pro Buggy Championship in 2010, PAB has joined the Stronghold team to race in Pro Lite.

Other notables – Jacob Person, “Pistol” Pete Sohren, Jimmy Stephensen

A sneak peak at Adrian Cenni The Wildman’s latest project. This video will not disappoint. Stay tuned as the journey unfolds.

Pro4 – the true highlight of the day, the Pro4 race delivered the best
action of the day at Speedworld for Round 12 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road
Racing Series. Kyle Leduc led for most of the race with Huseman,
Renezeder and Johnson stalking him lap after lap. There were a couple
of full course cautions that slowed down the field, especially when
Cenni’s vehicle caught fire. After the restart Huseman really put the
pressure on Kyle, and Kyle made a mistake in turn 7 that allowed
Huseman, Renezeder and Johnson by him. With Huseman in the lead, Carl
and Mike were battling it out for second place. Unfortunately,
Johnson flipped in turn 4 and Carl got caught in the mayhem, allowing
Kyle and Travis Coyne by in the final lap. Huseman cruised to the win
and gets himself one step closer to the overall points title.

1. Huseman
2. Kyle Leduc
3. Coyne

ProLite – Once again Marty Hart ran away with the race, only to have
mechanical difficulties cost him the win. Hart was cruising to
victory, until his power steering went out on the final lap. Deegan
and Brandt took advantage of the situation while Marty managed to hold
on for third place

1. Deegan
2. Brandt
3. Hart

Pro2 – This race had a number of crashes and had a couple of full
course cautions. The first was for Robby Woods, who up to that point
was in third place when his engine blew and his truck caught on fire.
The second caution occurred when Geiser in the Canidae truck flipped
multiple times off of a jump. Once the action restarted MacCachren was
unstoppable and cruised to an easy victory, he was followed by
previous days winner Renezeder and Bryce Menzies.

1. MacCachren
2. Renezeder
3. Menzies

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Photos by HighRev Photography

Today marked the first day of the return to Surprise, AZ for the Lucas Oil Offroad Racing Series. Two sessions of practice went down today with Carl Renezeder putting down the fastest lap of the day with a 54:487 in his Pro 4. Brian Deegan was the only Prolite to break the minute mark, and Greg Adler laid down the fastest lap in Pro 2 with a 56:699. Tomorrow they will all try to keep the top spot when qualifying begins at 9am. Stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow!

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Photos by HighRev Photography

Stronghold Motorsports has quickly grown into the first “Off-Road Super Team”. They field a Pro-4, Pro-2, Pro-lite, and two Super Buggy’s in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series. Take an exclusive look at their incredible quiver of off-road vehicles courtesy of Mad Media. Photos: Vince Knakal/Mad Media

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Kyle LeDuc shows us what it’s like to take a lap in a Pro 4 Unlimited at the Glen Helen track. Watch the video as he explains every jump and turn. Kyle placed 2nd on Saturday’s round 9 event and he took the 1st place spot on Sunday’s round 10 race.

Rodrigo Ampudia in his Papas&Beer Pro2 going big

Round 10 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series went into the record books this past Sunday in Glen Helen. Unlike the previous day, attendance was a bit down giving everyone some breathing room. It didn’t appear to be sold out so hopefully no race fan had to be denied access and sent home.

Racing started at 7pm and wrapped up around 10:30pm. Racing under the night seemed to be a hit with the fans while some racers complained about poor visibility on some parts on the track. Perhaps headlights will be a new addition to short course racing in the near future?

PRO4

Pro4 was the first event following the opening ceremonies. The starting lineup was 3-22-8-5-43-36-99-22-13-31-1-8

Right away Kyle LeDuc #99 managed to position himself out front. It took him exactly 1 lap from 3rd row to the numero uno spot.

Racing seemed to be a repeat of the previous day with Kyle leading followed by Rick Huseman #36 then Adrian Cenni #11.

Around lap 3 Josh Merrell #22 in the Hart & Huntington truck rolled in turn 5 setting the entire track in yellow flag mode. While the pace truck is regrouping the Pro4 trucks Rick Huseman suddenly pulled away from his 2nd position into the pits for a tire change. At the re-start Rick was in dead last position but still on the lead lap.

The Top5 line up is 99-11-31-1-5…

Rick Huseman being Rick the last position is not exactly where he wants to be so only 2 laps later he calls 4th place his new home while Kyle pulls away from the pack expanding the distance between him and 2nd place. Adrian Cenni’s vehicle starts steaming from the rear radiator area of his #11 machine; a sure sign of a cooling malfunction that sends him into the pits and done for the day.

Fast forward to Competition yellow. The front runner lineup is now Kyle, Carl Renezeder #1, Mike Johnson #31, Rick, Travis Coyne #5 then Eric Barron #3. During the restart lap Travis pulls off the track due to some unknown problems. Then in the first lap after the re-start Curt LeDuc barrel rolls multiple times in turn 3, lands on his roof, gets turned over, fires up the truck and is back in the race.

The a lap later Carl Renezeder performs a perfect grind in turn 4 but since this is not skating there was no advantage gained. Rick Huseman gets spun around and again moves from the front group to the very back.

During the next lap John Harrah #13 rolls in turn 4 forcing yet another full course yellow.

Top 8 line up is 99-1-5-8-43-23-36-31…

With just a few laps to go Kyle and Carl go neck-and-neck for half a lap and ultimately Carl emerges ahead, but not for long as he knocks himself out in a turn 5 roll-over. The white flag is out while the track goes full yellow yet again. Curt LeDuc is physically behind Kyle on the track, lending a fatherly protection for any possible takeovers for the lead.

Remember Rick Huseman in the Monster Energy Toyota? Two times during the race was he in last position and both times did he managed to move to the front. He is in 2nd place as the race finishes under a yellow/checkered flag.

Kyle LeDuc hugging the crowd after his win in Pro4

After the finish Kyle and Curt in perfect synchrony performed crowd pleasing donuts in front the grandstands. It appeared that Curt was more happy than Kyle over the win.

Top5 Results:

1. Kyle LeDuc #99
2. Rick Hiuseman #36
3. Kent Brascho #8
4. Mike Johnson #31
5. Erric Barron #3

PRO2:

Pro2 was the last race of the day

During the warmup and staging lap Robbie Pierce #30 lost control of his truck and gently rolled it onto his side in turn 4 before the race even started adding some delay before the green flag dropped.

Right away after turn 2 in the first lap a couple of trucks went out of control. In the turn, Carl #1 goes a little bit wide, hooks and then over-corrects shooting through a group of trucks into the inside of the turn. He managed to hit Rodrigo #36 and another truck. All 3 where able to continue.

Robbie Pierce going for a big tumble

Then just 2 seconds later Mike Johnson#31 touches Rob McChachren #21 who consequently gets out of shape. Rob then bumps into Robbie Pierce in the Mastercraft #30 truck that was just a car length ahead. All of this happens in the rhythm bump section between turn 2 and turn3. Robbie is now sideways getting abruptly directed to the right and then violently a multiple rollover crash.

The race was instantly red flagged and forced every competitor to come to a complete stop while rescue teams rushed to the scene. It seemed to take forever as track workers and safety staff extracted Robbie from his truck and then into an ambulance. As of this writing his status is very stable. He’s in a lot of pain due to two broken collar bones and an injured knee that hit the dashboard during the crash. As you may know Robbie represents Mastercraft Safety, the company that builds pretty much every safety component a race car can have. His violent crash is proof of the integrity of his own products. The entire racing community is hoping for a speedy recovery.

It seemed there was a dark cloud laying over the remainder of the race as lots of people where wondering about the well-being of Robbie.

After the retstart it was 44-48-31-21-7-17-8…

Just 2 laps into racing Rob McCahcren moved himself into the lead.

Soon it was Rob up front followed by Ricky Johnson #48, then a battle between Bryce Menzies #7 and Jeff Geiser #44 followed by Carl Renezeder #17.

At the half way point of the race after the competition yellow it was 21-48-7-17-44-10-54-8-36…

Ricky Johnson pulls of the track with some mechanical problems making room for a new 2nd place runner.

The race went rather uneventful with no more lead changes to give Rob McChanren his 2nd win for the weekend. Carl Renezeder finally in his 4th try this weekend reached the podium alongside Greg Adler in the #10 4Wheel Parts Pro2 truck.

Asked to sum up the entire weekend in a single sentence, “Perfect” was Rob’s single word answer. “Lots of hard work went into this one….We come here to win and all credit is due to my amazing crew that made it possible again..”

TOP5 Results:

1. Rob McChanren #21
2. Carl Renezeder #17
3. Greg Adler #10
4. Rodrigo Ampudia #36
5. Mike Johnson #31

Follow some Forum discussions on the big Robbie Pierce crash

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“This is SuperCross on steroids” is what a happy fan well past his 9th beer in the grandstands called it as the big trucks flew past the start-finish line. That quote pretty much summed up what happened today. It is short course racing in Southern California on the same excitement level where CORR left off 2 years ago in Chula Vista.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series hosted their first race in Glen Helen,CA . A facility famous for its AMA Moto events made the perfect base for a short course race. LOORRS built a new track on the east side of their property. It’s a simple 5 turn track that at first glance appears small, but made for some awesome race action. The Pro2′s and Pro4′s managed to get around the track in 45-sseconds.

This is what a full house in the grandstands looks like

The opening ceremonies started at 7pm; right as the hot summer Southern California days turn into mildly warm and comfortable evenings. The racing was under the lights and lasted into the late evening with the last race concluding around 11pm.

The race being in the Mecca of Off-Road Racing attracted lots of spectators. Glen Helen had a sold out house and the only way to get a seat in the grandstands was to arrive early, otherwise it was standing room only and that is if you where lucky enough to even make it inside since maximum capacity was reached and fans were turned away at the gate.

PRO4:

Rick Huseman and Carl Renezeder both started in the last row while Kyle LeDuc and Adrian Cenni were in the front row of the Pro4 pack. Rick is clearly a front runner and so it was no surprise that he gained 5 positions after turn 2 in the first lap. Carl Renezeder was less fortunate and after a roll over in the 2nd lap had to call it a day.

Kyle took the early lead and maintained it until about 2 laps before the competition yellow, when he rolled in turn 4 but landed back on his 4 wheels like a cat would have after a small tumble. He simply continued but handed the lead over to Rick followed by Cenni.

Rick Huseman had the fastest lap times of the day

On the restart after the competition yellow it was Rick, Kyle, Cenni and Curt Leduc up front.

For the remainder of the race it was a fierce battle between Rick and Kyle. Kyle got to look at first a couple of times but never quite regained the lead until Rick hooked, then bicycled briefly at the same spot Kyle gave us the free air show just a few laps earlier. That was just what Kyle needed to move into the number one spot.

During the remaining laps every single fan was on their feet in anticipation of the conclusion for the Rick vs. Kyle show. Ultimately Rick regained the lead and ran away with it for a solid win.

Top3 Finishers:

1. Rick Huseman #36
2. Kyle LeDuc #99
3. Adrian Cenni #11

PRO2:

At the drop of the green flag Greg Adler, Bryce Menzies, Rob McCachren and Carl Renezeder were the top 4 front runners.

Right away Rob jumped into the lead in front of Greg. Robby Woods pulled off the track after lap 2. Greg’s truck had a blue smoke cloud behind him from the start and it appeared to be a problem in the making but there was no sign of him slowing down.

As the checkered flag dropped fireworks littered the sky in celebration

Lap after lap the lead didn’t change much until Carl made contact with Greg Adler in turn 3 sending Greg barrel rolling onto his roof. LOORRS gave Carl the black flag for that move, sending him to the back of the field.

After the competition yellow flag Rodrigo Ampudia suddenly appeared out of no where into 2nd position right after Rob. A few laps into racing Rob makes a small driving mistake, slowing down just a tiny bit, Rodrigo brake checks, but somewhere behind him another racer didn’t and he gets tapped from behind and sent spinning 180 degrees off the course. He regained control and rejoined the race but no longer in second place. That spin-out managed to damage Rodrigo’s drive shaft and he ended his day early with a DNF.

For the rest of the race there where no more position changes in the lead pack. The only thing changing was Rob’s lead; as it grew lap after lap until his win. He made it look so easy and in fact his truck looked exactly the same as when the race started. Not a scratch, dent or layer of dirt to be seen on the #21.

Top3 Finishers:

1. Rob McChachren #21
2. Bryce Menzies #7
3. Ricky Johnson #48

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Follow the stories tomorrow with the conclusion of this weekends sunday racing.

Lucas Oil Offroad Racing Series kicked off a big weekend in Glen Helen with two full practice sessions and a qualifying session for Saturday’s starting positions. Word around the pits is that the track is very tight and technical with little room to pass, so teams were making changes all day to find the right setup. Today should be a great day of racing under the lights, so be sure to check for updates throughout the day!

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Traxxas Off Road Championship

Down-pouring rains hit the Upper Michigan area 4 days before the heavy hitters of off road racing were to bring their show to one of the favorite tracks on the TORC Series circuit. With the thought of canceling Friday practice, the Bark River track crew worked non-stop to prep the track in hopes of draining the excess water for Saturday’s races. Mission accomplished and then some. Racers put the laps down during practice on Friday and then fine tuned the race rides for battle on Saturday.

The pros & sportsman got an added twist on the track with the moving of the finish line in front of the crowd in the form of a large tabletop. And the crowd got a great show all weekend.

The spectators who came for the whole show watched one of the best races of the weekend right off the bat in Limited 2wd. Dan Baudoux grabbed the lead while Mike Vanden Heuvel got a slow start off the line. Well, it didn’t matter as half way through the first lap, Mike was in 2^nd place and pressuring Baudoux to make a mistake. Dan wasn’t going to have it that way for most of the race until 2-3 laps to go when Dan looked to be moving or crossing from right to left headed over the 200ft Big Hill jump. They never touched, but Dan’s truck started to turn broadside in front of Mike, while in the air. A racing miracle happened when Dan’s truck slammed the track and he was already hammering the gas, hoping to pull out of it and avoid the # 299 Vanden Heuvel truck t-boning him. It worked and they raced to the white flag, but Dan’s right rear tire was losing air and coming to the checkered flag, it blew apart 60 yards from the finish line. Rhonda Konitzer and Mike Baker were side by side when they caught Dan and split around him. At the end, Dan fell to 4^th place. Rhonda beat Baker for 2^nd while Vanden Heuvel took another Limited 2wd win.

Marty Hart in front of the Pro-Lite Pack

Marty Hart got to the front with Casey Currie in chase of Andrew Caddell during Round 3 of Pro Light. Mark Oberg added his two cents worth for a 4 way fight to the checkers. After switching positions a couple of times, Andrew made the pass back on Casey, but couldn’t get close enough to Hart. Currie kept Oberg off the podium with his 3^rd place finish.

Pro-2 racer, Rob MacCachren was poised to steal his 1^st TORC win this season from the competition, but a flat tire early in the race set him to the back of the pack. Jeremy McGrath took the advantage and led the field to the mandatory yellow flag when he pulled into the hot pits for fender damage blocking his view. Mike Oberg took the reins of leader of the pack with Chad Hord and Jeff Kincaid in tow. The “Mac” was all throttle and was racing pass trucks each lap. With 2-3 laps left, got past Kincaid and then next lap, he got Hord for the 2^nd spot. Oberg collected his 1^st win and Rob Mac added his third in a row 2^nd place finish, followed by Chad Hord.

Johnny Greaves Winning a Round of Racing

Traxxas teammates & brothers, Mark & Mike Jenkins pulled out of turn 1 in the lead, followed by Toyota hot rods, Johnny Greaves & Rick Huseman. Greaves wasted no time getting to Pro 4×4 leader, Mark Jenkins and running away with the race. His closest threat was Huseman, who was dealing with Mark not wanting to give another spot away. After Jenkins fell back, Rick got within one truck length of Greaves and held on for 2^nd place. Behind them Scott Douglas & Mike Jenkins played cat & mouse with each other for half the race until Douglas got little push on the rear bumper of Jenkins and made the pass. Scott then had to fight with Steve Barlow, who overtook Mike and got side by side with Douglas, but the checkered flag waved and Scott beat him to the line for 3^rd.

After a walk through the pits and seeing the carnage from along day of racing, crews were changing motors, some going to back up trucks. Teams were borrowing parts from others. It was a total effort of all the teams to work & help who they could, so they could fight it out on the track the next day.

Sunday’s weather was watched very closely and racers were told in drivers meeting that classes would be moved around to get the Pro races in before the thunderstorms returned and ruined the prime race track. It all worked out perfectly as everyone raced and the rains stayed away long enough. Hats off to USAC, TORC and the Bark River staff for being ready and keeping the event moving along all day.

The Pro classes were moved up after 3 sportsman classes, including the Limited 2wd event. Dan Baudoux & Vanden Heuvel returned to battle on the hi-speed, all natural terrain race track as if they never stopped from Saturday’s race. Unfortunately, before the half way caution, Baudoux pulled off the track with truck issues, which may have come from the severe sideways landing the day before. Mike took off from there while Rhonda & Don Williams raced for the leftover spots. Rhonda would take 2^nd and Don held on for 3^rd.

The Pro-Lite hit the track and everyone was chasing Marty Hart, again. Casey stayed closed in hopes of improving on his 3^rd place earlier. But Luke Johnson had something to say about that, along with Mark Oberg. At half way point, Andrew Caddell nailed the re-start just right and followed Marty Hart out of turn 1. Luke & Casey were now having to fight for 3^rd place. But then 2 laps later, Andrew pulled off the track with motor issues. Mark Oberg made his way to 4th place when Luke slipped up and Mark got by with a couple of laps to go. In winners circle, Hart was on top of the box, followed by Casey in 2^nd and Oberg in 3^rd. Hart & Currie are tied for the lead and Andrew is only 4 points away.

Dan Vanden Heuvel hit the gas and hooked up for a solid hole shot at the drop of the green in Sunday’s Pro-2wd race. Hord, Oberg, Scott Taylor and Rob MacCachren were giving him pressure going around the big sweeping turn back to the Big Hill jump. On 2^nd lap, Dan looped it around in turn 1, allowing Hord, Taylor and class to pass him. After trading places and wanting the 1^st win of 2010 TORC season, MacCachren thought, enough is enough and checked out. Taylor was hungry as anyone, even for a podium finish. Ricky Johnson was causing Taylor to mind the truck on his rear bumper just as much as watching Rob and not letting him out of his sight. Hord & Oberg fell back and the train of 3 trucks continued onto the finish line. Rob took his 1^st win of 2010 TORC series, followed by Ricky in 2^nd and Taylor for his first podium spot this season. Rob now leads with 94 points over Ricky’s 79, then Kincaid with 69.

Carnage

In one of the wildest starts of Pro 4×4 this year, Rick Huseman looked to over-rotate his truck in turn 2 and the field was in “gas on” mode. Douglas drifted up the banked corner and got up on 2 wheels as Mike Jenkins followed next and had nowhere to go but over the top of Huseman’s hood. Greaves was behind them and stayed to the left and avoided contact. Johnny took off the table top jump in 1^st place and never looked back. Steve Barlow & Jenkins raced hard and didn’t have anything for Greaves. Douglas’s day was over to soon as he slammed up and onto the concrete wall and broke the front left. This helped Mark retain the 2^nd place finish as Steve grabbed his 1^st podium of season with 3^rd. Greaves took over the points lead with 95, with Huseman at 85 and Douglas at 74.

In sportsman classes, Greg Stingle, Bill Kortens and Jeff Virnig put on a racing school for the crowd and they finished 1, 2, 3 both days in 1600 Light Buggy. Mark Stienhardt kept up his winning ways in 1600 Single Buggy for his 3^rd win in a row on Saturday with Brad Erickson in 2^nd. Sunday they switched and Brad took his 1^st win of the season.

After winning 3 races in a row, CJ Greaves held on for two 2^nd place spots as John Frana, who’s been racing & developing his all-wheel drive Super Buggy for 6 seasons, nailed a commanding win on Saturday. Then it was Steve Kriemans turn as he took over the lead when CJ had some gearbox issues and grabbed his 1^st win of the season on Sunday.

Super Stock truck racers & cousins, Danny Beauchamp & Scott Beauchamp each took a win. Eric Ruppel recovered from a rough 6^th place finish on Saturday for another 2^nd place spot. Mitch Dorr and Don Demeny had some contact in Sunday’s race and Don prevailed for the 3^rd spot, while Mitch took 4^th.

It was a great weekend for fans to feel and see the passion these racers have for the sport and series. Lots of race action on a hi-speed track, Daytona style. Next up, it’s a Bristol style track, at night under the lights, as the race series heads to Oshkosh, WI for rounds 5-6 at SpeedZone Raceway on July 23-24. It’s going to get hotter next weekend.

For more news and info, head to www.torcseries.com

Current TORC points standings: RDC GRID

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Day 2 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series Round 8 and while attendance may have been a little lower than Saturday, this is Utah after all and Sunday is the day devoted to Church, but the race action was 100% Church for dirt-heads.

PRO4 > The main event started in the afternoon at 4pm. The Starting order was 31 1 21 99 11 36 43 5 22 13 23 8 3.

Soon after the first few turns it was Kyle Leduc followed by Johnson. Rick Huseman somehow jumped from his 6th starting position to 3rd place. Adrian Cenni smoking right off of the start and wasn’t able to complete the race.

Carl’s bad luck weekend continued after lap 2′s 1st turn as his truck spun 180 degrees and left him in a bad position on the inside of the turn. After the entire field went by he was able to continue in last place but never got his groove back. His 4wd involuntarily turned 2wd in his new PRO4 truck.

By lap 7 the entire field was spaced well with Huseman  holding the lead over Kyle LeDuc and Rob Mac and Johnson.

After the mandatory yellow flag restart the top 3 looked about the same. Rick, Kyle, Rob . Then lap after lap Kyle LeDuc was slowly reeling in Huseman.  Let’s say he not only pushed his luck but also Rick’s fender  in the last turn without the desired 1st place podium win.

When it was all said and done Rick was able to defend the lead by half a car length again just like the previous day.

Top 5 Results: 1. Rick Huseman 2. Kyle LeDuc 3. Rob MacCachren 4. Curt LeDuc 5. Michael Johnson

PRO Buggy Unlimited > Top 5 Results: 1. Jerry Whelchel 2.Cameron Steele 3. Cody Freeman 4. Justin Davis 5. Rich Ronco

Super Lite Main > Top 5 Results: 1. Rick James 2. Jacob Person 3. CJ Greaves 4. Chad George 5. Brandon Ward

PRO Lite> Top 5 Results: 1. Marty Hart 2. Brian Deegan 3. Jacob Person 4. Adam Wik 5. Anthony Verdone

PRO2 > The big race of the day was the 2 wheel drive battle. Starting order was 10 8 54 99 21 48 36 7 44 31 9 3 30 91 17 8 54 21 48.

Jeff Ward changing tire in the NASCAR style hot pits

But before the race could get underway Jeff Ward in the Speed Technology #3 truck pulled into the pits due to a flat tire. LOORS was nice and slightly delayed the race by adding one extra yellow pre-race lap giving Jeff the time to change the tire and jump back into his scheduled starting position.

Right off the start the field was very packed unlike the PRO4′s earlier.

Early on Robby Woods and Robby Pierce spun out leaving Woods stranded off the track with a blown engine for a DNF while Pierce continued back into the field.

After the 3rd lap Todd LeDuc create a huge lead over Rob MacCachren, Robert Naughton, Ricky Johnson and Carry Hart.

From Lap 5 on Jeff Geiser in the Canidae #44 machine kept pulling into the hot pit to consume massive amounts of water. They continued for points but where out of contention.

Carl Renezeder started in the back since he didn’t participate in qualifying but Carl being Carl gained a position or two per lap from dead last to 8th by the time the mandatory yellow flag came out.

During the yellow flag lap the line up is: 8 21 48 36 7 31 10 17 3 9 54 91 30 44 (one lap down)

Mike Johnson spun right after restart in turn one.

By lap 9 Todd LeDuc spun out in turn one by 180 degrees and moved from 1st position to 4th; while Greg Adler rolled his truck during the commotion of trucks launching in every direction trying to dodge things in the way.

The new running order was Rob Mac, Rodrigo, Bryce Menzies and then Leduc.

With the race almost completed Robby Pierce rolled his truck in the infamous turn one. While the extraction work of Pierce is underway the course goes full yellow and Tony Vanillo the Competition Director makes the executive decision to finish the race under full speed instead of yellow.

They add 1-2 extra laps to the race and when the green flag drops the excitement peaked. Every fan was on their feet and there is Carl working his way through the field since lap one and now he has his chance for a podium finish.

As they cross the checkered flag the Top 5 running order is: Rob Mac, Leduc, RJ, Carl and Bryce.

Ricky Johnson displeased at the outcome of the race

Now the big drama unfolds after the race as the cars idle alongside the finish line. Ricky pushes Rob’s truck for unknown reasons.  Rob gets out for a post race discussion, while officials rush to the scene.  Eventually Ricky takes off in a hurry roosting everyone.

LOORRS had the last word on that incident and declared Ricky Johnson DQ from today’s competition and Carl takes over the 3rd place finish. What caused the disqualification was that Ricky poked his truck into Rob after the finish flag dropped and roosted the scene.

Top 5 Results: 1. Rob MacCachren 2. Todd leDuc 3. Car Renezeder 4. Bryce Menzies 5. Greg Adler

If you missed the show in person watch it on TV July 17th 4pm and July 24th 1pm on SPEED

Next stop of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series will be Glen Helen, CA August 7th-8th

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The first round of Crandon Racing is just days away. Are you ready for epic short course off-road action?

Well if you miss it in person it will be on HD Theatre soon after the race.

Check the TORC series

Monster Energy off-road racer Rick Huseman (Toyota) was the fastest premier Pro 4 class racer this past weekend at round five of the 2010 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Huseman parlayed a 2^nd place come-from-behind finish on Saturday into a 1^st place finish on Sunday and took the overall Pro 4 class points lead from rival Carl Renezeder, 195-186.

Monster Energy’s Johnny Greaves (Pro 4), Jeremy McGrath (Pro 4) and Cameron Steele (Pro Buggy) also contested the LOORS in Vegas, with Greaves posting a weekend-best 4^th in the Pro 4 main event on Saturday and Steele a 4^th in the Pro Buggy Unlimited contest on Sunday.

But the weekend would belong to Huseman as, even during his 2^nd place run in Saturday’s Pro 4 race, the series points leader proved he was the fastest – clocking a weekend-best 1:07.293 in trying to chase down the leader Renezeder. Prior to that he (Huseman) got together with Adrian Cenni and left the track – which handed Renezeder, who was debuting a new truck, the lead.

“We pushed hard at the end but came up just a bit short,” said Huseman. “The Monster Energy/Traxxas/Toyota team was able to re-group and take what we learned in qualfiying on this new track and apply it to the main event. We’ve now got the overall points lead after six LOORS rounds and look forward to running it back in Utah in June.”

With the new venue at Vegas Motor Speedway providing what promoters called a “roller-coaster” for off-road vehicles, the second race of the 2010 LOORS season at Vegas Motor Speedway had Greaves on the all-Monster/Toyota starting line for Saturday’s main event – and led the entire field at the start of the race, only to be tracked down and passed by Huseman, who took the lead into lap two. Still well within podium position, Greaves got tied up with a lane barrier and dropped a couple spots back to 4^th. This would be all the momentum the rest of the podium placers would need to keep themselves ahead of the always-fast Greaves.

“One minor mistake cost us a podium,” said Greaves.

Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series, rounds five and six, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Pro 4 (Sat.)

2^nd – Rick Huseman

4^th - Johnny Greaves

10^th – Jeremy McGrath

Pro 4 (Sun.)

1^st – Rick Huseman

12^th – Johnny Greaves

14^th – Jeremy McGrath

Pro Buggy (Sat.)

7^th – Cameron Steele

Pro Buggy (Sun.)

4^th – Cameron Steele

Next up for Monster off-road racers on the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series tour is the June 26-27 rounds at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

Today’s highlights.

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Crandon has a new fast lap Record as of today set by Rick Huseman. The old record of 1:22.66 was beaten by over 2 seconds. That is huge in the world of racing.

Just yesterday Johnny Greaves shared with us that the track is fast “Watch for it. Someone will beat my old record this weekend. They banked two of the turns and with the rain we had its hard packed and fast”

The Race weekend has just started and already during todays practice a new track record was set. What more can we expect during the next 2 days?

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