After the season got underway in sunny Arizona last month, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, now enters its second weekend of competition for the 2014 season. Here at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, most people probably expected to find similar, warm and bright conditions like those we had in Chandler, but this weekend, the drivers and crews were greeted with cold winds and the threat of rain. Winds hampered speeds during this afternoon’s qualifying sessions, as strong gusts threatened to blow racecars over backwards as the drivers flew off the big jumps found on this track. However, the winds abated substantially by race time, and the rain stayed away until after the races had ended, so conditions were good, albeit surprisingly cool. The racing was good as well, but tonight was certainly eventful, and to find out just how eventful, read on.
Modified Kart
The first event of the evening was Modified Kart, and this one was really a barn burner. The kids always put on a strong show, and tonight, the intensity out on the track was equal to that laid down by the big boys and girls of the Pro classes. After a full restart following some lap one incidents, it was Travis PeCoy who got out to the head of the pack in his #573 FMF/Oakley machine, ahead of Cole Mamer in the #535 TrophyKart/Simpson kart, Isabella Naughton in the #554 Steele Racing/Dirt Princess entry, Darren Hardesty Jr. in the #599 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/ORW kart, and Conner McMullen in the #588 KC HiLites/Ron Davis Racing Radiators truck. Hardesty Jr. got past Naughton for third after moving alongside and through from turn one into turn two on lap two, and with Naughton then spinning at turn three, she dropped out of the top five. Fortunately for Naughton, a full course caution then came out after a major stack-up of karts occurred in the rhythm section between turns three and four. As officials struggled to get the youngsters to file back into the right running order while circulating under yellow flag conditions, the drivers were moved back into the running order they’d been in on the last completed lap, and that put Naughton back in third spot as racing resumed on lap five.
On the restart lap, Brock Heger got his #511 Spy/DASA machine past McMullen for fifth, before the top five settled into a speedy yet steady running order until lap eight. A full course caution then came out after Nathan Barry spun and get stuck at turn three, and after he was quickly cleared, racing got underway once again. On the restart lap, both Hardesty Jr. and Heger quickly got past Naughton in the first half lap, just before another full course caution came out on the next lap following a two-kart crash in turn two. The drivers in the top five held their positions on the restart lap, but on lap 15, Heger got past Hardesty Jr. coming off of turn one, while up front, PeCoy was legging it and starting to pull away from the field. Hardesty Jr. then pulled off and out of the race, a disappointing end to what had been a very strong run for the young driver, and that moved Naughton up to fourth and Christopher Polvoorde into fifth in the #594 Horizon Solar Power Racing/The Palms River Resort entry. Polvoorde got past Naughton for fourth on the penultimate lap, but Naughton got him back on the final lap to finish up fourth, while Polvoorde was fifth. Ahead of these two, Heger put some serious pressure on Mamer over the final two laps, but Mamer was able to hold him at bay, as he wound up second, with Heger taking third. Out front, it was all PeCoy, who led wire to wire in a very strong and impressive run to take the win.
Pro 2 Unlimited
With the addition of action sports stars Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust to this weekend’s Pro 2 Unlimited lineup, there was definitely an extra aura of excitement surrounding this race, but unfortunately, neither of these drivers would have a particularly strong run. Coming into the very first corner, Pastrana dipped his nose too low off the first jump, caught, and rolled hard, ending his race, and forcing a full restart of the race (Pastrana was ok). On that restart, Brian Deegan took the lead in his #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and held it through the end of lap one, while Carl Renezeder, Robby Woods, Bryce Menzies, and Greg Adler followed in hot pursuit. Adler got inside Menzies at turn one to make the pass for fourth on lap two, but the two then joined Woods in going off track to the right coming out of turn three, causing a big shakeup in the running order. All three aforementioned drivers kept their noses straight and merged back into the fray, but at the end of the lap, it was now Jeremy McGrath in third, Rodrigo Ampudia fourth, and Woods fifth in the #99 General Tire/Carlyle by NAPA Chevrolet. Up front, Deegan was already checking out on the rest of the field, looking noticeably quicker than anyone else on track. On lap four, Woods got back by both Ampudia and McGrath to re-take third, and two laps later, Foust then went end for end in turn one to force a full course caution.
Racing resumed on lap eight, but slowed right back down again when Jeff Seifert endoed over the big tabletop out of turn three and went over the left side of the track. Seifert was ok, and racing picked up again on lap 11, with Deegan, Renezeder, Woods, McGrath, and Ampudia still running in the top five. On the restart lap, Patrick Clark got by Ampudia for fifth, before then getting passed by Adler for the same position on the next lap. Clark then bicycled in turn one on lap 13, and an awkward save sent him into an unfortunate, slow tip-over at the wall, forcing yet another full course caution. Once righted, Clark was able to continue, and as racing resumed once again, it was now to be a green-white-checkers run to the finish. On the restart lap, Woods got a lightning quick run, passing Renezeder almost immediately. Woods was alongside Deegan in turn one, but Deegan edged ahead out of the corner and held the lead. Behind this excitement, Adler got past McGrath for fourth, and at the white flag, it was now Deegan, Woods, Renezeder, Adler, and McGrath. The top five then held rank on the final lap, as the win went to a dominant Deegan, with Woods finishing second, Renezeder third in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Nissan, Adler fourth in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Daystar Ford, and McGrath fifth in the #2 Loctite/Magnaflow Chevrolet.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
Up next were the open-wheeled machines of Pro Buggy Unlimited, and straight away, Dave Mason Jr. jumped into the early lead in this one, ahead of Chad George, Bradley Morris, Sterling Cling, and Steve Greinke. Mason Jr. quickly started leaving the rest of the drivers in his dust, while further back, Cling was attacking Morris in the battle for third. On lap three, though, Cling drove in too hard into turn four, ran himself wide, and dropped back a bit into the clutches of Greinke, who then picked him off coming out of turn one on the next lap. Cling then slowed briefly at turn four, which allowed Eric Fitch to bump his way by for fifth spot on lap five. Ahead, the first three drivers all now had noticeable gaps between them, meaning that the first real race down the running order was between Morris and Greinke for third. Greinke got by Morris on lap nine, before he and the rest of the frontrunners then got into lapped traffic on lap 10. Lap 11 saw Fitch fall by the wayside after coming to a stop while coming up the step-up jump, and that forced the race’s only full course yellow.
Garrett George inherited Fitch’s fifth spot, and as racing got underway once again on lap 13, his Garrett’s cousin Chad was now racing hard with Mason Jr. as he made his bid for the lead. After running side by side through turns two, three, and four, George finally nosed ahead of Mason Jr. by the end of the lap, while behind them, some major shuffling had been going on. Greinke still ran in third, but it was now Eddie Tafoya in fourth and Mike Valentine in fifth. Valentine and Kevin McCullough both got by Tafoya on the penultimate lap after Tafoya slowed coming out of turn one, while up ahead, Mason Jr.’s shot at taking back the lead was gone thanks to a flat right rear tire. As Mason Jr. fell backwards down the order (his tire was disintegrating badly), other drivers moved up, and thanks to a rollover by McCullough in turn two, even more shuffling went on. At the line, Chad George was the big winner in his #42 Mickey Thompson/Redline Performance Funco, ahead of Greinke in the #1 SC Fuels/Signpros Racer, Valentine in the #78 Fox Racing Shox/ProAm Alumi Craft, Garrett George in the #71 Performance Utility Supply/Fortin Racing, Inc. Funco, and Morris in the #24 K&N/Maxxis Alumi Craft.
Pro Lite Unlimited
After a top five run in Pro Buggy Unlimited, Bradley Morris was right back it in Pro Lite Unlimited, and he grabbed the lead early in his #24 K&N/Kicker Ford. Brian Deegan ran second in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Sheldon Creed third in the #74 Traxxas/A.M. Ortega Dodge, Myles Cheek fourth in the #57 ThyssenKrupp/Oakley Nissan, and Ryan Beat fifth in the #51 Lunarpages Web Hosting/RetainerFunding.com Dodge. On lap two, Morris appeared to miss a shift coming out of turn one, and Deegan closed right in on him to challenge for the lead. Morris held him off, though, while further back, RJ Anderson got past Beat to move the #37 LoanMart/Walker Evans Racing Nissan up to fifth. Two laps later, Anderson was challenging Cheek for fourth, but the class rookie held off his more experienced rival to maintain the position. Beat then came to a stop out of turn three, which forced a full course yellow, and when racing resumed on lap seven, Anderson did manage to get by Cheek going into turn two. Up front, Morris appeared to miss another shift coming out of turn three, but again, he held off Deegan to keep the lead. On the next lap, Anderson then passed Creed for third at turn two, and though Creed tried to battle back by, Anderson held him off well and kept the position. On the same lap, Justin Smith ended up beached on the inside k-rail at turn two, forcing a full course caution (Smith was towed free and was able to continue).
On the restart lap, Creed continued to fight hard with Anderson in an attempt to get back into third place, and as the two came hot into turn four, there was a good bit of bumping and shoving going on. Just ahead of these two was Deegan, and whether it was all on his own or with a touch of help from the young guys behind, Deegan spun out and dropped well down the running order. Casey Currie got by Creed in the confusion, and at the end of the next lap, it was now Morris, Anderson, Currie in the #2 Monster Energy/Bilstein Jeep, Creed, and Jimmy Fishback in the #48 AVT Inc./General Tire Nissan in the top five. At the head of the field, Morris was well out in front, while behind him, a lot of passing was still going on. Creed picked off Currie for third on lap 14, then got Anderson for second at turn one on the next lap. Fishback got by Anderson in the next corner, but Anderson got him back in the corner after that, though it was apparent that Anderson wasn’t quite running at full song anymore. Currie got back by Fishback at turn two on lap 16, and with Fishback over-rotating and nearly spinning out, Currie moved clear in the race for fourth. Anderson then slowed coming out of turn three, and quickly dropped out of the top five before parking it just one lap shy of the checkers. This moved Currie to third, Fishback to fourth, and D.J. Noerr to fifth at the white flag, as teammates Morris and Noerr bookended the top five. Unfortunately for that storyline, Noerr then spun at turn two on the final lap, allowing Aaron Daugherty to take that spot in his #23 Racin’ Dirty/General Tire Chevrolet. Up front, Morris was very strong en route to the win, ahead of Creed, Currie, Fishback, and Daugherty.
Pro 4
The final race of the night was Pro 4 Unlimited, and in this one, Eric Barron and his screaming #32 RC10.com/Mickey Thompson Toyota went straight to the front. Behind Barron, Ricky Johnson and the #48 Red Bull/Discount Tire Ford ran second at the end of lap one, with Rob MacCachren third in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Kyle LeDuc fourth in the #99 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford, and Carl Renezeder fifth in the #1 Lucas Oil/General Tire Nissan. On lap two, LeDuc got by MacCachren going into and at turn two to take over third, and by lap four, the top five drivers had already separated themselves from the rest of the pack. On lap five, LeDuc moved up again, passing Johnson at turn two to grab second spot, and one corner later, Renezeder got around MacCachren to move up to fourth. Johnson appeared to have some kind of issue, as he then dropped from third to fifth on the next lap, while up front, LeDuc was quickly closing in on the leader Barron over laps seven and eight. Johnson then pulled into the Hot Pits, which put Greg Adler up into fifth spot in his #10 ProComp/G2 Ford (Johnson re-joined the action one lap down). In the battle for the lead, Renezeder had now closed right in on LeDuc, making it a three-truck battle, until a spin by Renezeder at turn four on lap 10 brought that battle back to a one-on-one between Barron and LeDuc (Renezeder dropped to fourth with his spin, and was now running with only rear wheel drive).
On lap twelve, things got ugly. As Barron and LeDuc exited turn four, the two flew side-by-side off the jump after the corner, and Barron flew to the right side of the track. When he landed, he hit the cushion of dirt at the edge of the track, where the dirt climbs up the k rail towards the catch fence. The awkward landing sent Barron into a violent barrel roll, one which carried him up the face of the tabletop jump at the start/finish line, into the air, and hard onto the tabletop itself. As if the roll hadn’t been bad enough, the truck then burst into a massive fire just seconds later, and fortunately, Barron was able to get clear of fire. Unfortunately, the fire engulfed his truck, and while Barron was taken to the hospital as a precaution, it’s certain that his truck won’t be running in tomorrow night’s race. Barron is reported to be ok, though, and for all of us, that’s the most important thing. Get well soon, Eric; we’re all thinking about you!
The race went to red flag conditions for a good chunk of time, but when racing finally did resume, it was now LeDuc, MacCachren, Renezeder, Adler, and Todd LeDuc in the top five. Renezeder’s lack of 4WD made him an easy target, and he was gobbled up quickly by Adler, Todd LeDuc, and Brandon Bailey as he slipped out of the top five. After that, the top five went unchanged, and a perhaps slightly subdued field took the checkers, with Kyle LeDuc taking the win, ahead of MacCachren, Adler, Todd LeDuc in the #7 Rockstar/LoanMart Toyota, and Bailey in the #72 MavTV/Solar World Ford.
That wraps up the action from this evening. Tomorrow night, we’re gonna do it all over again, and with no racing to worry about for several weeks after tomorrow night, the drivers will definitely be laying it all on the line. Get here early, and check out all the action here in Lake Elsinore, because there’s definitely a lot to see. Gates open to the public at noon, qualifying kicks off the action on track at 1:30, racing begins at 5:30, and Opening Ceremonies is set for 7:30. The first Pro race, Pro 2 Unlimited, is slated to go right after that, and with so much good stuff happening tomorrow, you’ll want to be here to see it all.
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.