Wild Horse Pass helps reveal new challengers in Round 2
This winter off season has been one of the most talked about ones in recent memory, as there was a lot of buzz about new drivers, returning drivers, and new vehicles that would all be joining the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, in 2014. While all this has proved very exciting, another surprising change has been the emergence of some lesser-known drivers as new, consistent challengers amongst the frontrunners. Several drivers experienced a new lease on life this weekend, as they found new speed, new consistency, or both, and used these new qualities to carry them to the fray at the heads of their respective fields. No drivers are looking like given winners, and moreover, the competition is looking closer than ever, as more and more drivers have revealed themselves as legitimate threats for real results. All this made Round 2 a great one, so read on to find out how things went down out at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park here in Chandler, AZ.
Junior 2 Kart
The two Junior kart divisions were only scheduled to run one race this weekend, so today was the season debut for these young drivers. Ricky Gutierrez and Connor Barry started out front, but it was Timmy Moran, fastest in this morning’s qualifying, who got the early lead in his #416 Hoosier/Walker Evans Racing kart. Defending class champion Hailie Deegan ran second in the #1 Dirt Princess/4 Wheel Parts machine, with Bryce McDaniel third in the #425 B2 Lights Out Racing/JH Sims Trucking Co., Inc. entry, Barry fourth in the #428 CBR Performance Products/Racer X Motorsports truck, and Dylan Plemons fifth in the #424 Deegan 38/BND Performance entry. Moran and Deegan pulled out a bit of a gap over the rest of the field early on, but by laps four and five, McDaniel started to reel these two back in from third spot. A bit further back, Alyssa Fortin had been consistently running the low line at the either/or, while those ahead were all running the high line, and just at the end of lap five, she nosed ahead of Plemons and up to fifth, just as the Competition Yellow came out. The order was now Moran, Deegan, McDaniel, Barry, and Fortin in the top five as the race was set to go green once again, and Plemons was eager to get his fifth spot back. Plemons got a great jump on the restart, and was quickly moving forward, only to have his push ended when a rollover by Mason Prater in turn one forced a full course caution. A very awkward restart followed, and some heads up driving by some drivers further down the order helped the order up front to change dramatically. The whole field got bunched up, and a late throw of the green flag meant that those who were ready got some great runs into turn one. Out of turn two, it was now Deegan out front, with Moran second, Fortin third in the #496 Fortin Racing, Inc./Eibach Springs machine, McDaniel fourth, and Plemons fifth. From there, the top five held their positions, and Deegan, as her dad did yesterday in Pro Lite Unlimited, started her championship defense off with a win. Moran was second, Fortin third, McDaniel fourth, and Plemons fifth.
Junior 1 Kart
Next up were the littlest drivers in the series: the Junior 1 Karts. Madix Bailey got the early lead in his #217 MavTV/Stronghold Engineering machine, ahead of Luke Knupp, Mason Prater, Nicholas Plemons, and Kali Kinsman in the #236 Pink Motorsports/RC10.com truck. Plemons ran wide at turn four on lap two, which allowed Kinsman to get past on the inside and up to fourth spot, and two laps later, Bronson Chiaramonte got by Plemons as well, just ahead of the Competition Yellow. On the restart lap, Plemons got back by Chiaramonte to re-take fifth out of turn two, and shorty afterwards, a full course caution was thrown to allow track crews to clear a kart that had gotten tangled up and rolled over on the restart. Once the kart was cleared and racing resumed, it would be a green-white-checkers run to the finish, and over the final pair of laps, the running order in the top five stayed the same. Bailey led wire to wire to take the first win of the season, ahead of Knupp in the #254 Hostyle/CPR Plus entry, Prater in the #205 BRT Signs/Kevin McMullen Fabrication & Transaxles truck, Kinsman, and Chiaramonte in the #274 OGG Motorsports/A.M. Ortega kart.*Editor’s Note: At the time of this writing, the results from this class were still under review.
Modified Kart
The final race of the weekend on the “kids” track was Modified Kart, and these little monsters put on one heck of a race! Travis PeCoy rocketed out to the lead from the drop of the green flag in his #573 FMF/Oakley truck, with Darren Hardesty moving into second in the #599 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Off Road Warehouse kart, Cole Mamer third in the #535 Trophy Kart/Simpson machine, Jeff Hoffman fourth in the #547 Specialty Race Products/Sunoco Race Fuels entry, and Eliott Watson fifth in the #503 Kar Tek Off Road/Fox Racing Shox truck. Watson then stopped going into turn two, leaving those behind to stack up into a traffic jam with nowhere to go, and opening the door for Parker Steele to move up to fifth up in the high line. The top five then held their positions for a couple of laps, but on lap five, Mamer got by Hardesty for second out of turn two after dogging him hard for a little while. At the Competition Yellow, it was still PeCoy in the lead, followed by Mamer, Hardesty, Hoffman, and Steele in the #505 Northland Motorsports/Martori Farms machine in the top five. “Hot Sauce” Hardesty got a great jump on the restart, but still somehow dropped back two spots within the first couple of corners, as both Hoffman and Steele moved past and up to third and fourth places, respectively. Just afterwards, Mamer picked up the lead after passing PeCoy, and stayed out front through the white flag, now with PeCoy, Hoffman, Steele, and Hardesty behind him in the top five. On the final lap, Steele dove inside Hoffman for third into turn two. Steele nosed ahead, and while Hoffman tried to hang with him, Hoffman caught a rut and rolled hard. Steele then spun out in the next corner, and at the end of the lap, it was now Mamer, PeCoy, Hardesty, Brock Heger, and Christopher Polvoorde in the top five. Many thought the race was over, but officials had thrown a full course yellow, so it would now be a green/white-checkers, one-lap race to the finish. On the restart, PeCoy and Hardesty got tangled up in turn one, dropping both drivers well back in the order, and another incident further back in the order at turn four helped make the last lap an ugly one. Nevertheless, it was Mamer who got the win to sweep the weekend, ahead of Heger in the #511 Spy/DASA kart, Polvoorde in the #594 Horizon Solar Power Racing/The Palms River Resort machine, Ronnie Anderson in the #520 Walker Evans Racing/FK Rod Ends kart, and Isabella Naughton in the #554 Dirt Princess entry.
Pro 2 Unlimited
The Pro 2 Unlimited race was a very exciting one, and after doing severe rear suspension to his all-new truck yesterday, Bryce Menzies took his backup truck right to the front today. Menzies and the #7 Red Bull/Discount Tire Ford led the way after lap one, ahead of Brian Deegan in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, RJ Anderson in the #37 Polaris RZR/Monster Energy Ford, Rob MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Nissan. On lap two, MacCachren somewhat forced Anderson up to the high line at the either/or, and then used the low line himself to make the pass up to third spot. Lap five saw a full course caution, as the right front tire and wheel came off of Mike Porter’s truck. Racing resumed at the end of the lap, and on the next lap, Renezeder forced Anderson hard up into the upper bank as the two ran down the low line at the either/or; Renezeder moved through and up to fourth as a result. The race was getting pretty rough up and down the field, and the resulting debris forced a full course caution on lap nine. Racing picked up again at the end of the next lap, with Menzies, Deegan, MacCachren, Renezeder, and Anderson holding the top five spots.
Renezeder got a great jump on the restart, but wasn’t able to turn that into anything. Anderson did make something happen, though, as he got back by both Renezeder and MacCachren after MacCachren was a bit slow starting into the low line at the either/or coming out of turn four. MacCachren held Renezeder up, and Anderson streaked around the high line to jump from fifth to third, just ahead of another full course caution (Rodrigo Ampudia was stopped between turns one and two). The green flag came back out at the end of lap 12, and despite a couple of strong attacks by MacCachren, Anderson held on to his third place on the restart lap. Renezeder, however, then got by them both after the three went three-wide over the big ski jump out of turn two on the next lap. Further debris forced yet another full course yellow at the end of the lap, and under yellow, MacCachren jumped into the Hot Pits for what was likely a flat tire. Robby Woods inherited MacCachren’s fifth place, and on the restart lap, he picked off Anderson on the high line as Anderson got pretty out of shape down on the low line. Three laps later, Renezeder was now really making a race of it for second with Deegan. The two traded places twice between turns one and two, but Renezeder then made the pass stick coming out of turn two. Meanwhile, Menzies had more or less checked out up front, as he sped home to take a commanding win in his team’s first weekend since returning to the series full time this year. Renezeder had a solid second place in an all-new truck, Deegan was third, Woods was fourth, and after Anderson spun at turn two, it was Myan Spaccarelli in the #12 Tonka Off-Road /Amsoil Chevrolet who picked up fifth.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
Yesterday’s winner Garrett George was a little off the pace in today’s qualifying session, but his cousin Chad was able to start near the front, and he was the one who jumped out to the early lead in this one. Behind George, Eric Fitch ran in second, with Dave Mason Jr. third, Mike Valentine fourth, and Steve Greinke fifth. On lap two, Bradley Morris got by Greinke for fifth coming out of turn two, and going into turn four, Morris then got Valentine to move up to fourth. Up front, George was quickly streaking away in his #42 Mickey Thompson/Redline Performance Funco, but that lead shrank right back to nil after a spin off the first tabletop after the start/finish line by Larry Job forced a full course caution. On the restart, George missed a shift and was quickly passed by both Fitch and Morris, who moved into first and second, respectively. George got back by Morris out of turn three, but after another full course yellow (Brandon Blyth had come to a stop in turn two), Morris passed George again out of turn one on the restart. Just behind, Kevin McCullough got by Valentine for fifth coming out of turn two, and after that, the top five held their positions all the way until lap 15. That lap saw yet another full course yellow, as Dillon Ayers had a hard rollover on the same tabletop where Job had spun out and gone off track earlier. While the crews cleared Ayers’ car from the track, a heart-breaking failure hit the leader Fitch, as his alternator belt came off, ending what was doubtless his best run so far in the #97 Parts On A Shelf/VP Racing Fuels Racer. Morris inherited the lead in his #24 Maxxis/K&N Alumi Craft as Fitch’s car was towed off, and when racing resumed, Morris wasn’t about to throw away such a gift. Morris sprinted home over the final pair of laps to take the win, with George taking another second place (backing up the one he got yesterday), and Mason Jr. rounding out the podium in his #65 Loan Mart/B&R Buggie Alumi Craft. McCullough was fourth in the #62 ProAm/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill, and fifth was Greinke in the #1 SC Fuels/Fox Racing Shox Racer.
Pro Lite Unlimited
A surprisingly subdued Pro Lite Unlimited race yesterday was followed up by one that was even more so today. Sheldon Creed got out to the lead right away in his #74 Traxxas/BFGoodrich Tires Dodge, ahead of Justin “Bean” Smith in the #19 Competitive Metals/Impact Ford, RJ Anderson in the #37 Loan Mart/Walker Evans Racing Nissan, Bradley Morris in the #24 K&N/Kicker Ford, and Myles Cheek in the #57 ThyssenKrupp Materials NA/CMI Nissan. Right away, the battle for the lead was on between Creed and Smith, and by lap four, a slow exit off turn one by Creed allowed Smith to pull right alongside up the fast straight up to turn two. Creed nosed back ahead, though, and on the next lap, a dangerous piece of debris up in turn two meant that a full course yellow had to be thrown. The top five was still the same as the field returned to green flag racing, but on the restart lap, Casey Currie got by Cheek for fifth on the outside out of turn two. Three laps later, Smith pulled right up on Creed’s back bumper once again, and just behind, Anderson and Morris were tacking right onto the train in their own battle for third. All four trucks were running virtually nose-to-tail, but young Creed drove masterfully, with calmness and consistency well beyond his years, as he held off all the pressure to back up his third place finish yesterday with a win today. Smith also improved on yesterday’s result, as he picked up second place today, and Anderson picked up third to take the final step on the podium. A trio of errors in the last two laps ended Morris’ charge for a podium, but he held on to fourth at the stripe, just ahead of Currie, who took fifth in the #2 Monster Energy/Currie Enterprises Jeep. Pro 4 Unlimited The drivers of Pro 4 Unlimited are making the most of their new, prime placing in the race schedule, and they put on a fantastic race here at Wild Horse Pass this afternoon. Eric Barron was the leader after lap one in his #32 LAT Racing Oils/Ultra X Motorsports Race Wheels Toyota, ahead of Rob MacCachren, Greg Adler, Ricky Johnson, and Todd LeDuc. On lap three, class newcomer Doug Fortin got by LeDuc after the two hit door-to-door coming out of turn one on lap three, while out front, a lap one spin out by Carl Renezeder, which also collected Kyle LeDuc, left Barron wide open in the lead. Behind him, Ricky Johnson was really battling Adler on lap four, and using the high line in the either/or section, Johnson made the pass to take over third spot. On the next lap, a full course caution was thrown due to on-track debris, and as the field re-grouped under yellow, it became apparent that Fortin now had a left rear flat. The issue hadn’t seemed to hamper him too badly, and Fortin remained on-track as the green flag re-emerged. On the restart lap, MacCachren hit Barron hard door-to-door as the two flew into turn two, but Barron held the lead after the hit. Further back, Fortin passed Adler early in the lap, and Adler then fell victim to Brandon Bailey later in the lap. Bailey then got squirrelly out of turn one on lap nine, and collected Kyle LeDuc in the process. LeDuc’s truck was severely slowed by the subsequent damage, and Bailey dropped out of the top five. A few corners later, MacCachren nosed ahead of Barron out of turn three, and as the two sped into turn four, Barron appeared to lose control, and suddenly speared off at the Hot Pits entrance. Barron hadn’t looked to have an issue, but he must have had one, as his trip through the Hot Pits wasn’t slow enough to have been a simple error. MacCachren now ran in the clear out front in his #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, ahead of Johnson in the #48 Red Bull/GoPro Ford, Fortin in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Tilton Toyota, Todd LeDuc in the #7 Rockstar/Loan Mart Toyota, and Adler in the #10 ProComp/G2 Ford.
Two laps later, while appearing to have the race all to himself, a sudden major mechanical issue forced MacCachren to the infield just out of turn five, and his race was run. Johnson inherited the lead, and with Fortin then being forced into the Hot Pits after his flat tire had become serious enough to cause him to spin at turn two, it was now Todd LeDuc in second, Adler in third, Jerry Daugherty in fourth in the #23 E3 Spark Plugs/General Tire Chevrolet, and Bailey in fifth in the #72 MavTV/Motive Gear Ford. On lap 15, LeDuc then slowed coming out of turn one, and as a danger on track, he brought out a full course caution. The field bunched back up under yellow, and now it was Bailey with a flat, his on the right front. It was now Johnson, Adler, Daugherty, Renezeder in the #1 Lucas Oil/General Tire Nissan, and Bailey in the top five as the race went back to green, and for the most part, it looked like the order stayed that way over the final couple of laps. However, at the line, it was Fortin who was given fifth, as Bailey received a DNF, despite completing more laps than Fortin. Up front, Johnson got a big win on his return weekend in the series, ahead of Adler, Daugherty, Renezeder, and Fortin.
The first weekend of racing for 2014 is now in the books for Lucas Oil Off Road, but this is only the beginning. In just five weeks’ time, Rounds 3 and 4 will be here, as the series heads due west to the friendly confines of Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in southern California. So far, few classes seem to have a clear cut leader, so things are looking exciting for a year field with close racing amongst a myriad top drivers. Join us April 25-26 for the first night races of the season; Lake Elsinore’s challenging truck should prove that much more exciting under the lights!
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.