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After a great Round 9 under the
lights here at Glen Helen Raceway, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series,
presented by GEICO, came back to do it all again in Round 10. Another gorgeous
evening unfolded in southern California, and with no racing to worry about after
tonight, drivers threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the top step of the
podium. Just about anything that could happen DID HAPPEN, with racecars flying
every which way through the night sky, and, for the most part, landing safely to
the delight of the crowd. Battles between drivers were as close as they've ever
been this season, and those in attendance really got an eyeful tonight. We hope
you were here to see all this for yourself, but if not, here's what
happened.
Modified
Kart
Last night, the young aces of Modified Kart took a turn in
the spotlight that follows Opening Ceremonies; tonight, they switched it up and
got the whole ball rolling as the first class on track. After two attempts at
starts, which ended in multiple crashes, the field managed to make it stick on
the third try, with Bradley Morris grabbing the early lead in his #504
K&N/Tri-State Materials machine. Jerett Brooks ran second in the #527
Synergy Electric Racing/Maxima Racing Oils truck, with Mitchell DeJong third in
the #1 Traxxas/Red Bull kart, Kyle Hart fourth in the #523 GearUp2Go.com/Duncan
Racing entry, and Sheldon Creed fifth (after starting on the last row!) in the
#522 Camburg/ A.M. Ortega kart. DeJong and Hart both got by Brooks on the second
lap to take over second and third spots, but Brooks got Hart back on the
following lap to get back into the top three. Creed was quite a bit less
fortunate on his third lap, as his right rear wheel came right off as he
approached turn five, ending his charge for the evening. This moved Trent
Williams into the top five in his #525 Victory Race Cars/Terrible Herbst
machine, and at the competition yellow, the top five was made up of Morris,
DeJong, Brooks, Hart, and Williams. These drivers held their spots on the
restart, as well as for several successive laps afterwards, until Cole Mamer
finally cracked the top five with just a few laps left in his #535 Full Tilt
Trophy Karts/Simpson truck. On the final lap, Mitch Guthrie Jr. grabbed that
fifth spot from Mamer, while up front, Morris was driving like a madman to hold
of DeJong. Morris skied it high off the jump into turn two, and managed to keep
the lead through the checkers to get the win, his first of the season. DeJong
followed up yesterday's win with a second place today, and was followed home by
Brooks, Hart, and Guthrie Jr. in the #555 DASA/K&N entry.
Junior 1
Kart
Next up were the Junior 1 Karts, and it was Eliott Watson
who took the early lead in his #203 Lucas Oil/Fox Racing Shox kart, ahead of
Travis PeCoy in the #211 K&N/Hoosier Racing Tires truck, Cole Dexheimer in
the #226 RC10.com/Racer X Motorsports entry, Wolfgang Ries in the #273 McQueen
Prototype Design/ProAm machine, and Broc Dickerson in the #223 Dickerson
Motorsports/KarTek truck. Yesterday's winner Dickerson was on the move early,
picking off Ries, Dexheimer, and PeCoy on successive laps, moving him up from
fifth to second by lap four. At the competition yellow, Watson still led, with
Dickerson hot on his heels, and PeCoy, Dexheimer, and Ries also close behind. On
the restart lap, Ries moved up to fourth after getting by Dexheimer, and on the
penultimate lap, Dickerson got a great drive out of turn two to pull past Watson
and into the lead. From there, Dickerson continued to pull away, and got the win
to make it a clean sweep of the weekend. Watson finished second, with PeCoy
third, Ries fourth, and Dexheimer rounding out the top five.
Junior 2
Kart
The final race on the "short track" this weekend was that
of the Junior 2 Karts, and it was yesterday's winner Myles Cheek who was again
up front today, grabbing the early lead in his #457 CMI/ JamminProducts.com kart
after the first lap. Hailie Deegan ran second in the #438 Metal Mulisha/4 Wheel
Parts machine, with Paige Porter third in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage
Boats truck, Broc Dickerson fourth in the #423 Dickerson Motorsports/Eibach
Springs entry, and Chad Graham fifth in the #410 MavTV/Hart and Huntington
truck. Brock Heger briefly moved up to fifth spot in the early laps, but was
black flagged after causing Graham to spin. This allowed Shelby Anderson to move
up to fourth in her #405 Walker Evans Racing/Anderson's Nu Power kart, with
Dickerson now fifth. By the competition yellow, the running order in the top
five was Cheek, Deegan, Porter, Anderson, and Dickerson, and these young drivers
maintained their positions after the green flag dropped again. After the
restart, Preston Roben moved into fifth and then fourth on laps seven and eight,
while up front, Deegan was now closing on the leader Cheek. On the final lap,
Deegan drove it really deep into turn two in a bid for the lead, but Cheek
managed to hold her off and get the win and make it a sweep for the weekend.
Deegan once again scored her best career finish, this time with a closely-fought
second place, with Porter third, Roben fourth in the #414 DCI Duggins
Construction/RC10.com kart, and Anderson fifth.
UTV
The
SR1 and Unlimited UTVs took to the track next, and it was RJ Anderson who led
the field in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/Kroyer Racing Engines Polaris after
the first lap. Ryan Beat was already second after starting sixth in his #851
Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino SR1, with Code Rahders third in the #816
SuperChips/Black Rhino Yamaha, John Dempsey fourth in the #855 Monster
Energy/FineLineTShirts.com Kawasaki, and Tyler Winbury fifth in the #694 Magnum
Off Road/Deviate Films Kawasaki. The greater power of the SR1 engines helped
propel Beat into the lead on lap two, with Rahders following suit and moving
into second on the next lap. Further back, Dan Kelly had moved into the top five
overall in his #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Maxxis Tires, and was up to fourth by lap
four. Up at the head of the field, Rahders was now putting the pressure on Beat
for the lead, and got by on the outside at turn four to move up to first on lap
five. On the next lap, Kelly moved up again, taking over third overall from
Anderson. At the competition yellow, though, Kelly had gone off the track
briefly, dropping him well down the running order. Meanwhile, Rahders had the
lead, and was followed by Beat, Dempsey, Anderson, and Robert Vanbeekum in the
#664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki. After the restart, Beat re-took the lead
from Rahders, with Vanbeekum charging up to third. Corry Weller was also moving
up, and was now fourth in her #810 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha. Two laps later,
Vanbeekum rolled to a stop in turn five, moving Weller to third, Dempsey to
fourth, and Anderson to fifth. Dempsey then dropped by the wayside on the
penultimate lap, and at race's end, it was Beat who swept the weekend with his
second win in as many nights. Beat got the SR1 and overall wins, with Rahders
and Weller second and third in SR1 and overall. Fourth overall, and tops in
Unlimited UTV was Anderson, Chad George taking second in the class in his #1
Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki, and third going Winbury.
Limited
Buggy
The final race before Opening Ceremonies was the Limited
Buggy race, tonight's race was a special one for sure. Fresh off of his win in
Modified Kart, Bradley Morris took the lead from the drop of the green flag in
his #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft. Dave Mason slotted in second, with Curt
Geer third, Jake Laff fourth, and Geoffrey Cooley fifth. Laff pulled off on the
second lap, moving Quentin Tucker to fourth, ahead of Cooley, who remained
fifth. On the same lap, Mason grabbed the lead from Morris in his #365 SR
Performance/Eleven Western Builders AlumiCraft. Several young drivers were
really making an impression on the field this evening, and the next to do so was
Zac Hunt, who moved up to fifth in his #334 Speed Energy/Concrete Coring Company
AlumiCraft. Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was still on, and Morris grabbed
the lead back after driving inside of Mason at turn three on lap six. Two
corners later, Geer also got by Mason and up to second in his #385 Bowden
Development Inc./BFGoodrich Tires Lothringer. Mason's drop in performance looked
to be due to a flat left rear tire, and at the competition yellow, he pulled
into the hot pits for a change, dropping him well back and moving Cooley up to
fifth in the #322 Competitive Metals/USA Wheel AlumiCraft. The running order was
Morris, Geer, Tucker in the #377 Fox Racing Shox/McKenzies buggy, Hunt, and
Cooley as the field returned to green flag racing, but what appeared to be
multiple flat tires forced Tucker to the hot pits and out of the top five.
Cooley, who'd moved up to fourth on the restart lap, now ran third following
Tucker's misfortune, with Hunt fourth and Bruce Fraley fifth in the #312 Race
Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman's Carpet Service Motorsports Fraley. Hunt then moved
past Cooley with an inside pass out of turn three to move into third, and from
there on in, the top five drivers held their positions. Picking up the big win,
his first in the class and his second of the day was Morris- way to go Bradley!
Second went to Geer, third to Hunt, fourth to Cooley, and fifth to Fraley.
Interesting side note: three of the top four finishers came from the kart ranks;
it seems as though the premonition that these kids would be challenging the
adults for wins is really starting to come true.
Pro 4
Unlimited
After Opening Ceremonies, it was time for Pro 4
Unlimited. Greg Adler, filling in for the injured Travis Coyne in the #5
ProComp/Team Associated Ford, got the jump on the field on the first lap, and
led Adrian Cenni, Rick Huseman, Kent Brascho, and Carl Renezeder after the first
lap. Renezeder quickly moved his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford past Brascho on
lap two, with Kyle LeDuc following suit on the same lap in his #99
Rockstar/Makita Ford. On the next lap, Cenni bicycled in turn five, and was
helped a little further by Huseman, as he went wide and lost two spots to
Huseman and Renezeder. Huseman now ran behind the leader Adler, and only a few
corners later, blew by him on the inside of turn two and into the lead. With
flames spitting from Huseman's exhaust, combined with the crackle of his
screaming, 9800+ rpm engine, his #36 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota was
a sight and sound to behold as he sped away up front, leaving Adler, Renezeder,
Cenni, and LeDuc in a big pack, battling for second. All four drivers barreled
into turn three on lap five, with Renezeder coming away the best as he moved up
to second, ahead of LeDuc, Cenni, and Adler. Two laps later, LeDuc made a
beautiful pass down the inside of Renezeder in the same corner, picking up
second place for his efforts. Behind them, LeDuc's brother Todd was up to fifth
in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and at the competition yellow, it was Huseman,
Kyle LeDuc, Renezeder, Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/Maxxis Tires truck, and
Todd LeDuc in the top five. After the restart, Kyle LeDuc was really starting to
pressure Huseman, but after going wide at turn five, the outside half of his
truck went atop the outside barricade, sending him into a brief rail slide
before he managed to pull himself back down on track. This cost him his second
place, as Renezeder snuck by to pick up the spot, but with Renezeder then
getting pushed wide at turn three, LeDuc had his position right back.
The final five laps were truly
some of the most exciting that this reporter has ever seen. On lap 17, a
near-spin by Kyle LeDuc allowed Renezeder and Cenni by, and as LeDuc tried to
race back by, he and Renezeder touched in mid-air going into turn five. The
contact looked to be sending both into a bad crash, but the two somehow managed
to stick the landing without missing a beat. Two laps later, a half-spin by
Cenni in turn two let Renezeder by, while a fire onboard Todd LeDuc's truck
forced a red flag of the race. Todd was out quickly and ok, and a
green-white-checkers finish was called for. As the trucks prepared to roll out
for the final two laps, Renezeder found himself with a right rear flat, while
Cenni's truck simply refused to re-fire. Sadly, Cenni was towed back to the hot
pits, though he was able to get re-fired and re-join the race, albeit after the
rest of the field had gone back to green. Up front, Renezeder was easy pickings
for Kyle LeDuc, who moved past Renezeder's compromised truck to take over
second. LeDuc then set his sights on Huseman, and did everything he could to put
pressure on the leader. Huseman was too good tonight, though, and kept the lead
all the way to the checkers, making it a clean sweep of the weekend, and scoring
all 103 available points along the way. Kyle LeDuc took second, with Renezeder
hanging on to third, Adler fourth, and Brascho fifth in the #8 K&N/KMC
Wheels Ford.
Pro Buggy
Unlimited
Pro Buggy Unlimited saw some unfortunate faltering
from three of the top points contenders, while the other two took full advantage
of the opportunity they'd been handed. Doug Fortin failed to start the race, and
Steve Greinke was sidelined after only a few laps, while up front, it was Jerry
Whelchel grabbing the early lead in his #5 Select Glass/BFGoodrich Tires
Foddrill. Unfortunately, Whelchel lost a right rear wheel on the second lap,
making him the third points contender to hit bad luck tonight. This gave the
lead to Justin "Bean" Smith in the #19 Competitive Metals/Metal Mulisha
AlumiCraft, with Cody Freeman second in the #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink/Freeman's
Carpet Service Racer, Mike Porter third in the #8 Redline Performance/Speed
Energy AlumiCraft, Malcolm Pointon fourth in the #78 K&N/Southwest
Processors buggy, and Pat Dean fifth in the #21 King Off Road Racing
Shocks/Butch's Speed Shop Tatum. Pointon got spun in turn three on the next lap,
moving Dean to fourth and Brandon Bailey to fifth in the #17 Stronghold
Motorsports/L.A.M.B. Energy AlumiCraft. Bailey then spun on lap four, moving
Eddie Tafoya up to fifth in the #51 Specialty Fasteners/Crower Lothringer. The
field was now spread all around the circuit, and at the competition yellow, it
was Smith, Freeman, Porter, Dean, and Tafoya in the top five. Tafoya got up to
fourth on the restart lap, and after stopping briefly on track, Dean dropped
back to sixth, handing fifth back to Pointon. Dean then recovered from whatever
issue had been slowing him for a few laps, and picked off both Pointon and
Tafoya to move into fourth. Up front, Smith had once again opened up a lead, and
was untouchable on his way to the big win and a nice boost in the points chase.
Freeman finished second, with Porter taking another strong podium in third for
some nice points. Fourth and fifth were taken by Dean and Tafoya.
Pro Lite
Unlimited
What a thrilling race it was tonight in Pro Lite
Unlimited! Cameron Steele started from pole in the #16 Yokohama Tires/Stronghold
Motorsports Ford, and took the lead from the drop of the green flag. After the
first lap, Steele still led, with Corey Sisler in the #19 BFGoodrich Tires/CBR
Performance Ford, Brian Deegan in the #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, Chris
Brandt in the #82 Aero Motorsports/Oakley Toyota, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36
Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford right behind. Ampudia was having some sort of
difficulty with turn three for a couple of laps, which soon cost him his fifth
place to the #2 Monster Energy/Magnaflow Nissan of Casey Currie. Up front,
Sisler was really hounding Steele for the lead, and it was great to see two
drivers, each with no wins in this class, battling for first place. Just behind,
Brandt had managed to pass Deegan for third, and by the competition yellow, the
running order was Steele, Sisler, Brandt, Deegan, and Currie. After the restart,
the top five was still the same, but Currie soon pulled into the hot pits and
out of the race with an unknown issue. Just afterwards, Brandt suddenly stopped
on track, and combined with Ampudia's losing a right rear wheel and stranding
him in turn three, the race went under full course caution. When the race
resumed, it was then Deegan who dropped by the wayside with a mechanical issue,
leaving the running order of Steele, Sisler, Jimmy Stephensen in the #33
Ironclad Energy/Yokohama Nissan, Matt Cook in the #55 Aero
Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Toyota, and Todd Cunningham in the #6 Mickey
Thompson Tires/Traxxas Chevrolet. In the final few laps, Sisler was still
pouring it on to try and get the lead, but Steele was unbeatable tonight, and
after getting robbed of podium finishes several times this season, Steele made
his first trip to the Pro Lite Unlimited box a good one as he grabbed his first
win in the category, much to the delight of a throng of supporters who greeted
him and cheered when he stepped onto the podium. While being interviewed, Steele
admitted to the great difficulty he'd faced in losing his good friend Jeff "Ox"
Kargola this spring, and how tough it'd been for him to return to racing-
hopefully this is the start of better days for the man who is such a good friend
to so many in our off-road family; congratulations, Cameron! Sisler picked up
second place for the second time in as many nights, with Cook snagging the final
podium spot after just managing to pass Stephensen, who suffered a complete
failure, and subsequent destruction, of his right front suspension on the last
lap. Stephensen did pick up fourth, and Cunningham rounded out the top five.
Super
Lite
The penultimate race of the night was the Super Lite
contest, and it was Chad George in the #42 Yokohama/Bull Outdoor Products
machine who rocketed into the lead from the get-go. George was quickly opening a
gap over the field by the end of lap one, leaving Patrick Clark, Austin
Kimbrell, Jacob Person, and Dawson Kirchner to battle it out for the "best of
the rest." These five all stayed in order clear through the competition yellow,
until finally, on the restart lap, Kirchner changed the order by moving up to
fourth in his #16 Torchmate/Speed Technologies truck. Two laps later, Person
then spun entering turn three, dropping him back to ninth, and moving Jessie
Johnson to fifth in the #15 Lowe's/A.M. Ortega entry. The order went unchanged
for a couple more laps, but on the final lap, Kirchner again moved forward,
picking off Kimbrell to grab the final spot on the podium. At race's end, it was
George who was simply un-catchable at the head of the field, as he led
wire-to-wire for his first win of the season in this class. Second went to Clark
and his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels machine for the second night in
a row, with Kirchner rounding out the top three. Fourth went to an
ever-improving Kimbrell in the #88 Xtreme Machine and Fabrication/Fiberwerx
truck, and fifth went to Johnson.
Pro 2
Unlimited
The final race of the weekend was Pro 2 Unlimited.
Starting from pole, Rodrigo Ampudia and his #36 Lucas Oil/Tecate Ford were
leading the field after the first lap, followed by Robby Woods in the #99 Lucas
Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, Brian Deegan in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford,
Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, and Greg Adler in the
#10 4 Wheel Parts/BFGoodrich Tires Ford. On lap two, Rob MacCachren got by Adler
to move into fifth in his #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, and on the
following lap, Woods was slow coming out of turn two, which cost him three spots
to Deegan, Renezeder, and MacCachren. Renezeder slowed just long enough to lose
two spots coming into turn five on lap four, then dropped back to sixth after
nearly spinning between turns one and two on lap seven. Adler re-took fifth spot
here, while up front, Ampudia was holding off a very hard-charging Deegan to
keep the lead. Renezeder managed to get back by Adler with a nice inside pass at
turn four on lap nine, and at the competition yellow, the order was Ampudia,
Deegan, MacCachren, Woods, and Renezeder in the top five. On the restart lap,
MacCachren got by Deegan for second going into and out of turn three, then used
his telltale inside line tactic to get by Ampudia in turn two on the next lap.
MacCachren now led, and looked to be headed for a sweep of the weekend, but on
lap 14, a strange rear end kick coming into turn four sent him end for end, very
uncharacteristic for a driver who this reporter had never seen crash until
tonight. Heads up driving kept Ampudia from getting caught up in the crash, and
he re-took the lead as a full course caution came out. MacCachren was ok and he
was able to continue, but substantial front end damage meant that his pace was
nowhere near what it was. On the restart lap, Deegan, who'd looked like he had a
steering issue while rolling around under yellow, now grabbed the lead after
muscling by Ampudia through turns three and four. All of the top five drivers
came into those turns hot, with Adler coming away well to move into third, ahead
of Renezeder and Woods. Unfortunately for Adler, he was then passed back by both
those guys, and at the white flag, it was Deegan, Ampudia, Renezeder, Woods, and
Adler up front. On the final lap, a much more aggressive Renezeder tried to get
Ampudia going into turn three, but was pushed wide and into the outside barrier.
Ampudia was somewhat caught out here, and Woods was the big benefactor, moving
clear and into second. Up front, Deegan was flying, and some quick blips of the
throttle as he crossed the line meant that he got the big win, his first in this
class- way to go Brian! Second went to Woods, third to Ampudia, fourth to
Renezeder, and fifth to Adler.
That wraps up the action from
here at Glen Helen. Join us again when the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
heads back to Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ for Rounds 11 and 12,
September 24-25. In the meantime, get all the latest news from our series by
logging on to www.lucasoiloffroad.com.
About the Lucas Oil
Off Road Racing Series:
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is
the evolution of the long standing support of short course racing by Forrest
Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course
off road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing
brings intense four wheel door to door action to challenging, fan friendly
tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more
information please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.
Written by Scott Neth for the
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series |
