Media Coverage by Lucas Oil Media, Photos by Ryan Torres @ www.ryantorresphotography.com
After a thrilling debut night in Round 9 here at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series returned to do it all over again in Round 10. With another sellout, standing room only crowd enjoying great weather and a great atmosphere under the lights, the stage was set for another great night at the races, and the drivers didn’t disappoint. Action came thick and fast all night, so if you missed anything while you were here, or if you just couldn’t make it out in person, here’s how the events unfolded.
Junior 2 Kart
Jerett Brooks attempts to pass Trenton Briley and rolls 8 times at the start finsh line during the Modified Kart race.
The Junior 2 Karts represent the middle step on the off-road kart ladder, and these boys and girls were the first ones out on the track for Round 10. Yesterday’s top two finishers, Chad Graham in the #410 Hart and Huntington/Liquid Graphics machine and Sheldon Creed in the #422 A.M. Ortega/Fox Racing Shox truck, started alongside one another on the front row. Graham and Creed jumped out to first and second places on lap one, followed by Maxwell Ries in the #474 ProAm/Hoosier kart, Eddie Tafoya Jr. in the #451 Specialty Fasteners/CMI truck, and Jeff Hoffman in the #447 VP machine. Paige Porter moved her #462 Advantage Boats/Redline Performance machine up to fifth on lap two, and was all over Tafoya Jr.’s back bumper for several laps in a bid for fourth spot. Up front, Graham was stretching out a modest lead, and at the competition yellow, he still held the top spot. Creed still ran second, followed by Ries, Tafoya Jr., and Porter. A close bunch up by many of the top runners on the restart led to a big shuffling of the field, and although Graham still led, it was now Tafoya Jr. in second, Porter third, Ries fourth, and Creed fifth. Ries and Creed then got together and dropped to sixth and seventh, promoting Hoffman to fourth and Shelby Anderson to fifth in the #405 Walker Evans Racing machine. Porter passed Tafoya Jr. for second in the closing laps, while up front, it was Graham who took a wire-to-wire win to make it back-to-back wins this weekend. Graham got the fast lap of the race as well, a 32.538 in the closing laps. Porter finished second, followed by Tafoya Jr., Hoffman, and Jeremy Davis, who snuck his #485 Green Army kart into fifth on the final lap.
Junior 1 Kart
The “beginner” rung of off-road karts, the Junior 1s, were up next, and it was Riley Herbst in the #219 Terrible Herbst/Victory Race Cars machine who started next to Preston Roben in the #210 DCI Duggins Construction/Hoosier kart on the front row. Herbst led the field at the end of lap one, with Brock Heger second in the #212 Brock Heger Racing/Patrick’s High Performance Graphix truck in second, Cole Mamer third in the #235 Racepak/4X4 Unlimited Motorsports kart, Roben fourth, and Dylan Winbury fifth in the #299 Wagon Burners Racing machine. Herbst got shuffled back to fourth in the early laps, promoting Heger to the lead. Second-placed Mamer then got caught out by lapped traffic and spun out. As the drivers behind him scattered around the issue, there was of course a shakeup in the order. Heger still led, followed by Roben, Dean Duro in the #222 San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/mavTV machine, Herbst, and Winbury.
As Heger sat up front and clear of the chaos behind, it was Duro and Herbst right in the middle of the storm, banging doors all the way around the track in the battle for third. Herbst eventually got the position, and Duro soon afterwards, taking him out of the running for a top finish. The competition yellow then came out, with Roben really hounding Heger for the lead, followed by Herbst, Winbury, and Jack Yeiser in the #244 RC10.com truck. Heger and Roben stayed close after the restart, and now there was a second battle between Herbst and Winbury for third. Although Winbury eventually fell back to the clutches of Yeiser, Heger and Roben were side by side in their battle as the white flag waved. Heger held tough on the final lap, taking the win ahead of Roben. Herbst finished third, and Yeiser passed Winbury to take fourth on the final lap, with Winbury finishing fifth. Yeiser, who often seems to sneak in at least one killer lap in each race, did so again today to take fast lap with a 34.506.
UTV
Austin Kimbrell on the table top before entering turn 2 during the UTV race.
First out onto the full length track were the UTVs, and it was an all-Kawasaki front row at the start, with Robert Vanbeekum in the #664 XMF/Muzzys machine on the inside and Chad George in the #642 Monster Energy/Beard Seats ride on the outside. Vanbeekum took the lead on the opening lap, with George right behind in second, Code Rahders third in the #816 Frostyburger/AlumiCraft Yamaha, Tyler Winbury fourth in the #694 Funco/King Shocks Kawasaki, and Doug Mittag fifth in the #848 North County Yamaha/Custom Off Road Designs Yamaha. Funco teammates Winbury and George both moved forward, with Winbury getting up to third on lap two, and George taking the lead on lap three. Vanbeekum wasn’t giving the lead up without a fight, however, and he raced side by side with George through all of lap four, before finally re-taking the lead at the end of the lap. Further back, yesterday’s winner Austin Kimbrell moved up to fifth in the #607 Monster Energy/UTVUnderground.com Kawasaki.
Up front, the battle was still on between Vanbeekum and George, and George re-took the lead shortly before the competition yellow. Winbury then crashed onto his side in turn three, and as the competition yellow came out, George still led, followed by Vanbeekum, Kimbrell (who took the Unlimited UTV fast lap at a 51.629 just before the competition yellow), Rahders, and Tyler Herzog in the #877 Ivy Trucking and Grading/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Yamaha. Herzog picked up two positions on the restart lap, but Kimbrell was quick to take back his third spot. In the battle for the lead, George was now able to pull away from Vanbeekum, and with one lap to go, he still held the lead. Vanbeekum sat in second, with Kimbrell third, Herzog fourth, and Rahders fifth. Rahders went off the track with only one turn to go, and although he finished the race, it was Mittag who grabbed his fifth place finish. Up front, George picked up the win, followed by Vanbeekum, SR1 winner Herzog, and Kimbrell. Mittag was second in SR1, with Dan Kelly rounding out the class podium in his #824 Muzzys Yamaha. Mittag had actually been running Rahders down in the closing laps, and his speed also netted him the overall UTV fast lap, a 51.507.
Limited Buggy
Justin "Bean" Smith manages to stick this landing during the Limited Buggy race.
With 22 entries, Limited Buggy had the biggest field of the day, and it was Justin Smith in the #319 Bully Dog/Blanco Basura Fraley who took the lead in the early going, followed by Geoffrey Cooley, Dave Mason, John Fitzgerald, and Kevin McCullough. Fitzgerald quickly moved his #314 Hart and Huntington/Simpson buggy past Mason, but found Cooley and the #322 PB Plumbing/Competitive Metals AlumiCraft a more difficult challenge. As Fitzgerald did his best to get by Cooley, Smith was pulling away up front, and by the competition yellow, he had a comfortable margin over the rest of the field. Fitzgerald had managed to get past Cooley, and these two were now second and third, with Mason fourth in the #365 King Shocks/McKenzies AlumiCraft, and McCullough fifth in the #389 Gear One/Jimenez Racing Engines buggy. After the restart, Cooley re-took second spot from Fitzgerald, and as Fitzgerald attempted to grab the position back, he and Cooley got hooked together in turn two, which gave Cooley a left rear flat tire. Fitzgerald was handed a black flag for the incident, and with he and Cooley now both out of the top five, the running order was Smith, Mason, Bruce Fraley (who’d managed to come all the way back through the field after getting black flagged early in the race), McCullough, Kyle Lucas in the #325 Lucas Oil/Goodyear machine. A car then went over the outside of the big jump between turns one and two, forcing a full course caution, and on the restart lap, Fraley moved his #312 Freeman’s Carpet Service/Dave Folts Transmissions Fraley up to second. On the final lap, Fitzgerald managed to sneak back up to fifth, where he finished behind the winner, Smith, second-placed Fraley, third-placed Mason, and fourth-placed McCullough. Smith doubled up in the fast lap department this weekend, taking it again today with a 51.251.
Geoffery Cooley in the air during the Limited Buggy Race.
Modified Kart
The top tier of off-road karting got to enjoy another big race in front of a quickly swelling crowd, and last night’s top two finishers, Mitchell DeJong and Zach Hunt, started side by side on the front row for tonight’s race. DeJong edged his #524 Speed Technologies/Kartek machine ahead of Hunt’s #534 Creative Fabrication and Design, Inc./King Shocks kart on the opening lap, with Trenton Briley third in the #507 Pole Position Raceway/Kal Gard truck. In fourth it was Connor Pankratz in the #511 Dickerson Motorsports/Fiberwerx kart, and Blake Lenk sat in fifth in the #521 Missing Lenk Motorsports/Racin’ Dirty machine. Some stricken vehicles on the track quickly led to a full course caution, and when action resumed, the top five drivers held their positions. Lenk then moved up to fourth, with Sheldon Creed now fifth in the #522 The Fab School/Patrick’s High Performance Graphix machine. Up front, DeJong and Hunt were checking out, and Hunt charged like a madman through the rhythm section and swung beautifully into turn three to take the lead from DeJong and hold it. Creed was also on a charge, taking over fourth before the competition yellow, with Jerett Brooks now fifth in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Simpson truck. After the restart, Creed moved up to third, and was all over DeJong’s back bumper in a new battle for second. The top three drivers were nose to tail, and the hard-charging Creed reeled off the fast lap of the race at a 33.185 on his way to picking up yet another spot, muscling his way past DeJong to take over second. Hunt had managed to pull away as Creed and DeJong were battling, and he stayed clear to take a well-deserved win. Second went to Creed, with third going to DeJong, fourth to Bradley Morris in the #504 K&N Filters/BME Motorsports machine, and fifth to Briley.
Pro 4 Unlimited
Adrien Cenni in front of a sell out crowd during the Pro 4 race.
After opening ceremonies, it was back to racing action with the big dogs of Pro 4 Unlimited. The #3 LAT Racing Oil/KMC Wheels Chevrolet of Eric Barron was next to the #22 Hart and Huntington/Grenade Ford of Josh Merrell on the front row for the start, and Barron took advantage of his good starting position to lead the field past the stripe at the end of lap one. In second it was Kyle LeDuc in the #99 Makita/Toyo Tires Ford, followed by Merrell, Kent Brascho in the #8 BFGoodrich Tires/Lucas Oil Chevrolet, and Rick Huseman in the #36 Traxxas/Monster Energy Toyota. Last night’s top battlers LeDuc and Huseman were up to first and second by lap two, with Adrian Cenni up to third and Mike Johnson into fifth on lap three. Johnson then moved up to fourth in the #31 K&N Filters/Ironclad Ford, with Travis Coyne fifth in the #5 Pro Comp/Team Associated Ford, just as a rollover by Merrell in turn five brought out a full course caution. Under caution, Huseman ducked into the pits to change a deflating tire, and as he re-joined in last place. After the restart lap, the running order in the top five was LeDuc, Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/King Shocks Chevrolet, Johnson, Carl Renezeder in the #1 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, and Coyne. Cenni then slowed with an apparent overheating issue, and with Renezeder charging past Johnson in the rhythm section between turns two and three, it was now LeDuc, Renezeder, Johnson, Huseman, and Coyne at the competition yellow. Coyne ducked into the pits under yellow with a flat tire, and on the restart lap, Curt LeDuc rolled in turn three to bring out another full course yellow. Once green waved again, Huseman just managed to sneak by Johnson, but Johnson got into Huseman in turn four and spun him out, dropping Huseman to last and drawing a black flag for Johnson. Up front, LeDuc and Renezeder were well clear in a great battle for the lead, until a rollover by John Harrah in turn four yielded yet another full course caution. As green came back out and the race was winding to an end, and the battle for the lead really heated up. Renezeder got alongside LeDuc through the rhythm section between turns two and three, and dove inside in turn three to grab the lead. Renezeder’s lead was short-lived, however, as he rolled just two turns later, within sight of the white flag. This left Kyle LeDuc clear to take the win at his “home track” (he lives in nearby Cherry Valley), and an elated LeDuc wowed the crowd with a spectacular set of donuts as he celebrated his victory. Second went to a resilient Huseman, who’d been bounced around the field like a pinball throughout the race. Third was Brascho, who finally had some luck come his way after showing good speed many times this season. Fourth place was Johnson, and rounding out the top five was Barron. An unlucky Renezeder did manage to snag the fastest lap of the race with a 44.334, the only driver in any class to break the 45-second barrier tonight.
Rick Huesseman and Kyle Le Duc cross get the checkered flag during the Pro 4 Unlimited race.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
The veritable bee hive that is a field of 20 Pro Buggy Unlimiteds was next up, with Phil Bollman in the #965 Toyo Tires/PB Racing AlumiCraft and Larry Job in the #907 Bully Dog/Rusty AlumiCraft starting up front. Job led the field across the strap at the end of lap one, and was followed by Doug Fortin in the #996 Fortin Racing, Inc./Custom Decals Racer, Steven Greinke in the #923 SC Fuels Racer, Cameron Steele in the #916 Metal Mulisha/Super Clean AlumiCraft, and Bollman. Kyle LeDuc, driving Mike Porter’s car, moved up to fifth in the #900 Rockstar/Redline Performance AlumiCraft after a few laps, while up front, Fortin was closing in on the leader Job. A full course yellow was brought out following a rollover in turn five, and after the restart, Fortin finally managed to get alongside Job in his bid for the lead. Unfortunately for Fortin, he went to low in turn two and half spun, dropping him down to fourth. Steele then hit trouble and pulled off the track, and as the competition yellow waved, the running order was now Job, Greinke, Fortin, Jerry Whelchel in the #901 BFGoodrich Tires/ProAm Foddrill, and Justin Davis in the #985 Green Army/Gatorwraps.com Racer. After the restart, Cody Freeman jumped up to fifth in the #994 Wik’s Racing Engines/FCS Flooring Racer, while further forward, Fortin was really hounding Greinke in an effort to get back to the front of the pack. As Greinke and Fortin battled away, Job was free to fly clear, and he went on to take the win. Greinke used every inch of the track when he needed to, and he managed to hold off Fortin to take second. Fortin finished third, with Whelchel taking fourth (his first finish outside the top two since joining the class in Round 5 this season), and LeDuc rounding out the top five.
Super Lite
The Mazda Speed rotary engine-powered Super Lites were up next, and Dawson Kirchner got around both front row starters (Chad Leising and Brandon Ward) to take the lead on the opening lap in his #16 Speed Technologies/Exotic Engines truck. Ward followed in second in the #92 Troy Lee Designs/MoTec machine, with Leising third in the #17 General Tire/Hart and Huntington entry, Chad George fourth in the #42 Bull Outdoor Products Inc./Funco truck, and Jeremy Stenberg in the #88 Rockstar/Maxxis Tires machine. Stenberg, George, Ricky James, Leising, and CJ Greaves briefly engaged in a 5-way battle for third, and after the drivers had settled into place and James pulled off the track with a broken truck, it was still Kirchner and Ward in first and second, with Stenberg third, George fourth, and Greaves fifth in the #33 Monster Energy/Traxxas entry. Ward then seemed to lose a little pace, as Stenberg, George, Greaves, and Jeff Kargola all got around him to take over second through fifth positions. George also seemed to lose a little pace, dropping two spots before pulling off the truck under the competition yellow. At this point, Kirchner was still the leader, and he was now chased by Stenberg, Greaves, Kargola in the #2 General Tire/Lost machine, and Leising. After the restart, a pile-up in turn four forced the top four drivers into new spots, with Stenberg now the leader, Kargola second, Kirchner third, Greaves fourth, and Leising still fifth. Kirchner then bicycled in turn four, handing third to Greaves. Up front, the all-Metal Mulisha battle for the lead between Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg and Jeff “Ox” Kargola was really getting the attention of the crowd. Kargola made several good runs on Stenberg, but Stenberg was able to shut the door every time. Greaves was sitting patiently in third, waiting for a chance to pounce, and the chance came on the final lap. Kargola stuttered in turn four, and Greaves got by on the outside to take over second spot. First was one spot too many for Greaves, however, as Stenberg stayed clean to take the win. Greaves came home second, with Kargola third, Kirchner fourth, and Leising fifth.
Pro Lite Unlimited
Corey Sisler clears the table top to enter turn 2 along side Jimmy Stephenson in the Pro Lite race.
The penultimate race of the night would be that of the Pro Lite Unlimiteds, and front row starters Sean Geiser (#16 ReadyLift/Bully Dog Toyota) and John Beyer (#28 FNTech/Makita Toyota) ran in first and second at the end of lap one. In third was last night’s winner Marty Hart in the #15 Lucas Oil/LAMB Energy Ford, with Matt Loiodice fourth in the #20 MasterCraft Safety/BFGoodrich Tires Ford, and Javier Sacio fifth in the #35 Life Gear/Motul Nissan. Hart quickly jumped up to second, with Chris Brandt now up to fifth in the #82 Hart and Huntington/mavTV Toyota. A smoking flash fire onboard Corey Sisler’s machine brought out a full course yellow, and although Sisler was able to continue, he did drop two laps to the rest of the field. After the restart, Geiser clipped the k-rail on the outside turn two, rolling him onto his side and dropping him to the back of the pack. This brought out another full course caution, and when green flag racing resumed, Brandt was able to move up to third. At the competition yellow, Hart was up front, with Loiodice second, Brandt third, Adam Wik fourth in the #11 LAT Racing Oil/King Shocks Chevrolet, and Beyer fifth. After the restart, action resumed and the top five spread out slightly. Loiodice then threw it a little bit too sideways off the first jump, and he spun to the inside of the track coming out of turn one. He re-joined a few spots worse for wear, but the spun himself around the nose of Wik as Wik tried to pass and Loiodice tried to shut the door on him. After all this, order was restored, and at the white flag, Hart still led, followed by Brandt, Beyer, Wik, and Aaron Daugherty in the #23 Racin’ Dirty/Toyo Tires Ford. Brandt got a great run out of turn four and into turn five on the final lap, getting alongside Hart and nearly taking him on the line, but Hart had just enough of an edge to hold on for the win. Brandt finished second, and did manage the fastest lap for the second night in a row, this time setting it at a 48.185. Beyer rounded out the podium, with Wik finishing fourth and Daugherty fifth.
Pro 2 Unlimited
Greg Adler leads Mike Johnson toward towards the start-finish line during the Pro 2 Unlimited Race.
As the announcers starting talking about “the final race of the weekend,” they had the crowd giddy with anticipation, and as the Pro 2 Unlimiteds rolled out on track, the excitement seemed almost palpable. Robbie Pierce had his #30 MasterCraft Safety/Rockstar Ford starting alongside the #9 E3 Spark Plugs/JMRmfg.com Chevrolet of Kevin Probst on the front row. On the opening lap, several drivers were banging and shoving near the front of the pack, and someone got into the back of Pierce and sent him for a ride. Pierce endured a tremendous rollover through the rhythm section between turns two and three, which brought out a full red flag of the race as emergency crews attended to Pierce. Pierce was taken away by an ambulance, but was coherent according to his crew. With the wreckage cleared and Pierce in good hands, the race was full re-started.
Jeff Geiser took the lead in his #44 Canidae/Geiser Bros Chevrolet, with Rob MacCachren second in the #21 BFGoodrich Tires/KCHiLites Ford, Mike Johnson third in the #31 Method Race Wheels/Alpinestars Ford, Bryce Menzies fourth in the #7 Bully Dog/O’Neill Ford, and Todd LeDuc fifth in the #8 Rockstar/Circle K Ford. MacCachren got the lead from Geiser, and with Johnson, Menzies, and LeDuc piling into one another in
Carl Renezeder heats up his brakes during the Pro 2 Unlimited Race.
turn three, it was now Ricky Johnson in third in the #48 Traxxas/Red Bull Ford, with Menzies fourth and Carl Renezeder fifth in the #17 General Tire/Team Associated Ford. MacCachren quickly pulled away up front, before Ricky Johnson managed to get by Geiser and take over second spot. Geiser still held third, and was doing a great job holding off Menzies for a shot at a podium. Menzies finally managed to get Geiser, though, and as Geiser tried to stay with Menzies, he went a bit wide in turn two, allowing Renezeder to get by as well.
Todd LeDuc jumps towards the finish line during the Pro 2 Unlimited race.
At the competition yellow, it was MacCachren, Ricky Johnson, Menzies, Renezeder, and Geiser in first through fifth. Menzies got by Johnson on the restart lap, and Johnson then pulled to the side of the track and out of the race. Geiser then fell well back in the field, promoting Greg Adler to fourth in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford, and Robert Naughton to fifth in the #54 Maxxis Tires/ReadyLift Ford. Naughton then stopped in turn four, moving Rodrigo Ampudia to fifth in the #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford. Trucks were breaking left and right, and Menzies was the latest victim, pulling off just before the white flag. Up front, MacCachren was well clear as he took his second win of the weekend and his third on the trot, bringing his tally to six on the season (he set fast lap as well, a 45.740). Only six trucks finished the full 20-lap race distance, with Renezeder taking second, Adler third, Ampudia fourth, Mike Johnson fifth, and Dale Dondel sixth in the #11 Racer Engineering Chevrolet.
Carl Renezeder's brakes spark as he enters turn 2 during the Pro 2 Unlimited race.
That’s all from the inaugural LOORRS race weekend here at Glen Helen. Be sure to join us when we resume action for Rounds 11 and 12 at the Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ, September 25-26. Until then stay tuned to lucasoiloffroad.com for the latest happenings in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.