JoeyD23
#utvunderground
Points Contenders Step Forward in Round 3
Lucas Oil Off Road Series Pro-2 & Pro-4 Moving Forward
Racing action resumes this weekend as the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by Geico Powersports, returns to its most familiar track, the Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ. Lying at the northwest corner of Phoenix's urban sprawl, this track is always a great place to come back to, with warm temperatures and soothing breezes almost a guaranteed welcome. The stands were a nice place to be, as fans were again treated to a day of great racing, including some hotly-contested battles in the big truck classes. The points contenders are really coming to the fore now, and in case you couldn't make it or listen in, here's what you missed.
Junior 2 Kart
The first race of the weekend was that of the Junior 2 Karts. Myles Cheek and Maxwell Ries started from the front row, and after some first lap confusions led to a full restart of the race, it was Cheek in his #457 CMI/Specialty Fasteners kart leading Chad Graham and his #410 Hart and Huntington/MavTV machine at the end of lap one. In third it was Ries in the #474 ProAm/Fleming Racing Engines kart, followed by Brock Heger in the #411 Brock Heger Racing/Racer X Motorsports truck (fourth), and Jeremy Davis in the #485 Green Army/Simpson entry (fifth). Cheek and Graham were running nose-to-tail in a close battle for the lead, and they maintained their battle all the way to the competition yellow, at which point the order in the top five was still the same. After the restart, Graham's pressure on Cheek seemed to go away slightly, and Cheek ran a little more safely in the lead. Near the end of the race, however, the top three tightened right up, but Cheek held tough to take a wire-to-wire win. Graham and Ries finished close behind in second and third, ahead of Heger in fourth and Davis in fifth.
Junior 1 Kart
Next up were the Junior 1 Karts, and it was Eliott Watson who turned his pole starting position into the early lead in his #203 UPR Racing Supply/RC10.com kart. In second it was Broc Dickerson in the #223 Rockstar/Eibach Springs machine, followed by Conner McMullen in the #288 Monster Energy/Bully Dog entry, Wolfgang Ries in the #273 ProAm/iTi Performance Motorsports truck, and Corey Geiser in the #245 Geiser Bros Design and Development/Canidae kart. Jack Yeiser moved his #244 Fiberwerx/General Tire machine up to fifth on lap two, and after this, the top five began to gradually string out as they ran towards the competition yellow. Once the Can-Am Commander pace vehicle pulled out to bunch up the field under the competition yellow, it was still Watson, Dickerson, McMullen, Ries, and Yeiser in the top five. The order up front remained the same once green flag racing resumed, but on lap eight, McMullen pulled off the track with an unknown issue, promoting Ries, Yeiser, and Travis PeCoy up to third, fourth, and fifth. From there on in, the top five drivers held their positions, with Watson taking the win after leading the entire race. Second went to Dickerson, third, to Ries, fourth to Yeiser, and fifth to PeCoy in the #211 K&N/Hoosier machine.
Modified Kart
The much-anticipated Modified Karts rolled out on track next, with Mitchell DeJong starting his #1 Speed Racing LLC/Traxxas machine next to Mitch Guthrie Jr.'s #555 Walker Evans Racing/Kar Tek truck on the front row. These two split the wins at Firebird, so it was no surprise to see them running one-two at the end of lap one, with DeJong holding the early advantage. In third it was Jerett Brooks in the #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Maxima Racing Oils kart, with Myles Cheek fourth in the #557 LAMB Energy/Jammin'Products.com entry, and Brock Heger fifth in the #511 MasterCraft Safety/Signpros machine. Sheldon Creed moved up to fifth in his #522 A.M. Ortega/Team Associated kart on lap two, then up to fourth with a strong run through the mogul section on lap four. Later that same lap, Brooks dropped to the back of the pack with what must've been a spin, thus promoting Creed to third and Jeff Hoffman to fourth in the #547 Venture Four Racing/BRT Signs entry, with Cheek now running fifth. Just ahead of the competition yellow, Bradley Morris jumped up to fourth in the #504 K&N Filters/Kicker kart, and at the competition yellow, it was DeJong, Guthrie Jr., Creed, Morris, and Cheek in the top five. Shortly after the restart, Brooks and Chad Graham got tangled up with one another, literally, and after officials tried for several laps to get them unstuck, they were forced to bring out a full course yellow to allow course workers to safely get the situation resolved. Once green flag racing resumed, the order in the top five was still the same, but on the final lap, Brooks got caught up in a race with Cheek, Heger, and Scotty Steele, who were all on the lead lap and battling for fifth place. In all the chaos, Steele came away the best of the three lead lappers, and came to the checkered flag in fifth place. Up ahead, DeJong took his second win of the season, ahead of Guthrie Jr., Creed, and Morris.
UTV
After qualifying at the top of the UTV field yesterday, Code Rahders was strangely absent for the start of today's UTV main event, which left RJ Anderson all alone on the front row in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/Kroyer Racing Engines Polaris. Young Doug Mittag, however, was the driver leading the pack at the end of lap one in his #848 Custom Off Road Design/GHA Rentals.com Yamaha, ahead of Anderson, Tyler Winbury, Corry Weller, and Chad George. Weller moved her #810 Weller Racing/Tilted Kilt Yamaha up to third on lap two, while up at the head of the field, Mittag was in a league of his own and quickly pulling out a lead. Weller then took over second spot as she simply drove past Anderson down the front straight heading into lap four. George was next to move up, taking over fourth in his #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki, just ahead of the competition yellow. After the restart, Mittag had soon re-gained his gap over those chasing, while further back, his teammate John Dempsey was now up to fifth in his #855 Dempsey Construction Inc./Fox Racing Shox Kawasaki. George then moved up to third, and first in Unlimited UTV, with the white flag poised to wave. With one lap to go, it was Mittag, Weller, George, Anderson, and Dempsey in the top five. Anderson was determined to re-take his top spot on the last lap, and pulled off a great outside/inside pass on George going through turn four, but George was able to pass Anderson right back going into the final turn. George then protected his line well, moving wide to hold off any chance of a last-minute pass by Anderson, and he took the Unlimited UTV win, placing third overall. Up ahead, Mittag picked up a perfectly-driven race win, taking the overall and the SR1 top spots. Second in SR1 and overall was Weller, followed by George, Anderson (second in Unlimited UTV), and Dempsey (third in SR1). Winbury rounded out the Unlimited UTV podium by finishing eighth overall.
Limited Buggy
The final race before Opening Ceremonies was the Limited Buggy race, which saw Quentin Tucker and Bradley Morris start from the front row. John Fitzgerald, yesterday's top qualifier, found his way up to first place by the end of the first lap in his #314 BFGoodrich Tires/Wik's Racing Engines buggy. Morris ran second in the #304 Lucas Oil/K&N buggy, ahead of Tucker in the #377 Blanco Basura/General Tire machine, Curt Geer in the #385 Gatorwraps.com/VP Racing Fuels Lothringer, and Kevin McCullough in the #389 Gear One/General Tire entry. Up front, Fitzgerald was quickly opening up a gap on the rest of the field, while further back, Dave Mason had now worked his way up to fifth spot in the #365 D&R Buggie/Eleven Western Builders AlumiCraft. Fitzgerald continued to build his lead through the competition yellow, at which point he held a sizeable advantage over the rest of the pack. Morris and Tucker still ran in second and third, with Geer still fourth and Mason fifth. On the restart lap, Morris had a great getaway to grab the lead from Fitzgerald. Morris then stuttered for just a moment in turn four, causing the entire field to stack up behind him. Fitzgerald and Geer were the two who were caught out worst in the chaos, and they were dropped well down the order. Morris didn't get away without consequence either; a right rear flat was his punishment, which forced him into the hot pits for a change. After all this, it was Mason who inherited the lead, with Geoffrey Cooley now second in the #322 Competitive Metals/USA Wheel AlumiCraft, McCullough third, Tucker fourth, and Dillon Ayers fifth in the #398 Gear One/Foddrill Motorsports buggy. Zac Hunt then moved up to fifth on lap twelve in his #334 Speed Energy/Concrete Coring Company machine, and with the white flag in sight, it was a battle of the young guns up front. Cooley was really pressuring Mason for the lead, and it seemed to be getting to Mason a bit, as he looked a little wild in some spots. However, it was Cooley who cracked on the final lap, spinning out in turn four and dropping back to seventh. This left Mason clear to take run to the checkered flag, where he picked up his first win in this class, and indeed his first win in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series- well done Dave! Second went to Tucker, third to McCullough, fourth to Hunt, and fifth to Geer, who clawed his way back after the incident on the restart lap.
Pro 4 Unlimited
With the first half of the day's action already done, the schedule broke for opening ceremonies, during which the crowd was treated to an unbelievable performance of The Star Spangled Banner by young Ariana Nieto. Take it from this reporter: with such a powerful voice, this young lady surely has a promising future.
The crowd was already amped up as the Pro 4 Unlimiteds rolled out on track, and as the field fired their engines in unison, everyone in attendance was excited to go racing. Johnny Greaves and Adrian Cenni started from the front row, and it was the #16 Monster Energy/ReadyLift Toyota of Greaves who came out ahead at the end of lap one. Cenni ran second in his #11 Atrium Payroll/Metal Mulisha Ford, with Ricky Johnson third in the #48 Red Bull/BFGoodrich Tires Ford, Rick Huseman fourth in the #36 Monster Energy/ Toyota, and Carl Renezeder fifth in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford. Huseman and Johnson just touched in midair out of turn five on lap two, and Huseman came away better as he moved up to third place. Up front, Greaves was simply hooked up, and nobody seemed to have anything for him as he continued to lead. As the laps clicked off, Huseman began having a few looks down the inside of Cenni, but a spin in turn two on lap nine dropped him back down to fourth. At the end of lap nine, the competition yellow came out, and Greaves was still the leader, ahead of Cenni, Johnson, Huseman, and Renezeder. Huseman returned to third on lap eleven, with Kyle LeDuc moving up to fifth on lap twelve in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. Cenni then found a chink in Greaves' armor on lap 13, and he took the lead as some sort of intermittent problem began to slow Greaves from time to time. Just behind, some great racing was going on between Huseman, Johnson, and LeDuc, and these three were soon by Greaves and into second, third, and fourth with just a handful of laps left. Cenni then nearly spun coming out of turn one, which handed first and second over to Huseman and LeDuc. Another mistake, this time a bicycle in turn two on the following lap, could've been more costly for Cenni, but he managed to hold third as Johnson pulled out of the race. With one lap to go, LeDuc was now trying to hunt down Huseman for the lead, but Huseman had finally settled down after some over-driving in the early part of the race, and he held on to take the win, his third from three races so far this season. Second went to LeDuc, third to Cenni, fourth to Renezeder, and fifth to Steve Barlow in the #83 Roush Yates Engines/Maxxis Tires Ford.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
The big boys of open wheel were up next: the Pro Buggy Unlimiteds, and the front row featured Mike Porter and his #8 Redline Performance/Mickey Thompson AlumiCraft next to the #5 Select Glass/ProAm Foddrill of Jerry Whelchel. Porter jumped out to the early lead on the first lap, with Rich Ronco second in his #99 Yokohama/FK Rod Ends Tatum, Steve Greinke third in his #23 SC Fuels/Southern Counties Lubricants LLC Racer, Eddie Tafoya fourth in the #51 Specialty Fasteners/Crower Lothringer, and CJ Greaves fifth in his #33 Traxxas/Oakley AlumiCraft. The top five held their spots through lap four, when Ronco began to slow slightly. This dropped him out of the top five, so it was now Greinke, Tafoya, Greaves, and Whelchel behind the leader Porter. Tafoya then pulled off the track, handing third to Whelchel, fourth to Doug Fortin in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Custom Decals Racer, and fifth to Greaves. At the competition yellow, these three still held their spots behind Porter and Greinke, but after the restart, it was now Bobby PeCoy who was up to fifth in his #11 VP Racing Fuels/K&N AlumiCraft. Up front, Porter re-gained a gap over the field in the first few laps after the restart, but soon Greinke, Whelchel, and Fortin began to close down on him again, and with a lap to go, these three were looking like a real threat to Porter. However, Porter kept his cool and stayed mistake-free as he held on for the win, with Greinke taking second, Whelchel third, Fortin fourth, and PeCoy fifth.
Super Lite
The "arrive and drive" Super Lites were up next, and it was Austin Kimbrell who passed both the front row starters to grab the early lead in his #88 Kimbrell Racing truck. Pat Clark was running second in his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Mazda Speed machine, followed by Chad George in the #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama entry, RJ Anderson in the #37 Polaris/Walker Evans Racing truck, and Jessie Johnson in the #15 Lowe's/A.M. Ortega machine. On lap three, local driver Jacob Person moved into the top five after driving it deep into turn four in his #92 Majerle's Sports Grill/Quick Lane entry. On the same lap, Clark went wide in turn six, which let George by and into second place. Kimbrell then bobbled in turn two, and ended up turned around and stopped as the whole field passed him by. George inherited the lead, with Person now second, Anderson third, Clark fourth, and CJ Greaves fifth in the #33 Torchmate/Maxxis machine. Just ahead of the competition yellow, Clark spun and held up Greaves in the process, dropping them both several spots, and leaving the order as George, Person, Anderson, Johnson, and Brent Fouch in the #21 Forgiven Energy/BionicCigs.com truck.
After a crazy restart, the top five was surprisingly similar as the drivers crossed the start/finish line again. George, Person, Anderson, and Johnson still held first through fourth, with Greaves back up to fifth. George seemed to slow briefly, which allowed Person and Anderson to go by into first and second. Greaves then picked up a spot to move into fourth on lap 11, and a spin by Johnson in turn four allowed Kimbrell to re-enter the top five. The race then saw a full course caution for a rollover in turn two, and once this was cleared, the field enjoyed a brief run at green flag racing before a huge rollover on the restart by Matt Cook forced another full course caution. Cook was ok and racing resumed, with just two laps left to run. After the restart, Anderson moved past George for third, with Jeff "Ox" Kargola taking over fifth in his #2 General Tire/Metal Mulisha machine. Up front, Person was having to hold off a hard-charging Greaves to keep the lead, but he managed to hang on and pick up his first ever win in Lucas Oil Off Road competition- way to go Jacob! Second went to Greaves, third to Anderson, fourth to George, and fifth to Kargola.
Pro Lite Unlimited
The penultimate race of the day was that of the Pro Lite Unlimiteds, and the front row was filled by Chris Brandt in the #82 Makita/Kar Tek Toyota and the #51 Black Rhino/Fiberwerx Ford of Ryan Beat. Beat got caught out in turn two and was dropped to nearly a lap down, but Brandt had better luck, taking the early lead ahead of Brian Deegan, Rodrigo Ampudia, Corey Sisler, and Cameron Steele. Brandt and Deegan began to go clear of the field very early, with Brandt holding a small lead over Deegan. Casey Currie took over fifth in his #2 Monster Energy/Oakley Nissan on lap four, then moved up to fourth after Ampudia went wide out of turn five and run up the outside burm. Up front, Brandt and Deegan continued to pull away, and held a sizeable lead by lap eight when the competition yellow came out. At this point, Sisler was running third in the #19 Kicker/Skin Ford, with Currie fourth and Steele fifth in the #16 Stronghold Motorsports/Yokohama Ford. A botched restart forced the drivers to do a second restart, and on the second go-around, Sisler actually got past Deegan to take over second place. Ampudia re-entered his #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford into the top five on the following lap, while Deegan re-claimed second place after Sisler went wide in turn four on the lap after that. Deegan was now looking like more of a challenger for Brandt's lead as the white flag came out, while smoke coming from the back of Sisler's truck became the veritable blood in the water for those behind him. In the end, Brandt stayed clear up front to take his second win of the season, with Deegan taking second. Sisler managed to nurse his now burning truck across the line for third, just before it really caught fire, forcing him to climb out to safety as emergency crews doused the flames. Behind Sisler, a mad scramble was on between Currie, Ampudia, and Steele, with Ampudia coming out best in fourth, followed by Steele in fifth.
Pro 2 Unlimited
The crowd came to its feet to watch the final clash of the day: the Pro2 Unlimited Race. '09 Champion Carl Renezeder and reigning Pro Lite Unlimited Champion Marty Hart started on the front row, with Hart's wicked-sounding #15 Monster Energy/Maxxis Tires Toyota grabbing the early lead. Rob MacCachren ran second in the #1 Rockstar/BFGoodrich Tires Ford, with Renezeder third in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, Robby Woods fourth in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, and Bryce Menzies fifth in the #7 Red Bull/AMSOil Ford. Smoke was soon visible from the back of Woods' truck, but surprisingly, it was a tire that was the smoke's source, and his left rear let go in spectacular fashion, sending hunks of tread skyward as Woods pushed to hold his ground against the competition. It was to no avail, and Woods was forced to the hot pits for a change, moving Menzies to fourth and Jeremy McGrath to fifth in the #2 Toyo Tires/ReadyLift Ford. McGrath then seemed to slow slightly, causing him to drop gradually down the order, and allowing Greg Adler up into fifth spot in his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Airaid Ford. Adler couldn't hold the spot for much longer than McGrath, though, as Brian Deegan found his way by in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford. At the competition yellow, the running order in the top five was Hart, MacCachren, Renezeder, Menzies, and Deegan, and as the green flag waved again, Hart was off like a rocket to maintain his lead. Hart caught something of a breather as the race was temporarily red flagged to allow course workers to tend to Nick Tyree's truck, which had caught fire on the restart lap. Once the trucks were allowed to get rolling, the field spent a couple of laps under yellow before the much-anticipated drop of the green flag. When it hit, the field roared in unison once again, with Hart needing to hold off MacCachren for just a few laps in order to pick up his first win in this class. On the restart lap, Menzies got himself momentarily hooked on the back of Renezeder's truck, and though Renezeder was un-phased, Menzies was dropped all the way down the order. Deegan moved up to fourth, with Jeff Geiser slotting in fifth in the #44 Canidae/BulletProofDiesel.com Chevrolet. Up front, MacCachren was now making more and more frequent attempts to stick his nose down the inside of Hart, but kept coming up short as he would put himself on the wrong side of the track for the next corner. However, with less than two laps left, MacCachren finally caught a break, driving deep down the inside of Hart in turn five. Hart had left a little too much space available, and MacCachren pulled alongside going up to the jump out of turn five. The two just touched in mid-air, but that's all it took to upset Hart's steering, and Hart went more or less straight through turn six. MacCachren wasn't to blame, as he'd raced Hart very clean, and he cruised home to take a big redemption win after his weekend at Firebird. Renezeder took second spot, followed by Deegan, Geiser, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Tecate/Fox Racing Shox Ford.
That wraps it up for Round 3 here in Surprise. Round 4 kicks off tomorrow with the gates opening to the public at 9 a.m., and racing action starting at 11:00 a.m. If you can't be here in person, check out the live audio feed from our friends at race-dezert.com, and of course keep up with al l the latest Lucas Oil Off Road happenings at 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 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
