After stifling heat seemed to bake both drivers and fans during rounds 5 and 6 of competition here in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports, cooler temperatures were a welcome relief to all those in attendance for Friday’s qualifying session for round 7. Base temperatures were down, and a consistent, cool downdraft breeze from a summer thunderstorm to the east made it a pleasant day in the stands. Meanwhile, action was hot on the track, as pole position times were dropped significantly in all but one class when compared with those set a month ago during qualifying for round 5, setting up what will surely be an exciting evening of racing on Saturday night.

Unlimited 2
Carl Renezeder carried his great success from the last two rounds here at Lake Elsinore straight into Friday’s qualifying for round 7 of LOORRS competition. With the top two fastest laps in Unlimited 2, Renezeder snagged the pole position in his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford with a best time of 1:03.257. Second went to the #10 4 Wheel Parts Ford of Greg Adler, whose best time was a 1:04.137. After a crash in practice, a resilient Rodrigo Ampudia came back to take third in qualifying with a 1:05.020 in his #36 Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford. Just behind Ampudia was the #2 Dragonfire Racing Ford of Jerry Whelchel, who ran a personal best lap of 1:05.174. Rounding out the top five was the winner of round 6, Jeff Ward, who drove his #3X Speed Technologies/Bully Dog truck to a best time of 1:05.354.

Unlimited 4
After taking the pole in his Unlimited 2, Carl Renezeder jumped straight into his identically immaculate Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford Unlimited 4 to take pole in this division too. This time, however, Renezeder was pushed much more seriously for that pole position, thanks to the addition of first-time LOORRS Unlimited 4 racer Kyle LeDuc. Renezeder still wound up on top with a best time of 1:02.817, but he was followed extremely closely by LeDuc’s #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford in a 1:02.861. Third went to Travis Coyne in the #5 ProComp/Toyo Tires Ford, whose best lap was a 1:04.280. Fourth place was filled out by Alan Pflueger in the ex-Renezeder K&N Chevrolet, and fifth was Kyle LeDuc’s father Curt, also racing Unlimited 4 in LOORRS for the first time in his Rockstar/Makita Ford. Pflueger and the senior LeDuc ran times of 1:04.646 and 1:04.924, respectively.

Unlimited Lite
The competition at the sharp end of the Unlimited Lite qualifying was extremely close, and when everything had been shaken out, it was a new face, Todd Cuffaro, at the top of the heap. Cuffaro ran a very strong session, taking the two fastest laps in his #46 Rockstar/Metal Mulisha Nissan. Cuffaro’s best lap was a 1:08.787, which was quick enough to take the pole, just ahead of the 1:08.919 laid down by Robert Naughton in the #54 Lucas Oil/Maxxis Tires Ford. Right behind Naughton was the #33 of Jimmy Stephenson, whose best lap was a 1:09.089. Fourth place went to the only man to cross the finish line ahead of Robert Naughton in an Unlimited Lite race so far this year, Brian Deegan. Deegan’s #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford had a best lap of 1:09.445. Rounding out the top five was Matt Loiodice in the #20 Mastercraft/Competitive Metals Ford, whose consistent improvement saw him take a best lap of 1:10.128.

SuperLite
The Bully Dog SuperLite division saw a new face at the top of time charts when qualifying for round 7 was over, and this driver could hardly be any more cheer-able. Ricky James, the ex-motocross racer who was tragically paralyzed from the chest down after a serious motocross race accident in 2005, drove his modified SoCal SuperTrucks #24 to the front of the pack with a best time of 1:13.255. In a close second, Joey Granatelli drove his #20 Granatelli Motorsports truck to a time of 1:13.522. Third went to the XDP/Skin truck of Dawson Kirchner, whose best lap was a 1:14.220, while fourth was one of the usual frontrunners, John Harrah, who ran a 1:14.523 in his Speed Technologies machine. Picking up a top five was fifth place #77 David Reyes in a time of 1:15.583.

Unlimited Buggy
With four of the six fastest laps in the session, as well as the two fastest laps outright, Unlimited Buggy qualifying was all about Dale Dondel. Dondel brought his #998 Racer Engineering buggy home to the pole position with a best time of 1:06.016, a time which was only beaten by the best seven Unlimited 2s and the best seven Unlimited 4s in all of qualifying today. Returning to competition after missing the last two rounds here in Lake Elsinore was Greg George, who turned a best lap of 1:06.599 in his #933 Montclair Motors Funco to take second. Third place went to #978 Malcolm Pointon with a best time of 1:06.736, ahead of Larry Foddrill’s #901 in fourth, whose best time was a 1:07.459. Rounding out the top five was #953 Greg Foster, who finished just behind Foddrill with a quick lap of 1:07.577.

Limited Buggy
Most of the top names of Limited Buggy were at it again in the qualifying session for round 7 of LOORRS competition. Topping the time sheets this time was #314 John Fitzgerald in the Rockstar/Geico Powersports buggy in a time of 1:11.902, well ahead of second place #392 Curt Geer. Geer’s best lap was a 1:12.754 in his Lothringer, just faster than the 1:12.897 of rounds 5 and 6 winner Sean Geiser, who took third in his #351 Slednecks buggy. Fourth place went to the #312 of Bruce Fraley, and fifth was #304 Joe Laff. Fraley and Laff had fast laps of 1:13.096 and 1:13.476, respectively.

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