With the sun high in the sky over the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex here in Lake Elsinore, CA, a refreshing ocean breeze began to blow as short course off-road racing’s best drivers took to the track for qualifying for Round 5 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports. A relatively trouble-free afternoon followed, with many familiar faces and some new ones topping the time sheets when the dust had settled.

Unlimited 2
Carl Renezeder is often the top-billed driver in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series advertisements, and that doesn’t just happen for no reason. Today he took pole position in both the classes he competes in, starting with the Unlimited 2 division. Renezeder’s best lap of a 1:05.114 in his #17 General Tires Ford was quick, as was his second best lap, which was also faster than anyone else in the field. Rodrigo Ampudia continued to show that he’s due for a Unlimited 2 win any time, taking second place today  with a time of 1:05.542. Ampudia’s #36 Tecate Ford didn’t go without incident, though, as he rode out a long 2-wheel near-roll before gathering himself to charge hard in his final qualifying lap, which ended up being almost four seconds better than any of his other laps in the session. Third went to Round 4 winner Bryce Menzies, whose #7 Super Clean Ford did a best lap of 1:05.820. Fourth was the consistently quick Greg Adler in his #10 4 Wheel Parts Ford with a time of 1:06.495, and fifth went to #31 Mike Johnson, whose KMC Wheels Ford did a best lap of 1:07.295. The first six positions from today’s qualifying will be inverted for the starting grid of tomorrow’s Unlimited 2 race, which means pole winner Renezeder will start sixth, while sixth-fastest qualifier #9 Kevin Probst’s E3 Spark Plugs Chevrolet will start from pole.

Unlimited 4
Carl Renezeder continued his march of dominance in the Unlimited 4 division here in Lake Elsinore. By the time qualifying was over, Renezeder owned the FOUR fastest laps of the session! His best lap of 1:03.832 took his Lucas Oil Ford to the pole position. Travis Coyne crashed in the early part of the session, but before doing so, he managed to put in a lap of 1:06.270 in his ProComp Ford to take second position. Third went to #23 Jerry Daugherty in his Dixie Choppers Chevrolet in a time of 1:06.860. Fourth was first-time LOORRS competitor Tim Herbst with a 1:06.949, and rounding out the top five was Kent Brascho in a time of 1:08.380. A six spot inversion will be implemented for tomorrow’s race, putting sixth fastest qualifier #71 Alan Pflueger on the pole.

Unlimited Lite
The question has been posed before, and today it must be asked again: can anyone beat Robert Naughton? Despite the addition of Unlimited Lite top runners Rodrigo Ampudia and Marty Hart (who both made their LOORRS Unlimited Lite debuts today), Naughton was once again the class of the field. Naughton’s #54 Ready Lift Ford set the time to beat with a 1:07.835. The aforementioned Ampudia and Hart have shown that if anyone CAN beat Naughton, they may be the most likely candidates to do so, taking second and third with time of 1:08.120 and 1:09.348, respectively. Fourth place was #33 Jimmy Stephenson in his Nissan, with a time of 1:09.536, and fifth went to #46 Todd Cuffaro, whose Rockstar Nissan timed in at 1:09.848. With an eight position inversion of today’s qualifying results, eighth fastest and seventh fastest qualifiers Heath Carpenter and Chris Brandt will start from the front row tomorrow.

SuperLite
Chad Leising was today’s top qualifier in the Bully Dog SuperLite division. Leising clocked a top time of 1:15.282 in his #17 Rockstar truck to take the pole ahead of second place John Harrah, whose personal best was a 1:15.704 in his #13 Speed Technologies machine. Third spot went to Brandon Bailey with a 1:16.241.  #20 Joey Granatelli’s  laps dropped in time with each lap he clicked off. Granatelli ultimately nailed down a best time of 1:17.282, taking fourth ahead of #77 David Reyes, who took fifth in a time of 1:18.915. The top six spots from today’s qualifying will be inverted for tomorrow’s starting grid, which puts #50 Chuck Dempsey on the pole for tomorrow afternoon’s race.

Unlimited Buggy
Most of the drivers who’ve topped the time sheets in the previous Unlimited Buggy races of this LOORRS season were pushed further back in today’s qualifying session. In their places were drivers who’ve shown flashes of brilliance, but who’ve yet to use that speed to take them to victory lane this season. Heading this charge of newcomers and big improvers was #973 Bobby PeCoy, who narrowly took pole for tomorrow’s race in a time of 1:07.924. Nipping at PeCoy’s heels was #998 Mike Dondel, who’s second place time of 1:07.931 was just seven thousandths of a second off the pole-winning time! Third went to #904, who helped make this session the closest of the day with a time of 1:07.987. Fourth was the #944 of Joe Morgan in a time of 1:08.186, and rounding out the top five was Larry Job, who spared some good fortune for this season’s past winners with a time of 1:08.294. The top eight spots from today’s qualifying will be inverted for the starting grid of tomorrow’s race, putting #957 Chuck Cheek on the pole tomorrow.

Limited Buggy
Five of the most consistently quick drivers from our last rounds in Surprise, AZ were back at the top in the Limited Buggy division here in Lake Elsinore. Sean Geiser has continued to improve consistently this season, and today he took the top spot with a time of 1:13.209. Geiser’s run in qualifying was made all the more impressive by the fact that, like Renezeder in Unlimited 4, his four best laps were the four fastest in the session! Kyle Quinn was the best of the rest here, taking second place in qualifying with a time of 1:13.931, followed closely by #312 Bruce Fraley in a time of 1:13.982. Fourth place went to Round 4 winner Bryce Menzies, whose 1:14.137 was just good enough to beat out fifth place finisher John Fitzgerald, whose best lap was a 1:14.148. The first six positions will be inverted for the start of tomorrow’s race, which will put Geiser in the sixth starting spot, and sixth place qualifier #331 Sean Kennedy on the pole.

UTV
With usual frontrunner Chad George having a catastrophic mechanical failure during practice earlier in the day, competition for the pole position was much more open in the UTV division. RJ Anderson, bedecked in the traditional color scheme of off-road legend Walker Evans, took the top spot in qualifying with a best lap of 1:13.720. Anderson’s second best lap was also better than number two qualifier Robert Vanbeekum, whose #664 did a best lap of 1:14.754. Third place went to Funco driver Tyler Winbury with a 1:14.814. Fourth spot was filled by Roger Stokes in a time of 1:16.114, and Stokes was followed by Dan Kelly’s #800 in a time of 1:16.790. Baja king Larry Roeseler brought his kart home sixth in a 1:17.145. There will be no inversion of the qualifying results from today for the UTV starting grid tomorrow.