If Saturday’s action here in Surprise, AZ for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports set the benchmark for excitement, close racing, and on-track drama, Sunday’s action raised that bar all over again. Once again, a sellout crowd and enjoyable weather were on hand at the Speedworld Off Road Park for Round 4 of competition, and what transpired on the racetrack was nothing short of terrific.

Modified Kart
Action got underway with the kids of the Modified Kart division. Mitchell DeJong must’ve found some speed overnight for his #524 Speed Technologies kart, and he sped into the lead ahead of yesterday’s race winner #550 Connor Hart. DeJong’s luck didn’t last, though, as he soon pulled over to the side of the track. Hart took the lead in his Addicted to Riding machine, and gradually pulled clear of the field. Behind Hart, Brandon Arthur, Dave Mason, and Sheldon Creed waged a terrific battle for second. Hart went on to win, ahead of his HRT Motorsports teammates Mason and Arthur who gave their team a clean sweep of the podium. Creed took fourth in his The Fab School-backed kart, ahead of Bradley Morris in his BME-sponsored  machine.

Junior 1 Kart
Yesterday’s winner Sheldon Creed took an early lead in his #214 A.M. Ortega kart, but a partially-assisted spin dropped him to fifth behind Jack Grabowski, Myles Cheek, Jerett Brooks, and Brock Heger. Cheek, Brooks, and Heger waged war over second place, while Creed steered clear of that chaos to pass all three of them back and re-take second place. Creed then set out to catch a distantly leading #272 Grabowski, whose ProAm kart then pulled off to the side with an issue. Creed re-assumed the lead, and pulled well clear of Cheek, Brooks, Heger, and #278 Hunter Williams, whose Victory Race Cars kart was now in the top five. Late shuffling behind Creed resulted in a finishing order of Creed, Cheek, Heger, Bodie Richardson, and Brooks in first through fifth places.

Junior 2 Kart
Trent Williams took the early lead in his #425 Victory Race Cars kart, and slowly pulled away from the ProAm-backed karts of Dustin Grabowski and Maxwell Ries. #411 Connor Pankratz was fourth in his Dickerson Motorsports kart, ahead of the battle for fifth between Wyatt Kirchner and Lindsay Geiser. Geiser eventually took that spot, while Ries was now falling back to within reach of Pankratz. Up front, Grabowski was charging hard to catch Williams, and there were now one-on-one battles for first, third, and fifth positions. Williams found some extra speed and held on to beat #472 Grabowski to the checkered flag. #474 Ries held off Pankratz for third, and #429 Troy French mounted a last-minute charge to beat Geiser to fifth in his Gary French Construction kart.

UTV
After taking the win in yesterday’s race, Tyler Winbury started Sunday’s race a little more auspiciously by spinning his #694 Funco Kawasaki in the first turn to drop well back and force himself into a pursuit of the leading UTVs of Robert Vanbeekum and Chad George. Vanbeekum’s #664 XMF Fabrication machine and George’s #624 Montclair Motors Funco waged a great battle for the lead, and moved clear of third place Todd Romano. Fourth was Jacob Person, and fifth was now a hard-charging Winbury, who’d moved up several positions after his earlier incident. Winbury then moved into fourth, and after the competition yellow flag, jumped up to third behind the clean and quick running Vanbeekum and George. Vanbeekum then had an issue and pulled to the side of the track, allowing teammates George and Winbury into first and second. Romano rolled, and Person took over third in his Weller Racing machine. George began to open a gap on his younger teammate, but the two went on to take a one-two finish. A late-charging Brent Fouch in the #699 made it an all-Kawasaki podium, while Person and #639 Kenny Bates took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Unlimited 2
After a terrific race on Saturday, one would think the Unlimited 2 drivers would be hard-pressed to put on an even better show on Sunday, but oh how they did. A three row inversion found Greg Adler and Rodrigo Ampudia on the front row for the start, and as the green flag dropped, #76 Jesse Jones got a great jump in his Toyo Tires Chevy to slot into fifth behind Adler, Ampudia, Carl Renezeder, and Jerry Whelchel. As Whelchel hit an early issue, #97 “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin moved into fifth place, over which he, Jeff Ward, and Bryce Menzies battled ferociously. Up front, Ampudia was on Adler’s back bumper as the competition yellow came out, with Renezeder sitting in third and Ward and Menzies in fourth and fifth after a flat tire dropped Jones well back. The green came out again, and Ampudia ducked his #36 Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford inside of Adler’s #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford for the lead in turn two. Renezeder then brought his #17 General Tires/Team Associated Ford past Adler, and Menzies moved his #7 Super Clean Ford by Ward’s Speed Technologies Chevy for fourth place. Ward then rolled, allowing #99 Robby Woods in his self-built Chevy into fifth and bringing out a full-course yellow. A green-white-checkers finish was called for, and at the restart, Adler regained second from Renezeder. Menzies and Woods then both got around Adler and Renezeder, and Menzies got by Ampudia and into the lead with one lap to go. With just two turns left on the final lap, Ampudia tried to duck inside of Menzies to regain the lead, only to end up slamming hard into the Menzies Motorsports machine. Somehow Menzies came away from a cloud of dust in the lead, with Woods following closely in second and Ampudia now third. These three finished first through third, with a consistent Scott Schovajsa taking fourth and Ward in fifth.

Limited Buggy
After a four row inversion, #389 Kevin McCullough and #331 Sean Kennedy found themselves on the front row for the start of the Limited Buggy race. John Fitzgerald made a great start in his #314 Geico Powersports/Rockstar buggy and took the lead. A much-improved mogul section allowed these cars to really fly through the bumps, and #392 Curt Geer took full advantage of that to move past several cars and into the top three behind Fitzgerald and the Lucas Oil Buggy of Kennedy. A crash in turn five brought out a full-course caution which doubled as the competition yellow, and when action resumed, Geer moved into second, but Kennedy fought back past Geer to regain the position momentarily. These two then both made mistakes, allowing #312 Bruce Fraley and #351 Sean Geiser to slip into second and third. Fraley then bobbled, and dropped to fifth as Unlimited 2 winner #307 Bryce Menzies slipped into the fray. Menzies moved towards the leading two cars of Fitzgerald and Geiser. These three were all now challenging for the lead, and on the final lap, Geiser tucked inside of Fitzgerald in turn five, dug in, and rolled. The crowd’s cheers audibly turned from Geiser to Menzies in less than a second, and in the sixth and final turn, Menzies pulled alongside and in front of Fitzgerald to take the lead. Menzies held off Fitzgerald for the win, his second of the day after taking the Unlimited 2 competition in the race immediately before this Limited Buggy race. Fraley hung tough to take third, Kennedy took fourth, and #357 Eric Greener rounded out the top five.

Unlimited Buggy
Larry Foddrill and Bobby PeCoy found themselves on the front row of the Unlimited Buggy race after a three row inversion. Top qualifier Mike Porter was still in the hospital after taking a hard hit in qualifying, but is expected to make a full recovery. At the start, PeCoy put his #973Earth Basics AlumiCraft into the lead, and Larry Foddrill, Mike Halliday, Chuck Cheek, and Cody Freeman slotted in second through fifth. Freeman used the downsized moguls to move his #994 Freeman Carpet Service Racer Engineering buggy up to second in the space of two laps, and sat behind PeCoy and ahead of Foddrill, Cheek, and Halliday as the competition yellow came out. PeCoy looked a bit shaky as he was leading an Unlimited Buggy race for the first time, and those behind took advantage of that as the green flag re-emerged. Once again, Freeman charged the moguls and took the lead as PeCoy bobbled, and Cheek followed suit, moving his CMI/Lucas Oil buggy past PeCoy on the next lap. Foddrill then got by PeCoy, just before Halliday and #907 Larry Job tangled in turn five to bring out a full-course yellow and a subsequent green-white-checkers finish. The green flag waved again, and Freeman, Cheek, and Foddrill maintained their top three spots through to the finish. Early leader PeCoy held on for fourth, and Dale Dondel took fifth in his #997 Racer Engineering buggy.

Super Lite
The Mazda rotary motor-powered Bully Dog Super Lites were next on track, and a two row inversion put #77 David Reyes and #13 John Harrah on the front row for the start. Harrah moved to the lead at the start, with the #17 Geico Powersports/Rockstar of Chad Leising tucking in behind. These two moved clear of the field, exchanging the lead several times. Behind, Chuck Dempsey, Brandon Bailey, Corry Weller, and Reyes all had various issues, and #9 Johnny Harrah pulled off the track temporarily to move him to the back of the field. Weller looped her #61 XDP/Weller Racing machine in turn six to bring out a full-course/competition yellow, and when action resumed, Chuck Dempsey slowly moved his #50 E3 Spark Plugs/Lucas Oil truck steadily towards the battle for the lead. It was to be Leising’s day, however, as he held off charges from Harrah and Dempsey to take the win. Harrah was second in his Speed Technologies truck, Dempsey took third, while Brandon Bailey was fourth in his Lamb Energy #72. Weller rounded out the top five after an eventful first weekend in the Super Lite ranks.,

Unlimited Lite
A two row inversion helped #33 Jimmy Stephenson once again find himself on the front row for the start of the Unlimited Lite race, though this time he sat on the outside of the #38 Rockstar/Lucas Oil Ford of Brian Deegan. In the opening laps, Deegan, Chris Brandt, Robert Naughton, Stephenson, and Todd Cuffaro began to pull away from the rest of the field. Deegan, Brandt, and Naughton fought fiercly for the lead, going three-wide down the front straight at one point. After a half spin by Stephenson moved Cuffaro’s #46 Metal Mulisha/Rockstar Nissan into fourth, Naughton made a great pass on Brandt to move his #54 Ready Lift/PosterHanger.com Ford into second. A spin and stall by #71 Leroy Loerwald brought out a full-course/competition yellow, and after green flag racing resumed, Naughton pulled an inside-outside pass on Deegan to take a lead he would never relinquish. As Deegan and Brandt now muscled into one another for second, #40 Bobby Altimirano rolled to bring out another full-course yellow. A green-white-checkered finish was now in order, and on the restart, multiple wrong moves by Deegan allowed Brandt, Cuffaro, and Stephenson to all slip past him. Stephenson had to muscle his way through turn four on the final lap to keep Deegan at bay, while up front Naughton took his fourth consecutive win to remain the only unbeaten driver in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Brandt took second in his #82 Geico Powersports/Hart and Huntington Toyota, and Cuffaro took the final step on the podium, ahead of Stephenson’s JS Pest Control Nissan and Deegan’s Rockstar/Lucas Oil Ford in fourth and fifth.

Unlimited 4
Kent Brascho’s #8 R&L Carriers Chevy and Travis Coyne’s #5 Team Associated/Pro Comp Ford sat on the front row for the Unlimited 4 race after a four row inversion. Joining the thundering beasts of this division for the final race of the day were the Unlimited 2 trucks of BJ Baldwin, Robby Woods, and Jesse Jones. In the opening laps, Coyne spun and fell well back, while the #71 K&N Chevy of Alan Pflueger bumped hard with Brascho, forcing Brascho to significantly slow, and eventually stop. Pflueger then assumed the lead ahead of the #1 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford of Carl Renezeder, and these two had an epic battle for the lead that lasted some 6-8 laps until the competition yellow. Try as he might, Renezeder hadn’t quite been able to get by Pflueger, who was doing a great job keeping Renezeder at bay, especially when one remembers that Renezeder’s win in yesterday’s Unlimited 4 race was the 80th of his career! After the restart, though, Renezeder proved to be too strong, and got by Pflueger on the inside of turn two. Renezeder then pulled away and went on to take the win, moving straight past his milestone 80th win and on to his 81st. Pflueger himself made big strides, taking second with a big margin over third place Coyne. Fourth went to the #76 of Jones, whose Toyo Tires Chevy was the best of the Unlimited 2s, while BJ Baldwin looked to have improved this weekend as he took fifth in his General Tires/R&L Carriers Chevy.