Sunny skies and beautiful weather drew a packed house to the opening round of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports. Thrilled fans watched in awe as the most talented off-road drivers in the world brushed off the cobwebs, taking to the track and looking like they’d never left. Off-road superstar Carl Renezeder took two impressive wins, helping himself to the largest part of a $60,000 purse which was put up by K&N Filters. Renezeder snagged both $15,000 checks for each of his wins in the Unlimited 2 and Unlimited 4 divisions, and brought home the first two short course wins since re-entering the off-road arena.

UNLIMITED 2

The #17 Lucas Oil Ford of Carl Renezeder led a field of 12 trucks at the drop of the green flag in the Unlimited 2 race. The #36 Tecate Ford of Rodrigo Ampudia and the #2 Porter Racing Ford of Jerry Whelchel made good starts, slotting in first and third, ahead of and behind Renezeder. Renezeder got around Ampudia in turn 2 on lap 8, just ahead of the competition yellow flag. As the green flag came back out, Renezeder stayed out front, while some bumping and grinding through turn 1 and into the rhythm section put Whelchel into second, Greg Adler’s #10 4 Wheel Parts Ford into third, the #14 S & S Racing Chevrolet into fourth, and Ampudia into fifth. Renezeder ran strong through the end, picking up the first short course race win for General Tires. Whelchel slotted in second, with Ampudia third, Adler fourth, and the #99 of Robby Woods in fifth.

UNLIMITED 4

5 Unlimited 4 trucks and 5 Unlimited 2 trucks took the start of the Unlimited 4 race. After a two row inversion, the #23 Racin’ Dirty Chevrolet of Jerry Daugherty led the field at the drop of the green flag. #8 Kent Brascho led at the end of lap 1, and led until lap 5 when the #1 Lucas Oil Ford of Carl Renezeder took the lead in turn 2. Renezeder held the lead through the competition yellow at the end of lap 8, followed by Travis Coyne in the #5 Pro Comp Ford, with Brascho third and Daugherty fourth. Renezeder stayed clean and strong through the checkered flag, putting his General Tires-shod, Team Associated-sponsored truck into the winner’s circle. Joining him on the podium were Coyne (in second) and Alan Pflueger, who moved his K&N Chevrolet into third on lap 12 and remained there until the finish. Rounding out the field were Brascho, Greg Adler (who picked up a $1000 bonus for being the first Unlimited 2 finisher), Jeff Ward and Scott Schovajsa in fourth through seventh places, respectively.

UNLIMITED LITE

18 trucks took start in the Unlimited Lite division. After an inversion of the first 2 starting rows, 4th place qualifier Robert Naughton started from the pole and never looked back. Despite driving entirely with his left foot (his right foot is broken), Naughton dominated the field. The running order set in early, with Casey Currie, Chris Brandt, Brian Deegan, and Jimmy Stephenson filling in behind Naughton. The end of lap 8 brought out the competition yellow flag, and the order was still Naughton and Currie in first and second, followed by Deegan, Brandt, and the #46 Rockstar Energy Drink Nissan of Todd Cuffaro. Brandt got around Deegan on lap 11, and made a dramatic pass in the final turn of the race to finish second, ahead of Currie in the #2 Nissan, and behind Naughton in the #54 Maxxis Tire, Ready Lift, Lucas Oil Ford. Deegan (the #38 Rockstar Metal Mulisha Cuffaro Motorsports Ford) and Cuffaro rounded out the top 5.

SUPER LITE

The new Bully Dog Super Lite series debuted here, and the #77 Reyes Racing of David Reyes led the field of Mazda rotary motor-powered trucks at the start. An early spin put #5 Chuck Dempsey into the lead. Dempsey cruised through the competition yellow, and continued to lead through the final lap, where a loss in momentum as he passed a yellow flag incident allowed #17 Chad Leising to get around him. Dempsey stormed back, making a decisive pass in the final turn of the race to re-take the lead, and the win. Leising finished second, and the #13 of series idea man John Harrah was third.

UNLIMITED BUGGY

The largest class of the day (21 starters was led by #957 Chuck Cheek at the start. Cheek hit trouble in turn 1, and second qualifier Mike Porter (#900) took the lead ahead of Cody Freeman (#994) and Mike Halliday (#904). Porter was the picture of consistency, leading much of the race until motor troubles hit both he and Freeman on the same lap late in the race. Halliday nearly wrecked a lap earlier, and #907 Larry Job inherited the lead, which he held until the end. A hard-charging Cheek stormed back to second place, and the podium was rounded out by #901 Larry Foddrill.

LIMITED BUGGY

#392 Curt Geer led the field at the start, and battled hard throughout the race with #313 Reno Navera. Navera led much of the middle of the race as Geer made several unsuccessful attempts to re-take the lead. On the final lap, Geer made a pass stick, and held on for the win, ahead of Navera and #382 LJ Kennedy.

KARTS

#522 Sheldon Creed was the first race winner in the new Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, taking the win in the Modified Kart Division, ahead of #507 Trenton Briley and #504 Bradley Morris. Creed also took second in the Junior 1 Kart race, behind winner Jack Grabowski (#272) and ahead of third place Jerett Brooks (#277). Another Grabowski, Dustin, picked up the win in the Junior 2 Kart race in his #472 machine, and of Trent Williams and Maxwell Ries.