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All or Nothing: Qualifying For Cup Races |
December 19, 2009 |
With the championship chase over and the class champions having taken home their trophies, only one race remains in this year’s Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports: The Rockstar Lucas Oil Challenge Cup. The format of this event will be dramatically different for many drivers, as there will be two shootout races held, the first between the Unlimited 2s and the Unlimited 4s, and the second between the Unlimited Lites and the Unlimited Buggies. Drivers in the Super Lite and Limited Buggy classes will also be racing, but in their own separate races. Regardless of how each driver will be racing tomorrow, all had to try their hand at qualifying today, and with the race format changing for many drivers, qualifying would have to change as well.
Today, drivers in each class were given ten minutes to try and lay down their best lap. Drivers could be on track for any or all of those ten minutes, and when the clock ran out, each driver’s best lap would help determine his starting place in tomorrow’s race. Each class would have the potential to face an inversion of the top qualifiers, as the drivers have faced all year, but the drivers in the four classes that would be competing in the shootout races were also facing a new challenge. For the Unlimited 2 vs. Unlimited 4 shootout, the top ten Unlimited 2s and the top eight unlimited 4s from qualifying would automatically advance to tomorrow’s race, and would face the potential inversion. An additional four Unlimited 2s and two Unlimited 4s will also advance from a “last chance qualifier (LCQ)” session Saturday morning, and these drivers will start behind the automatic qualifiers from today’s session, without any inversion. The field will then be rounded out by two drivers, chosen by LOORRS as the “Promoter’s Choice” picks, from either U2, U4, or both. The end will result will be a starting grid as follows: The top ten U2 qualifiers, four U2s from the LCQ, zero, one, or two U2s (depending on who LOORRS chooses in its Promoter’s Choice), the top eight U4 qualifiers, the two U4s from the LCQ, and zero, one, or two U4s from the Promoter’s Choice. In total, 26 drivers will line up for a shot at a combined $105,000 in winnings!
Drivers in the Unlimited Lite and Unlimited Buggy ranks will form a similar grid for tomorrow’s race between the two classes. The grid will be as follows: Eight U-Lite qualifiers, four U-Lites from the LCQ, zero, one, or two U-Lites from the Promoter’s Choice, Eight U-Buggy qualifiers, four U-Buggies from the LCQ, and zero, one, or two U-Buggies from the Promoter’s choice. This will give a grid of 26 drivers who have a shot at $35,000 in total winnings! Super Lites and Limited Buggies will be in their own separate, standard style races, and will have a chance at $35,000 and $6,000 in winnings in their respective races. With all this now digested, let’s see how qualifying shook out today.
Unlimited 2
17 drivers tried to snag a spot in the top ten in today’s qualifying, which would automatically advance them to tomorrow’s U2 vs. U4 shootout. Greg Adler laid down the early time to beat in his #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Performance Ford with a time of 1:03.532 on the opening lap. Rob MacCachren then unseated Adler, moving to the top of the time sheets with a 1:02.698 in his #21 Rockstar/Mastercraft Safety Ford. MacCachren’s time held the top spot for several laps, until championship runner-up Jeff Ward set the pole-winning time of 1:02.401 on lap seven. Ward’s #3X Speed Technologies/Bully Dog Chevrolet wound up on top, followed by MacCachren, Todd LeDuc in the #8 Makita/Circle K Ford, Rob Naughton in the #54 Stronghold Motorsports/Maxxis Tires Ford, and Bryce Menzies in the #7 Super Clean Ford. With an inversion of the first four positions from today’s qualifying, the first ten spots on tomorrow’s grid for the U2 vs. U4 shootout are as follows:
1. Rob Naughton 1:02.797
2. Todd LeDuc 1:02.760
3. Rob MacCachren 1:02.698
4. Jeff Ward 1:02.401
5. Bryce Menzies 1:03.118
6. Greg Adler 1:03.147
7. Mike Johnson 1:03.180
8. Kevin Probst 1:03.379
9. Rodrigo Ampudia 1:03.405
10. Jeff Seifert 1:03.781
The remaining U2 competitors will have to advance to the shootout via the LCQ or the Promoter’s Choice.
Unlimited 4
With 11 drivers in the Unlimited 4 field, all but one are guaranteed to make the Saturday shootout, but with a field of at least 15 Unlimited 2s to try and pass for the outright win, starting position is still very important. Carl Renezeder, this year’s champion in both U2 and U4, chose his U4 as the weapon of choice for the shootout, and set the early top time of 1:01.513 in his #1 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford. Renezeder’s time held all the way until lap seven, when Troy Herbst laid down a 1:01.435 in his #19 Terrible Herbst Chevrolet. Kyle LeDuc then moved his #99 Rockstar/GoPro Ford to the top spot for good, eventually setting a pole-winning time of 1:01.052 on lap nine. Troy Herbst came in second, followed by Renezeder, Adrian Cenni in the #11 Atrium Staffing Services/BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet, and Tim Herbst in the #18 Terrible Herbst Chevrolet. At best, the first U4 will line up 16th on Saturday’s grid, and with an eight position inversion, the eight U4 drivers who advanced today will line up as follows:
Curt LeDuc 1:02.937
Kent Brascho 1:02.889
Steve Barlow 1:02.408
Tim Herbst 1:02.105
Adrian Cenni 1:01.743
Carl Renezeder 1:01.513
Troy Herbst 1:01.435
Kyle LeDuc 1:01.052
The remaining U4 drivers will have to get into the shootout via the LCQ or the Promoter’s Choice.
Unlimited Lite
Unlimited Lite was the next class out on track, and with the top starting spot for Saturday’s shootout against the Unlimited Buggies on the line, the action was intense out on the track. Chris Brandt came out firing in his #82 mav tv/Hart and Huntington Toyota, setting the early top time at a 1:06.452. Rob Naughton bettered that time two laps later with a 1:05.663 in his #54 Readylift/PosterHanger.com Ford. Brandt was too strong, however, and with an almost palpable sense that he was trying to prove his speed after being disqualified and losing the championship at the last race in Primm, he blitzed the field by over a full second to set the pole-winning time of 1:04.527. Naughton came home second, followed by Jimmy Stephenson in the #33 JS Pest Control/Goodyear Tires Nissan, Todd Cuffaro in the #46 Rockstar/Metal Mulisha Mazda, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford. With the top four spots being inverted, the eight Unlimited Lite drivers who will advance from today’s qualifying to tomorrow’s shootout will start on the grad as follows:
1. Todd Cuffaro 1:06.016
2. Jimmy Stephenson 1:05.617
3. Rob Naughton 1:05.553
4. Chris Brandt 1:04.527
5. Rodrigo Ampudia 1:06.345
6. Brian Deegan 1:06.595
7. Heath Carpenter 1:07.010
8. Parker Grabowski 1:07.460
The remaining nine Unlimited Lite drivers will try to make tomorrow’s shootout via the LCQ or the Promoter’s Choice.
Unlimited Buggy
Taking on the Unlimited Lites in Saturday’s race will be the Unlimited Buggies, and without the big speed advantage that the U4s enjoy over the U2s, starting at the head of the Unlimited Buggy portion of the grid (behind all the Unlimited Lites) will be extremely important. With that in mind, 17 Unlimited Buggies took to the track for qualifying. TV personality Cameron Steele jumped out to the early lead in his #916 Menzies Motorsports/Metal Mulisha Alumicraft, setting a time of 1:05.224 on the first lap. Mike Dondel quickly bettered that time with a 1:05.059 on lap two in his #998 Racer Engineering/Fox Racing Shox buggy to take over the top spot. Dondel was then left to try and better his own time, which he did twice, ultimately ending up with a 1:04.390 to take the pole. Behind him came Larry Job in the #907 Menzies Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Alumicraft, Steele, Rich Ronco in the #999 Goodyear Tatum, and Greg George in the #933 King Racing Shocks/Kartek Funco.
With the minimal difference in speed between Unlimited Buggies and Unlimited Lites, no inversion was imposed on the Unlimited Buggies, so the eight drivers to advance to Saturday’s shootout will line up as follows:
Mike Dondel 1:04.390
Larry Job 1:04.764
Cameron Steele 1:04.831
Rich Ronco 1:05.011
Greg George 1:05.042
Doug Fortin 1:05.339
Malcolm Pointon 1:05.780
Tim Herbst 1:05.805
The remaining Unlimited Buggy drivers must try to advance to the shootout via the LCQ or the Promoter’s Choice.
Super Lite
The Bully Dog Super Lites have some big prizes up for grabs on Saturday, as the top three finishers will take home $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000, respectively. With a rental fee of $7500 per race weekend, this race could be seen as a potential dash for cash. Short course pros Rob Naughton and Todd LeDuc added themselves to the Super Lite field for this race, and showed the way for their less experienced competitors, but only just. Current class frontrunner Ricky James took the early top spot in his hand-controlled #24 SoCal Supertrucks/Icon Vehicle Dynamics truck with a 1:08.690 on the opening lap. His quick time held for most of the session, but as the two veterans got accustomed to their new rides, the times dropped with just a few laps left. First came a 1:08.382 from LeDuc’s #40 Granatelli Motorsports/WD-40 machine on lap eight, followed by a pole-winning time of 1:08.332 by Naughton in the #72 Lamb Energy/ProAm truck on lap nine. Naughton held on to first for the remainder of the session, and was followed by LeDuc, James, Chad Leising in the #17 mav tv/Hart and Huntington truck, and Chad George in the #42 Independent/Funco Motorsports machine. The top six positions will be inverted for tomorrow’s race, so the starting grid will be as follows:
1. Jeremy Stenberg 1:10.388
2. Chad George 1:09.203
3. Chad Leising 1:08.854
4. Ricky James 1:08.690
5. Todd LeDuc 1:08.382
6. Rob Naughton 1:08.332
7. Brandon Ward 1:10.911
8. Dawson Kirchner 1:11.089
9. Craig Curtis 1:11.090
10. Joey Granatelli 1:11.937
11. John Harrah 1:13.184
12. Marty Fiolka 1:13.217
13. David Reyes 1:14.537
Limited Buggy
The final class to have a crack at qualifying was Limited Buggy. Class champion Bruce Fraley showed why he came out on top this season, setting the top time in the session three times, the third of which was good enough to take the pole. Fraley’s 1:10.387 put his #312 Freeman’s Carpet Service/BFGoodrich Tires Fraley on top, ahead of series rookie Justin Smith in the #319 Menzies Motorsports/Fox Racing Shox Fraley. Third went to Curt Geer in the #392 BDI Bowden Development, Inc./K&N Lothringer. Fourth and fifth went to the #314 mav tv/Lucas Oil buggy of John Fitzgerald and the #311 Bugpack/Rimco buggy of Kyle Quinn, respectively. With the first eight positions being inverted, the whole field will start “upside-down” on Saturday:
1. Jeff Richards 1:14.967
2. Gary Williams 1:13.580
3. Justin Davis 1:12.442
4. Kyle Quinn 1:12.010
5. John Fitzgerald 1:11.322
6. Curt Geer 1:10.601
7. Justin Smith 1:10.529
8. Bruce Fraley 1:10.387
With so much on the line on Saturday, be sure you’re in the stands in Lake Elsinore to catch all the action in person. If you can’t do that, tune in NBC to watch live coverage of the two shootout races starting at 1:30pm PST.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports.
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