Under beautiful sunny skies here at the Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, AZ, the drivers of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series took to a somewhat different track than they last encountered here in 2009. With noticeably increased banking in turns one, three, and four, re-worked moguls between turns three and four, and the addition of a deeper hole and a large tabletop jump just after turn five, this track was throwing some new curves at these drivers. The best in the business took it all in stride, however, as they made their bid for pole for tomorrow’s Round 3 main events. Many familiar names came out on top, and here’s how it all shook out.

Pro 2 Unlimited

Jeremy McGrath came out to a flying start in his #15 Monster Energy/Fox Racing Shox Toyota, turning a time of 58.847 seconds on the opening lap. Carl Renezeder then moved to the top of the timesheets in his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford with a 57.184 on lap three. Renezeder improved his time twice more, eventually taking the pole with a 56.216 on his seventh lap. Renezeder also set the fastest three laps of the session, and the only laps under 57 seconds in the Pro 2 Unlimited class. Rob MacCachren was the only other driver to top McGrath, finishing second with a 57.063 in his #21 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford. McGrath was able to better his early time, eventually stopping the clock at 57.106 for third place. Fourth was a 57.505 by Greg Adler in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford, and fifth went to Michael Johnson in the #31 Swaghouse.com Ford, with a time of 57.576. There will be a four position inversion of these results for the start of tomorrow’s race, which will put Adler and McGrath on the front row.

Pro 4 Unlimited

After taking a runaway victory in Round 2 in Las Vegas, Rick Huseman was once again setting a blistering pace here in Surprise. He set the top time five separate times in his eight laps of running, eventually setting a best time of 55.458 in his #36 Traxxas/Monster Energy Toyota. It seemed like he’d certainly done enough, but no sooner had Huseman pulled off the track than Kyle LeDuc snatched away the pole position in his #99 Rockstar/Toyo Tires Ford. LeDuc’s ninth lap was a 55.419, and his tenth and final lap was the one that secured the pole, a 55.127. Huseman did hold on for second, while Johnny Greaves took third with a 55.756 in his Monster Energy/MasterCraft Safety Toyota. Fourth went to the #1 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford of Carl Renezeder, who set a time of 56.439. Rounding out the top five was Michael Johnson in the #31 K&N Chevrolet, whose best lap was a 57.291. Eight positions will be inverted for tomorrow’s race, which will put Josh Merrell and Kent Brascho on the front row.

Pro Lite Unlimited

Marty Hart is always fast, and he showed his speed once again here in Surprise. Hart’s first lap of a 1:01.596 in the Stronghold Motorsports/Kolpin Ford set the early pace, and his 1:01.300 on lap two re-topped the charts. Brian Deegan was briefly able to take that top spot away, setting a 1:00.622 on lap three in his #38 Rockstar/Lucas Oil Ford, but Hart snagged the top honors right back with a 1:00.091 on lap four. That time would hold for the rest of the session, giving Hart the pole ahead of second-placed Deegan, who also did not improve on his early fast time. Rodrigo Ampudia finished third with a 1:00.857 in his #36 Papas & Beer/Tecate Ford, while Matt Loiodice took fourth in the #20 Competitive Metals/Jimco Ford with a 1:01.333. Rounding out the top five was Jimmy Stephensen, who ran a 1:01.884 in his #33 Racin’ Dirty/Yokohama Tires Nissan. With an inversion of six positions, it will be Casey Currie and Stephensen on the front row for tomorrow’s race.

SuperLite

Jacob Person really only needed one lap to take the pole in the SuperLite class. On his first lap, Person set the top time of the session with a 1:04.478 in his #29 machine, running the only lap under 1:05 in the SuperLite class. Ricky James was the next best driver, finishing second with a 1:05.099 in his #24 SoCal SuperTrucks/Rockwell machine. Third went to Chad George, who managed a 1:05.167 in his only lap of running in the #42 King Shocks/Kawasaki-sponsored machine. Fourth was an impressive Colton Greaves in the #33 Traxxas/MasterCraft Safety truck, who turned a 1:05.415. Brian Deegan, fresh off of wins in each of the first two rounds, rounded out the top five with a 1:05.432 in the #38 Rockstar Energy Drink/Maxxis Tires machine. A scary moment briefly halted action on the track when Chris Kemp lost control in turn six and went over the outside burm and into the catch fence, but Kemp was ok and will hopefully have his truck repaired in time to go racing on Saturday. Greaves and George will start on the front row thanks to a four place inversion of these qualifying results.

Pro Buggy Unlimited

After a crash here in Surprise in May of last year, Mike Porter was put on the sidelines for the remainder of the 2009 season. This year he’s back, and he’s quickly re-gaining the form that made him a real threat before his crash. Porter set the best lap one time with a 59.858 in his #900 Team Porter/Goodyear Tires AlumiCraft, then improved to a 59.233 on lap four. This time held through most of the session, but on his eighth and final lap of the session, Mike Dondel was able to nab the top spot with a 59.148 in his #998 Fox Racing Shox/BFGoodrich Tires Racer Engineering buggy. Porter held on for second, with Cody Freeman and Doug Fortin taking third and fourth in two Racer Engineering buggies. Freeman’s best lap was a 59.738 in the #994 FCS Flooring/Goodyear Tires buggy, while Fortin’s was a 59.815 in the Fortin Racing, Inc./KC HiLites buggy. Fifth went to Joe Masek in his #947 OneShotFighting.com buggy, who turned a lap of 59.927. This class was the closest in terms of pace of the frontrunners, with the top seven places covered by under one second! Chuck Cheek and Masek will start on the front row thanks to a six position inversion.

Limited Buggy

Justin “Bean” Smith must’ve been frustrated to finish second in both Rounds 1 and 2 in Las Vegas, so in Friday qualifying for Round 3 he came out an simply trounced the field. Smith was the only driver to top the timesheets, setting a 1:03.448 on the opening lap before securing the pole by over a second with the only lap under 1:03 in his class (a 1:02.337) on lap two in his #319 Menzies Motorsports/BFGoodrich Tires Fraley buggy. Dave Mason, who’s moved up to Limited Buggy after a successful season in the Modified Kart ranks in ’09, was an impressive second with a 1:03.654 in the #365 Western Motorsports/McKenzie’s AlumiCraft. Third went to the #377 of Quentin Tucker, whose best lap was a 1:03.789, while Kyle Quinn took fourth with a 1:03.841 in his #311 Wilson Motorsports/Bugpack buggy. Fifth place was John Fitzgerald, winner of Rounds 1 and 2 in Las Vegas, whose best lap today was a 1:04.178 in the #314 mavTV/Lucas Oil buggy. Four positions will be inverted, which will put Quinn and Tucker on the front row on Saturday.

UTV

Both the Unlimited UTVs and the SR1s were on track together for Friday qualifying, and this session was all about the Unlimited UTV of Austin Kimbrell. Driving the #607 Monster Energy/SouthernCaliWraps.com Kawasaki, Kimbrell set the top time three times, eventually taking pole with a 1:03.989, the only UTV to crack 1:04. Second overall and first of the SR1s was Tyler Herzog in the #844 Ivy Tanking & Grading/Weller Racing Yamaha, whose best lap was a 1:04.813. Third, fourth, and fifth were all Unlimited UTVs, with John Dempsey taking third in his #655 COD/Simpson machine with a 1:05.029. Fourth was Chad George in the #642 Monster Energy/Beard Seats Kawasaki with a 1:05.806, and fifth was RJ Anderson, winner of Rounds 1 and 2 in Las Vegas, with a 1:05.807 in the #637 Walker Evans Racing/South Point Polaris. Second and third in the SR1 ranks went to Gary Thompson in the #802 Thompson Roofing/K&N Yamaha and Josh Stechnij in the #800 Bilt Fabrication/Magnaflow Yamaha, who set times of 1:07.453 and 1:07.939 to finish sixth and seventh overall, respectively. No inversion will be taken in the UTV race on Saturday, so it will be Kimbrell and Herzog on the front row.

Be sure to catch the action at Speedworld this weekend, and get here early as tickets are expected to sell out. If you can’t be here in person, be sure to catch tv coverage of Round 1 at 5:00pm and 6:00pm EST on Speed Channel. For all the latest LOORRS news, stay tuned right here to www.lucasoiloffroad.com.

Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.