Saturday was yet another beautiful day here at the Speedworld Off Road Park here in Surprise, AZ, with the day being made even better by the circus that is the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Speedworld played host to Round 3 of racing action, and drivers found a great track and put on a fantastic show for a huge crowd. In case you weren’t here to see it in person, here’s how the action unfolded.

Modified Kart

Getting the show off to a rousing start were the young drivers of the Modified Karts. After the opening lap, it was Bradley Morris out front in the #504 BME Motorsports/Kicker machine, followed by Zach Hunt in the #534 Creative Fabrication and Design, Inc./King Off Road Racing Shocks kart, Mitchell DeJong, Blake Lenk, and Brandon Vermillion in the #585 San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/mavTV kart. Soon afterwards, Morris pulled to the side of the track and out of the race, handing the lead to DeJong in the #524 Speed Technologies/Ultra Custom Boats machine, who’d just gotten by Hunt. Hunt then pulled off the track, allowing Lenk, Vermillion, Trenton Briley in the #507 Kal-Gard/Walker Evans Racing kart, and Sheldon Creed to move into positions two through five. The top five drivers held their positions through the competition yellow, but on the restart, Vermillion and Creed each moved up a spot to second and fourth. Creed then picked off Lenk to take over third spot, and with one lap to go, it was DeJong, Vermillion, Creed, Lenk in the #521 Missing Lenk Motorsports/McKenzie’s machine, and Briley. The top five drivers were all pushing hard on the final lap, but no one was able to make a move on one another, and these drivers held their spots through the end of the race. DeJong took the win ahead of Vermillion, Creed in the #522 Fab School/Fox Racing Shox machine, Lenk, and Briley. Fast lap went to Creed with a 42.714.

Junior 2 Kart

The kids of Junior 2 Kart were up next, and with a strong contingent of talented young girls now mixing it with the boys this season, things were looking good for some young ladies to join the boys on the podium again. Eddie Tafoya Jr. led in the #451 Specialty Fasteners Racing/iTi Performance Motorsports kart after the first lap, and was followed by Sheldon Creed, Maxwell Ries, Paige Porter, and Dustin Grabowski in the #472 ProAm Racing Products/Fiberwerx kart. Porter and Ries both got by Creed to take over second and third spots, but neither could catch Tafoya Jr., who was quickly pulling away from the field. Grabowski pulled off the track, handing fifth spot to Bowen Brooks in the #477 Synergy Electric Racing/Simpson kart, and as the competition yellow came out, it was still Tafoya out front, followed by Porter in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage Boats machine, Ries in the #474 ProAm/Hoosier kart, Creed in the #422 A.M. Ortega/Fox Racing Shox machine, and Brooks. A few laps after the restart, Porter spun out in turn four, dropping her back to sixth. With one lap to go, Tafoya Jr. was still clearly out front, followed by Ries, Creed, Brooks, and Micaela Cheek in the #457 CMI/Jammin’Prodcuts.com kart. On the final lap, Porter charged hard to get to Cheek’s back bumper, but Cheek held on to her fifth spot by a nose at the finish line. Up front, Tafoya Jr. took a great win, as well as the fast lap with his 47.558, and was followed by Ries, Creed, and Brooks in spots two through four.

Junior 1 Kart

Junior 1 Kart was the final kids race of the day, and it was Jack Yeiser in the #244 Sway-A-Way/Canidae kart who held the lead at the end of the first lap. Brock Heger ran in second in the #212 RC10.com/Kartek machine, followed by Cole Mamer, Preston Roben, and Eliott Watson. Watson moved up to fourth soon afterwards, and up front, Heger moved past Yeiser to take over the lead. The top five drivers had formed a train and were quickly pulling clear of the rest of the field, and as they did, there was certainly some in-fighting going on amongst these leaders. Mamer made a move on Yeiser to grab second place, and just ahead, Heger was putting the hammer down to open a small advantage on the rest of the field. By the time the competition yellow came out, Heger still lead, followed by Watson in the #203 Watson Motorsports kart, Yeiser, Mamer in the #235 Mamer Racing/Racer X machine, and Roben in the #210 Duggins Construction/PCI Race Radios kart. With just a lap and a half to go, Yeiser moved back into second spot, but as he, Watson, Mamer, and Roben battled fiercely for positions, all four drivers got into one another in turn two on the final lap. As Yeiser bounced across the track like a ping pong ball, Watson and Mamer came out ahead of him to take over second and third positions, as did Jeremy Davis in the #285 Green Army machine, who moved from sixth to fourth. Yeiser came away from the mess in fifth, while up front, Heger had been clear of all the chaos, and he came home with his third straight victory to maintain his unbeaten season thus far. Heger took the fastest lap as well, a 51.140 in the early going. Watson came in second, followed by Mamer, Davis, and Yeiser.

UTV

First onto the full-length track were the two divisions of UTV: Unlimited UTV and the new SR1 class. Top qualifier Austin Kimbrell jumped into the early lead in the #607 Monster Energy/ UTVUnderground.com Kawasaki, followed by John Dempsey in the #655 Custom Off Road Design machine. Third in line and first of the SR1s was Tyler Herzog in the #844 Ivy Tanking and Grading/Canidae Yamaha, ahead of #637RJ Anderson in the Walker Evans Racing/Kroyer Racing Engines Polaris in fourth and Dan Kelly in the #824 Bronco/Muzzys Yamaha in fifth. Anderson soon began dropping back as something was slowing his pace a bit, and this allowed Corry Weller in the #801 Tilted Kilt/Weller Racing Yamaha into the top five. Up front Kimbrell was opening a bit of a lead on the rest of the field, while behind him, Herzog was up to second and Weller was up to third. As the competition yellow came out, Kimbrell still led over Herzog, Weller, Dempsey, and Kelly. As the green waved again, a big plume of white smoke came pouring out of Kelly’s machine, putting him out of the race. Kimbrell also slowed significantly on the restart lap, and he soon stopped on the side of the track and was out of the race. This put Herzog into the lead, and with the help of a good restart, Gary Thompson was up to second in the #802 Weller Racing/K&N Filters Yamaha. Weller held third, with Dempsey sitting in fourth and Doug Mittag fifth in the #848 Custom Off Road Designs Yamaha. The top drivers pushed hard through the checkers, but only Mittag managed to move up, taking over fourth by the race’s end. Up front, Herzog took an impressive win, ahead of Thompson, Weller, Mittag, and Dempsey. The SR1s took the top four spots overall, with the Unlimited UTV podium being filled by Dempsey, Robert Vanbeekum in the #664 Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Kawasaki (sixth overall), and Chad George in the #624 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki ( eighth overall). The SR1s also had the fastest lap of the race, with honors going to Weller with a 1:05.304, while the top Unlimited UTV lap was a 1:06.865 by Dempsey.

Limited Buggy

A very talented field of Limited Buggies made its collective way onto the track next, and it was Kyle Quinn who took full advantage of his pole starting position to take the early lead in the #311 Wilson Motorsports/McKenzie’s buggy. Behind Quinn at the end of the first lap was Justin “Bean” Smith in second, Quentin Tucker in third, John Fitzgerald in fourth, and Bruce Fraley in fifth. Tucker was the clear dark horse of the race, and made his way past Smith to take over second spot. Fitzgerald was following suit, and muscled his #314 mavTV/Hart & Huntington buggy past Smith to take over third in turn four. Two turns later, as Fitzgerald moved down the inside of Tucker in turn six, he touched the leader Quinn, who spun out and lost the lead. Fitzgerald moved from third to first in one turn, but as the competition yellow came out, Fitzgerald was black flagged for his contact with Quinn. The order was now Tucker in the #377, Smith in the #319 Menzies Motorsports/Bully Dog buggy, Fraley in the #312 Freeman’s Carpet Service/BFGoodrich Tires buggy, Kevin McCullough in the #389 General Tire/Gear One buggy, and Kyle Lucas in the #325Lucas Oil/mavTV buggy. On the restart lap, Tucker, Smith, and Fraley went three-wide into turn six, and all came out cleanly, with Tucker holding the lead, Fraley now second, and Smith third. Smith got back by Fraley, however, and Lucas also moved up, taking over fourth from McCullough. McCullough then dropped out of the race, allowing Quinn back into the top five. On the final lap, Tucker bicycled in turn four, but held off a hard-charging Smith to take his first career LOORRS Limited Buggy win. Tucker also got the fastest lap of the race, a 1:02.684. Smith took his third consecutive second place finish of the season, followed by Fraley in third, Lucas fourth, and Quinn fifth.

Pro 4 Unlimited

After the official opening ceremonies, racing action resumed with the fastest vehicles of the afternoon: the Pro 4 Unlimiteds. Taking full advantage of a big eight spot inversion of Friday’s qualifying results, Kent Brascho was off like a rocket from the drop of the green flag in his #8 MSD Ignition/Lucas Oil Chevrolet, taking the early lead at the end of lap one. In second was Johnny Greaves in the #16 Monster Energy/MasterCraft Safety Toyota, who’d made a great start from sixth on the starting grid. Third was Curt LeDuc in the #43 Rockstar/Makita Ford, fourth was Kyle LeDuc in the #99 Kal Gard/Toyo Tires Ford, and fifth was Mike Johnson in the #31 K&N Filters/Ironclad Chevrolet. Johnson pulled off the track on lap two, which brought Carl Renezeder into the top five. Kyle LeDuc moved past his dad Curt, as did Renezeder in the #1 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford. Up front, Greaves had managed to get by Brascho to take over the lead. Renezeder then moved inside of Kyle LeDuc in turn four, and as the two went side-by-side towards turn five, LeDuc got loose and went off to the inside of the track, falling back to fifth. LeDuc recovered quickly, though, and got past his dad Curt to re-take fourth, while Renezeder continued his march forward as well, moving past Brascho to take over second. Brascho then hit some bad luck, first spinning in turn four, then slowing and dropping back with an unknown issue. As the competition yellow came out, Greaves was now well clear out front, but would have to try to hold off Renezeder, Kyle LeDuc, Rick Huseman, and Curt LeDuc, all with a right rear tire that was now going flat.

Green flag racing resumed, and Greaves was doing well to hold off the other three fastest Pro 4 Unlimited drivers. As Renezeder and Kyle LeDuc battled over second place into turn four, Rick Huseman ducked down the inside of both drivers to take over second place. Ahead of him, Greaves’ tire finally let go, helping Huseman to move from fourth to first in just two turns. With several laps to go, a great three-way battle for the lead got underway between Huseman, Kyle LeDuc, and Renezeder. Renezeder’s truck eventually developed an issue and slowed a bit, while Huseman drove extremely well from the lead to pull open a small gap on LeDuc. Huseman put together a very controlled, calm race (as calm as one could with 11 other 800 horsepower trucks sliding all around him), setting the fastest lap of the day at a 54.600 and coming from well back in the pack to take a great win in the #36 Monster Energy/Traxxas Toyota. Kyle LeDuc finished second, ahead of Renezeder, Curt LeDuc, and Travis Coyne in the #5 ProComp/Team Associated Ford.

Pro Buggy Unlimited

Next onto the track were the big boys of open wheel, the Pro Buggy Unlimiteds. The two front row starters ran first and second at the end of the first lap, with Joe Masek holding the early lead in his #947 OneShotFighting.com buggy over Chuck Cheek in the #957 Stronghold Motorsports/Lucas Oil AlumiCraft. In third was the #996 Fortin Racing, Inc./McGrath Fiberglass buggy of Doug Fortin, followed by Mike Dondel and Cameron Steele. Fortin moved up to second, and top qualifier Dondel was now close behind in third. Fortin then dropped back after developing a right rear flat, while Dondel moved his #998 Racer Engineering/BFGoodrich Tires forward and into the lead. Behind Dondel was now Masek, followed by Cheek, Mike Porter in the #900 Team Porter/ VP Racing AlumiCraft, and Rich Ronco in the #999 Goodyear Tatum as the competition yellow came out. Cheek made a great restart to take the lead away from Dondel, while a mistake by Porter put him briefly off the track and dropped him back in the pack. Dondel quickly grabbed the lead back from Cheek, and opened up a small lead on the rest of the field in the closing laps of the race. However, as Dondel came within sight of the white flag, he rolled in turn six and lost any chance of a win. Cheek assumed the lead and went on to take the win, ahead of a resurgent Bobby PeCoy, who’d had a great second half of the race in the #973 Makita/Maxxis Tires AlumiCraft. Third went to Ronco, fourth to Masek, and Larry Job rounded out the top five in the #907 Menzies Motorsports/Rusty AlumiCraft. Dondel can take some consolation from getting the fastest lap of the race, snagging that with a 58.363, just one thousandth of a second faster than the 58.364 by Cheek!

Pro Lite Unlimited

As fans filled the stands to near-capacity levels, they could count themselves amongst the fortunate who would get to see the most thrilling, action-packed, edge-of-your-seat race of the season thus far. The drivers of the Pro Lite Unlimited division put on a show that will go down as one of the best short course off-road races of all time, and someone had to lead the battle into the beginning of the race. This time it was Casey Currie in the #2 Monster Energy/Kawasaki-sponsored Ford, and behind him came Jimmy Stephensen, Brian Deegan, Marty Hart, and Rodrigo Ampudia. Stephensen dropped to fifth on the second lap, and after sitting in second for a few laps, Deegan executed a beautiful pass on Currie to take the lead in turn four. Behind him, Hart was up to second in the #15 Stronghold Motorsports/Kolpin Ford, but he then got wild and went off the track coming into the moguls. Hart was forced to drive onto the front straightaway going the wrong way in order to get back onto the track, and was black flagged as a result. Ampudia got his #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford by Currie for second place shortly afterwards, just before Jacob Person and Aaron Daugherty got into one another coming out of turn four. They touched going over the jump between turns four and five, and Daugherty was sent into a high speed barrel roll all the way off the track next to the entrance to turn five. In all, Daugherty appeared to have rolled somewhere around ten times, which brought out a red flag of the race. Daugherty was ok, and he stayed in the truck to help steer it as it was towed off the track, still in amazingly good condition after such a rough-looking accident- a true testament to the strength of these race machines.

As green flag racing resumed, it was Deegan out front, followed by Currie, Ampudia, Stephensen in the #33 Racin’ Dirty/Yokohama Tires Nissan, and Adam Wik in the #11 Wik’s Racing Engines/LAT Chevrolet. Stephensen tried to go inside of Ampudia in turn four, and as Wik went below them both, he and Stephensen got together. Stephensen careened off the track and back on, nearly taking out Hart in the process. This brought out another full-course yellow, and when the green flag came out once again, it was still Deegan out front, followed by Currie, Ampudia, Chris Brandt in the #82 Lucas Oil/Hart & Huntington Toyota, and Hart. Deegan opened up a small lead, but behind him, Matt Loiodice, who’d recovered well after having been rolled by Hart on the opening lap, had tacked his #20 MasterCraft Safety/Competitive Metals Ford onto the back of a five-truck train in second through sixth places. All five drivers in the train were trading places all over the track, and although Currie eventually dropped off the back with an unknown issue, the other four stayed close together as the white flag waved. At this point, Deegan still led, with Hart second, Loiodice third, Brandt fourth, and Ampudia fifth. On what would’ve been the final lap, Person went up in flames, so the race was red-flagged, and a green-white-checkered finish was called for. As the green flag waved, it was Deegan who had a target on his back as the four drivers behind him were all gunning for him. Ampudia slowed on the penultimate lap, and with one lap to go, it was now Corey Sisler in the #19 Forgiven Energy Ford sitting in fifth. On the final lap, Brandt briefly snagged third from Loiodice out of turn four, but Loiodice re-took the position in the next turn. As the mayhem came to a close, it was Deegan who kept his nose clean and took a great win in the #38 Rockstar/Lucas Oil Ford, followed by Hart, Loiodice, Brandt, and Sisler. Deegan also took the fast lap of the race, running a 59.058.

Pro 2 Unlimited

With one of the deepest fields in Pro 2 Unlimited history on the track, and the crowd still buzzing from the awesome show that the Pro Lite Unlimiteds had just put on, it was time for Pro 2 Unlimited. Carl Renezeder was the top qualifier, and he jumped out to the lead at the end of lap one, ahead of Jeremy McGrath in the #15 Monster Energy/Method Race Wheels Toyota, Rob MacCachren, Greg Adler in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford, and Rodrigo Ampudia. Ampudia moved his #36 Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford into fourth on lap two, and the top five all held their positions for several laps, until Jesse Jones beached his truck on the k-rail entering turn five, which brought out a full-course yellow. When green flag racing resumed, a small bobble by fifth-placed Adler allowed the top four to move clear of the rest of the field. Adler was then passed by Ricky Johnson in the #48 Red Bull/Traxxas Ford just before the competition yellow, and as the field bunched back up, it was still Renezeder up front, followed by McGrath, MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, Ampudia, and Johnson. Johnson pulled off briefly and dropped to last on the restart lap, allowing Mike Johnson (no relation to Ricky) to move up to fifth in the #31 Swaghouse.com/Ironclad Ford. Mike Johnson was then black-flagged for unsafe driving, handing fifth place over to the #7 Bully Dog/Super Clean Ford of Bryce Menzies. Up front, Renezeder had finally opened a small gap on those chasing behind, and the rest of the field simply couldn’t get close enough to do anything with him. Renezeder took the win, his first of the 2010 season, as well as the fastest lap of the race, a 56.344. McGrath finished in second, ahead of MacCachren, Ampudia, and Menzies in third through fifth places.

SuperLite

The final race of the afternoon was the SuperLite race, and a strong field of 13 trucks took the green flag. Top qualifier Jacob Person jumped out to the early lead in the #29 Stand-Up MRI/Geiser Bros machine, followed by Chad George, Colton Greaves, Brian Deegan, and Dawson Kirchner. Ricky James moved up to fifth on the second lap in his #24 So Cal Super Trucks/Rockwell truck, just before a scary-looking crash by Luke Johnson (son of Pro 2 Unlimited driver Ricky Johnson) brought out a full red flag of the race. Johnson was ok, and when racing resumed, James made his way up to third spot on the restart lap, where he remained until the competition yellow. At this point, Person still led over the #42 Funco/Bull machine of George, with James third, Greaves fourth, and Deegan fifth in the #38 Metal Mulisha/Rockstar truck. On the restart, the always-fast James got by George and Person to take the lead, but seemed to miss a gear coming out of turn four, causing him to nearly stall, and forcing the whole field to bunch up behind him. Greaves and George got through the chaos best, and emerged in first and second, with James back to third, Brandon Ward (son of Pro 2 Unlimited driver Jeff Ward) fourth in the #92 Troy Lee Designs/K&N Filters machine, and Deegan fifth. Ward then spun off the track coming out of turn two, which allowed Person back into fifth spot. Up front, Greaves (son of Pro 4 Unlimited driver Johnny Greaves), in his first SuperLite race, was putting in a great drive in the #33 Traxxas/Fox Racing Shox truck, and still held the lead when the white flag came out. Sadly, however, a win wasn’t in the cards for him today, as he rolled at the exit of turn five. This handed the lead and the win to Chad George, his first win in the SuperLite class. George also set the fast lap of the race at a 1:02.386. Second went to James, third to Person, fourth to Chad Leising in the #17 Hart & Huntington/Gatorwraps.com machine, and fifth to Chuck Dempsey in the #50 K&N Filters/ Auto Meter truck.

That’s the tale of Round 3 here in Surprise, AZ. Come out to Speedworld and see the action of Round 4 in person, and of course stay tuned to www.lucasoiloffroad.com for all the latest LOORRS news.