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Round 9 Qualifying |
August 07, 2010 |
After successful ventures to new tracks in Las Vegas and Utah this season, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is attempting to go three for three as we invade the historic off-road grounds of Glen Helen Raceway here in San Bernardino, CA for Rounds 9 and 10 of the LOORRS Championship. Glen Helen has played host to many great off-road events over the years, and the brand new track built here just for LOORRS should provide a great challenge for even the most experienced short course drivers. At just 0.8 miles, this course packs a lot of action into every lap, and drivers had two practice sessions to learn the track before making their bid for pole in Friday’s Round 9 qualifying sessions.
Pro 4 Unlimited
First out on track for Friday qualifying were the thundering beasts of Pro 4 Unlimited. Rick Huseman has dominated this class so far this season, with defending class champion Carl Renezeder being the only driver who can consistently challenge him up front. Renezeder stormed out of the gate in his #1 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, taking the early top time with a 45.418 on lap one. Renezeder improved to a 45.352 on lap two, and held the top spot on the time sheets until lap six, when Huseman finally hit his stride. Huseman moved his #36 Traxxas/Monster Energy Toyota to the top with three consecutive top times, the fastest of which was a 43.936 on the final lap. Huseman’s final lap would be the fastest of the session, with Renezeder taking second with a 44.538. Third went to Adrian Cenni in the #11 King Off Road Racing Shocks/BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet, whose best time was a 45.646. Fourth was Kyle LeDuc with a 46.964 in the #99 Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita Ford, and fifth went to Bryce Menzies, who laid down a 47.021 in his brand new #7 Bully Dog/Blanco Basura Ford.
Pro Lite Unlimited
Next up were the Pro Lite Unlimiteds, and Marty Hart took the early lead with a 50.623 on his opening lap in the #15 Stronghold Motorsports/Kolpin Ford. Brian Deegan then grabbed the lead away on lap two with a 49.889 in his #38 Rockstar/Lucas Oil Ford. Deegan’s time held up for a lap, but Chris Brandt then snagged the top spot with a 49.661 on lap four in his #82 mavTV/Hart and Huntington Toyota. Brandt improved his time to a 49.429 on lap five, which was good enough to hold the top spot for the rest of the session. Deegan’s early time held up for second, while Matt Loiodice finished third with a 50.134 in his #20 Competitive Metals/Jimco Ford. Hart improved on his early time, taking fourth with a 50.244, and Jimmy Stephensen rounded out the top five with a 50.314 in his #33 JS Pest Control/Ironclad Nissan.
Pro 2 Unlimited
A stacked field of Pro 2 Unlimiteds is here at Glen Helen this weekend, and it was Ricky Johnson in the #48 Traxxas/Red Bull Ford who took the early top time with a 47.953 on the opening lap. No other driver even dipped into the 47s until lap five, when Rob MacCachren dropped the leading time to a 47.525 in his #21 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford. Carl Renezeder then took over the time sheets with a 47.228 on lap six in his #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, before cementing his lead with a 46.648 on the final lap. Although the drivers in second through eighth places were covered by less than three tenths of a second at session’s end, Renezeder took the pole by nearly nine tenths of a second. Second went to MacCachren with a 47.510, with Bryce Menzies taking third in the #7 Super Clean/O’Neill Ford with a 47.545. Fourth was Greg Adler in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Airaid Ford, with a time of 47.638, and rounding out the top five was Robert Naughton in the #54 Stronghold Motorsports/Maxxis Tires Ford, with a time of 47.737.
Super Lite
Super Lite qualifying was all about the young gun CJ Greaves. All drivers got in at least six laps in the session, but Greaves only needed his first three to take the top time in the session. Greaves opened with a 54.076 on lap one in his #33 Traxxas/Fox Racing Shox truck, good enough for the top time. Greaves then bettered his time with a 53.243 on lap two, before setting the session’s best time of a 52.606 on lap three. With the other drivers left chasing, it was Dawson Kirchner in the #16 Speed Technologies truck who came up best of the rest with a 52.912. Third went to short course newcomer Jeff Kargola in the #2 General Tire/Lost machine. Kargola was impressively quick right out of the box, and his best time was a 53.129. Fourth was Brandon Ward with a 53.188 in the #92 Troy Lee Designs/K&N Filters truck, and fifth was Ricky James with a 53.244 in the #24 Rockwell/So Cal Super Trucks machine.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
A huge field of 20 Pro Buggy Unlimiteds was on hand next, and on this track, the combined noise of these cars was sensational. Doug Fortin took the early top time with a 49.781 in his #996 Fortin Racing, Inc./BFGoodrich Tires Racer Engineering buggy. The lead was taken over by Steven Greinke on lap two with a 49.506 in his #923 SC Fuels Racer, and again on lap three by Cameron Steele with a 49.281 in the #916 Menzies Motorsports/Metal Mulisha AlumiCraft. Steele improved the lead to a 49.186 on lap five, but it was Mike Porter in the #900 Rockstar/Makita AlumiCraft who stole the thunder on the final lap, taking the pole with a 49.061. Second and third went to Steele and Greinke, whose aforementioned laps were their best. Fourth went to Fortin with a 49.517, and fifth was a tie between Jerry Whelchel in the #901 Foddrill Motorsports Toyota and Bobby PeCoy in the #973 downloadactionvideo.com AlumiCraft. Whelchel and PeCoy each set a best time of 49.992, so the tie breaker was determined by each driver’s second best lap. This went the way of Whelchel, whose number two lap was a 50.254 to PeCoy’s 50.527.
Limited Buggy
Another big field was on hand next, with 20 Limited Buggies taking to the track. Points leader Justin Smith took the lead early with a 52.770 in his #319 Bully Dog/Menzies Motorsports Fraley, and bettered his time to a session-best 52.239 on lap two. Smith’s time held up for three laps, but it was Bruce Fraley in the #312 Freeman’s Carpet Service/ProAm Fraley who took the pole on lap six with a 52.147. Smith’s early time was good enough for second, with Curt Geer taking third in the #392 Green Army/BFGoodrich Tires Lothringer in a time of 52.769. Fourth went to LJ Kennedy with a 53.381 in the #382 Wilson Motorsports/RADesigns buggy, and an impressive fifth went to young Geoffrey Cooley in the #322 AlumiCraft Race Cars/PB Plumbing AlumiCraft, whose best time was a 53.551.
UTV
UTV is seeing one of its strongest fields of the season here in Glen Helen, and while other tracks seemed to favor either the speed of the SR1s or the traction of the Unlimiteds, this track seemed to mix the classes pretty evenly. Chad George took the early top time with a 54.645 in his #642 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki on lap one. Lap two saw Corry Weller take over up front, as she set a 53.679 in her #801 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Performance Exhaust Yamaha. Weller’s time held up for a lap, but Austin Kimbrell was not to be denied, taking the lead on lap four with a 53.095 in his Monster Energy/UTVUnderground.com Kawasaki. Kimbrell then stamped his authority on the field by taking the pole on lap five with a 52.605. Weller improved to a 53.263 for second, with Tyler Herzog finishing third with a 53.610 in his #844 Ivy Trucking and Grading/Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Yamaha. Fourth was RJ Anderson with a 53.985 in the #637 Walker Evans Racing/Holz Racing Products Polaris, and rounding out the top five was Tyler Winbury with a 54.131 in the #694 Funco/Beard Seats Kawasaki.
Modified Kart
The three kart classes moved their qualifying to Friday night from their usual Saturday morning time slot, and up first from these classes was Modified Kart. Zach Hunt set the top early time with a 34.651 on the shorter kart track in his #534 Creative Fabrication and Design, Inc./King Shocks machine. Hunt bettered the top time twice with times of 34.354 and 34.232, but it was Sheldon Creed who snuck in a 34.026 on lap ten to grab the pole in his #522 Fox Racing Shox/A.M. Ortega kart. Hunt again improved to a 34.184 on the last lap to take second, while Mitchell DeJong took third with a 34.445 in his #524 Speed Technologies truck. Fourth went to Brandon Vermillion in the #585 San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Hart and Huntington kart, whose best lap was 34.688. Trenton Briley rounded out the top five with a 34.867 in his #507 Pole Position Raceway/Kal Gard machine.
Junior 2 Kart
Bowen Brooks took the early leading time in the Junior 2 Kart session, running a 34.372 on lap one in his #477 Synergy Electric Racing machine. Sheldon Creed then took over at the top of the time sheets with a 33.991 in his #422 The Fab School/A.M. Ortega truck on lap two. Chad Graham then took his turn at the top, and he was the driver who would hold the top time at session’s end. Graham moved to the front on lap three with a 33.655 in his #410 Hart and Huntington/Grenade kart, then improved his time twice, eventually taking the pole with a 33.094. Creed improved his best time to a 33.193 to take second, with third going to Paige Porter in a time of 33.245 in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage Boats kart. Fourth was Maxwell Ries in the #474 ProAm/Hoosier kart, with a time of 33.658, and fifth was Brooks, who improved his personal best to a 34.154.
Junior 1 Kart
The final qualifying session of the night was that of Junior 1 Kart, and it was points leader Brock Heger who took the early top time with a 36.383 in his #212 Brock Heger Racing kart. Heger improved the top time with a 35.867 on lap two, before Jack Yeiser took over at the top with a 35.831 on lap three in his #244 truck. Yeiser improved the best lap three times, ultimately taking the pole with a 34.682 on lap nine. Heger improved his best time to a 35.487 to finish second, with third going to Broc Dickerson, whose best time was a 35.892 in the #223 Dickerson Motorsports machine. Fourth went to Dean Duro with a 35.930 in the mavTV/Hart and Huntington truck, and rounding out the top five was Cole Mamer in the #235 Mamer Racing kart, who ran a 35.941.
That’s it for qualifying for Round 9. Be sure to get out to Glen Helen to see the action under the lights this weekend, and stay tuned to lucasoiloffroad.com for all the latest developments.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. |
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