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Packed House Sees Great Races in Round 9 |
August 08, 2010 |
Short course off-road racing is back in southern California, and it’s back in a big way! An epic crowd was on hand at the Glen Helen Raceway here in San Bernardino, CA for Round 9 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and everyone in attendance got to see some of thrilling racing. The wide track made passing surprisingly possible despite a track length of just 0.8 miles, and the compact layout gave the crowd, which was an emphatic sellout, a great view of all the goings on. The crowd was on its feet and cheering in unison all night long, and in case you missed anything, or just couldn’t make it here to see the races in person, here’s why everyone was so excited.
Junior 2 Kart
For the first time this season, the Junior 2 Kart drivers were given the honor of kicking off the day’s action, and it was Sheldon Creed and Chad Graham who started on the front row. Graham took the lead from the drop of the green flag in his #410 Hart and Huntington/Grenade machine, followed by Creed in the #422 Fox Racing Shox/Patrick’s High Performance Graphix truck, Maxwell Ries in the #474 ProAm/Hoosier kart, Eddie Tafoya Jr. in the #451 Specialty Fasteners truck, and Bowen Brooks in the #477 Synergy Electric Racing machine. A bobble in turn four and a spin in turn two cost Ries and Brooks one position each, moving Tafoya Jr. to fourth and Micaela Cheek to fifth in the #457 CMI/Jamminproducts.com kart. Up front, Graham and Creed were pulling away from the field, with Tafoya Jr. and Ries battling hard for third spot. At the competition yellow, Graham still led over Creed, with Tafoya Jr. third, Ries fourth, and Paige Porter now fifth in the #462 Redline Performance/Advantage boats kart. After the restart, Tafoya Jr. slid backwards to fifth, while up front Graham opened up a slight lead over Creed. Porter was charging hard and had moved up to fourth, just before looping it in turn two and dropping to seventh. At the white flag, Graham still led over Creed, with Ries third, Tafoya Jr. fourth, and Jeff Hoffman now fifth in the #447 VP truck. The top five drivers held their positions through the end of the race, with Graham taking the fast lap with a 33.319.
Junior 1 Kart
Junior 1 Kart was up next, and it was Dean Duro and Broc Dickerson on the front row at the start. A multi-kart rollover in turn one took Dickerson out of the action, and forced a full restart of the race. With Brock Heger now joining Duro on the front row, the green flag dropped for the second shot at a clean start. Top qualifier Jack Yeiser stormed past both front row starters to take the early lead in his RC10.com/Canidae machine, ahead of Heger in the #212 Brock Heger Racing/Sunoco kart, Cole Mamer in the #235 Mamer Racing/Cousin’s Hay Harvesting truck, Duro in the #222 Hart and Huntington/mavTV machine, and Preston Roben in the #210 DCI Duggins Construction/Mad Graphix kart. Yeiser had speed in hand, but a series of mistakes led to his dropping to second behind new leader Mamer. Further back, Riley Herbst had moved up to fifth in the #219 Jack Link’s Beef Jerky/Terrible Herbst truck. Yeiser then pulled off the track (he would re-enter later in the race), and as the competition yellow came out, Mamer still led over Heger, now followed by Roben (who was really showing some speed with his fast lap of the race, a 35.245), Herbst, and Travis PeCoy in the #211 downloadactionvideo.com machine. Duro moved back up to fifth after the restart, and with one lap to go, Mamer and Heger were locked in a great battle for the lead. Mamer held his lines and pulled out all the stops to keep his lead, and he went on to take the win. Heger finished a close second, followed by Roben, Herbst, and Duro.
UTV
With the race order getting shuffled around quite a bit from the usual running order, the UTVs were up next, the first class to take to the full-length track. Code Rahders in the #816 Frostyburger/Fox Racing Shox Yamaha and Tyler Winbury in the #694 Beard Seats/King Shocks started on the front row, and at the end of lap one, it was Winbury who was at the front of the pack. In second it was Chad George in the #642 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki, who’d had a great first lap after starting eighth. In third ran Rahders, followed by RJ Anderson in the #637 Walker Evans Racing/Holz Racing Products Polaris in fourth and Tyler Herzog in the #844 Ivy Trucking and Grading/XMF Yamaha in fifth. Anderson dropped out of the top five on lap two, moving Herzog to fourth and Corry Weller to fifth in the #801 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha. George was really putting the pressure on his fellow Funco runner Winbury, but Winbury drove like a champion to hold the lead. Rahders, Herzog, and Weller were all running strong and fast in a battle for third, with Herzog taking over the position ahead of the competition yellow. At this point, Winbury and George were still first and second, followed by Herzog, Rahders, and Weller. Herzog and Rahders got together on the restart, and though both came away cleanly, the field got shuffled behind the top two, with Austin Kimbrell now third in the #607 Monster Energy/UTVUnderground.com Kawasaki, Herzog fourth, and Weller fifth. Kimbrell was now right in the hunt for the lead, and after George got out of shape and broke something in his front drive in the rhythm section between turns two and three, Kimbrell moved up to second. Winbury then bicycled through turn one on the next lap, handing the lead to Kimbrell. George’s issue saw him continue to drop back through the field, and it was now Weller up to second, Winbury third, Rahders fourth, and Robert Vanbeekum fifth in the #664 Xtreme Machine and Fabrication Kawasaki with one lap to go. With just three turns to go, Weller’s machine caught on fire, and she was forced to pull off the track and out of the race. Up front Kimbrell was now well clear, and he took the Unlimited UTV and overall wins. Second went to Winbury, with Rahders third, taking his first career short course win as he topped the SR1 field (Rahders was also the only first-time winner of the night in any class). Fourth went to Doug Mittag in the #848 Custom Off Road Designs/Simpson Yamaha, and fifth went to a resilient George. Despite not making the entire last lap, Corry Weller rounded out the SR1 podium, as she covered more distance than the other drivers who also all hit trouble. Kimbrell and Weller each set fast lap in their respective classes late in the race, with Kimbrell getting the outright top time at 52.557, and Weller getting the SR1 best lap of 52.818.
Limited Buggy
A humming swarm of Limited Buggies came out next, with LJ Kennedy in the #382 Wilson Motorsports/Yokohama Tires Penhall starting alongside Curt Geer in the #392 Green Army/BDI Bowden Lothringer on the front row. Geer took the early lead, followed by Bruce Fraley in the #312 ProAm/Freeman’s Carpet Service Fraley, Kennedy, Quentin Tucker in the #377 Logher Roadsiding/Driscoll’s buggy, and John Fitzgerald in the #314 mavTV/Hart and Huntington buggy. Fraley and Kennedy stacked up in turn four, moving Geer clear up front, Tucker and Fitzgerald into the top three, and Kyle Lucas and Justin Smith into fourth and fifth. Smith moved up to fourth in the #319 Menzies Motorsports/Bully Dog Fraley, and after Lucas dropped out, it was Geoffrey Cooley in fifth in the #322 AlumiCraft Race Cars/PB Plumbing AlumiCraft. At the competition yellow, Geer still led handily, with Tucker second, Fitzgerald third, Smith fourth, and Cooley fifth. The restart lap saw quite a bit of shuffling, moving Fitzgerald to second, Smith to third, Tucker to fourth, and Kenny Freeman to fifth in the #302 Freeman’s Carpet Service/General Tire buggy, all behind the leader Geer. Fitzgerald really put the pressure on Geer up front, allowing Smith to run some quick laps, including the race’s best of a 51.820 (he was the only driver in the 51s), and close in on the leaders. Up front, Geer eventually made a mistake in turn two and dropped the position to Fitzgerald. The top three were now battling very closely as they got into lapped traffic, which Fitzgerald and Geer used to clear themselves from Smith a little bit. Geer ran Fitzgerald as close as he could on the final lap as he tried to re-gain the lead, but it wasn’t enough as Fitzgerald came home the winner. Geer took second, followed by Smith, Tucker, and Cooley.
Modified Kart
The final race before opening ceremonies was that of the Modified Karts. These young drivers got a much-deserved chance to race in front of a packed house, and the young drivers didn’t disappoint. Mitchell DeJong in the #524 Speed Technologies machine started alongside Zach Hunt in the #534 King Shocks/Creative Fabrication and Design, Inc. truck on the front row, and it was DeJong who took the early lead and never looked back. After lap one, DeJong ran up front, followed by Sheldon Creed in the #522 A.M. Ortega/The Fab School kart, Hunt, Brandon Vermillion in the #585 mavTV/Hart and Huntington truck, and Blake Lenk in the #521 Missing Lenk Motorsports/Racin’ Dirty machine. Lenk moved up to fourth, while up front, DeJong and Creed were in a real dog fight for the lead. Creed crashed onto his side as he attempted to go by DeJong on the inside as they came up the first tabletop on the front straight. Creed came to a rest in a very precarious position, with drivers having to swerve to avoid his stricken kart, but with Creed quickly pulled to safety by the track officials under a full course yellow, racing resumed. After the restart lap, DeJong still led, followed now by Hunt, Lenk, Trenton Briley in the #507 Pole Position Raceway/Kal Gard truck, and Vermillion. As Hunt gave it his all to challenge DeJong for the lead, DeJong really put his foot in it, laying down fast lap at a 33.918 (don’t be confused by the lap times of these karts compared to the Junior 1s and Junior 2s; the Modified Karts ran the full-length track through turns one and two before picking up the shorter kart track, while the other two kart classes skipped all but the front straight on the full-length track). DeJong went on to take the win, further opening his lead in the season points battle. Hunt took second, followed by Lenk, Briley, and Vermillion.
Pro 4 Unlimited
With the truly standing room only crowd at a fever pitch following opening ceremonies, it was now time for what was undoubtedly the race of the night: Pro 4 Unlimited. With the top two qualifiers, Rick Huseman and Carl Renezeder, starting on the back row after they broke pre-race protocol, the race seemed wide open for any of a number of drivers to take the win. Kyle LeDuc started his #99 Rockstar/Circle K Ford alongside Adrian Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet on the front row, and it was LeDuc who led Cenni across the stripe at the end of the first lap. These two were followed by Mike Johnson in the #31 K&N Filters/Ironclad Ford, Travis Coyne in the #5 Pro Comp/Team Associated Ford, and Bryce Menzies in the #7 Bully Dog/Fox Racing Shox Ford. Despite starting from the back row, Huseman was on a tear in the #36 Traxxas/Monster Energy Toyota, moving up to fifth by the second lap, while Renezeder was less lucky, crashing onto his side in the rhythm section between turns two and three, which brought out a full course yellow.
Huseman had managed to move up to fourth before Renezeder’s crash, and after the restart, he quickly moved up to third, just behind LeDuc and Cenni, and ahead of Menzies and Johnson. The crowd was going nuts for the points leader and local driver Huseman (he lives just down the road in Riverside), whose flame-spitting Toyota was making such quick work of the rest of the field. The whole of the grandstands seemed to roar as Huseman took second from Cenni, and when LeDuc rolled in turn four while trying to hold off Huseman for the lead, the cheers grew even more intense as Huseman sped into the lead, followed by Cenni and LeDuc, who landed on his wheels without any serious damage. At the competition yellow, the top three remained unchanged, and they were followed by Johnson in fourth and LeDuc’s dad Curt in the #43 Makita/Skyjacker Ford in fifth. The senior LeDuc moved up to fourth on the restart lap, just ahead of a self-inflicted rollover in turn five by Johnson, which brought out another full course yellow.
On the restart lap, LeDuc held it wide open through the rhythm section, the first driver to visibly do so, and took over second from Cenni. Young LeDuc had really come alive, and the seemingly impervious Huseman was suddenly under pressure. Huseman bicycled in turn four, giving LeDuc just the chance he needed, and LeDuc seized the opportunity and re-took the lead. LeDuc seemed like a whole different driver, running much quicker and making himself much more difficult for Huseman. As the crowd willed the top two drivers around the track, Huseman took the fast lap of the race at a 44.425 and closed right down on LeDuc. Huseman drove inside out of turn four and got alongside LeDuc over the big tabletop jump, just nosing into the lead. LeDuc tried valiantly to re-take the lead in turn five, but with two laps to go, Huseman had the lead for good this time. The whole crowd was on its feet as LeDuc charged hard on the final lap, but it just wasn’t his day as Huseman took the win, his seventh out of nine races this season. LeDuc took an incredibly hard-fought second, followed by Cenni, Curt LeDuc, and Coyne.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
Jerry Whelchel has been the class of the Pro Buggy Unlimited field as of late, and as a driver who’s been an even better racer than he is a qualifier, he’d be a tough customer with his outside front row starting position. Whelchel jumped into the early lead in his #901 ProAm/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill, ahead of fellow front row starter Bobby PeCoy in the #973 downloadactionvideo.com AlumiCraft. In third came Chuck Cheek in the #957 Stronghold Motorsports/Maxxis Tires AlumiCraft, followed by Steven Greinke in the #923 SC Fuels Racer and Doug Fortin in the #996 Wik’s Racing Engines/Fox Racing Shox Racer. Fortin quickly moved up to fourth, followed closely be Cameron Steele, who was up to fifth in the #916 Bully Dog/Metal Mulisha AlumiCraft. As Whelchel and PeCoy pulled away in a close race for first, Cheek dropped to seventh, promoting Fortin, Steele, and Mike Porter to third, fourth, and fifth. Whelchel then started to pull away up front, with now closing on PeCoy for second. Fortin and Steele were both running fast, with Steele setting fast lap at a 48.187, and the two just got by PeCoy for second and third just ahead of the competition yellow. At this point, it was still Whelchel up front, followed by Fortin, Steele, PeCoy, and Porter in the #900 Rockstar/Makita AlumiCraft. PeCoy ducked into the hot pits under caution with a flat tire, and a big multi-car contact shuffle in turn three on the restart lap, Whelchel was now clear up front, but was now followed by Steele, Porter, Greinke, and Larry Job in the #907 Rusty/Blanco Basura AlumiCraft. Porter then ran wide in turn two, allowing several drivers to get by. With multiple incidents in turns three and four bringing out a full course yellow, the running order was now Whelchel, Steele, Greinke, Job, and Cheek. The restart lap again saw more shuffling, with Fortin back up to fourth and Phil Bollman now fifth in the #965 PB Racing/Toyo Tires AlumiCraft. The top five drivers held their positions from here on out, with Whelchel taking a commanding wire to wire win, his fourth win in his five races this season. Steele finished second yet again, followed by Greinke, Fortin, and Bollman.
Super Lite
With the addition of several new drivers this season, including five this weekend alone, Super Lite is a class that’s growing by leaps and bounds, and which is becoming a great proving ground for up and coming drivers. Brandon Ward in the #92 Troy Lee Designs/KMC Wheels truck started on the inside of the front row, next to the #2 General Tire/Lost machine of Jeff Kargola, but it was pole winner CJ Greaves who put his #33 Traxxas/Oakley truck up front at the end of lap one. In second it was Dawson Kirchner in the #16 Speed Technologies/Exotic Engines machine, followed by Ward, Jeremy Stenberg in the #88 Rockstar/Maxxis Tires machine, and Ricky James in the #24 Rockwell/Bully Dog truck. As Greaves opened up a good lead up front, Kirchner dropped down to fifth on lap two, promoting Stenberg to second and James to third. Kirchner recovered and got back to fourth, with James also moving up to take over second from Stenberg. A rollover in turn two brought out a full course yellow, and the running order was now Greaves, James, Stenberg, Kirchner, and Ward. Chad George moved his Bull Outdoor Products Inc./Goodyear #42 up to fifth on the restart lap, and after James pulled off with a mechanical failure, George passed Kirchner to take over third spot just before the competition yellow. At this point, Greaves was still leading, with Stenberg now second, George third, Kirchner fourth, and Ward fifth. Chad Leising moved his #17 Magnaflow/Hart and Huntington truck up to fifth on the restart lap, while further forward, George was now hounding Stenberg for second, which allowed Kirchner to close in from behind. As Greaves set the fast lap of the race at a 50.903 and again pulled away, Kirchner took advantage of Stenberg’s and George’s in-fighting to sneak third away from George. On the final lap, Greaves closed in on some lapped traffic, and as the two rookies battled each other for position, they nearly took Greaves out in the final turn. Fortunately, Greaves escaped unscathed, and thanks to the buffer zone he’d built up earlier, he was able to hold off Stenberg to take his second win of the season. Stenberg took second, with Kirchner finishing third, George fourth, and Ward fifth.
Pro Lite Unlimited
A strengthening field of Pro Lite Unlimiteds was next out on track, and points contenders Marty Hart and Matt Loiodice started alongside one another on the front row. Hart used his pole starting position to full advantage, taking the early lead in his #15 ReadyLift/Maxxis Tires Ford, ahead of Brian Deegan in the #38 Metal Mulisha/Etnies Ford, Loiodice in the #20 MasterCraft Safety/KCHiLites Ford, Chris Brandt in the #82 BFGoodrich Tires/Lucas Oil Toyota, and Jimmy Stephensen in the #33 Racin’ Dirty/K&N Filters Nissan. Stephensen slowed in the early going with an unknown issue, promoting Stephan Papadakis to fifth in the #4 Magnaflow/AEM Nissan. Just as the drivers were starting to hit their stride, a crash by Aaron Daugherty brought out a well-deserved full course caution (both of Daugherty’s rear tires came off the wheels). Daugherty was ok, and once action resumed, Brandt got around Loiodice to get into third place. The top three were starting to pull away as the competition yellow came out, and at this point the running order was Hart, Deegan, Brandt, Loiodice, and Papadakis. The top five strung back out after the restart, with the only close battle being between Hart and Deegan for the lead. Deegan was pushing hard, and he badly mis-jumped the big jump into turn two, putting him up along the turn two k-rail before landing him back on the track. Deegan’s truck was surprisingly undamaged, and he charged hard to try and catch back up to Hart. In the closing laps of the race, Brandt put in the fast lap of the race at a 48.346 (just one thousandth of a second better than Deegan’s best lap) in an effort to close in on the top two, but paid the price as his truck broke with just a few laps to go. Loiodice inherited third, with Papadakis fourth and Jacob Person now fifth in the #92 Stand –Up-MRI of Arizona/VP Ford. Despite Deegan’s best efforts, he simply ran out of time to really put any serious pressure on Hart in the closing laps, and Hart went on to take his second win in a row
Pro 2 Unlimited
The final race of the night was that of the Pro 2 Unlimiteds. Greg Adler would start his #10 4 Wheel Parts/BFGoodrich Tires Ford alongside the #7 Bully Dog/Super Clean Ford of Bryce Menzies on the front row, but it was Rob MacCachren who, as if shot from a cannon, stormed into the early lead in his #21 Rockstar/Fox Racing Shox Ford. At the end of lap one, it was MacCachren out front, followed by Adler, Menzies, Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Tecate/Papas & Beer Ford. Menzies dropped two spots to fifth on lap two, while Robert Naughton moved up two spots to fourth in his #54 ReadyLift/Stronghold Motorsports Ford. Further forward, Renezeder was on a tear after getting an early end to his Pro 4 Unlimited race, but a moment of over-zealous driving saw him come blazing through the rhythm section and hard into turn three, where he got into the side of Adler and rolled him over. This brought out a full course caution, and Renezeder was given the black flag and sent to the back of the pack. Racing resumed with MacCachren still out front, now followed by Naughton, Menzies, Ampudia, and Ricky Johnson in the #48 Red Bull/KMC Wheels Ford. Ampudia found a burst of speed just ahead of the competition yellow, picking off Menzies and Naughton in the space of two turns. After the restart, the usually infallible MacCachren made a rare mistake, nearly spinning in turn three. Ampudia was the best-placed driver to take advantage, but as the runners behind piled into the corner, someone hit Ampudia and spun him around and off track. MacCachren got lucky and was actually able to pull away from the mess and maintain his lead. He then got clear of the field as Naughton and Todd LeDuc got together and went off track just a turn and a straight later, leaving Menzies second, Johnson third, Jeff Geiser fourth in the #44 Canidae All Natural Pet Foods/Geiser Bros Design and Development Chevrolet, and Mike Johnson (no relation to Ricky) fifth in the #31 Method Race Wheels/Alpinestars Ford. Mike Johnson moved up to fourth after hounding Geiser for a few laps, and from here on in, the top five held their places. MacCachren went on to take the win, his fifth of the season, followed by Menzies, Ricky Johnson, Mike Johnson, and Geiser. Renezeder proved that he had the pace to run at the front, coming back to finish eighth, and taking fast lap with a 45.944.
A tremendous fireworks display marked the end of racing for Round 9, and it was indeed a great night of action. If you couldn’t be here for it, be sure to come check it out as the LOORRS circus does it all over again in Round 10. Racing starts at 4:30pm here at Glen Helen, but get here early to avoid long lines and the potential of missing out on tickets- Saturday tickets sold out fast. If you can’t be here in person, you can listen to the action live thanks to our friends at race-dezert.com, and of course stay tuned to lucasoiloffroad.com for anything and everything short course.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
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