Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series June 27-28 - Lake Elsinsore, CA

SUNDAY ROUND 6

HOT TEMPERATURES, HOTTER ACTION

After a warm and sunny day of action yesterday, more high temperatures greeted some truly diehard fans today for Round 6 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports. The action on the track heated up as well, and spectators, drivers, and crews alike were treated to an exciting day of racing filled with surprises. No race was predictable, with leads changing, drivers faltering and shining, and both experienced and first-time winners making their way to the top step of the podium.

Modified Karts
With the HRT Motorsports-prepared karts becoming the ones to beat in the Modified Kart division, #522 Sheldon Creed had his work cut out for him to try and sneak a win away from the likes of HRT drivers Connor Hart and Dave Mason. Creed started on the front row, and as if he’d been fired from a cannon, Creed jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Behind Creed’s The Fab School/Team Associated kart were the HRT karts of Mason and Hart, #504 Bradley Morris, and #555 JR Guthrie. #524 Mitchell DeJong moved his Speed Technologies kart into the top five, passing Guthrie and Morris, but he was the only real mover among the top five karts. The race was Creed’s for the taking, and he drove the entire race without ever being challenged. The HRTs of Mason and Hart, who’d looked so strong yesterday, had nothing for Creed, and had to settle for second and third, respectively. DeJong and Guthrie held their positions through to the end, winding up in fourth and fifth places.

Junior 1 Karts
After a relatively lack-lustre race yesterday, a few close battles for position made for a great race in today’s Junior 1 Kart division. Yesterday’s winner Sheldon Creed again slotted right into first place in the early going, leading the field with Brock Heger, Eddie Tafoya Jr., Myles Cheek, and Jack Grabowski in tow. #205 Shelby Anderson then moved into the top five, snagging fifth and then fourth places. Cheek also moved up, taking third place as Tafoya fell back to sixth. The action really began to heat up at this point, as Cheek, Anderson, and Grabowski waged a long battle for third all the way to the checkered flag, with Cheek holding off Grabowski’s ProAm kart and Anderson’s Walker Evans Racing Wheels kart to take third in his CMI machine. Up front the race was all about Creed, who did the only thing he could to better his results from yesterday (a first and a second) by taking two wins today! Creed’s The Fab School kart won today, ahead of the Racer Engineering machine of Brock Heger, Cheek, Grabowski, and Anderson.

Junior 2 Karts
The final kart race of the day was the Junior 2 Kart race, and it was #425 Trent Williams in his Victory Race Cars kart who jumped out to the early lead. Behind Williams were Maxwell Ries, Jerett Brooks, Connor Pankratz, and Troy French. Ries soon took the lead away from Williams, who quickly fell back in the pack, and further back, Pankratz and French were battling it out closely for fourth, with a hoard of hungry drivers stalking close behind. Ries and his ProAm kart pulled clear of the field and went on to win, as Brooks moved into second in his Synergy Electric kart. French and Pankratz fell back, conceding third to a hard-charging Dustin Grabowski, who’d come all the way back through the field after spinning out early on. #410 Chad Graham also got into the top five, taking fourth place and finishing just ahead of French, who managed to salvage a fifth place finish.

UTV
After taking the win in yesterday’s UTV race here in Lake Elsinore, #607 Austin Kimbrell was on the pole for the start of today’s UTV race. Kimbrell used his front row start to jump out to an early lead, but a determined Chad George dove his #624 Montclair Motors Kawasaki down the inside of Kimbrell in turn 6 to take the lead on lap 1. Slotting in behind George and Kimbrell were #637 RJ Anderson, #692 Jacob Person, and #639 Kenny Bates in spots three through five. Bates passed Person for fourth position as Person started to fall backwards through the field, eventually conceding fifth place as well, which was taken over by #602 Larry Roeseler. Up front, George and Kimbrell were pulling clear of the field in a close race for the lead, leaving Anderson and his Walker Evans Racing Wheels Polaris in no-man’s land down in third, ahead of Bates and Roeseler as the competition yellow was brought out. When green flag racing resumed, Kimbrell made a great jump to take the lead away from George, pulling convincingly away from the previous leader after earlier appearing as though he was barely able to keep up with George. Kimbrell marched on to victory, ahead of second place George, third place Anderson, a resurrgent Robert Vanbeekum in fourth, and Roeseler in fifth.

Unlimited 2
With a four-row inversion of the qualifying results from earlier this morning, pole winner Kevin Probst would be forced to start back in eighth, while eighth fastest qualifier Justin Davis would start from the pole position in today’s most exciting race. Jerry Whelchel jumped into the lead early in his #2 Dragofire Racing Ford, but was overtaken for the lead by the 4 Wheel Parts Ford of Greg Adler before the end of the first lap. Behind these two were Scott Schovajsa, Davis, and the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet of Robby Woods. Whelchel spun on the second lap and fell back to ninth place, while Bryce Menzies in the #7 Super Clean Ford was the man on the move, jumping up to the top five and all the way up to third. Woods then took that third spot back, and quickly moved past Schovasja for second by making a great jump and landing into the bowl of turn 4. Menzies then used the very same move on Schovajsa to take third spot away on the next lap. Behind all this, Carl Renezeder was now the guy moving quickest through the pack, hauling himself up into fourth position. Behind the leader, Adler, Woods, Menzies, and Renezeder were trading places like it was going out of style, and by the time the competition yellow came out, Menzies was on top of the heap in this battle, behind Adler and ahead of Renezeder, Woods, and Schovajsa. Once green flag racing was resumed, carnage began to ensue. Renezeder had a rear suspension failure and fell well back, and Whelchel, who’d come from nowhere to reclaim third place, crashed off the last jump on the front straightaway to bring out a full course yellow. Whelchel emerged ok, and under that yellow, Menzies and Woods both pulled off the track and out of the race, leaving Schovajsa, #11 Dale Dondel, Jeff Ward, and Davis to try and bring down Adler. Of these four, it was Ward who mounted the best charge, pulling a great outside-inside pass through turns 5 and 6 to take the lead and the win in his Speed Technologies/Bully Dog truck. Second was an obviously disappointed Adler, who’d managed to hold off every charge but the last one. Third went to Dondel in his Racer Engineering Chevrolet, ahead of Schovajsa’s S&S Construction truck and Davis.

Limited Buggy
An eight-position inversion was implemented for the start of today’s Limited Buggy race, putting eighth quick qualifier Curt Geer on the pole alongside yesterday’s winner Sean Geiser. Geiser shot out to an early led in his Slednecks-sponsored buggy, ahead of Geer, Bruce Fraley, Kyle Lucas, and John Fitzgerald. Lucas spun early in the race and fell back to dead last, while up front, Geiser was opening a big gap over the rest of the field. Sean Kennedy moved his Lucas Oil buggy into the top five, and just after Geer rolled in turn six, the competition yellow was brought out. At this point Geiser was still the leader, now ahead of Fitzgerald’s Geico Powersports machine, Fraley, Kennedy, and Chris Boyer. On the restart lap, Bryce Menzies, who’d fallen back early after a spin in turn 2, managed to haul himself into fifth place. Menzies then moved up to fourth, while up front, Fitzgerald was pushing hard to get by Geiser, only to blow the landing in turn 4, allowing both Fraley and Menzies to get by. From there, Geiser continued on unchallenged, taking back-to-back wins this weekend, a fact made all the more impressive when one notes that these are his first two wins in Limited Buggy. Fraley and Menzies rounded out the podium, while Fitzgerald and Boyer slotted in fourth and fifth.

Unlimited Buggy
Eight seemed to be the popular number when it came to inversions of the start order in today’s races, and the top eight were swapped for the start of the Unlimited Buggy race, putting television personality Cameron Steele on the pole. Steele was hit by Chuck Cheek in turn 1 on the first lap, but managed to avoid spinning and moved into third behind Mike Halliday and Larry Job, and ahead of Rich Ronco and Greg Foster. Mike Dondel was on the move in his Racer Engineering buggy, moving up to fifth before spinning, then regaining fifth and before taking over fourth just a few laps later. Job jumped by Halliday and into the lead out of turn 4, and Dondel moved past Steele for third just ahead of the competition yellow. Steele dropped well back after the restart, but Dondel moved forward to challenge Job for the lead, briefly taking it before falling back to third. Steve Greinke had now moved into fourth and Larry Foddrill had moved into fifth. As the drivers made the final dash for the finish, Dondel got back by Halliday’s Green Army Alumicraft in the final two turns of the final lap to take second, but didn’t have enough to beat Job for the top spot on the podium. Job ended up taking back-to-back wins in his Menzies Motorsports Alumicraft this weekend, and becomes the first driver to get three wins in Unlimited Lite this season. Dondel and Halliday took second and third, and Greinke and Foddrill wound up fourth and fifth.

SuperLite
The Bully Dog SuperLite division was one of the only classes to field more entries today than it did yesterday, and Brandon Bailey led the expanded field in his Lamb Energy truck at the drop of the green flag. Slotting in behind Bailey were John Harrah in his Speed Technologies machine, Chad Leising in the Hart and Huntington truck, Dawson Kirchner in another Speed Technologies truck, and Jason Patison in his Geico machine. After several laps, Leising overtook Harrah for second, and set his sights quite literally on Bailey. Just before the competition yellow, Leising got heavily into Bailey in turn 6. Leising and Harrah both got by Bailey, but Leising was punished for his actions by getting sent to the back of the field. Green flew again with Harrah leading the way, ahead of Joey Granatelli, Kirchner, and Bailey. Harrah pulled well clear of the field as former frontrunners Bailey and Leising were struggling to see the track thanks to extensive body damage that occurred during their run-in. Both drivers were able to sneak by third place Kirchner, but Harrah and Granatelli were too far in front, and those two ended up taking first and second. Leising got by Bailey in a drag race down the final straightaway to the finish to take third, with Bailey taking fourth and Kirchner rounding out the top five.

Unlimited Lite
With another eight spot inversion, it was a Chris Brandt-Jimmy Stephenson front row at the start of today’s Unlimited Lite race. Robert Naughton got a great start and moved quickly to the lead on the first lap, with Brandt’s Hart and Huntington Toyota, Rodrigo Ampudia’s Lucas Oil/Tecate Ford, yesterday’s winner Brian Deegan, and the Rockstar Nissan of Todd Cuffaro filling in behind. Ampudia and Deegan both moved forward, taking over second and third, as did Matt Loiodice in the Mastercraft/Competitive Metals Ford, who jumped up to fifth. The racing was fast and clean, and as the competition yellow came out, Naughton and Ampudia were close in a race for the lead, and were followed by Deegan in his Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, Brandt, and Loiodice. After the restart, Naughton sounded like he had broken his exhaust, and those behind briefly seemed to smell blood in the water. All hopes of beating Naughton were dashed, however, as Ampudia missed a shift on the front straightaway and a large part of the field piled up behind him as they tried to avoid his stricken truck. Naughton moved clear of the chaos, with Cuffaro, Brandt, Bruce Fraley (driving for Leroy Loerwald who is sidelined with a broken arm from his crash in Friday practice), and Marty Hart making the best of the chaos to fill in second through fifth places. All drivers held their positions as the race ended under yellow thanks to a roll in turn 6 by Loiodice, and it was Naughton getting some redemption after seeing his unbeaten streak come to an end yesterday. Cuffaro was second, Brandt third, Fraley fourth, and Hart fifth.

Unlimited 4
The final race of the day was that of the Unlimited 4s. With a six-row inversion, Kent Brascho and Alan Pflueger were on the front row for the start, and Brascho took full advantage of his good starting spot, jumping out in front of Jerry Daugherty, Travis Coyne, Tim Herbst, and Carl Renezeder. The top five held their places for several laps, until Renezeder’s Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford made its move on Herbst. Renezeder passed Herbst and Coyne in less than a lap, taking over third just ahead of the competition yellow. Brascho still led ahead of Daugherty, and all the starters were still running, a rare treat in such a rough and tumble sport. After the restart, Herbst moved his Terrible Herbst Chevrolet past Coyne’s ProComp/Toyo Tires Ford for third place, and Renezeder made a great pass on Daugherty for second over the table top jump that leads into turn 4. Renezeder then moved alongside Brascho’s R&L Carriers Chevrolet in turn 1, where Daugherty got his Racin’ Dirty Chevrolet into the side of Renezeder who had no choice but to get into Brascho. Brascho and Daugherty both rolled over, and although Brascho was able to continue, Daugherty’s truck was done for the day. Daugherty himself was ok, and Herbst, Pflueger, and Coyne came away from the chaos in first through third as a full-course yellow was brought out. Carey Hart’s Rockstar/Hart and Huntington truck was now fourth and the best of the Unlimited 2s in the field as a green-white-checkers finish was called for. After the restart, Renezeder moved up to second, while Brascho went up in smoke and out of the race. On the final lap, Renezeder jumped past Herbst and into the lead in turn 4, and went on to take the 84th win of his career. Herbst was the runner-up, ahead of Pflueger’s K&N Chevrolet, Hart, and the other Hart and Huntington Unlimited 2 of Josh Merrell.