The Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League makes its long-awaited season debut this weekend at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway with the 26th Annual Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run. The annual June tilt served as the first race for the MSCL last year after unification in early 2018, and once again opens the four-event schedule for the Midwest’s top racers.
Well over three dozen Pro SXS racers are scheduled to compete between the Pro Mod and Pro Stock classes, led by defending champions Rodney VanEperen and Ryan Mulder, respectively. VanEperen and Elliott Burns split last year’s Pro Mod victories, while CJ Greaves swept last season’s Pro Stock races.
The Pro classes will receive an impressive infusion of talent in 2019 with a number of the top Sportsman Stock SXS drivers moving up. Gabe Johnson, Matt Wood, and Kyle Greaves have all advanced to Pro Stock; Johnson was last year’s Sportsman champion, while Wood and Greaves split the two Sportsman rounds from the 25th Annual Brush Run.
That leaves Dexter Karban and Cody Podolski as the top returning Sportsman racers, as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in last year’s points. Karban ended the 2018 season atop the podium at the Off-Road World Championships at Crandon, and will hope to carry forth the momentum into this weekend. Over two dozen Sportsman entries are expected to be on the grid this weekend, bringing the total UTV count to more than 60 across the three classes in action.
The 26th Annual Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run features two full days of racing on Saturday and Sunday. After leaving Crandon, the Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League resumes its season on July 12-13 at ERX Motor Park in Elk River, Minnesota with another doubleheader.
Words by: Chris Leone // UTVUnderground.com
Photos via: Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League
