ROUND 2 ACTION HEATS UP IN ARIZONA
After a very exciting season opener here yesterday at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, returned to action for Round 2 of the 2017 championship out under the Arizona sun here this afternoon. It was again a warm one today, but the local Phoenix area fans got to see another great day of racing action, with plenty of exciting highlights to tell their friends and coworkers about tomorrow. In case you missed it, here are some highlights from the events of the day.
PRO 4 UNLIMITED
In the four wheel drive ranks, Carl Renezeder again led at the end of lap one, as he did yesterday, in the #17 Lucas Oil Products/RC10.com Ford, ahead of Bryce Menzies, Greg Adler, Eric Barron, and Doug Fortin. On lap two, contact, between Menzies and Adler in turn two resulted in a slow-up for the drivers directly behind them, which caused Barron to drop to eighth, and moved Fortin and Rob MacCachren up to fourth and fifth. Fortin then got by Adler coming out of turn four on lap five, and pulled ahead and into third spot in turn one on the next lap. The race was running very fast and very clean through the first half, until lap nine, when Fortin slowed briefly in turn one and dropped to sixth by turn two, with Adler, MacCachren, and Doug Mittag all getting past Fortin and up to positions three, four, and five. Adler ducked into the Hot Pits to change a flat left front tire under the Competition Yellow, which flew at the end of the lap, but was unable to get back out on the lead lap, and this helped move MacCachren up to third, Mittag to fourth, and Fortin to fifth. After the restart, Fortin was again slow out of turn one, and he pulled off and into the Hot Pits for a short time, handing fifth to Barron. Up front, Renezeder and Menzies were in a league of their own, but as the race closed down, Renezeder even managed to start pulling away from Menzies, opening up a gap of 2.24 seconds by the race’s end. At the checkers, Renezeder took a Round 2 win in Pro 4 Unlimited for the second straight year, ahead of Menzies in the #7 Red Bull/KMC Wheels Ford, MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Mittag in the #81 Maxxis/Amsoil Ford, and Barron fifth in the #32 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Mickey Thompson Toyota.
PRO 2 UNLIMITED
RJ Anderson led the way after lap one in his #37 Polaris RZR/Rockstar truck in Pro 2 Unlimited, while Rob MacCachren ran second in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Bryce Menzies third in the #7 Red Bull/Focus Quality Ford, Jerett Brooks fourth in the #77 General Tire/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Ford, and Jeremy McGrath fifth in the #2 Maxxis Tires/Icon Vehicle Dynamics truck. By lap three, McGrath was right on Brooks’ back bumper, and continued to hound the young driver over the following lap in a bid to move up to fourth. On lap five, McGrath made the pass, slipping by nicely on the inside at turn three in much the same style as Brooks had done on some drivers the day before. Up front, Anderson and MacCachren were in a different class, and were still pretty close in the race for the lead by the time the Competition Yellow waved at the end of lap nine. After racing resumed, MacCachren began to pile on the pressure, and was all over Anderson on laps 12, 13, and 14. The top four drivers began to close up as the two frontrunners battled each other, but on lap 16, MacCachren got by Anderson at turn one, before opening up a gap on the former leader on lap 17. Anderson then bobbled in turn three on that lap, which allowed Menzies to get by for second, and with Anderson now flinging huge chunks of tread from his right rear tire, he was looking like easy pickings for McGrath as well. Up front, MacCachren swept home to the win, ahead of Menzies in second, and Anderson rounded out the podium in third, managing to keep McGrath at bay over the final lap; McGrath finished up in fourth, and Brooks finished in fifth.
PRO LITE UNLIMITED
Class rookie Hailie Deegan got out to the early lead in Pro Lite Unlimited in her #38 Monster Energy/4 Wheel Parts Toyota, ahead of Ryan Beat, Christopher Polvoorde, Brock Heger, and Ronnie Anderson. A big bike from Heger on lap two put him back to sixth, but he got back up to fourth on lap five after contact between himself, Polvoorde, and Jerett Brooks shuffled the running order; behind Deegan and Beat, Anderson now sat third, with Heger fourth and Polvoorde fifth. A spin by Anderson then put him well back at the end of the next lap, and with Brooks having passed Polvoorde and Heger having ducked into the Hot Pits under a full course caution, it was now Brooks, Polvoorde, and Brandon Arthur in spots three, four, and five. Both Arthur and Cole Mamer suffered heavy rollovers on the restart, ending their races (both drivers were okay), and Ray Griffith moved up to fill Arthur’s spot in the top five. On the restart lap following Arthur’s and Mamer’s accidents, Beat got spun in turn two and Polvoorde dropped back in the ensuing melee, causing another full course yellow. On the next restart lap, Deegan ran wide in turn two, allowing Brooks to get by and into the lead. Polvoorde then rolled in turn three on lap ten, forcing another yellow, and after he was cleared, it was now Brooks, Deegan, Heger, Gavin Harlien, and Griffith in the top five. Anderson got by Griffith on the restart lap, but then rolled on lap 15 and fell out of contention, moving Griffith back up to fifth. On the final lap, Brooks biked in turn three, and as Deegan moved inside for the pass, Heger was already there, further inside, and got by them both in one heads up move. Deegan also got by Brooks, and at the stripe, it was Heger who got the win and the sweep of the weekend in the #12 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Airaid Toyota, ahead of Deegan, Brooks in the #77 Rigid Industries/General Tire Nissan, Harlien in the #55 Speed Energy/Mickey Thompson Ford, and Griffith in the #53 Gear 49 Motorsports Nutrition/Racepro Tech Ford.
PRO BUGGY UNLIMITED
In Pro Buggy Unlimited, yesterday’s winner Eliott Watson was again off to a flying start here this afternoon, taking the early lead in his #3 Fox Racing Shox/Baja Designs Alumi Craft. Defending champion Darren Hardesty Jr. ran second in the #99 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Impact Alumi Craft, with Bud Ward third, Sterling Cling fourth, and Kyle Aarup fifth. These five held their positions all the way to the Competition Yellow, which fell one lap early on lap seven, and they continued to hold these spots through laps eight and nine. Lap ten then saw Ryan Anderson suffer a rollover after some help from Trevor Briska coming out of turn one; Anderson was alright, and Briska earned a black flag for his part in the incident. On the restart lap, Broc Dickerson made quick work of Aarup by moving up to fifth, and despite some serious smoke from Aarup’s engine, which continued to disintegrate as the laps wound down, Aarup did his best to try and hang with Dickerson and make a pass back for position. However, Aarup’s engine just couldn’t hold on, and after some major flames came whipping out the back of Aarup’s car over the first half of the final lap, Aarup finally threw in the towel at turn three, less than half a lap shy of the finish line. Up front, Watson got the win and the sweep of the weekend, ahead of Hardesty Jr., Ward in the #17 Ramona Tire/BFGoodrich Tires Funco, Cling in the #77 Cling’s Aerospace/Kyle Green Fabrication Alumi Craft, and Dickerson in the #23 BFGoodrich Tires/Racer Services Alumi Craft.
With that, our opening weekend of competition has come to a close, and we now turn our attention to the next weekend of racing, which will take our drivers and teams south of the border to the lovely seaside city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The Estero Beach Resort will host Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2017 championship, with drivers facing one of the fastest, most challenging, and most popular tracks on the circuit. Join us in four weeks’ time, May 20 and 21, and enjoy the unique treat of watching these titans of off-road battle it out right on the beach- it doesn’t get much better than this!
About The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long-standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door-to-door action to challenging, fan-friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information, please visitwww.LucasOilOffRoad.com.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
After a very exciting season opener here yesterday at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, returned to action for Round 2 of the 2017 championship out under the Arizona sun here this afternoon. It was again a warm one today, but the local Phoenix area fans got to see another great day of racing action, with plenty of exciting highlights to tell their friends and coworkers about tomorrow. In case you missed it, here are some highlights from the events of the day.
PRO 4 UNLIMITED
In the four wheel drive ranks, Carl Renezeder again led at the end of lap one, as he did yesterday, in the #17 Lucas Oil Products/RC10.com Ford, ahead of Bryce Menzies, Greg Adler, Eric Barron, and Doug Fortin. On lap two, contact, between Menzies and Adler in turn two resulted in a slow-up for the drivers directly behind them, which caused Barron to drop to eighth, and moved Fortin and Rob MacCachren up to fourth and fifth. Fortin then got by Adler coming out of turn four on lap five, and pulled ahead and into third spot in turn one on the next lap. The race was running very fast and very clean through the first half, until lap nine, when Fortin slowed briefly in turn one and dropped to sixth by turn two, with Adler, MacCachren, and Doug Mittag all getting past Fortin and up to positions three, four, and five. Adler ducked into the Hot Pits to change a flat left front tire under the Competition Yellow, which flew at the end of the lap, but was unable to get back out on the lead lap, and this helped move MacCachren up to third, Mittag to fourth, and Fortin to fifth. After the restart, Fortin was again slow out of turn one, and he pulled off and into the Hot Pits for a short time, handing fifth to Barron. Up front, Renezeder and Menzies were in a league of their own, but as the race closed down, Renezeder even managed to start pulling away from Menzies, opening up a gap of 2.24 seconds by the race’s end. At the checkers, Renezeder took a Round 2 win in Pro 4 Unlimited for the second straight year, ahead of Menzies in the #7 Red Bull/KMC Wheels Ford, MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Mittag in the #81 Maxxis/Amsoil Ford, and Barron fifth in the #32 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Mickey Thompson Toyota.
PRO 2 UNLIMITED
RJ Anderson led the way after lap one in his #37 Polaris RZR/Rockstar truck in Pro 2 Unlimited, while Rob MacCachren ran second in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Bryce Menzies third in the #7 Red Bull/Focus Quality Ford, Jerett Brooks fourth in the #77 General Tire/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Ford, and Jeremy McGrath fifth in the #2 Maxxis Tires/Icon Vehicle Dynamics truck. By lap three, McGrath was right on Brooks’ back bumper, and continued to hound the young driver over the following lap in a bid to move up to fourth. On lap five, McGrath made the pass, slipping by nicely on the inside at turn three in much the same style as Brooks had done on some drivers the day before. Up front, Anderson and MacCachren were in a different class, and were still pretty close in the race for the lead by the time the Competition Yellow waved at the end of lap nine. After racing resumed, MacCachren began to pile on the pressure, and was all over Anderson on laps 12, 13, and 14. The top four drivers began to close up as the two frontrunners battled each other, but on lap 16, MacCachren got by Anderson at turn one, before opening up a gap on the former leader on lap 17. Anderson then bobbled in turn three on that lap, which allowed Menzies to get by for second, and with Anderson now flinging huge chunks of tread from his right rear tire, he was looking like easy pickings for McGrath as well. Up front, MacCachren swept home to the win, ahead of Menzies in second, and Anderson rounded out the podium in third, managing to keep McGrath at bay over the final lap; McGrath finished up in fourth, and Brooks finished in fifth.
PRO LITE UNLIMITED
Class rookie Hailie Deegan got out to the early lead in Pro Lite Unlimited in her #38 Monster Energy/4 Wheel Parts Toyota, ahead of Ryan Beat, Christopher Polvoorde, Brock Heger, and Ronnie Anderson. A big bike from Heger on lap two put him back to sixth, but he got back up to fourth on lap five after contact between himself, Polvoorde, and Jerett Brooks shuffled the running order; behind Deegan and Beat, Anderson now sat third, with Heger fourth and Polvoorde fifth. A spin by Anderson then put him well back at the end of the next lap, and with Brooks having passed Polvoorde and Heger having ducked into the Hot Pits under a full course caution, it was now Brooks, Polvoorde, and Brandon Arthur in spots three, four, and five. Both Arthur and Cole Mamer suffered heavy rollovers on the restart, ending their races (both drivers were okay), and Ray Griffith moved up to fill Arthur’s spot in the top five. On the restart lap following Arthur’s and Mamer’s accidents, Beat got spun in turn two and Polvoorde dropped back in the ensuing melee, causing another full course yellow. On the next restart lap, Deegan ran wide in turn two, allowing Brooks to get by and into the lead. Polvoorde then rolled in turn three on lap ten, forcing another yellow, and after he was cleared, it was now Brooks, Deegan, Heger, Gavin Harlien, and Griffith in the top five. Anderson got by Griffith on the restart lap, but then rolled on lap 15 and fell out of contention, moving Griffith back up to fifth. On the final lap, Brooks biked in turn three, and as Deegan moved inside for the pass, Heger was already there, further inside, and got by them both in one heads up move. Deegan also got by Brooks, and at the stripe, it was Heger who got the win and the sweep of the weekend in the #12 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Airaid Toyota, ahead of Deegan, Brooks in the #77 Rigid Industries/General Tire Nissan, Harlien in the #55 Speed Energy/Mickey Thompson Ford, and Griffith in the #53 Gear 49 Motorsports Nutrition/Racepro Tech Ford.
PRO BUGGY UNLIMITED
In Pro Buggy Unlimited, yesterday’s winner Eliott Watson was again off to a flying start here this afternoon, taking the early lead in his #3 Fox Racing Shox/Baja Designs Alumi Craft. Defending champion Darren Hardesty Jr. ran second in the #99 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Impact Alumi Craft, with Bud Ward third, Sterling Cling fourth, and Kyle Aarup fifth. These five held their positions all the way to the Competition Yellow, which fell one lap early on lap seven, and they continued to hold these spots through laps eight and nine. Lap ten then saw Ryan Anderson suffer a rollover after some help from Trevor Briska coming out of turn one; Anderson was alright, and Briska earned a black flag for his part in the incident. On the restart lap, Broc Dickerson made quick work of Aarup by moving up to fifth, and despite some serious smoke from Aarup’s engine, which continued to disintegrate as the laps wound down, Aarup did his best to try and hang with Dickerson and make a pass back for position. However, Aarup’s engine just couldn’t hold on, and after some major flames came whipping out the back of Aarup’s car over the first half of the final lap, Aarup finally threw in the towel at turn three, less than half a lap shy of the finish line. Up front, Watson got the win and the sweep of the weekend, ahead of Hardesty Jr., Ward in the #17 Ramona Tire/BFGoodrich Tires Funco, Cling in the #77 Cling’s Aerospace/Kyle Green Fabrication Alumi Craft, and Dickerson in the #23 BFGoodrich Tires/Racer Services Alumi Craft.
With that, our opening weekend of competition has come to a close, and we now turn our attention to the next weekend of racing, which will take our drivers and teams south of the border to the lovely seaside city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The Estero Beach Resort will host Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2017 championship, with drivers facing one of the fastest, most challenging, and most popular tracks on the circuit. Join us in four weeks’ time, May 20 and 21, and enjoy the unique treat of watching these titans of off-road battle it out right on the beach- it doesn’t get much better than this!
About The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long-standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door-to-door action to challenging, fan-friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information, please visitwww.LucasOilOffRoad.com.
Written by Scott Neth for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.