Racers thrill packed stands in Round 2
With the 2015 season now finally underway here in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, the drivers and teams really seemed to hit their collective stride here in Round 2 tonight. Fans poured in to Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park here in southern California, and the standing room only crowd was treated to a fantastic batch of races. As was the case last night, both established winners and some relative newbies found their way to the front, and up and down the running order in every class, the fights for position were both fierce and thrilling.
Junior 2 Kart
In the first race of the evening, Bronsen Chiaramonte had the lead after the first lap in his #474 OGG Motorsports/A.M. Ortega General Contracting kart, ahead of Cole Keatts, Mia Chapman, Koen Crawford, and Connor Barry. Barry got by Crawford just before the stripe at the end of lap two, moving himself up to fourth as a result. Ryan Schartau moved up to challenge Crawford in the same spot on the next lap, but Crawford nosed ahead into turn one to hold fifth place. Out front, Chiaramonte and Keatts were all alone and running very close, with Keatts then getting past Chiaramonte for the lead between turns one and two on lap five. Schartau got past Crawford for fifth early on the same lap, and with the Competition Yellow falling at the end of that lap, it was now Keatts in the #403 Weaver Welding LTD/Les Schwab Tires entry, Chiaramonte, Chapman in the #437 MTX Audio/Off-Road Vixens machine, Barry in the #428 CBR Performance Products/Hoosier truck, and Schartau in the #420 Black Rhino/Racer X Motorsports kart in the top five. Racing resumed on lap eight, and at turn one, Chapman moved down the inside of Chiaramonte, with Barry getting down the inside of them both. Chiaramonte then got into a tangle at turn two and dropped nearly all the way to the back of the pack, and by lap’s end, it was now Keatts, Barry, Chapman, Schartau, and Crawford in the #448 Foddrill Motorsports/Parker Pumper machine in the top five. A two-kart tangle in turn two brought out a full course caution on lap nine, and on the restart lap (lap 11), Schartau appeared to help Chapman to spin in turn one (she may have started the spin on her own); Schartau moved up to third, while Chapman dropped out of the top five. Crawford then tangled with another kart in turn three, and when Crawford came to a stop on track, another full course caution came out. Under yellow, the running order was shuffled to reflect the last completed lap rule, and when racing resumed on lap 14, it was now Keatts, Barry, Chapman, Schartau, and Madix Bailey in the top five. On the restart, Keatts ran wide in turn one, opening the door for Barry, who got past Keatts on the inside going into turn two. Further back, Niko Lopez had passed Bailey for fifth, and at the white flag, it was now Barry, Keatts, Chapman, Schartau, and Lopez in the top five. On the final lap, Chapman made a brilliant pass on Keatts at the turn two/three complex, as she ran up the outside to turn two, before sticking a perfect landing off the jump into turn three and shooting past Keatts on the inside. At the checkers, Barry got the win, with Chapman taking second, Keatts third, Schartau fourth, and Chiaramonte fifth after passing Lopez on the last lap.
Junior 1 Kart
Our series’ youngest drivers were up next, and Luke Knupp led the way in his #254 Hostyle/M&M Portable Toilets machine after lap one of the Junior 1 Kart race. Kali Kinsman had slotted in second in the #236 MTX Audio/PlayCraft Trailers entry, with Bryan Morris third in the #224 K&N/Kicker kart, Raygen Wilkins fourth in the #264 Ntensetees/SDHQ Offroad Racing truck, and Madix Bailey fifth in the #217 MavTV/Stronghold Engineering kart. Wilkins got by Morris going into turn one for third spot on lap two, and at the end of the next lap, Kinsman got alongside of Knupp to challenge for the lead. Knupp nosed ahead into turn one to hold the lead, but the race between these two, as well as that between Wilkins and Morris, were both still on in earnest. In fact, all four drivers were pretty close to one another, and at the Competition Yellow, it was still Knupp, Kinsman, Wilkins, Morris, and Bailey in the top five. On the restart lap, Megan Mitchell passed Bailey for fifth at turn one, and two laps later, Morris got by Wilkins on the inside coming out of turn one and into turn two to grab third spot back. From there, the gaps amongst the top four runners remained very close, as was the case between fifth-placed Mitchell and Bronsen Chiaramonte, but no further passes were made amongst the top five in the final two laps. At the stripe, Knupp got the win by just 0.2 seconds over Kinsman, with Morris only a further 0.14 seconds back in third, and Wilkins another 0.54 seconds adrift in fourth; Mitchell picked up fifth in her #244 MD Energy/Black Rhino machine.
SR1
Again putting on a special demonstration run here tonight, the SR1 UTVs took to the track next. Dustin Nelson, winner here last night, shot straight into the lead once again this evening, with Ken Benson running second, Corry Weller third, Brandon Kilgore fourth, and Bryan McCormick fifth. Nelson already had a solid lead after the opening lap in his #94 Yamaha Racing/GBC Motorsports machine, while behind him, Weller moved up to second coming out of turn one on lap two, with Kilgore moving up to third shortly afterwards. By lap four, Nelson’s lead had grown to over five seconds, though, and despite Weller’s best efforts, Nelson was managing to eke out at least a couple of tenths of a second per lap on her. McCormick then got past Benson to take over fourth on lap five in his #9 Arizona Solar Wave & Energy/Neo Synthetics entry, with a full course caution then falling on lap seven. Nelson’s advantage at the front evaporated, but he was able to make over 1.4 seconds on Weller on the restart lap alone. Further down the order, Scott Webster got by Benson coming out of turn two and over the following tabletop jump to move up to fifth on that same lap. Lap 13 saw another full course yellow fly after Matt Land rolled in turn four, and with the restart coming on what was also the white flag lap, Weller, the only driver who could even keep Nelson in sight, would now have just one lap to try and do anything with the leader. Weller gave it her all, and coming off the final corner, she gave Nelson a real scare, coming up within an eighth of a second of the win. Nelson held tough, though, backing up his win last night with another tonight. Weller was a very close second in the #1 Optima Batteries/Raceline Wheels entry, and after passing Kilgore on the final lap, McCormick picked up third to make it an identical podium to last night’s. Kilgore finished up fourth in the #1AZ Kar Tek Off Road/PAC Suspension Springs machine, and after Webster rolled on the last lap, fifth went to Benson in the #95 DragonFire/Rockford Fosgate car.
Modified Kart
Following Opening Ceremonies, the next race was Modified Kart. After narrowly missing out on the win last night, Travis PeCoy was again right in the thick of the fight straight away tonight, leading the way after lap one in his #573 Action Sports Canopies/Adidas machine. Round 1 winner Christopher Polvoorde ran second in the #594 Horizon Solar Power Racing/The Palms River Resort kart, with Ronnie Anderson third in the #520 Walker Evans Racing/ITP entry, Isabella Naughton fourth in the #554 ReadyLift Off Road Suspension/KC HiLites truck, and Hailie Deegan fifth in the #538 Dirt Princess/Lucas Oil kart. Things began to unravel quickly in this race, as the first of six full course yellows flew on lap two after a kart came to a stop in the rhythm section. Under yellow, Deegan fell by the wayside, promoting Chris Nunes to fifth in the #502 Maxima Racing Oils/Simpson entry. On the restart lap, a crash by Elijah Banfield going into turn one brought the yellow flag right back out, but racing picked up again on lap six. Trevor Briska got by Nunes for fifth early on the restart lap, and then past Naughton for fourth going into turn four. Naughton passed Briska back coming off of the same corner to re-take fourth, but then dropped to sixth at turn one on the following lap, promoting Briska to fourth and Nunes to fifth. Yellow then waved again on lap eight when Nathan Barry ended up stopped against the outside barrier in turn four, and on the restart lap, Naughton got past Nunes to re-enter the top five. Another yellow flag then came out when Broc Dickerson stalled coming off of turn one on lap 11, and while he was cleared fairly quickly, Jimmy Weitzel then came to a stop in almost the same spot, and the yellow had to stay out to get him cleared as well.
After several laps under yellow, Polvoorde looked as though he may have been in the wrong gear for the restart on lap 15, as he was swamped by the field while he struggled to get up to speed. Polvoorde plummeted down the order, and at the end of the lap, Polvoorde’s misfortune had helped to give PeCoy a solid lead, with Briska, Anderson, Naughton, and Ryan Carey now sitting in second through fifth places. Only five racing laps had been completed thus far, despite the field covering 15 actual trips around the track, and the yellow flag wasn’t done yet. A rollover in turn one brought it out once again on lap 17, and on the restart lap, a tangle between Gino Gigliotti and Daely Pentico off the landing of the jump out of turn four brought the yellow right back out. Racing began again on lap 21, and on this lap, both Nunes and Bryce McDaniel got past Naughton and Carey for fourth and fifth places, with Naughton then getting back by McDaniel into turn one on lap 23 to re-take fifth. Naughton then lost pace briefly on the next lap, allowing Carey to get past her in his #522 Lawrence Equipment truck. From there, the field closed out a very difficult race to the checkers, with PeCoy taking the win over Briska in the #559 JH Sims Trucking Co., Inc./ K&N machine, Anderson, Nunes, and Carey.
Pro 4 Unlimited
A rough and tumble opening lap saw Bryce Menzies emerge at the head of the field in his #7 Red Bull/GoPro Ford, ahead of Eric Barron, Rob MacCachren, Doug Fortin, and Carl Renezeder. Amidst a very tight pack, Fortin got sideways going over the first jump on lap two, shot out to the outside wall where he did a bit of a wall ride, before rolling over and breaking his left front suspension. The full course caution came out, and when racing resumed, it was now Renezeder in fourth in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford and Adrian Cenni fifth in the #11 4 Wheel Parts/Realtree Outdoor Energy Ford. On the restart, MacCachren was run up to the wall in turn one by the ferocious pack around him, and this dropped him back to sixth place after a hard hit against the wall. By the lap’s end, Barron now ran second, with Cenni third, Greg Adler fourth, and Renezeder fifth, while Menzies still led the way. On the next lap, Renezeder jumped past Adler over the big tabletop between turns two and three to take over fourth, and just seconds later, Barron started a pass on Menzies for the lead in turn four. Barron then started to spin out, but Menzies hit him just right to straighten him back out, and Barron moved into the lead. Two laps later, Barron then spun at turn two and dropped back to seventh place, and Menzies assumed the lead once again. Cenni now ran in second, with Renezeder third, MacCachren back up to fourth, and defending champion Kyle LeDuc up to fifth in his #99 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford. Lap nine saw an absolutely beautiful maneuver at turn two, as MacCachren dove down the inside of Renezeder, who himself was driving down the inside on Cenni. Everyone kept their cool, and MacCachren swept from fourth to second in a move that was so smooth that it almost looked choreographed. Further back, LeDuc seemed to be over-driving his truck, and was bordering on looking out of control. Debris on track brought out a full course yellow at the end of lap 13, and when racing resumed on lap 15, LeDuc seemed to have settled down noticeably, as he made a very clean pass around the outside of Cenni at turn two to move up to fourth. Turn two then became LeDuc’s passing zone, as he got by Renezeder there on lap 16, MacCachren on lap 17, and finally Menzies on lap 18. This was vintage Kyle LeDuc, working his way through the pack with seeming ease. LeDuc only had one lap left to go, but nearly threw his hard work away when he bicycled in turn two and allowed Menzies to get dangerously close to him in the next corner. LeDuc held tough and out-drug Menzies out of the corner to hold the lead, and he stayed in front by under half a second to pip Menzies for the win. Menzies picked up second, and already looks to be getting quite comfortable in his new ride, while a pass on MacCachren at turn three on the last lap moved Renezeder up to the final podium spot. MacCachren came home fourth tonight in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, and fifth went to Cenni.
Pro Lite Unlimited
In Pro Lite Unlimited, Jimmy Fishback shot into the early lead and battled to stay there through the end of lap one in his #48 AVT Inc./General Tire Dodge, and had Casey Currie, Brad DeBerti, Jerett Brooks, and RJ Anderson all hot on his heels. Anderson got by Brooks at turn two to take over fourth on the second lap, but Brooks got him right back at turn four. Lap three saw a full course caution, and when racing resumed on lap five, DeBerti made quick work of Currie with an inside pass at turn two to move up to second, before making nice outside pass on Fishback to move into the lead at turn four. Four laps later, Anderson got by Brooks at turn two once again to get up to fourth, and while Brooks battled fiercely and stayed alongside Anderson for more than a lap, Anderson held him off this time and eventually moved firmly ahead of Brooks. Out front, DeBerti was pulling away from the pack, but a full course caution at the end of lap 10 for a truck stopped on track helped the field close back up once again. On the restart lap, Anderson got into both Currie and Fishback at turn two, and the result was that several runners closed right up to make it a six-way battle for second spot. At the end of the lap, it was still DeBerti first and Fishback second, but Sheldon Creed now ran third in the #1 Traxxas/Maxxis Dodge, with Anderson fourth in the #37 Loan Mart/South Point Nissan, and Currie fifth in the #2 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich Tires Jeep. Brooks got by Currie coming off of turn one to get back into the top five on the next lap, and one corner later, Creed forced Fishback up into the wall at turn two, causing Fishback to drop back and out of the top five. Creed now ran second, with Brooks up to third by the end of the lap, Anderson fourth and Currie fifth. Fishback charged back, though, passing Currie early on the next lap to get into fifth, while out front, DeBerti was again leaving the field for dead, as he now enjoyed a lead of nearly five full seconds in the #70 Mickey Thompson/NTS Motorsports Ford. Anderson got past Brooks once again to take over third on lap 14, but Brooks got him back coming out of turn three on the following lap. Second through sixth places were still running nose-to-tail at this point, and on the final lap, Brooks got by Creed for second at turn two. However, contact in the final corner sent Brooks back to sixth place, and at the stripe, it was DeBerti who got the win and the sweep of the weekend to close out perhaps the most impressive debut weekend in series history. Creed finished in second, with Anderson third, Fishback fourth, and Currie fifth.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
After a tough break put defending champion Chad George out of the running for the win last night, George was back in front once again in the early going tonight. George led the way at the end of lap one in his #42 Mickey Thompson/FK Rod Ends Funco, ahead of Mike Valentine in the #78 Mickey Thompson/LAT Racing Oils Alumi Craft, Garret George in the #71 Redline Performance/King Off-Road Racing Shocks Funco, CJ Greaves in the #33 Roberts Racing Racer, and Kevin McCullough in the #62 BFGoodrich Tires/ProAm Foddrill. Sterling Cling challenged McCullough for fifth during all of lap two, eventually making the pass at turn four to take over the position. Cling then mysteriously dropped out on lap five, and that put Dave Mason Jr. up to fifth in his #65 Loan Mart/Iron Horse Racing Alumi Craft. At the head of the field, Valentine was having his strongest run yet, and was really hounding Chad George for the top spot on laps seven and eight. George seemed to find a bit more speed, though, and got himself a bit of breathing room over the next couple of laps, but by lap 11, it looked as though his cousin Garret was starting to make some ground on both he and Valentine. The three stayed pretty close over the remaining laps, as did Greaves and Mason Jr. in the battle for fourth, but no further passes were made amongst these runners, and at the checkers, it was Chad George who got the win. Valentine had another great second place, with Garret George third, Greaves fourth, and Mason Jr. fifth.
Pro 2 Unlimited
After opening the season with a win last night in Round 1, Bryce Menzies was again out front early in Round 2, heading the field in his #7 Red Bull/Discount Tire Ford at the end of lap one. Rob MacCachren ran second, with Carl Renezeder third, Patrick Clark fourth, and Myan Spaccarelli fifth. Jeremy McGrath got by Spaccarelli for fifth on lap two, and on lap three, Clark got his #25 Budweiser/BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet past Renezeder for third coming out of turn three. Out front, Menzies was already starting to pull a gap on MacCachren, but when Ryan Beat (driving Brian Deegan’s truck in this class this weekend) came to a stop out of turn two, a full course caution was thrown on lap four, and Menzies’ advantage was erased. Racing resumed on lap seven, and on lap eight, class rookie Sheldon Creed was challenging McGrath for his fifth spot. McGrath shook the youngster off, though, and was plainly clear of him again by lap 10. Four laps later, a brief fire under the hood of Todd LeDuc’s truck brought him to a stop, and again, the full course yellow came out. Safety crews quickly attended to LeDuc, who was able to re-fire and continue, and when racing resumed on lap 16, it was still Menzies, MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Clark, Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, and McGrath in the #2 Loctite/Traxxas Nissan in the top five. On the restart lap, Clark bicycled while trying to pass MacCachren in turn two and ended up losing a spot to Renezeder. Clark started to pass Renezeder back in turn four, but all around them, a cumulative domino stacking effect caused a huge mass of trucks to rush the final jump at the end of the lap all at once. In the melee, RJ Anderson landed sideways and the whole field scrambled to miss him. Some heads up driving helped everyone to avoid a crash, but the incident nonetheless brought out a full course caution. Under yellow, the field was re-stacked in the order they’d come across the line at the end of that lap in, and so on the return to green flag conditions, it was now Menzies, MacCachren, McGrath, Anderson in the #37 Polaris RZR/Walker Evans Racing Ford, and Clark in the top five. On the restart lap, Creed got by Clark for fifth, but following another full course caution (Eric Fitch came to a stop on track) and the subsequent restart, Clark got back by Creed on the final lap. Up front, Menzies made it a sweep of the weekend in this class, winning convincingly on both occasions and showing that he may well be the man to beat this season. MacCachren finished in second, McGrath in third, Anderson in fourth, and Clark in fifth. After the race, Clark was dropped to twelfth place in the standings, and that put Creed back into fifth in his #74 Traxxas/Method Race Wheels Ford.
The first race weekend of the year is now done and dusted, and in just five weeks’ time, we’ll be back to do it all again. Up next, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, heads east to The Grand Canyon State and the always-friendly confines of Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in the south Phoenix suburb of Chandler, AZ. Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2015 championship will take place April 24-25, so make your plans to get there and see our drivers continue their hunt for the title.