Lucas Oil Off-Road - Drivers Learn New Track I Round 7 Qualifying

Toole, June 25, 2011: Under beautiful blue skies, the traveling circus of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series brought its outstanding show to an all-new track here at the Miller Motorsports Complex in Tooele, UT. Of course the series raced here at Miller for the first time on an improvised track last year, but this year sees the drivers take to an all-new, purpose-built track just behind and to the southwest of the road race course's start/finish line. Thanks to the Daugherty family, beautiful fully-shaded grandstands are already in place to accommodate the local crowd, and with perfect temperatures and a pleasant breeze, the stage was set for a great afternoon. In case you weren't here (and you really should've been), read on to find out what you missed.

Pro 4 Unlimited First out on this beautiful new track for today's qualifying sessions were the thundering beasts of Pro 4 Unlimited. Round 6 winner Kyle LeDuc threw down the gauntlet on the opening lap with a 44.162 in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Carl Renezeder then grabbing top spot on lap two with a 43.742 in his #17 General Tire/Team Associated Ford. LeDuc grabbed the lead back on lap three with a 43.038, but it was then Rick Huseman who took control up front. Huseman turned a 42.808 on lap four in his #36 Monster Energy/Traxxas Toyota, followed by a 42.586 on lap five, a 42.566 on lap seven, and the ultimate pole-setting time of 42.449 on the final lap. LeDuc improved as well, taking second with a 42.621, with Renezeder third at 42.748, Adrian Cenni fourth with a 43.054 in his #11 Atrium Payroll/Maxxis truck, and Curt LeDuc fifth in his #43 Rockstar/Makita Ford; Curt's best lap was a 43.846.

Pro Buggy Unlimited Next up were the Pro Buggy Unlimiteds, and today's qualifying session was all about the #5 ProAm/Redline Performance Foddrill of Jerry Whelchel. He bettered the session-best time every lap but one (lap three), dropping the leading time from 49.703 all the way down to 46.445 by session's end. Justin "Bean" Smith was next best (the only other driver to lead the session) with a 47.146 in his #19 Metal Mulisha/Impact AlumiCraft, with Doug Fortin third in the #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Fox Racing Shox Racer at 47.409. Fourth went to Bobby PeCoy in the #11 Signpros/Maxxis AlumiCraft, whose best lap was a 47.654, and Steven Greinke recovered well from a near-accident mid-session to take fifth with a 47.810 in his #23 SC Fuels/BFGoodrich Tires Racer.

Pro Lite Unlimited The first class to not see consistently dropping times in qualifying was Pro Lite Unlimited. Is this a testament to the true level at which these drivers race, finding the limit right out of the gate? Either way, it was Chris Brandt in his #82 Aero Motorsports/Oakley Toyota who led after lap one, circling the track at a 47.044. Kyle LeDuc then grabbed the top spot on lap two in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford, dropping the leading time to 46.717. LeDuc dropped that time again on lap three, posting a 46.505, and despite several other drivers breaking into the sub-47 range, LeDuc's time held up for the rest of the session to net him the pole. Second went to Brandt, who improved to a 46.681, just edging out the #38 Rockstar/Gibson Performance Exhaust Ford of Brian Deegan by three thousandths of a second! Fourth went to Cameron Steele, who was barely one tenth of a second further adrift with a 46.698 in his #16 Stronghold Motorsports/Yokohama Ford, and fifth went to a much-improved Austin Kimbrell, who turned a 46.988 in his #88 Toyo Tires/Fiberwerx Ford.

Super Lite A heavy-hitting field of Super Lites took to the track next, with Chad George moving to the front early in his #42 Yokohama/Bull Outdoor Products Inc. truck. George's opening lap of 52.015 topped the time sheets at the end of the first lap, but it was then Patrick Clark who took over the top spot with a 50.312 on lap two in his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels entry. After a lap under yellow to clear Jacob Person's stopped truck, it was Dawson Kirchner in the #16 Torchmate/General Tire who came out blazing with a 49.045 to take over up front. Kirchner was then bested by Clark, who turned a 48.646 on lap six, before further stomping the field with a 48.439 on the final lap to take the pole. George improved to a 49.035 for second, with Kirchner's time holding up for third. RJ Anderson took fourth with a 49.067, and rounding out the top five was Jessie Johnson with a 49.130.

Pro 2 Unlimited Pro 2 Unlimited brought the usually melee of fast and ferocious driving to the track, and with the top drivers in points all coming out in order, the action was very close in the opening laps. Carl Renezeder grabbed the early lead in his #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford with a 46.190 on lap one, but he was quickly eclipsed by Rob Naughton, who turned a 45.699 on lap two in his #54 Ready Lift/Maxxis Ford. Rob MacCachren was next to take over the top spot, and his 44.808 on lap three was good enough to do so in his #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford. MacCachren's time was the first to hold up for more than one lap, but by lap five, it had been bested by Renezeder's 44.367. MacCachren then spun, but kept his cool and dropped back behind those ahead of him to give himself some clear track to make a last run at the pole in the closing laps. MacCachren's misfortune-turned-strategy paid off, and on the final lap, he blazed around the track to grab the pole with a 44.113. Renezeder's time held up for second, while Rodrigo Ampudia, who took his maiden Pro 2 Unlimited win here last year, took third today with a 44.906. Naughton improved his earlier time to take fourth at 45.016, and Robby Woods rounded out the top five at 45.141 in his #99 Lucas Slick Mist/SuperChips Chevrolet.

Limited Buggy Next up were the Limited Buggies, and it was Bruce Fraley, making a return to Lucas Oil Off Road after missing the last two race weekends, who moved right to the front in his #312 Freeman's Carpet Service Motorsports/Fat Performance Fraley after turning a 51.261 on the opening lap. Curt Geer then moved to the front and stayed there in his #392 Green Army/VP Racing Fuels Lothringer, taking over the top spot with a 50.795 on lap two. Geer improved the top time three more times, ultimately taking the pole with a 49.597 on lap six. Second went to Fraley, who improved to a 49.961, while Quentin Tucker was third with a 50.634 in his #377 General Tire/Kartek buggy. Young Bradley Morris wound up fourth with a 50.886 in his #304 K&N/Lucas Oil AlumiCraft, and Kevin McCullough took fifth with a 50.933 in his #389 Gear One/Racer X Motorsports buggy.

UTV The final qualifying session of the day was that of the UTVs, and today it was all about Dan Kelly and his #824 OffRoadMagnet.com/Bronco Kawasaki. Of course there are two classes qualifying at once, the Unlimited and SR1 UTV classes, but there seems to be a certain pride in coming in first overall, and that's what Kelly did today. Kelly's opening lap of 48.744 was all but a full second quicker than anyone else's best lap, and he only improved from there, ultimately taking the pole with a 47.854. Second in SR1 and overall was Code Rahders in the #816 SuperChips/SGI Wraps Yamaha, whose best lap was a 48.743. Third in SR1 and overall was Ryan Beat, whose best lap out of the two he managed to get in was a 48.938 in the #851 Black Rhino/Hart and Huntington machine. First in Unlimited UTV was Chad George in the #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki; his best lap was a 49.415. Robert Vanbeekum took second in Unlimited UTV with a 49.591 in his #664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki, and rounding out the Unlimited UTV top three was RJ Anderson, who turned a 50.230 in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/HolzRacingProducts.com Polaris.

That finishes up the action from the first day of competition here at Miller Motorsports Complex this weekend. Join us again tomorrow as real racing gets underway, with gates opening to the public at 10:00 am, and racing starting at 12:30 pm. This is truly an un-rivaled facility, whose new track is one you'll be sure to enjoy. On top of that, the weather is supposed to be gorgeous, so get out here and enjoy the racing action! And of course, throughout the weekend, stayed tuned to lucasoiloffroad.com for all the latest developments.