Lucas Oil Off-Road - Points Races Ramp Up In Vegas

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, is back in action this weekend, with Rounds 13 and 14 here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With just three races left in the regular season, the drivers at the top end of the field are sharpening their focus as they try to pick up every possible point in their pursuit of their class championships. Today's Round 13 saw some great racing on the longest track of the series, and the weather held up well as folks packed the stands under pleasant late fall sunshine. Read on to find out how the day's events unfolded.

Pro 4 Unlimited A somber edition of Opening Ceremonies followed the Limited Buggy race, as our good friend and TV commentator Ken Stout stood before the packed grandstands and spoke some special words about our fallen friends, Rick Huseman, Jeff Huseman, and Danny Hicks. Afterwards, a terrific tribute video by Mad Media was shown, and following that, Mr. Stout introduced, for the final time, the #36 Monster Energy/Traxxas/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota, as Rick's brother Kevin brought the truck out on track one last time. Kevin paced the Pro 4 Unlimited field for one very special lap, making sure to crack the throttle wide open several times, so that everyone could remember the wonderful pitch of that unique, piercing, skin-tingling sound, and the immeasurable joy that Rick brought to us all throughout his career. With that, the #36 exited the track for the last time, and it was time to go back to work, as the Pro 4 Unlimited field lined up for the green flag.

It seemed only fitting that Josh Merrell, who donated 2000 commemorative shirts whose proceeds will go entirely to the Huseman family, was the driver who got the early lead in his #22 Hart and Huntington/MavTV Ford, ahead of Todd LeDuc, Carl Renezeder, Kyle LeDuc, and Greg Adler. Renezeder got around Todd LeDuc to take over second on lap two, and Todd's brother Kyle also got by coming out of turn three to grab third on the following lap. Curt LeDuc rolled in turn one on lap four, which brought out a full course caution. The LeDuc patriarch was able to continue, though, and the green flag soon waved again. On lap seven, Merrell's strong run took a hit, as he rolled in turn four. Merrell landed on his wheels, though, and jumped right back into the running in fourth place. Renezeder inherited the lead in the #17 Lucas Oil/Team Associated Ford, and was now in a great race with Kyle LeDuc in the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford for the top spot on the podium. At the competition yellow, these two still ran one-two, with Todd LeDuc third in the #4 Rockstar/Makita Ford, Merrell fourth, and Adler fifth in the #5 ProComp/VP Racing Fuels Ford. On the restart lap, the top five drivers held their positions, but a few laps later, Todd LeDuc went wide coming out of turn one, which allowed Merrell to slip by and up into third place. On the next lap, Renezeder and Kyle LeDuc had a big bump in turn one, but the two held their places, and at the white flag, it was still Renezeder, Kyle LeDuc, Merrell, Todd LeDuc, and Adler in the top five. On the last lap, Kyle LeDuc dove hard off the big jump on the back straight, nosing deep into turn six and forcing Renezeder way wide. LeDuc got the lead, and despite a valiant effort to battle back by Renezeder, LeDuc just managed to hold him off to get his third straight win, his fifth of the season. Renezeder finished a close second, with Merrell taking third, as well as the fastest lap of the race! Fourth went to Adler, and rounding out the top five was Mike Jenkins in the #47 Traxxas/BFGoodrich Tires Ford.

Without Huseman, the championship chase is now leaning heavily in favor of Renezeder, who leads with 624 points. Kyle LeDuc is the only other driver in with a chance, and currently has 557 points.

Pro Buggy Unlimited The big boys of open wheel were next, as the Pro Buggy Unlimiteds came out on track. Jerry Whelchel and his #5 Select Glass/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill led the field after the first lap, with John Holmes second, Cody Freeman third, Justin "Bean" Smith fourth, and Pat Dean fifth in the #21 Patrick's Performance Graphix/Butch's Speed Shop Tatum. Steven Greinke moved up to fifth spot on lap two in his #23 SC Fuels/Concourse Racer, while a spin at the exit of turn three sent Freeman off the track and back to sixth place. This moved Smith to third, Greinke to fourth, and Mike Porter to fifth in the #8 Redline Performance/Speed Energy AlumiCraft. This order held up for a couple of laps, but just before the competition yellow, Doug Fortin got by Porter for fifth in his #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./BFGoodrich Tires Racer. As the field bunched up behind the Toyota Tundra Pace Truck, Whelchel continued to lead the race, with Holmes, Smith, Greinke, and Fortin in tow. Under yellow, Smith was called to serve a black flag penalty for contact with another car earlier in the race, and as he sat at the exit of the hot pits and served his penalty, the entire field got by him. This moved Greinke to third, Fortin to fourth, and Porter to fifth, and after the restart lap, the running order in the top five was unchanged. Two laps later, Porter got by Fortin for fourth, and with a right rear flat tire, Fortin quickly dropped backwards down the running order. Further forward, Greinke was now ahead of Holmes and trying to hunt down the leader, Whelchel. On the final lap, Whelchel left the door too far open for Greinke, who snuck by to take the lead with just a few corners to go. Greinke held on from there as he picked up the win, ahead of Whelchel, Holmes in the #3 Prolong Super Lubricants/DWT Racer, Porter, and Freeman in the #2 Race Fuel Energy Drink Racer.

Porter continues to lead the championship in Pro Buggy Unlimited, and Smith's misfortune means that Porter now enjoys a comfortable 34-point cushion over Smith, 585 to 551. Whelchel is just behind Smith at 543, with Greinke also close at 535. Fortin and Holmes are also still in the hunt mathematically, and are sitting at 521 and 495, respectively.

Pro Lite Unlimited In the Pro Lite Unlimited race, it was a stacked field that took to the track, a field that included the largest number of V8-powered competitors in any race thus far in Lucas Oil Off Road. RJ Anderson was among those with a V8, and he led the field after lap one in his #37 Walker Evans Racing/South Point Las Vegas Dodge. Brian Deegan ran second in the #38 Lucas Oil/Rockstar Ford, with Austin Kimbrell third in the #88 Toyo Tires/Xtreme Machine & Fabrication Ford, Rodrigo Ampudia fourth in the #36 Papas & Beer/Lucas Oil Ford, and Kyle LeDuc fifth in the #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. LeDuc got up to fourth on lap two, and after braking deep into turn eight on lap three, Deegan was able to take the lead from Anderson. On the next lap, LeDuc over-rotated coming off the jump out of turn six, sending him down an embankment and back to seventh place. Ampudia was fourth again, with Chad George, making his Pro Lite Unlimited debut today, now fifth in the #42 Bull Outdoors Products/Traxxas Ford. George then pulled off the track briefly on lap five, while Ampudia pulled into the hot pits, race over on lap six. At the competition yellow, it was still Deegan, Anderson, and Kimbrell in the top three spots, with Chris Brandt now fourth and Corey Sisler in fifth. The running order up front went unchanged on the restart lap, but by lap eight, Brandt and Sisler had both gotten by Kimbrell. Up front, Deegan was starting to pull away just a bit, while further back, Sisler's engine was now going away. Andrew Caddell, making his debut in the series this weekend, got around Sisler and was now running fourth in his #43 Traxxas/AMSOil Dodge, and one lap later, Justin "Bean" Smith, running in this class for the first time today, was also able to get by Sisler in his #25 Jeff Carpenter Racing/Performance Utility Supply Ford. From there, the running order in the top five remained the same, with Deegan getting his third straight win, his series-leading eighth of the season (not to mention the two he has in Pro 2 Unlimited). Anderson had a career-best finish (in this class) of second, with Brandt taking third in his #82 BFGoodrich Tires/KarTek Off Road Toyota, Caddell in fourth, and Smith in fifth.

The lead in this championship has changed hands today, as Deegan has now moved ahead of Brandt for the first time this season, now topping the tables with 608. Brandt is just behind at 605, and the only other two drivers in the hunt are Cameron Steele (522) and Jimmy Stephensen (505).

Super Lite The penultimate race of the day was the Super Lite contest, and it was class rookie Kyle Lucas, making his move up from the Limited Buggy ranks, who led the field after starting from pole in the #11 Lucas Oil/Howard Packaging entry. Brent Fouch ran second in the #21 Forgiven Energy/General Tire machine, with RJ Anderson third in the #37 Dethrone Racing/SoCal Super Trucks truck, Chad George fourth in the #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama machine, and Ryan Hagy fifth in the #0X Valli Construction Inc./Metal Mulisha entry. Lucas led for the first two laps, but lost three spots in the first corner of lap three, and it was Fouch who got the lead. Fouch's lead was short-lived, though, as Anderson and George both got by him by turn two on lap four. Shortly afterwards, Lucas' bad luck turned worse, as he hit Austin Kimbrell door-to-door coming out of turn eight, which sent Lucas for a spin, and dropped him well back. Sheldon Creed inherited fifth in his #74 A.M. Ortega/BFGoodrich Tires truck, and at the competition yellow, it was Anderson, George, Fouch, Kimbrell in the #88 Kimbrell Racing/Xtreme Machine & Fabrication entry, and Creed in the top five. This running order remained the same after the restart, as well as the next lap, but on lap nine, Jessie Johnson moved into fifth in his #15 Jimmie Johnson's Anything With An Engine/MasterCraft Safety truck. Patrick Clark then took that spot coming out of turn three on lap ten, while up front Anderson was opening a small gap on the rest of the field. On the final lap, Kimbrell dropped to the back of the pack for an unknown reason, moving Clark to fourth and Creed to fifth. At the head of the field, Anderson got the win, his fourth of the year in this class, ahead of George, Fouch, Clark in the #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels machine, and Creed.

Championship-wise, just three drivers are still in with a mathematical chance of the title, as George leads the pack at 580 points. Clark is just eight points behind at 572, and Anderson sits third with 553.

Pro 2 Unlimited Rounding out the day's action in a big way was Pro 2 Unlimited, and it was Jeremy "Showtime" McGrath who got the lead on the first lap in his #2 Monster Energy/ReadyLift Ford. Brian Deegan ran second in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford, with Rob MacCachren third in the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford, Robby Woods (sporting a special Rick Huseman tribute paint scheme) fourth in the #99 Lucas Slick Mist/General Tire Chevrolet, and Greg Adler fifth in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Exhaust Ford. Just behind Adler was Rob Naughton in the #54 Losi/ReadyLift Ford, who managed to nose ahead and into fifth place as the two went into turn one on lap two. On lap three, a crash at the top of the ski jump exiting turn one left Jeff Geiser upside-down with the tail of his truck sitting atop the inside k-rail. With Geiser sitting so precariously, a full red flag of the race was issued, and after crews carefully cleared the accident (Geiser was just fine), racing resumed. After the restart lap, Woods moved up to third after passing MacCachren going into turn five (not something that is written too often), while Adler also moved up to take over fifth after Naughton and Rodrigo Ampudia collected in turn two. At the competition yellow, it was still McGrath up front, followed by Deegan, Woods, MacCachren, and Adler in the top five. The running order stayed the same on the restart lap, but on lap nine, Woods did a half spin as he exited turn three, dropping him well back, and moving MacCachren, Carl Renezeder, and Naughton up to third, fourth, and fifth. The laps were winding down now, and on lap twelve, MacCachren edged Deegan out at turn three to take over second place, and now set his sights on the leader McGrath. MacCachren didn't have enough for McGrath, though, and a bicycle by MacCachren in the final corner sealed his second place as McGrath came home the winner for the first time in this series- congratulations Jeremy! MacCachren finished in second, with Deegan taking third after a desperate Renezeder had run straight past him and way wide in an attempt to out-brake him in turn eight on the penultimate lap. Renezeder finished fourth in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, and rounding out the top five was Naughton.

In the points chase, Deegan leads with 590, MacCachren is second at 547, followed by Renezeder with 539, McGrath with 515, Adler with 511, Naughton with 495, and Ampudia with 488.

Modified Kart The first race of the day got off to a scary start, as Cole Mamer was spun by another driver on the opening lap. Mamer was sent into a pretty ugly barrel roll, and the entire rear end was ripped free from the bottom of his kart. Fortunately, the incident only look scary; Mamer was ok, and soon the race went to a full restart. The green flag waved again, and after lap one, it was Bradley Morris up front in the #504 Trophy Kart/Lucas Oil machine, with Mitchell DeJong second in the #1 Traxxas/Red Bull kart, Trent Williams third in the #525 Victory Race Cars/Terrible Herbst entry, Mitch Guthrie Jr. fourth in the #555 Losi/Pro Armor truck, and Jerett Brooks fifth in his #527 Synergy Electric Racing/Comfort Mechanical kart. Williams pulled off briefly on lap two, moving Guthrie Jr., Brooks, and Jeff Hoffman up to third, fourth, and fifth spots, and a spin by Hoffman on the next lap moved Myles Cheek into fifth place. Cheek came to a stop at turn three on lap six, dropping him out of the running and moving Brock Heger up into fifth place in his #511 Driscoll's Surf N Skate/KarTek Off Road machine. At the competition yellow, the running order in the top five was Morris, DeJong, Guthrie Jr., Brooks, and Heger, but on the restart lap, the order got shuffled a bit, as Scotty Steele jumped up to fourth, dropping Brooks to fifth and Heger out of the top five. Up ahead, Guthrie Jr. was also on the move, picking off DeJong for second place, then grabbing the lead from Morris on lap ten. Guthrie Jr. pulled open a little bit of a lead on the final lap, and came home the winner for the fourth time this season, his first since way back in Round 5. Morris picked up second place, followed by DeJong in third, Steele fourth in the #548 Steele Racing/Racer X Motorsports entry, and Brooks in fifth.

Five drivers were mathematically eliminated from title contention in Modified Kart today, whittling the remaining pool down to three. Guthrie Jr. leads at 598, followed by defending champion DeJong at 567, and Morris at 527.

Junior 1 Kart Conner McMullen led the field after the first lap of the Junior 1 Kart race, ahead of Eliott Watson, Wolfgang Ries, Darren Hardesty, and Broc Dickerson. On the second lap, Hardesty and Dickerson both got around Ries to take over third and fourth spots, dropping Ries down to fifth. The top four drivers then began to pull away a little bit, and ran nose-to-tail in a great race for the lead. Dickerson moved his #223 Eibach Springs/Hoosier Racing Tires kart up to second on lap four, and was side-by-side with McMullen as the two crossed the start/finish line to begin lap five. Dickerson got the lead going into the first turn, and at the competition yellow, he was still up front, followed by McMullen's #288 Monster Energy/Bully Dog machine, Watson's #203 Hoosier/Tom Watson Inc. Electrical Contracting truck, Hardesty's #231 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/AlumiCraft entry, and Ries' #273 ProAm/McQueen Prototype Design kart. No drivers in the top five changed their places in the running order on the restart, nor did they for the rest of the race, and it was Dickerson who got the win over McMullen, Watson, Hardesty, and Ries.

Dickerson's perfect Round 13 (he scored 52 out of 52 possible points, as well as the fastest lap of the race at a 56.574) gives him a big 44-point lead in the title chase. Dickerson's 613 points lead the way, with only Watson and Preston Roben also in with a shout, and these two have 569 and 552, respectively.

Junior 2 Kart The final race on the kids' shorter course was the Junior 2 Kart contest, and it was the #2 points contender, Chad Graham, leading the points leader, Myles Cheek, after lap one. Preston Roben ran third in the #414 Duggins Constructions, Inc./King Off Road Racing Shocks kart, with Paige Porter fourth in the #462 Redline Performance/Sunoco Race Fuels machine, and Brock Heger fifth in the #411 Brock Heger Racing/Hoosier entry. Porter got around Roben and up to third on lap three, and at the end of the same lap, contact between Graham and Cheek slowed both drivers, allowing Porter to shoot by and into the lead. Porter continued to lead at the competition yellow, ahead of Graham, Cheek, Roben, and Heger in the top five, and after a botched attempt at a restart, the second attempt went more smoothly. Unfortunately, the running order had been severely shuffled under the first restart, and a couple of racing laps were needed to get the order straightened out, which meant that when the green flag finally came out, it would be a green-white-checkered finish. Porter led the field into the final two laps, and on the penultimate lap, Weston Schuck moved up to fifth in his #404 Weston Racing/Foddrill Motorsports entry. On the final lap, Graham dropped two spots to fourth, moving Cheek to second and Roben to third. Up front, though, it was Porter who got the big win, the second of her career (her first came in Round 13 last year- maybe 13 is a lucky number for this young lady?). Second place went to Cheek in the #457 CMI/Jammin'Products.com kart, with third going to Roben, fourth to Graham in the #410 Hart and Huntington/MavTV machine, and fifth to Schuck.

Five drivers are still alive in the race for the Junior 2 Kart crown, with Cheek leading the way at 596. Graham is second, 28 points back at 568, while the battle for third is very close, with Porter, Heger, and Roben sitting at 517, 515, and 511, respectively.

UTV First out onto the full-length track were the two UTV classes, again running in tandem, the SR1 and Unlimited UTVs. Ryan Beat qualified quickest of all yesterday, but after a six-position inversion of the qualifying results, Beat would start sixth this afternoon. Sixth wasn't too much for Beat, though, as he blitzed through the field and moved right into the lead on the opening lap in his #851 Hart and Huntington/Black Rhino Kawasaki. Doug Mittag ran second in the #848 FineLineTShirts.com/Custom Off Road Design Kawasaki, with Corry Weller third in the #810 Weller Racing/Tilted Kilt Yamaha, Robert Vanbeekum fourth in the #664 Monster Energy/Muzzys Kawasaki, and Code Rahders fifth in the #816 SuperChips/Frostyburger Yamaha. Vanbeekum was already the leading Unlimited UTV, and moved up to third overall on lap two, but was the only driver in the top five to make a move in the first half of the race. At the competition yellow, Beat and Mittag ran one-two, with Vanbeekum third, Weller fourth, and Rahders fifth. On the restart, Beat suddenly pulled off with a mechanical issue in turn one, moving Mittag into the lead. Vanbeekum and Weller moved into second and third, with Kyle LeDuc in the #899 Black Rhino Yamaha making a great run through the pack to take over fourth after a poor opening lap; RJ Anderson rounded out the top five in his #637 Walker Evans Racing/Kroyer Racing Engines Polaris. Weller and LeDuc both got by Vanbeekum on the penultimate lap, and with just one lap left to work with, LeDuc was really putting the pressure on Weller for her second place. In the final corner, LeDuc drove in hard, trying desperately to got the spot, but Weller kept tough and held him off to take second. The big winner was Mittag, who finally got a well-deserved win after several frustrating races in which he'd shown a lot of potential, only to be cut down by mechanical issues. Mittag was the overall and SR1 winner, with second and third in SR1 and overall going to Weller and LeDuc, respectively. Fourth overall, first in Unlimited UTV was Vanbeekum, with fifth overall, second in Unlimited going to Anderson. Chad George rounded out the Unlimited UTV podium in his #1 Monster Energy/Funco Kawasaki.

Here's how the points stack up in the UTV ranks. In SR1, Weller leads with 599, followed by John Dempsey at 587, Mittag at 583, Code Rahders at 569, Bryan Osborn at 548, and Dan Kelly at 520. In Unlimited, Anderson is up front with 628, ahead of Tyler Winbury (613), George (609), and Vanbeekum (606).

Limited Buggy In the closest points battle of the series, Limited Buggy had the top four drivers within 23 points of each other, and the top three within just two points! Bradley Morris and John Fitzgerald started from the front row, and it was Morris in the #304 Lucas Oil/K&N AlumiCraft leading Fitzgerald in the #314 BFGoodrich Tires/King Off Road Racing Shocks buggy after lap one. Quentin Tucker ran third in the #377 General Tire/Fox Racing Shox buggy, with Dave Mason Jr. fourth in the #365 SR Performance/BFGoodrich Tires AlumiCraft, and Curt Geer fifth in the #385 Green Army/Gatorwraps.com Lothringer. The top five held their places in the running order all the way to the competition yellow, but a poor restart by Fitzgerald dropped him from second to fourth. On the same restart lap, big contact involving several cars in turn three spelled trouble for points leader Geer, who dropped all the way back to eleventh place as a result. Fitzgerald is also a points contender, and he came away even worse, dropping down to last place after the contact. Up front, Morris still led, with Tucker now second, Mason Jr. third, Zac Hunt fourth in the #334 Speed Energy/Fat Performance AlumiCraft, and Kevin McCullough fifth in the #389 Gear One/General Tire Foddrill. Tucker then got by Morris to take the lead on lap nine, but was then lost the spot right back on the next lap. Tucker then received a black flag for rough driving, and with just one lap to serve his penalty, he ended up dropping all the way back to twelfth place, a devastating blow for Tucker, who came into this race just two points off the championship lead. Morris went on to get the win, with Mason Jr. second, Hunt third, Geer fourth after charging back through the field, and McCullough fifth.

In the championship hunt, Mason Jr. has re-gained the points lead, and now has a three-point edge over Geer, 574 to 571. Tucker's and Fitzgerald's bad luck today drop them further back, and they now have 553 and 530, respectively. Morris is just behind Fitzgerald with 523, while Geoffrey Cooley and McCullough are also still alive at 486 and 474.

That wraps up the day's action from here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Join us again tomorrow for Round 14 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, with gates opening to the public at 9:00am. Racing kicks off at 11:00am with the Junior 2 Karts, and Opening Ceremonies will go off at 1:30pm. The championship chases are coming right down to the wire, and you won't want to miss a minute of the action, so get here and get your front row seat for a great day of racing!