Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series returned to Southern California (LOORRS) with its first-ever event at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. This was welcome news to So Cal race fans after hearing at the start of the season that LOORRS and the Lake Elsinore Motocross Park (which appears to have a murky future) had disagreements over this year’s races, which LOORRS race director Tony Vanillo talked about in an interview with us earlier this year.

The Lucas Oil Series made an agreement with Glen Helen and brought back short-course racing to Southern California for Round 9 and 10 of the series August 7-8, and the crowds responded by coming in droves and filling the stands to offer standing-room only for the final races of the weekend. It was a great weekend of racing, and here’s how the action unfolded at the final race of the weekend for Round 10.

Pro 4 Unlimited
 
The Pro 4 race was a game of musical chairs, with the only constant in the race being eventual race winner Kyle LeDuc. After taking the lead by the end of the first lap, LeDuc led for almost the entire race, losing the lead only to Carl Renezeder but then regaining the lead after a timely mistake by Carl Renezeder in turn five that put him on his lid.

“It was great, I got out front, [but] it sucked to see my dad flipping on the track,” LeDuc said after the race. “It was a pretty chaotic race. It was smooth out front, but that was probably the gnarliest, rudded-up, nattiest Pro 4 track we could ever deal with, and it proved by the carnage but we survived.”

Speaking of his father, Curt LeDuc had a spill and rolled his truck in turn three, though the track crew was able to get him on all fours and he continued racing. Renezeder was able to get into the lead at one point, but he appeared to be driving on the edge, having driven up over the course wall in turn four at one point and eventually rolling over in the final turn. In all, there were at least four yellow flags due to crashes during the race.

Class points leader Rick Huseman also had a tough race. He pulled into the pits during one of the restarts to fix a flat tire, was able to return but was at the back of the pack. He worked back up into contention and was forced back again. Somehow, he finished the race with an impressive second-place finish.

“Yeah, the points battle is pretty good right now,” Huseman said. “We have a pretty good lead, so we’re real happy about that. That was a crazy race out there. Man, I can’t believe that. I didn’t know what I was in out there … a pinball machine, back and forth, back and forth. To get second is crazy.”

Pro Buggy Unlimited
After finishing in fifth place the night before, Larry Job looked to improve upon that finish at Round 10. He jumped out and grabbed the holeshot and eventually earned the wire-to-wire win after holding off the chargin Doug Fortin and Steven Greinke.

“You know what, I’m just proud to be a part of the big red machine, Menzies Motorsports,” Job said with great excitement after the race. “Rock and roll, baby.”

Steven Greinke put forth a solid effort to get past Fortin and move into second place. “It’s a real treat to be up here two days in a row,” Greinke said.

Fortin put a lot of pressure on Job the first half of the race but was unable to pass him. Greinke then put some pressure on Fortin, and the two swapped places a few times with Greinke ultimately taking second place and holding Fortin to third.

“We ran rally hard, and Steve did a good job of keeping us from getting in the lead,” Fortin said. “This is a tough track; there’s a lot of jumps out there, it’s short and it’s hard on the cars. It’s hard to make it through all that without having any problems.”

Limited Buggy
There was a lot of bumping, rubbing and a few crashed in the Round 10 Limited Buggy race on Sunday evening. Justin “Bean” Smith moved into the lead early in the race and retained his spot in front of the pack until the checkered flag waved, holding off defending class champion Bruce Fraley in second. Dave Mason made his second podium in the class with his third-place finish.

“There was some carnage out there, a lot of attrition,” Mason said, who credited his father for being a great mentor and teammate. 

Defending class champion Bruce Fraley worked from the back of the pack after getting black flagged for hitting Curt Geer. Fraley didn’t feel he did anything wrong in the crash, noting he didn’t feel he had anywhere to go once Geer spun out. Regardless, Fraley worked through the pack to finish second.

“These guys are half my age and I damn neared kicked all their asses,” he exclaimed.
After finishing third the day before, Smith earned the victory in Limited Buggy after making some adjustments to the racecar.

“We made some changes and it was all for the better,” he said. “The big red Menzies machine was definitely hauling today.”

Smith now leads the class in points ahead of Round 7 winner John Fitzgerald, who also received a black flag during the race and was forced to the back but still finished fifth.

Super Lite

The spec Super Lite class provided some exciting racing for the fans at Glen Helen. As more and more crossover athletes move into short-course racing, it seems that more racers have also moved into the Super Lite class, which was the case for one of the newest crossover racers making his debut in the class in Jeff “Ox” Kargola. With Metal Mulisha brethren Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg already racing in the class, Kargola hoped to beat his friend in the race (they even made a friendly wager), or at least stay competitive.
Once the racing began, it was Dawson Kirchner who jumped out to the early lead. After a few laps, Stenberg had worked his way through the pack to move into second place behind Kirchner, where he stayed until the halfway point of the race.

After the mandatory restart, Stenberg made his on Kirchner (who finished the previous night one spot behind Stenberg in third) to take over the race lead. The class rookie Kargola had worked his way from the back of the pack to move into second place behind Stenberg. The two then battled it out for the next few laps, with Kargola threatening but never taking the lead from Stenberg. All the while, Round 9 winner Colton Greaves worked his way into third and waited for his spot.

“Yeah, I started sixth and kind of stayed there for a little while and people started making mistakes and I picked them off one by one,” Greaves said. “My dad said on the last lap [Kargola and Stenberg] were going to go at it, so I was there and Ox made a mistake and I capitalized on it.”

Although Greaves was able to back up his win the night before with a second-place finish, he wasn’t able to get around Stenberg this time.

“I’m definitely hooked,” Stenberg said. “After coming off yesterday, today I started so far back and that’s the fun part of racing is battling and not knowing if you’re going to make to the front by the time the yellow flag is up or the checkered flag.”

Kargola was happy with his finish and excited to bring his new sponsor, General Tire, a podium finish after his second outing in the class, especially considering his disappointing night at Round 9.

“Yeah, I was feeling great [last night], but we blew the CV,” Kargola said, joking that the tires might’ve hooked too well. “We came out tonight, we started way in the back, way in the back.” When asked if he was over driving a bit, he responded by saying, “All I wanted to do was park [Stenberg], come on, man.”

Pro Lite Unlimited
Veteran Marty Hart capped off the weekend with another stellar race in Pro Lite at Round 10. Hart worked his way through the pack to take the lead a few laps in after some crashes and issues at the front of the pack (early race leader Sean Geiser flipped in turn two, and Corey Sisler’s truck caught on fire). Recent X Games medalist Brian Deegan was forced to pull off the track with mechanical issues before the completion of one lap, much to the crowd’s dismay.

Pro Lite was similar to some of Round 8’s other races, as there were a number of yellow flags that slowed down the action. Once those were out of the way, the crowd was treated to a great race, with Chris Brandt trying to work around Hart to take the lead. Unfortunately for Brandt, he was unable to pass Hart and had to settle for second.

“Well, I knew I had to be aggressive right off the bat,” Hart said.  “I can’t even believe it. I’m so happy. Being able to come out here in a crowd like this in Southern California is awesome. Everybody’s cheering and you can actually hear it when you drive by, so that’s cool.”

Brandt has struggled at times this season, but he’s happy to be back in contention in the class.

“Yeah, you know, Mart’s really putting some pressure on, I think we tied up for the points tonight,” Brandt said. “We had a good race tonight, and I’m happy about that.”
John Beyer finished in third behind Brandt, earning his first podium at Round 10.

“It feels great to be up here,” Beyer said. “This is my first pro podium. We’ve run hard in the past, and it just feels great to be in the likes of Marty Hart and Chris Brandt. These guys are really, really fast so to be up here in third says a lot. It’s been a long time coming but I’m glad I’m here.”

Pro 2 Unlimited
The finals race of the evening was Pro 2 Unlimited. It was the headline event that kept most of the crowd in their seats despite starting close to 10 p.m. on a Sunday night. The race didn’t go according to plan for all racers, though. Robbie Pierce was one such rider. Pierce actually rolled his truck on one of the warm-up laps but was able to get back on all four and keep running. Unfortunately, on the opening lap, with several drivers banging door to door through the whoops, Pierce got into the back of someone and rolled his truck over a number of times. He was taken to the hospital by emergency crews but his crew did report he was coherent after the wreck.

With the race back underway, it was Jeff Geiser who took the early lead, but Rob MacCachren didn’t let that last for long as he moved into the lead after another lap. Geiser then had a battle on his hands for second with Round 9’s third-place finisher Ricky Johnson, who was able to pass Geiser eventually for second.

After a few more laps, the young racer Bryce Menzies (who finished second the night before) moved into third behind Johnson, with Renezeder in fourth and Geiser in fifth. Menzies managed to get past Johnson on the restart lap, and then Johnson pulled off the track with mechanical issues and was forced out of the race. Greg Adler then moved up into fourth place, and he eventually moved into third place after Menzies was forced to pull off the track just before the white flag with truck issues.

MacCachren took the convincing win to end the race weekend, marking his second wint of the weekend and making six for the season. In the end, only six trucks finished the Pro 2 Unlimited race. Renezeder earned second, Adler rounded out the podium in third, while Rodrgio Ampudia finished fourth, Mike Johnson fifth, and Dale Dondel earned sixth.

The Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series continues with Rounds 11 and 12 at the Speedworld Off-Road Park in Surprise, AZ, September 25-26. For more information, visit http://www.lucasoiloffroad.com/.

Saturday, Round 9 Results

Limited Buggy
1. John Fitzgerald
2. Curt Geer
3. Justin Smith
4. Quentin Tucker
5. Geoffrey Cooley

Pro Buggy Unlimited
1. Jerry Whelchel
2. Cameron Steele
3. Steven Greinke
4. Doug Fortin
5. Larry Job

Pro Lite Unlimited
1. Marty Hart
2. Brian Deegan
3. Matt Loiodice
4. Stephen Papadakis
5. Scott Carson

Super Lite
1. Colton Greaves
2. Jeremy Stenberg
3. Dawson Kirchner
4. Chad George
5. Brandon Ward

Pro 2 Unlimited
1. Rob MacCachren
2. Bryce Menzies
3. Ricky Johnson
4. Michael Johnson
5. Jeff Geiser

Pro 4 Unlimited
1. Rick Huseman
2. Kyle LeDuc
3. Adrian Cenni
4. Curt LeDuc
5. Travis Coyne

Sunday, Round 10 Results

Limited Buggy
1. Justin Smith
2. Bruce Fraley
3. Dave Mason
4. Kevin McCullough
5. John Fitzgerald

Pro Buggy Unlimited
1. Larry Job
2. Steven Greinke
3. Doug Fortin
4. Jerry Whelchel
5. Kyle LeDuc

Pro Lite Unlimited
1. Marty Hart
2. Chris Brandt
3. John Beyer
4. Adam Wik
5. Aaron Daugherty

Super Lite
1. Jeremy Stenberg
2. Colton Greaves
3. Jeff Kargola
4. Dawson Kirchner
5. Chad Leising

Pro 4 Unlimited
1. Kyle LeDuc
2. Rick Huseman
3. Kent Brascho
4. Michael Johnson
5. Eric Barron

Pro 2 Unlimited
1. Rob MacCachren
2. Carl Renezeder
3. Greg Adler
4. Rodrigo Ampudia
5. Michael Johnson