CORONA, Calif. – Despite its toughest weekend to date in the 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) season, the Monster Energy/General Tire squad led by Casey Currie overcame adversity during both days of competition from Lake Elsinore, Calif., to leave his hometown race second in the Pro Lite championship.

The speed was definitely there for Currie and it showed immediately with impressive lap times during Friday practice on the 1.1-mile circuit. Currie piloted his Monster Energy/General Tire truck to top three times in each of his two group sessions. On Saturday morning, Currie laid down a hot lap in qualifying that landed him inside the top five on the starting grid for the first race of the weekend.

As the green flag waved to get Round 5 underway on Saturday afternoon, Currie put himself in position to battle at the front of the field until his first encounter with bad luck occurred early on. After the pole sitter spun just after the finish, Currie was collected in the ensuing chaos and fell to 16th in the running order, forcing him to battle his way back through the field. Currie’s exceptional abilities behind the wheel were on display through to the caution flag at the halfway point, passing seven trucks in just a handful of laps. After restarting in ninth, Currie kept the charge going through the finish. The speed was there in the Monster Energy/General Tire machine, but Currie simply ran out of laps and ultimately claimed eighth spot at the checkered flag.

“That’s not the way you want things to go, but sometimes that’s just how things work out in this sport,” said Currie. “The Monster Energy/General Tire truck was driving really well and it made for some easy work to get back inside the top 10. I would have liked to be further towards the front and I think we had the truck to do it with, but we ran out of laps there at the end.”

Round 6 kicked off on Sunday morning with qualifying to set the grid for the final Main of the weekend. Currie once again was on point and laid down a solid time that lined him up inside the top five for the final race of the weekend.

As the race got underway, Currie made quick moves to be a part of the lead pack, but was again hit with misfortune when another spin from a competitor collected the Monster Energy/General Tire truck. This time, Currie wasn’t fortunate enough to come away unscathed and a broken front suspension dropped him to the tail end of the field in 28th spot. Despite losing the ability to make another charge through the field, Currie refused to give up and soldiered on through the remainder of the race to post a 20th-place finish, earning highly valuable championship points as a result.

“This just wasn’t our weekend,” said Currie. “Sometimes racing is harsh like that. All we can do is take our lumps, finish strong, and look forward to the next round. Hopefully we got the bad luck out of the way this weekend and will get back into this championship fight in Utah next month.”

Currie’s mixed results and hard luck unfortunately forced him to drop out of the Pro Lite points lead and into second place. Despite the adversity in Lake Elsinore, Currie still sits within striking distance at such an early point in the season, 39 points out of first.

Prior to the on-track action for the weekend, Currie spent Thursday morning with local KTLA 5 reporter Gayle Anderson on the KTLA Morning News. Currie gave Anderson a taste of what the Monster Energy/General Tire Pro Lite is capable of with his popular two-seater truck. The chance to be a co-pilot alongside Currie has become a favorite for the media and the sport’s sponsors.

Currie and the Monster Energy/General Tire team will set their sights on reclaiming the Pro Lite points lead at Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2013 LOORS season from Miller Motorsports Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, on June 21-23. Currie will debut a sharp-looking new truck for the event that is sure to turn some heads with its aggressive-yet-nostalgic design.

To keep up with all of Casey’s racing visit www.caseycurrie.com.