CORONA, California – The late Vince Lombardi supposedly once told reporters after a Green Bay Packers defeat that “we didn’t lose the game, we just ran out of time.”

Several drivers in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by GEICO may be saying the same thing on September 21, when two nights of racing are over and the dust has settled on the series’ second visit of the season to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, because a few of the class championships could have been decided.

There will be just one round of points racing and a maximum of 52 points available during the final event of the season, at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in southern California in late October. That means any driver who leaves Las Vegas with a 53-point lead in their class can start clearing space for a championship trophy.

The drivers with the best chance of accomplishing that are Carl Renezeder in Pro 4 and Steve Greinke in Pro Buggy. Renezeder will go into the Las Vegas weekend leading Kyle LeDuc by 46 points and Rob MacCachren by 53 and Greinke is 47 points ahead of Bradley Morris, 50 in front of Dave Mason Jr. and 56 up on John Fitzgerald.

Whether they clinch or not at Las Vegas, however, both Renezeder and Greinke are champions in waiting barring either complete collapses or incredibly bad luck.

Should LeDuc win the final three races and collect all 6 bonus points available – which is not out of the question since he’s won the past three – Renezeder still will take the title by finishing at least seventh in each race or accumulating a total of 111 points.
Greinke is in an identical position after a pair of victories in Sparks, Nevada, last month. If Morris should sweep the board in the final three contests, Greinke would need to finish at least seventh three times or get 110 points to secure his second straight crown.
All the other divisions are close enough that the results of one race could greatly affect the standings.

MacCachren continues to lead Pro 2, but his margins are just 14 points over Deegan, who gained 12 points at Sparks, and 16 over Renezeder. Deegan also strengthened his Pro Lite lead with a pair of seconds at Sparks and now is 23 points ahead of RJ Anderson, 47 in front of Sheldon Creed and 56 ahead of Morris, who has won three of the past four races.
The biggest lead in the Kart classes belongs to Hailie Deegan, who has a 30-point advantage over Broc Dickerson in the Junior 2 class, and the closest contests of all are in the Modified Kart and Junior 1 Kart divisions.

Reigning champion Myles Cheek is atop the Modified Kart standings, but five drivers – Preston Roben, Cole Mamer, Jeff Hoffman, Brock Heger and Gavin Harlien – are within 37 points, and in the Junior 1 class Blaze Nunley, Deaely Pentico, Madix Bailey and Kali Kinsman are within 17 points of leader Ricky Gutierrez, who won the two most recent races at Glen Helen Motorsports Park in Devore, California.

The Las Vegas event will get under way with practice and qualifying on Thursday, September 19, followed by racing on September 20-21.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by GEICO is supported by a potent marketing concept known as “Team Lucas” whose members include Lucas Oil Products Inc., E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, GEICO, Canidae All Natural Pet Food, MAVTV-American Real, Speedco Truck Lube and Tire, Optima Batteries, Toyota, iON Cameras, LoanMart and Protect The Harvest.

Additional sponsorship is provided by Rockstar Energy, 4 Wheel Parts, Lunarpages, ReadyLIFT, Mickey Thompson Tires, Team Associated and Magna Flow.