Traxxas/Potawatomi Toyota driver Jeff Kincaid (above) had promised to defend his Forest County Potawatomi Decision at Sundown PRO Light Pickup Challenge title during the BorgWarner World Championships at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway in Crandon, Wisconsin, and tonight he made good on that promise.

After qualifying on the pole for the 16-lap race, Kincaid battled briefly with Sticker Dude Racing/Hankook Toyota driver Steve Federico before pulling out to a commanding lead. Boss Snowplow Mazda driver Chad Hord inherited second place on lap five after Federico pulled off with apparent mechanical issues. Hord, the defending Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road PRO Light Champion, caught Kincaid, but passing him was another matter. Kincaid was able to keep Hord at bay for the remaining 11 laps to take home the $20,000 first-place check.

“Steve and I went side by side in the first corner, and I didn’t know what he was going to have for me,” Kincaid (above) said. “We just played our cards right and stayed to the inside and got clear of him. Then I saw that Chad got by Steve and moved into second, and I knew there was going to be a lot more pressure. He was coming hard, but it was a little harder for him because he had to eat my roost. And here we are.”

During his post-race interview, Kincaid, who is a virtual shoo-in for the WSORR PRO Light title this weekend, announced that he intends to move out of PRO Light and into PRO 2WD or PRO 4WD next season.
“I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but this kid wants to move up and play with the big boys,” Kincaid said. “I’m 99 percent certain that that’s where we are going to be next year.”

Hord (above) finished second in the race, trying his hardest to make his way around Kincaid.

“I tried to get a run on him, but he was on the line I wanted to be on,” Hord said. “But we made a good run at it, and we’ll just twist a few knobs and try to make it faster for tomorrow.”

Third place in the race went to Maxxis Tires Ford’s Randy Eller (above), who nursed a soft motor to the final podium spot.

“We didn’t qualify very good, but we always do well here at Crandon,” Eller said. “The motor wasn’t running right, and we don’t know what problems we have with it. We just tried to stay clean and tried to finish. I’m ticked to death to finish third. Tomorrow we’ll have a new motor, and I think we’ll have something for them."