Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by Geico, kicked off the 2015 season at Lake Elsinore Motorsports park March 20-21. The eight separate classes put on some exciting short course action on both Friday and Saturday evenings. The standing room only crowd was pleased to hear the series would be coming back to the Lake Elsinore Motorsports park May 30 and again October 24 of this year. The weekend was full of repeat winners and an exceptional rookie performance from Brad DeBerti.
Pro 2
There were 17 entries in the Pro 2 ranks. During Friday’s qualifying session Bryce Menzies set quick time but had Rob MacCachren a close second with only 0.236 seconds separating them. When they went on track that evening MacCachren took the early lead but Menzies was able to take the lead away in turn two. MacCachren wasn’t done and came back to retake the lead but soon after saw Menzies was able to take charge of the event. Once out front he was able to clear MacCachren who now had Carl Renezeder pressing his every move. Later on in the race Renezeder was able to take the second spot in turn four from MacCachren. Most of the battles were going on behind the front three with one such battle for fourth won by Ryan Beat. At the checkers it was Bryce Menzies taking the first win of the season with Carl Renezeder holding second with Rob MacCachren third.
Bryce Menzies must have felt good with his Friday qualifying enough not to show up on Saturday for qualifying. Rob MacCachren knows only to well how important starting positions are and put in his best effort to set quick time for Saturday’s event. Patrick Clark was a close second with only 0.132 second separating the two times. Although qualifying times help it is more important to get a better start once racing and last night’s main winner Bryce Menzies was able to grab the early lead. Carl Renezeder followed him with Patrick Clark and MacCachren once the green came out. During the first lap shuffle MacCachren had moved into second with Renezeder third. Bryce Menzies had pulled some distance from MacCachren but that would be erased when the yellow came out due to Ryan Beat, replacing an ill Brian Deegan for the evening, had stalled on track. Back to racing the pack had just got back up to speed when Todd LeDuc’s truck had flames coming out from his hood. The safety crews got the fire out and LeDuc fired the truck back up and went back out to race. On the restart Renezeder was able to get by Clark. Soon after Jeremy McGrath had made a move that put him ahead of both Renezeder and Clark, so he was now in third. Another yellow came out when RJ Anderson got sideways in front of the grandstands causing a traffic jam so the officials threw out the yellow. One more yellow would occur later on but nothing would affect the effort Bryce Menzies crossing over for his repeat win of the weekend. Rob MacCachren was a close second with Jeremy McGrath earning third.
Pro Lite
In the Pro Lite action rookie Brad DeBerti showed the class consisting of 25 trucks the fastest way around the Lake Elsinore track. DeBerti had qualified third but had little trouble besting the competitors once racing. Actually I heard a fan say, “someone needs to tell him rookies are suppose to make mistakes instead of racing lap after lap as if he was an over sized slot car”. DeBerti had just dominated at the Regional events and once racing started he moved into the lead with Jerett Brooks second and Justin Smith third. With DeBerti looking like he was racing by himself the battle for fifth caught the fans attention. Sheldon Creed and Ryan Beat traded places more than once to keep all the fans entertained. As Creed closed up on Smith he applied some extra pressure to force Smith wide. This allowed both Creed and Beat to get past Smith. Beat was able to then move on Creed again taking his position away but Creed was able to retake the position on the last lap. Out front Brad DeBerti picked up his first Pro win in a convincing fashion. Jerett Brooks crossed over second and RJ Anderson finished third. After the race Creed was DQed so Beat was moved up to fourth.
Jimmy Fishback took the early lead once Round 2 got underway. Casey Currie held second with Brad DeBerti third. A caution on lap three created a restart and DeBerti made a move from third past Casey Currie and then moved outside Jimmy Fishback in turn four to take over the lead. Once out front he was able to distance himself from the pack. Casey had been shuffled back and a tight battle ensured for second between RJ Anderson and Jerett Brooks. A full course yellow brought the competitors back together but once racing DeBerti again left the racing to those fighting over second. Anderson tangled with Casey Currie and Fishback on the restart but Fishback was able to hold on to second and Sheldon Creed had moved into third. Creed attacked Fishback in turn two and won the position. Late in the race Anderson was able to get by Brooks for third but Brooks was able to retake his former spot in turn three. Brooks was on the move and on the last lap managed to take the second spot however it was short lived as he and Creed got together sending Brooks wide dropping him back to sixth. At the Checkers it was none other than the unusual Rookie Brad DeBerti taking a repeat win. Second was Sheldon Creed with RJ Anderson holding on for third.
Pro 4
During practice and then during qualifying defending class champion Kyle LeDuc showed the 13 Pro 4 entries the quickest way around the Lake Elsinore track. LeDuc qualified with his best time of 47.661 seconds over Rob MacCachren’s 47.812. Ya they were close with only 0.151 difference between them. Then when racing started Friday night things got a little physical causing the momentum to take a while to build up. Once they did get to racing it was Bryce Menzies that grabbed the front spot ahead of Carl Renezeder and Rob MacCachren a close third with LeDuc fourth. Later on in the race Menzies and Renezeder tangled in turn three with Renezeder taking over the lead. While Menzies was trying to collect his thoughts MacCachren and LeDuc were able to get ahead of him. A couple of laps later LeDuc got out of shape and caused a yellow condition. His bad luck was good luck for Doug Fortin who now moved into contention. MacCachren had some issues in turn two allowing Menzies to move into second. Soon after, Fortin also moved past MacCachren for third. Then Fortin used his momentum on the next lap to get past Menzies in turn four to take second place. With some good racing Carl Renezeder took the Pro 4 win with Doug Fortin second and Bryce Menzies was third.
Things turned around on Saturday for Kyle LeDuc. After setting quick time the day before he didn’t put in a qualifying time on Saturday. Rob MacCachren set Saturday’s quickest lap with Eric Barron second quickest. Once the field of 11 Pro 4 trucks went green it was Doug Fortin taking the early lead with Bryce Menzies, Eric Barron, Rob MacCachren and Carl Renezeder consisting of the top five. Doug Fortin would roll going into lap two and retired from the event. Bryce Menzies was now the leader with Barron second. On the restart MacCachren got pushed high in turn one and was shuffled back to sixth. Barron would make an attempt on Menzies’ position in turn four and appeared to spin out in front of Menzies, until Menzies clipped his front fender to straighten Barron back out giving Barron the lead. Barron’s lead was short lived as he would then spin in turn two dropping him to sixth. This gave Menzies back the lead. While the focus was on the front runners Adrian Cenni had moved into second with Renezeder third. In the wide turn two Renezeder decided to cut inside Cenni for his position but MacCachren also saw an opportunity and went inside of Renezeder. His pass moved him from fourth to second. Renezeder did take third. Now in fifth, LeDuc, who had started back in 11th, began pressing Cenni. A yellow came out and the field was restacked. On the restart LeDuc was able to get past Cenni for fourth. A few laps later LeDuc would use turn two again to get past Renezeder. The following lap he again found turn two to his liking as he moved into second. To the fans delight LeDuc would then take the lead from Menzies the following lap sweeping past Menzies in turn two. On the last lap LeDuc almost let turn two do him in as he got up on two wheels allowing Menzies to close up and challenge for position. Kyle LeDuc was able to maintain control and take an impressive win with Bryce Menzies second. Making his move on the last lap was Carl Renezeder passing MacCachren for third.
Pro Buggy
The Pro buggy field had 13 sign ups but only 10 made it to Friday’s qualifying. At the end of the session it was Chad George just 0.072 seconds faster than his cousin Garret George. When they went out to race the two led the pack around with Garrett now in front of Chad. It took Chad a couple more laps before making the pass on Garrett for the lead. In third was Dave Mason Jr. with Mike Valentine fourth. They all seemed content to follow one another until lap 10 when Valentine made his pass on Mason in front of the grandstands. Soon after that Chad George slowed allowing Garrett George to take control of the race. Chad George continued to slow with mechanical woes while Garrett continued on for the win. Mike Valentine would cross under the checkers second and Dave Mason Jr finished third.
During Saturday’s qualifying session Mike Valentine set quick time over Chad George. Chad George had mechanical issues the day before but was able to jump out front when racing started Saturday. Valentine was second with Garrett George third. There were some position changes back in the pack but for the most part the action stayed consistent through the first part of the race. In the later laps Valentine had closed up to pressure Chad George and Garrett George was pressing on Valentine. Although anything could have changed the order the final results were Chad George taking the win over Mike Valentine. Garrett George was third.
Mod Kart
Friday night’s Modified Kart race was plagued with at least eight cautions. The one driver able to avoid the mayhem was Christopher Polvoorde. Polvoorde lead most of the race but found a hard charging Travis PeCoy battling for his position late in the race and managing to take the lead away on the last lap. Polvoorde was able to use his wits and his fast qualifying time to retake the lead by cutting inside of turn three. The two exited side-by-side but Polvoorde was able to pull ahead to earn the win. Travis PeCoy held onto second with Ryan Carey third.
Travis PeCoy came back on Saturday to set quick time with last night’s main winner Christopher Polvoorde second. In the 12 lap main PeCoy was able to take charge when the green came out with Polvoodre second and Ronnie Anderson sat in third. The first of several cautions brought the action to a halt on lap two. On the restart Elijah Banfield created another caution with his crash in turn one. Haing ran second from the start Polvoorde had trouble on the restart and dropped all the way down to 13th. Trevor Briska took over the second spot with Anderson still holding third. A couple more caution did come out but the front three were able to hold their positions. Travis PeCoy took home the main event win with Trevor Briska besting Ronnie Anderson.
SR1 UTVs
Wanna know how to break in a brand new SR1 racer? Just ask Dustin Nelson who received his new racer just in time for qualifying and when the dust had settled he had turned the quickest lap of the 21 entries. Second quickest was Corry Weller 0.617 off Nelson’s pace. Nelson then came out that evening to capture the special appearance event from Corry Weller. Scott Webster finished third. Weller did get an opportunity to lead when she passed Nelson on a restart but when another yellow came out the rule set her back to the previous lap. On the next restart Nelson got a better start and pulled some breathing room. Weller later closed the gap on Nelson but with Nelson laying down perfect laps she didn’t find an opening and had to settle for second.
When the green flag came out for Round 2 Nelson was again able to take command of the event. Ken Benson trailed in second with Corry Weller, Brandon Kilgore, and Bryan McCormick battling for third. Weller was able to grab the second spot on lap two. Nelson had pulled a decent lead over Weller when a full course caution brought the pack back together. On the restart Nelson quickly established his lead with Weller still in second. Nelson was putting down consistent laps then another caution brought the pack back together again. This time Weller was able to stay within striking distance on the restart and made her final attempt in turn four. Crossing under the checkers once again was Dustin Nelson with Corry Weller a very close second. Also moving on the final lap was Bryan McCormick who passed Kilgore to earn the final podium spot.
Jr Kart 2
The 2015 LOORRS season got underway with the JR 2 Karts with 16 signed up to compete. Cole Keatts would set the fastest qualifying time with Connor Barry a close second. After the first green flag came out a yellow soon followed as Bronson Chiaramonte had a rough rollover in turn one. He came out of the mishap okay but his Kart wasn’t able to rejoin the race. When they got to racing again Mia Chapman grabbed the early lead wit Connor Barry second, then Bryan Morris. Chapman sat out front unchallenged for the first half of the race. Moving up through the field was Cole Keatts who had taken over the second spot. After the competition yellow restart the front running order remained the same until the last lap when Keatts made a move on Chapman and the two came together in turn three. Keatts was able to make the pass as Chapman would eventually slow with mechanical issues. So crossing under the checkers first was Cole Keatts with Connor Barry second and Bryan Morris third.
In the Round 2 event held Saturday Bronsen Chiaramonte took the early lead with yesterday’s event winner Cole Keatts in second. It would take Keatts several laps before finding his opening going into turn two. Connor Barry had made his move into third. After the mid race yellow Chiaramonte had some trouble in turn two dropping out of contention. This meant Keatts was in the lead and Barry had moved to second with Mia Chapman in third. Another caution created a restart and on that start Keatts drifted wide allowing Barry to take the lead. The order would change later as Chapman was able to get by Keatts for second. Connor Barry won after he had moved up from fifth in the early part of the race. Mia Chapman earned second and Cole Keatts scored third.
Jr Kart 1
Madix Bailey was the quickest of 11 JR1 Kart drivers during qualifying on Friday. In the race her and Raygen Wilkins would lead the pack around early on. Bailey however would be set back to third on lap two when Megan Mitchell got around in turn one. Soon after that Kali Kinsman, who was maneuvering through the pack, took over the fourth position from Bryan Morris. The next lap Kinsman had made her move to third. Just a lap later she had moved to second and was soon challenging Wilkins for the lead. Another driver moving forward was Luke Knupp who had moved up into second. On the last lap Knupp made an attempt for the lead but Kinsman was able to hold him off for the win. Knupp finished second with Raygen Wilkins taking third.
Luke Knupp grabbed the early JR1 Kart lead on Saturday afternoon. Second was Kali Kinsman with Bryan Morris third. Kinsman was able to challenge Knupp for the lead on the second lap but Knupp was able to hold her off. Kinsman kept up the pressure throughout the event but Knupp was able to hold on for a close win with Kinsman’s front bumper within Knupp’s peripheral vision. Making a strong presence known at the wire was also third place Bryan Morris.
