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Another enjoyable, balmy summer afternoon and evening drew fans back to the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex in Lake Elsinore, CA for Round 8 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports. Once again, the stars of short course off-road racing took to the track and put on a great show for those in the stands, closing out a spectacular weekend of competition with ten races worth of cheering, fist pumps, and big smiles for all those in attendance. Drivers, crews, officials, and spectators alike watched the track come alive with the slinging of mud and the high-flying antics of the drivers, and listened in awe to the thunder of racing engines large and small. The competition was again fierce, and fans went home happy for the second night in a row.

Junior 2 Karts
The Junior 2 kart drivers were the first to take to the track on Sunday afternoon, and it was Jerett Brooks in the #477 Synergy Electric kart who jumped out to the early lead. Behind Brooks was the Team Associated #472 of Dustin Grabowski, the #474 Kartek kart of Maxwell Ries, Paige Porter in the #462 Redline kart, and yesterday’s winner Trent Williams in the #425 King Shocks kart, who started back in the pack. As the lead three karts moved clear of the rest of the field, Williams moved up to fourth and began to bridge across to the three leaders. These three leaders became two as Ries dropped back into the clutches of Williams, who overtook him for third. Ries then hung with Williams for several laps before fading further back once again. In the late going, Grabowski quickly closed down a small gap on Brooks, and with Williams now right behind in third, the top three were nose to tail with just one lap remaining. Williams pulled an outside-inside pass on Grabowski in turn two, who returned the favor right back in the very next turn. Williams had the measure of Grabowski, however, and overtook him in the final turn to take second. Brooks had a little room to breathe as the two behind fought over second, and brought home the win. Williams was second, Grabowski third, with Ries finishing fourth and Porter taking fifth.

Junior 1 Karts
In the Junior 1 karts, it was yesterday’s winner Myles Cheek in the #257 CMI kart who took the lead on lap one, followed by Jack Grabowski, Sheldon Creed, Jake Williams, and Hunter Williams. Grabowski used a good run down the front straightaway to move his #272 ProAm/Hoosier kart into the lead, and Creed got a good run out of turn one in his #214 Team Associated kart and used a good inside-outside pass to take second from Cheek shortly afterward. Shelby Anderson moved up to fifth in the #205 Walker Evans Racing Wheels kart, then rolled over and lost a left rear tire and wheel a few laps later. Up front, the lead three, Grabowski, Creed, and Cheek, were nose to tail all the way to the finish line, with Hunter Williams and Jake Williams further back in fourth and fifth. Creed gave it everything he had to pass Grabowski on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough, as Grabowski hung on for the win ahead of Creed in second and Cheek in third, and making it back to back wins for the Grabowski family on Sunday. Hunter and Jake Williams held their positions to take fourth and fifth, respectively.

Modified Karts
Sheldon Creed was the kart driver of the weekend during Rounds Five and Six of LOORRS competition, and he once again showed why he’s often the driver to beat in either of the kart divisions he competes in. Creed jumped out to an early lead in his #522 The Fab School/Team Associated kart, ahead of Connor Hart, Zachary Hunt, Dave Mason Jr., and Wyatt Kirchner. The race was stopped in the early going due to overly dusty conditions, and when the drivers were brought back out, most struggled with the new, much more slippery conditions. As a result, the race was once again red flagged, and the drivers were put back in the order they had been in when they first came out after the track had been re-watered. Action finally resumed, and Creed was passed by Hart’s #550 Addicted2Riding/Bad Seed kart for the lead. Mason Jr. also moved up, taking over third in his dirtracingproducts.com kart. Hart then spun out coming onto the front straightaway, and took several other drivers with him. Creed re-assumed the lead, and pulled well clear of a re-shuffled field. Creed had shown the best driver control when the drivers were briefly faced with a slick race track, and used his skills to take a well-deserved win, ahead of Hunt in the #534 CFD/Makita kart, Bradley Morris in the #504 BME Motorsports/K&N kart, Mason Jr. in the #565 HRT Motorsports kart, and Kirchner in the #562 Speed Technologies/Bully Dog kart.

UTV
A heavily-inverted field saw most of the heavy hitters of the UTV division take the start from the back of the pack, giving fans a chance to see the top drivers really work as they moved through the field. Getting up front didn’t take long for the top talent, and it was Tyler Winbury in the #694 King Shocks/Funco who took the early lead. At the end of lap one, Winbury was followed by the #664 of Robert Vanbeekum, RJ Anderson, Jacob Person in the #692, and #639 Kenny Bates. Yesterday’s winner Chad George moved his Montclair Motors/Beard Seats Kawasaki Teryx into fourth on lap two, with Person falling two places to sixth. George moved further forward, and with Vanbeekum falling victim to gremlins in the early going, George and Anderson were now second and third. George held off a strong assault from Anderson in the #637 Goodyear/South Point Polaris, and at the competition yellow, it was still Winbury out front, followed by George, Anderson, Bates, and Person. After the restart, George briefly stole the lead from his young teammate Winbury, but Winbury was proving much tougher than the day before, and took the lead right back. Behind this battle, Bates crashed his Maxxis Tires-shod machine in turn six, allowing #655 John Dempsey into fifth behind Person. It was apparent that George badly wanted to make it a double win weekend, and he finally took the lead away from Winbury on the last lap to come home in first. Winbury made it a 1-2 for the Funco Motorsports team, with Anderson taking third, Person fourth, and Dempsey fifth.

Limited Buggy
Taking the start from the front row, young Justin Davis took the early lead in Sunday’s Limited Buggy race. Just behind Davis’ #385 Gatorwraps.com AlumiCraft was John Fitzgerald in the #314 Hart and Huntington/Geico Powersports machine, and Fitzgerald was followed by Bruce Fraley, Chris Boyer, and Kyle Quinn. Fitzgerald and Fraley both moved past Davis in the early going, while rear starter Sean Geiser was making quick work of the field, moving up to fourth. Curt Geer also moved into the top five, slotting in just behind Geiser. Out front, Fitzgerald was pulling well clear of second place Fraley, who himself had put a bit of ground between himself and third place, which was now held by Geiser’s Slednecks/General Tires buggy. All these gaps were brought down to naught by the competition yellow, which found the top five occupied by Fitzgerald, Fraley, Geiser, Davis, and Geer. After the restart, Fraley jumped by Fitzgerald and into the lead, and Joe Laff moved his #304 Competitive Metals buggy into fifth. The top five drivers held their positions for the rest of the race, and although Fitzgerald pushed Fraley very hard in the closing laps, Fraley held Fitzgerald at bay to take the win in his #312 Freeman’s Carpet Service Motorsports buggy. Fitzgerald was second, while third went to Geiser. Fourth went to the #392 Bowden Development Inc. buggy of Geer, and Laff rounded out the top five.

Unlimited Buggy
Despite starting from the outside of the third row, it was Saturday night’s winner Greg George who rocketed into the lead before the second turn on lap one of the Sunday night Unlimited Buggy race. George was followed by Randy Minnier, Rich Ronco, Greg Foster, and Cameron Steele at the end of the first lap. Multiple crashes then brought out a full-course yellow, and when action resumed Mike Dondel moved his #998 Racer Engineering/Fox Racing Shox buggy into fifth place. Dondel then mounted a charge to try and catch George, taking fourth and then third in the space of less than two laps, before a spin by Minnier caught Dondel and multiple other drivers out in turn six. Dondel quickly regained his composure and charged back into third, and as the competition yellow flag came out, he was still holding third, behind George and Ronco, and ahead of Steele and Foster. After the restart, Dondel moved up to second, and a great showdown between he and George was looking imminent until George’s Montclair Motors/Goodyear Funco suffered a major mechanical failure and was forced to the sidelines. Foster also dropped out of the race, and some shuffling behind new leader Dondel found Steele, Ronco, Chuck Cheek, and Larry Foddrill running second through fifth. This order was the same as the white flag waved, and Dondel pulled clear of the rest of the pack to take a great win, scoring redemption after taking a frustrating second in Round 7. Steele finally put together a clean run in his #916 Menzies Motorsports AlumiCraft to take second, ahead of Ronco’s Tatum in third. Fourth was the CMI AlumiCraft of Cheek, and Foddrill took fifth in his Goodyear/Toyota Foddrill Motorsports machine.

Unlimited 4
After taking a terrific win in his first round of LOORRS Unlimited 4 competition on Saturday night, Kyle LeDuc was out to take a clean sweep of the weekend on Sunday night. LeDuc put his best foot forward (and to the floor) from the drop of the green flag, and moved from seventh to third on the first lap. LeDuc was having to come from the back, just as Renezeder had tried to do on Saturday night, and despite Renezeder’s season-long dominance of this class, LeDuc was doing an even better job of moving through the field. He out-jumped Jerry Daugherty from the turn four bowl on the second lap and took over second spot, with only Renezeder left out in front. Daugherty then spun in turn three and fell to sixth, leaving a top five running order of Renezeder, LeDuc, Kent Brascho, Troy Herbst, and Travis Coyne. Coyne lost his steering and dropped out of the race, putting Daugherty back in the top five, but by the competition yellow, Tim Herbst had gotten by him, and followed Renezeder, LeDuc, Brascho, and his brother, Troy Herbst. Under the caution lap, Renezeder ducked his #1 Lucas Oil/General Tires Ford into the hot pits, and was not able to get back out in time to join the leaders for the restart. Renezeder did return to competition about two thirds of a lap down, but pulled off track with what were rumored to be overheating issues. LeDuc was now looking like the clear candidate for victory, and he pulled clear of the rest of the field in his Rockstar/Kal Gard Ford as green flag racing resumed. Tim Herbst was now second in his #18 Terrible Herbst/Miller Lite Chevrolet, with Brascho third in his #8 R&L Carriers/XDP Chevrolet, Troy Herbst fourth in his #19 Terrible Herbst/Coors Light Chevrolet, and Mike Johnson, once again filling in for Alan Pflueger, lying fifth in the #71 K&N/KMC Wheels Chevrolet. Brascho bobbled in turn one to hand third place to Troy Herbst, and a roll and subsequent slide along the outside barrier of turn two by Daugherty brought out a full course yellow and the call for a green-white-checkers finish. Green waved again and Troy Herbst now hit trouble as he spun out through the rhythm section and fell to last place. Brascho was also in trouble, pulling off the course with a mechanical failure. With the white flag waving it was LeDuc well out in front, ahead of Tim Herbst, Johnson, Bryce Menzies in the #51 Team Associated Ford, and Troy Herbst. LeDuc cruised to the finish to take back to back wins in his first weekend of LOORRS Unlimited 4 competition, ahead of Tim Herbst, Johnson, Menzies, and Troy Herbst.

SuperLite
After taking the SuperLite win in his first ever LOORRS race on Saturday night, all eyes were on Ricky James for Sunday night’s race in the Bully Dog SuperLite division. #77 David Reyes took the early lead, ahead of Chad Leising’s #17 Geico Powersports/Rockstar truck, James in the #24 SoCal SuperTrucks machine, John Harrah in the #13 Speed Technologies truck, and Joey Granatelli in the #20 Granatelli Motorsports truck. James did some great driving and took the lead on lap two, with Leising close behind in second. As James began to check out up front, Reyes, Granatelli, and Harrah piled wide and into each other in turn one, and though Reyes remained third and Harrah actually moved up to fourth, it was now the #15 NOS Energy Drink machine of Andrew Comriepicard in fifth. The running order was the same as the competition yellow flag came out, with the top five being held by James, Leising, Reyes, Harrah, and Comriepicard, in that order. Green came out again and Harrah moved past Reyes and into third, and by the drop of the white flag, Granatelli had also moved back up, taking over fifth spot. Harrah muscled by Leising on the final lap to snag second, but nobody could stop James from taking back to back wins in his debut weekend of LOORRS competition. Leising finished third, ahead of Reyes in fourth, and Brandon Bailey wound up fifth in the #72 Lamb Energy machine.

Unlimited Lite
Chris Brandt and Jon Probst took full advantage of a spin in turn one by Heath Carpenter to jump into first and second on lap one of Sunday’s Unlimited Lite race. Brian Deegan, Robert Naughton, and Jimmy Stephenson followed the two leaders across the line in third through fifth at the end of lap one. Shortly thereafter, Rodrigo Ampudia, again filling in for an injured Chuck Dempsey, out-jumped and out-braked Stephenson into turn two to grab fifth place in his #50 Speed Technologies/Papas and Beer Ford. On lap three, Naughton’s #54 Lucas Oil/Readylift Ford, Ampudia, and Deegan all got by Probst in turn one to take over spots two through four. Todd Cuffaro then moved his #46 Rockstar/Lucas Oil Nissan ahead of Probst as well, and latched on to Naughton, Ampudia, Deegan to form a four-truck train behind the distant leader Brandt. The top five remained in this order as the competition yellow came out, and when green flag racing resumed, Deegan moved his #38 Metal Mulisha/BFGoodrich Ford past Ampudia to take third. Jon Probst also moved up, re-taking fifth from Cuffaro in his #5 E3 Spark Plugs Nissan. Naughton’s truck was now smoking, and soon pulled off the track for Naughton’s first DNF of the season. Meanwhile, Cuffaro had already re-taken fifth from Probst, and then made a beautiful pass on Ampudia for third place. Ampudia passed Cuffaro right back, however, and as the white flag waved, Ampudia and Cuffaro sat third and fourth behind Brandt and Deegan, and ahead of Probst, who had Matt Loiodice chasing him hard for a top five finish. Brandt cruised to his first ever LOORRS win in his #82 Hart and Huntington/Geico Powersports Toyota, well ahead of the rest of the pack. Deegan took second, while Ampudia rounded out the podium. Fourth went to Cuffaro, and Probst held off Loiodice to take fifth.

Unlimited 2
The final race of the weekend would be that of the Unlimited 2s, and it was Mike Johnson in the #31 KMC Wheels Ford who jumped out to the early lead. Rodrigo Ampudia and Jeff Ward came from the third row to slot in second and third, while Dale Dondel in the #11 Racer Engineering Chevrolet and Saturday night’s winner Todd LeDuc filled in fourth and fifth. Ampudia moved his Tecate/Lucas Oil Ford inside of Johnson in turn two of lap two to take the lead, and Ward quickly moved his #3X Speed Technologies/Bully Dog Chevrolet past Johnson as well, briefly challenging Ampudia for the lead before spinning off the track out of turn three. After a bit of chaos caused by Ward’s dramatic off, it was still Ampudia out front, with LeDuc, Johnson, Dondel, and Bryce Menzies in second through fifth places. LeDuc snuck past Ampudia on the inside of turn two to take the lead in his #8 Rockstar/Toyo Tires Ford, but spun in the same turn a few laps later to fall back to fifth and then out of the top five. Menzies now challenged for the lead, and used that same turn two to make his own pass on Ampudia for the lead. Menzies quickly began to pull away in his #7 Super Clean/O’Neill Ford, and held the lead ahead of Ampudia, Dondel, LeDuc, and Carl Renezeder as the competition yellow came out. After the restart, Ampudia spun in turn three and fell to last, then pulled off track shortly afterwards with an unspecified issue. Dondel began to fall back, allowing 16-year-old Justin Davis to move his #85 Green Army Chevrolet into fifth place. Up front, Menzies was now being stalked by LeDuc and Renezeder, and the three raced extremely closely for the lead. With a lap and a half to go, Menzies half spun in turn three, and as he did on Saturday night, LeDuc seized the best chance that’d been given to him by taking the lead ahead of Renezeder’s #17 General Tires/Team Associated Ford. Menzies fell to third, and not far behind was the #10 Magnaflow/4 Wheel Parts Ford of Greg Adler in fourth, with Davis a ways back in fifth as the white flag was waved. The top five all held their positions on the final lap, and it was LeDuc who made it a perfect four for four weekend for the LeDuc family, with he and his brother Kyle combining to win both Unlimited 4 and both Unlimited 2 races this weekend. Renezeder took second, going home with a winless weekend for the first time this season. Menzies had to settle for third, with Adler taking fourth and Davis rounding out the top five.

Written for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series by Scott Neth.