After an off season that went by in the blink of an eye for some and at a snail’s pace for others, it’s that time again: time for Lucas Oil Off Road! The 2011 season is upon us, and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is back at Firebird International Raceway in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, AZ, ready to kick off the season with more high-flying, ground-pounding, mud-slinging fury than ever before. Champions have returned in some classes and moved to new ranks in others , and all the classes are loaded with talent of both the older, more experienced and the younger, ready-to-impress varieties. Every driver must be chomping at the bit to grab the first win of the year, but first up is the all-important man vs. clock test of qualifying. As the drivers hit the track to see how they truly stacked up against one another for the first time this year, here’s how the day’s events unfolded.
Pro 2 Unlimited
Kicking the season off in grand style was a tremendous field of Pro 2 Unlimiteds. So large was the field of drivers that qualifying was actually split into two groups, and first to lay down a timesheet-topping lap in 2011 was Brian Deegan in the #38 Rockstar/Makita Ford. Deegan’s opening lap was a 45.540, which was quickly topped by Rob Naughton, who turned a 45.205 on lap two in his #54 Stronghold Motorsports/ReadyLift Ford. On lap three, Bryce Menzies took his turn at the top, taking the lead for his new Red Bull/Traxxas Team with a 44.681 in his #7 Ford. Menzies’ time held up for two laps, but it was ultimately Rob MacCachren who picked right up where he left off last season as he took the top time of the session on lap five. MacCachren’s lap of 43.876 in the #1 Rockstar/MasterCraft Safety Ford netted him the pole, with second going to Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, whose best lap was a 44.087. Menzies improved to a 44.266 to grab third, and Deegan improved as well, slotting in fourth with a 44.463. Rounding out the top five was Greg Adler in the #10 4 Wheel Parts/Magnaflow Ford; his best lap was a 44.616.
Pro 4 Unlimited
Next on track was a hugely impressive field of Pro 4 Unlimiteds. 15 of these beasts hit the track for today’s qualifying, with short course legend Johnny Greaves jumping out to the early lead in his #16 Monster Energy/Maxxis Toyota. Greaves turned a 43.078 on lap one, but his time was quickly surpassed by “The Wildman,” Adrian Cenni, whose #11 Atrium Payroll/King Shocks Chevrolet did a 42.935 on lap two. Cenni’s time at the top was then interrupted by reigning champion Rick Huseman and his #36 Monster Energy/E3 Spark Plugs Toyota, who ran a 42.469 on lap three. Huseman’s time held for three laps, until Cenni clawed his way past to re-take the lead by just one hundredth of a second with a lap of 42.459 on lap six. Huseman was too quick, however, and re-gained top honors with a 41.920 on the final lap to take the pole. Greaves also had a fine last lap, turning in a 42.072 to make it a one-two for Toyota, while Cenni’s earlier lap was good enough to get him third place. Ricky Johnson and Carl Renezeder had an equal best lap of 42.565, but it was Johnson who had the better second best lap (42.589 vs. 42.965). Johnson wound up fourth in his #48 Red Bull/KMC Wheels Ford, with Renezeder taking fifth in the #17 Lucas Oil/RC10.com Ford.
Pro Lite Unlimited
At season’s end 2010, Brian Deegan intimated that the Challenge Cup race would be his last as a Pro Lite Unlimited driver, but as the series returned to Firebird, it was Deegan who was back in his familiar #38 Lucas Oil/Metal Mulisha Ford, and as he did in the latter part of 2010, he was again dominating the field. Deegan took to the top of the time sheets from lap one and never relinquished the lead, reeling off laps of 46.805, 46.194, 46.075, and a pole-setting 45.938. Deegan’s times were not only impressive in that his personal best laps were re-setting the overall top time, but also because all four of those laps were quicker than the best of any other driver in the class! Kyle LeDuc made a return to the Pro Lite Unlimited ranks and came home second with a best lap of 46.809 in his #99 Rockstar/Makita Ford. Third went to Corey Sisler in his #19 BFGoodrich Tires Ford; Sisler’s best lap was a 47.398. In fourth it was class rookie Ryan Beat in the #51 Black Rhino/Fiberwerx Ford, who turned a personal best of 47.603. Rounding out the top five was Matt Loiodice, whose best lap was a 47.638 in the #20 Impact!/Competitive Metals Ford.
Super Lite
Super Lite was the next class out on track, and it was Patrick Clark who headed the charge for pole position in the early going. Clark grabbed the lead early with a 50.120 on lap one in his #25 BFGoodrich Tires/Method Race Wheels truck, and backed that up with a 49.639 on lap two. On lap three, however, the lead changed hands as RJ Anderson moved up to first in his #37 So Cal Super Trucks/Walker Evans Racing machine with a 48.763. Anderson then improved to 48.597 on lap six, and this time was good enough to seal up the pole position for him. Clark improved to a 48.985 on lap three, before his qualifying session was cut short by a rollover; however, his time was still good enough for second place. Third went to Brent Fouch in the #21 Forgiven Energy/BionicCigs.com entry, whose best lap was a 49.315. In fourth it was CJ Greaves and the #33 Torchmate/Maxxis machine, followed by the #16 General Tire/Speed Technologies truck of Dawson Kirchner in fifth. Greaves and Kirchner had best laps of 49.512 and 49.784, respectively.
Pro Buggy Unlimited
With the big truck classes having had their shot at the Firebird track already, it was now time for open-wheeled action with the Pro Buggy Unlimiteds. Justin Davis was fast out of the gates in his #85 Green Army/TCS Racer, setting the opening lap top time at 45.410. Davis’ time was good, but Rich Ronco went just a bit better on lap four, as a 45.329 moved his #99 Tatum Motorsports entry up to first position, where he stayed for the rest of the session. Ronco got the pole, ahead of Davis, who improved to 45.339 to take second, just one hundredth off the pole. Close behind in third was Challenge Cup winner Doug Fortin, whose best lap was a 45.457 in his #96 Fortin Racing, Inc./Fox Racing Shox Racer. Mike Porter took fourth in the #8 Redline Performance/Speed Energy AlumiCraft after setting his best lap at 45.651, and rounding out the top five was Jerry Whelchel, who turned a 45.701 in his #5 BFGoodrich Tires/ProAm Foddrill.
Please note that the numbering system has changed in this class for 2011. The drivers will no longer use a three digit number from 900-999, and instead will now be using numbers from 1-99.
Limited Buggy
Several young drivers have made their way into the Limited Buggy division following early stints in the kart ranks of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and today saw two more of these young guns taking to the open wheel single seaters for the first time in Lucas Oil Off Road competition. One of these young drivers, Bradley Morris, proved that his skills had indeed carried over, as he grabbed the early lead with a 48.987 in his #304 Lucas Oil/BME Motorsports buggy. Morris’ time held up for three laps, but he was eventually overtaken by Curt Geer and his #385 Green Army/BDI Bowden Development Inc. Lothringer, who ran a 48.402 on lap four. Geer improved the top time again on the last lap, and took the pole with a 48.225. In second it was Bruce Fraley, who ran a 48.749 in his #312 Fox Racing Shox/KarTek Fraley, with third going to Morris, who improved to a personal best of 48.859. Fourth place went to Dave Mason in the #365 BFGoodrich Tires/King Shocks AlumiCraft, and fifth was Quentin Tucker in the #377 General Tire/McKenzies entry; Mason’s and Tucker’s best laps were 48.887 and 49.378, respectively.
UTV
The final qualifying session of the day was that of the UTVs. As was the case in 2010, both the Unlimited UTV and SR1 classes took to the track at the same time, with the only difference being the addition of a new motor and chassis package to the SR1 class. In 2010, only the 1000cc engine from the Yamaha R1 street bike could be paired with a Yamaha Rhino chassis to make an SR1, but in 2011, competitors may also choose to pair a 1000cc Kawasaki ZX-10 engine with a Kawasaki Teryx chassis and compete in SR1. SR1s will continue to run numbers 800-899, and Unlimited UTVs will still be numbers 600-699.
Doug Mittag grabbed the lead on lap one in his #848 Custom Off Road Design/K&N Filters Yamaha, setting an opening lap time of 49.263. Mittag improved his time to a 48.803 on lap two, before losing out on his top spot to Chad George, who turned a 48.751 in his #601 Monster Energy/King Shocks Kawasaki on lap three. On lap five, local Chandler driver Corry Weller moved her #810 Tilted Kilt/Lucas Oil Yamaha to the front with a 48.210, and topped that with a 47.923 on the final lap to take the pole. George also improved on the last lap, and came home second with a 48.493. Mittag’s last lap was his best, too, and he took third with a 48.775, while fourth went to Tyler Winbury and his #694 Deviate Films/Funco Kawasaki, with a lap of 49.169. The last spot in the top five went to Josh Stechnij, who ran a 49.538 in his #800 Lonestar Racing/iTi Performance Motorsports Yamaha.
Content Credits: Lucasoil Offroad
