Pro 4 Unlimited
With the truly standing room only crowd at a fever pitch following opening ceremonies, it was now time for what was undoubtedly the race of the night: Pro 4 Unlimited. With the top two qualifiers, Rick Huseman and Carl Renezeder, starting on the back row after they broke pre-race protocol, the race seemed wide open for any of a number of drivers to take the win. Kyle LeDuc started his #99 Rockstar/Circle K Ford alongside Adrian Cenni in the #11 Atrium Payroll/BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet on the front row, and it was LeDuc who led Cenni
across the stripe at the end of the first lap. These two were followed by Mike Johnson in the #31 K&N Filters/Ironclad Ford, Travis Coyne in the #5 Pro Comp/Team Associated Ford, and Bryce Menzies in the #7 Bully Dog/Fox Racing Shox Ford. Despite starting from the back row, Huseman was on a tear in the #36 Traxxas/Monster Energy Toyota,
moving up to fifth by the second lap, while Renezeder was less lucky, crashing onto his side in the rhythm section between turns two and three, which brought out a full course yellow.
Huseman had managed to move up to fourth before Renezeder’s crash, and after the restart, he quickly moved up to third, just behind LeDuc and Cenni, and ahead of Menzies and Johnson. The crowd was going nuts for the points leader and local driver Huseman (he lives just down the road in Riverside), whose flame-spitting Toyota was making such quick work of the rest of the field. The whole of the grandstands seemed to roar as Huseman took second from Cenni, and when LeDuc rolled in turn four while trying to hold off Huseman for the lead, the cheers grew even more intense as Huseman sped into the lead, followed by Cenni and LeDuc, who landed on his wheels without any serious damage. At the competition yellow, the top three remained unchanged, and they were followed by Johnson in fourth and LeDuc’s dad Curt in the #43 Makita/Skyjacker Ford in fifth. The senior LeDuc moved up to fourth on the restart lap, just ahead of a self-inflicted rollover in turn five by Johnson, which brought out another full course yellow.
On the restart lap, LeDuc held it wide open through the rhythm section, the first driver to visibly do so, and took over second from Cenni. Young LeDuc had really come alive, and the seemingly impervious Huseman was suddenly under pressure. Huseman bicycled in turn four, giving LeDuc just the chance he needed, and LeDuc seized the opportunity and re-took the lead. LeDuc seemed like a whole different driver, running much quicker and making himself much more difficult for Huseman. As the crowd willed the top two drivers around the track, Huseman took the fast lap of the race at a 44.425 and closed right down on LeDuc. Huseman drove inside out of turn four and got alongside LeDuc over the big tabletop jump, just nosing into the lead. LeDuc tried valiantly to re-take the lead in turn five, but with two laps to go, Huseman had the lead for good this time. The whole crowd was on its feet as LeDuc charged hard on the final lap, but it just wasn’t his day as Huseman took the win, his seventh out of nine races this season. LeDuc took an incredibly hard-fought second, followed by Cenni, Curt LeDuc, and Coyne.
Pro 2 Unlimited
The final race of the night was that of the Pro 2 Unlimiteds. Greg Adler would start his #10 4 Wheel Parts/BFGoodrich Tires Ford alongside the #7 Bully Dog/Super Clean Ford of Bryce Menzies on the front row, but it was Rob MacCachren who, as if shot from a cannon, stormed into the early lead in his #21 Rockstar/Fox Racing Shox Ford. At the end of lap one, it was MacCachren out front, followed by Adler, Menzies, Carl Renezeder in the #17 Lucas Oil/General Tire Ford, and Rodrigo Ampudia in the #36 Tecate/Papas & Beer Ford. Menzies dropped two spots to fifth on lap two, while Robert Naughton moved up two spots to fourth in his #54 ReadyLift/Stronghold Motorsports Ford. Further forward, Renezeder was on a tear after getting an early end to his Pro 4 Unlimited race, but a moment of over-zealous driving saw him come blazing through the rhythm section and hard into turn three, where he got into the side of Adler and rolled him over. This brought out a full course caution, and Renezeder was given the black flag and sent to the back of the pack. Racing resumed with MacCachren still out front, now followed by Naughton, Menzies, Ampudia, and Ricky Johnson in the #48 Red Bull/KMC Wheels Ford. Ampudia found a burst of speed just ahead of the competition yellow, picking off Menzies and Naughton in the space of two turns. After the restart, the usually infallible MacCachren made a rare mistake, nearly spinning in turn three. Ampudia was the best-placed driver to take advantage, but as the runners behind piled into the corner, someone hit Ampudia and spun him around and off track. MacCachren got lucky and was actually able to pull away from the mess and maintain his lead. He then got clear of the field as Naughton and Todd LeDuc got together and went off track just a turn and a straight later, leaving Menzies second, Johnson third, Jeff Geiser fourth in the #44 Canidae All Natural Pet Foods/Geiser Bros Design and Development Chevrolet, and Mike Johnson (no relation to Ricky) fifth in the #31 Method Race Wheels/Alpinestars Ford. Mike Johnson moved up to fourth after hounding Geiser for a few laps, and from here on in, the top five held their places. MacCachren went on to take the win, his fifth of the season, followed by Menzies, Ricky Johnson, Mike Johnson, and Geiser. Renezeder proved that he had the pace to run at the front, coming back to finish eighth, and taking fast lap with a 45.944.
Pro Lite Unlimited
A strengthening field of Pro Lite Unlimiteds was next out on track, and points contenders Marty Hart and Matt Loiodice started alongside one another on the front row. Hart used his pole starting position to full advantage, taking the early lead in his #15 ReadyLift/Maxxis Tires Ford, ahead of Brian Deegan in the #38 Metal Mulisha/Etnies Ford, Loiodice in the #20 MasterCraft Safety/KCHiLites Ford, Chris Brandt in the #82 BFGoodrich Tires/Lucas Oil Toyota, and Jimmy Stephensen in the #33 Racin’ Dirty/K&N Filters Nissan. Stephensen slowed in the early going with an unknown issue, promoting Stephan Papadakis to fifth in the #4 Magnaflow/AEM Nissan. Just as the drivers were starting to hit their stride, a crash by Aaron Daugherty brought out a well-deserved full course caution (both of Daugherty’s rear tires came off the wheels). Daugherty was ok, and once action resumed, Brandt got around Loiodice to get into third place. The top three were starting to pull away as the competition yellow came out, and at this point the running order was Hart, Deegan, Brandt, Loiodice, and Papadakis. The top five strung back out after the restart, with the only close battle being between Hart and Deegan for the lead. Deegan was pushing hard, and he badly mis-jumped the big jump into turn two, putting him up along the turn two k-rail before landing him back on the track. Deegan’s truck was surprisingly undamaged, and he charged hard to try and catch back up to Hart. In the closing laps of the race, Brandt put in the fast lap of the race at a 48.346 (just one thousandth of a second better than Deegan’s best lap) in an effort to close in on the top two, but paid the price as his truck broke with just a few laps to go. Loiodice inherited third, with Papadakis fourth and Jacob Person now fifth in the #92 Stand –Up-MRI of Arizona/VP Ford. Despite Deegan’s best efforts, he simply ran out of time to really put any serious pressure on Hart in the closing laps, and Hart went on to take his second win in a row
A tremendous fireworks display marked the end of racing for Round 9, and it was indeed a great night of action. If you couldn’t be here for it, be sure to come check it out as the LOORRS circus does it all over again in Round 10. Racing starts at 4:30pm here at Glen Helen, but get here early to avoid long lines and the potential of missing out on tickets- Saturday tickets sold out fast.
Credits: Scott Neth
