Lucas Oil Off Road races got pretty crazy during the second day of the series visit to Northern Nevada.

MUSTANG (Aug. 23) – The second day of the Lucas Oil Off Road races at the Wild West Motorsports Park was a wild afternoon of hard racing and a bit more mayhem than Saturday had. But the Pro 2 race kind of had the most carnage of all.

After the dust settled winner Bryce Menzies, who swept the weekend said, “Once the track dried out I had to move my line a lot, I tried to run the same line and kept going backwards a little bit so once I found that grip it seemed like I could pull away a little bit. From flag to flag, led the whole weekend, just got to thank my crew for working so hard, giving me a great truck to come out and do what I to. That’s seven wins so far in the Pro 2 so this thing is a rocket.”

When the Pro 2 race began Bryce Menzies led the charge with Brian Deegan, Rob MacCachren and Sheldon Creed giving chase. Right from the get go, Menzies began to extend his lead over those after him.

Jeremy McGrath dropped out of the top five when he went nose first into the outside wall in Turn 2. He quickly backed out and rejoined the fray but was way behind the leaders.

The first caution came after three trucks tangled on the exit to Turn 3 as the course heads up hill. Once that was cleared Menzies again let the charge followed by Deegan, MacCachren and R.J. Anderson.

Then Eric Fitch spun but quickly recovered while Todd LeDuc dropped out. Two other trucks also went off course as they headed for the hot pits.

Fitch may have lost a wheel at the top of the hill while MacCachren took over second and Creed slotted into third. About this time Anderson had to make a stop at the hot pits while McGrath had worked his way back to sixth behind Carl Renezeder.

As both McGrath and Renezeder charged up first hill side-by-side things went wrong for both of them. Heavy contact tore left front wheel off and damaged the right reat suspension on Renezeder’s truck.

The contact turned McGrath’s truck sideways and after hitting a K-rail it began to barrel roll up the hill sending fiberglass body parts flying everywhere.

Once they got stopped Renezeder climbed out of his truck and ran over to see how McGrath was in his now upside down racer. The red flag came out, stopping the race, as the safety crew rushed to the scene.

Fortunately McGrath was not injured in the scary looking incident. And after he got out of what was left of his truck, both drivers did a knuckle bump.

It took a while to reset two K-rails, clean up the wreck scene and clear the track. By now the surface had tried out and, with five laps to go, drivers knew they’d have to deal with a very slick track.

When the green waved Menzies took off with MacCachren, who was in second gave chase. Creed had also moved up and was in third.

At the checkered the lead trio had spread out just a bit and crossed the line in that order. Myan Spaccarelli, who had mechanical issues was able to limp around and finish the race.

On the podium runner up MacCachren said, “First off we heard Jeremy is OK and that was gnarly. When that happened the track dried out and got really slippery and on those restarts we had no grip at all, it’s like two trucks on ice, just slidin’, slidin’ all the way to the outside so we could get some hook up.”

After finishing third Creed said, “Patrick (Clark) ran me clean, these Maxxis tires really come in when the track gets dry so I really didn’t have anything at the beginning and started moving my way up.”

First on point in the Pro 4 race was Greg Adler with Carl Renezeder and Doug Fortin close behind while Bryce Menzies held down fourth. Behind the leaders Kyle LeDuc was on a charge through the pack.

A few laps later LeDuc was in third while Adler began to slip back into the pack. There was a caution that bunched everybody together after Fortin’s truck stopped at the top of the hill. Soon after the restart there was another caution followed by a red flag after a truck rolled at the top of the hill that leads to the front straight.

This time on the restart, with five to go, LeDuc made his move and swept into the lead. In the final laps LeDuc had to hold off a determined Renezeder while Rob MacCachren took over third.

Standing on top of the box after his 12th win in a row, not to mention setting fast lap, LeDuc said, “It was good, I love winning races and checking out but that right there was awesome, hard core racing. Carl’s been fighting some battles and it’s good to see him running fast but not too fast. I love winning races and I love competition so kudos to everybody for being clean. Looks like Bryce had a big tumble and we don’t want anybody to crash out.”

Second place Renezeder, who challenged the leader in the final laps, said, “The fight’s always real out there, we had a good race today, I had it going on until about two laps when I had a little issue but Kyle was fast and pulling up the hill pretty hard. I gave it all I had and glad to have kept the second place position today as my team worked pretty hard last night.”

On the podium, third place MacCachren, who started from in the pack, said, “Yellows saved me there, at the beginning of the race I was having a hard time shifting the truck, lost a bunch of spots up there in Turn 1, lost a couple of spots. A couple of laps later throttle stuck wide open so I drove about a lap and a half with the ignition switch trying to get it undone and finally that happened.”

The Pro Lites race began with a three-wide charge up the first hill but coming over the jump Sheldon Creed, driving for the injured Brad DeBerti, was on point followed by Ryan Beat and Brandon Arthur.

There was a quick caution when Cole Mamer pulled off after losing a wheel. Then on the restart Creed was off again with Beat and Arthur giving chase.

Turn 2 claimed two trucks in caution causing incidents. First Ray Griffith’s truck wound up on its side then later Mikey Lawrence’s truck did the same thing.

After the restart, and behind the leader, the trip of Arthur, R.J. Anderson and Jerett Brooks were dueling for second through fourth place. Eventually Anderson would take the lead from Creed.

A late caution set up a one-lap dash to the checkered. Anderson led the charge followed by Creed and Brooks. As they tore through Turn 3, Brooks saw an opening and used an inside moved to come from third to the lead.

At the flag Brooks scored the “come from behind,” victory followed by Creed and Anderson.

At the top step of the podium Brooks, who at one time was shuffled deep in the pack, said, “At the start of the race I lost my radio so I didn’t know what to protect, which lines to run or if anyone was near me. We had such a fast truck and it was hooking up all day and I caught up with these guys. On that last caution I was a little nervous myself but I stayed with them and in the last turn I saw a little gap, almost lost brakes but we finally have a fast truck.”

 

After leading and winding up second Creed, who substituting for Bard DeBerti, said, “I got the lead there pretty quick and my truck was really, really good when it was wet. Then the track started to dry off and we got a lot of yellows and I think that helped them a lot as I started spinning my tires a lot and had to move my line. Haven’t had a battle like that and to race with these two is pretty cool and I hope you fans liked that, I thought I had it and want to thank the DeBerti family for calling me up.”

At the podium Anderson, who also won the fast lap award said, “When you’re leading the race the last thing you want is a yellow. I should have known better than to leave the inside open racing guys like these coming out of three but they got inside me in the drag race up the hill.”

After essentially throwing the Pro Buggy race away on Saturday, Mike Valentine was looking for redemption. And that’s what he got but it wasn’t easy.

On the green Valentine led with Kevin McCullough, Chad George and Taylor Atchison right behind him. Shortly after the start Sterling Cling pulled off with problems.

As the lead quartet raced over the hills and around the course they would first close up then spread out. By not George had the leader in his sights and was slowing closing.

Behind the lead duo Garrett George, Atchison and Darren Hardesty were having a nose-to-tail fight for third.

The race was briefly held up when a large inflatable blew down the hill and threatened to slide on the front straight. The field was stopped as some crew members told the official they were concerned about how much fuel these buggies held.

Once the inflatable was cleared everyone started up and reformed for the restart with two laps left in the race.

Once again Valentine had the bit between his teeth and took off with Chad and Garret George giving chase. Back in the pack McCullough’s buggy lost one of its front wheels but was able to finish the race behind Valentine, and both George family members.

Now standing at the top step of the podium Valentine said, “It was fun for sure, I knew both these guys were hot on my tail the whole time so I just tried to put my head down, put down clean laps and not get caught like I did yesterday and it paid off. We lost power steering about Lap 9 or 10 and I kind of thought I was almost done for we’re able to hang on to it, the caution kind of helped me and here we are.”

Second place Chad George had a bit of a challenge when he accidentally ripped off all of his tear offs soon after the race began.

“I pulled a rookie move as I dusted all my tear offs like on Lap 3 as I pulled them all off at once. But the battle was insane, me and Kevin had one of the gnarliest battles I’ve ever had in this class.”

Garrett George has the division points lead but spent a good part of the race in sixth or seventh place. One thing that worried him was having his roof hatch come loose and being worried about being black-flagged for that.

On the podium he said, “Every lap I just held that thing down and every I went around I had a hand on top of the roof, just praying it would stay down and they wouldn’t see it. We got through it all and I can’t complain. I felt we had something for them but just ran out of time.”

When the Pro Mod Karts took off Conner McMullen was on point but then dropped out after being in a first lap tangle. Now Trey D. Gibbs led as the top three, who were nose-to-tail began to distance them selves from the pack.

Their advantage was short lived as, around the halfway point there was a caution. Then Amanda Sorensen had to pit while Gibbs led when the green waved again.

Three more cautions would slow the field but on each restart Gibbs took off with Travis PeCoy and Christopher Polvoorde holding second and third. And they finished in that order.

Standing at the top of the podium, after not be in contention Saturday due to a cut tire, PeCoy said, “Yesterday was a crazy race, came down the hill, must have hit a rock or some thing, slit a tire but thankfully my team got me out in the lead lap with a brand new tire and was able to make my way up to seventh. But today, my team worked all night getting it ready and without them I wouldn’t be out here.”

Runner up Travis PeCoy almost didn’t make the grid as there were problems getting his kart started. He related about how he broke two hyme joints in practice and qualifying but he did make the race.

“We came out here, put it on the top of the box and I’m stoked for Trey as he got his first win today, his starts were flawless, I couldn’t hang with him.”

Asked about the race, Saturday’s winner Polvoorde said, “It was definitely a crazy race, it was all about drafting and getting up that hill then diving inside and trying to get the pass done. We were trying different lines, we were having shifting problems so we’re just trying to get it through the race. And we’re pretty pumped to be up here and got to thank everyone that helped me get out here.”

Now the series moved to Las Vegas for a late September date when the series runs the next two round.

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OTHER RACING NEWS

• Results from the main events from Sunday’s NNKC event are posted at the end of this article.

• Lovelock Speedway announced its champions for the 2015 season. Robert Miller, IMCA Modified, Loren Cooney, 360 Sprint Cars and Tony Taylor won a tie-breaker to clinch the Hobby Stock championship. He just beat Dennis Buehn.

And there is a correction, in Lovelock Saturday’s results Travis Phillips drove for Shirley Reeves in the Hobby Stock feature.

• On a sad note, Indy Car driver Justin Wilson passed away due to head injuries received in Sunday’s race. We at nvracingnews.com offer our condolences to his family, both personal and extended.

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RESULTS:

Wild West Motorsports Park – August 23

Lucas Oil Off Road Series – Round 14

Mod Kart:

Main (12-Laps): 1. Trey D. Gibbs, 2. Travis PeCoy, 3. Christopher  Polvoorde, 4. Broc Dickerson, 5. Chris Nunes, 6. Hailie Deegan, 7. Cole Keatts, 8. Ronnie Anderson, 9. Bryce McDaniel, 10. Jimmy Weitzel, 11. Ryan Carey, 12. Daely Pentico, 13. Trevor Briska, 14. Branden Sorensen, 15. Nathan Barry, 16. Conner McMullen, 17. Amanda Sorensen

Pro 4:

Main (16-Laps): 1. Bryce Menzies, 2. Rob MacCachren, 3. Sheldon Creed, 4. Robby Woods, 5. Patrick Clark, 6. Brain Deegan, 7. Rodrigo Ampudia, 8. R.J. Anderson, 9. Myan Spaccarelli, 10. Carl Renezeder, 11. Jeremy McGrath, 12. Eric Fitch, 13. Todd LeDuc

Pro Lite:

Main (14-Laps): 1. Jerett Brooks, 2. Sheldon Creed for Brad DeBerti, 3. R.J. Anderson, 4. Brock Heger, 5. Jeremy Stenberg, 6. Casey Currie, 7. Dustin Nelson, 8. Jeff Hoffman, 9. Travis PeCoy, 10. Justin Peck, 11. Taylor Atchison, 12. Ray Griffith, 13. Brandon Arthur, 14. Ryan Beat, 15.  D.J. Noerr, 16. Mikey Lawrence, 17. Cole Mamer

Pro Buggy:

Main (14-Laps): 1. Mike Valentine, 2. Chad George, 3. Garrett George, 4. Kevin McCullough, 5. Darren Hardesty, 6. Sam Berri, 7. Taylor Atchison, 8. Dave Mason, 9. Sterling Cling

Pro 2:

Main (16-Laps): 1. Bryce Menzies, 2. Rob MacCachren, 3. Sheldon Creed, 4. Robby Woods, 5. Patrick Clark, 6. Brian Deegan, 7. Rodrigo Ampudia, 8. R.J. Anderson, 9. Myan Spaccarelli, 10. Carl Renezeder, 11. Jeremy McGrath, 12. Eric Fitch, 13. Todd LeDuc

• Desert Park Raceway – Aug. 24

Northern Nevada Kart Club – Round 7

Main: 1. Alyssa Winter

Jr. 2/LO 206: 1. Zachary Rivera, 2. Jake Guzelis, 3. Isaac  Bourque, 4. Hayden      McGraw

Jr. 1 Clone: 1. Aiden Hawkins, 2. Chase Dulude, 3. Evan McGraw, 4. ASA Gourley,  5. Chase McGraw, 6. Wyatt Sander, 7. Heavyn Hill, 8. Austin Hawkins, 9. Kendra Winters, 10. Korey Sander, 11. Brooks Anderline

Sr. Clone: 1. Troy Berry, 2. Kelly Chinander, 3. Jason Anderline, 4. Rick McLeod, 5. Kelsey Nelson, 6. Alec Baudon, 7. Brud Beaudoin

Tag Masters: 1. Dean Andrews, 2. Pandora Garcia, 3. Brian Rivera, 4. Mike McMullen, 5. Randy Ryckebosch, 6. John Ryckebosch, 7. Jeff Solvason, 8. Dan Harris

F-80: 1. Dan Harris, 2. Steve Dow, 3. Jeff Wamre

125 Stock Moto: 1. Matt Koerner, 2. Steve Ryckebosch, 3. Dennis Hill, 4. Alex Gray, 5. Mike Ryckebosch, 6. Jeff Wamre, 7. Steve Dow