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Lucas Off Road: Repeats and first-timers score at Wild West
Wild West Motorsports Park, on the outskirts of Reno/Sparks, Nev., has high speeds, tricky corners, large elevation changes and big drop-off jumps. It's a track that seems to favor a certain kind of driver, one who is willing to hang it out, take risks and, most critically, do so while making the fewest mistakes. It's no surprise, then, that those who came into Rounds 5 and 6 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series with the points leads in their respective classes did well. Yet the track also produced two first time winners in Kevin McCullough (Pro Buggy) and Kyle Hart (Pro Lite).
Both Brian Deegan and Kyle LeDuc came into Northern Nevada with the points lead in Pro 2 and Pro 4, respectively. They left with an even bigger lead thanks to doubling up on the wins in the first night races at the three-year-old track.
But even LeDuc, who had to come from a bit back in the pack on both nights, learned there were places that he wasn't quite on the edge and had to take a cue from Carl Renezeder.
"He [Renezeder] pushed the envelope a bit and I was being a little bit chicken in Turn 1," LeDuc said on the podium after winning on Friday night in Round 5. "He made me realize I need to hang it out a little bit. He hit me in the air up there, but we're both good drivers. We kind of squirted our way out of it and made a race out of it."
LeDuc and Renezeder produced epic battles on both nights in Pro 4, with both having to work their way through a few cars thanks to the post-qualifying inversion. On both nights it was Renezeder who started a couple positions ahead and worked his way to the front first, but LeDuc was determined to repeat his double victory at Wild West from 2013. Even as LeDuc got his Monster Energy/Toyo Tires in the lead, Renezeder didn't give up. Renezeder always seemed to have an edge in Turn 2, while LeDuc always got a better run out of Turn 3 for the long run up the hill. LeDuc had to fend off repeated attacks from Renezeder on both nights, but persevered for the wins and a healthy lead in the points after taking five of six races in 2014.
Deegan, on the other hand, led from pole (LEFT) on both nights after – for the fifth and sixth times in 2014 – setting the fastest lap in qualifying. To say he wasn't challenged wouldn't be correct, as Rob MacCachren attacked repeatedly in the closing stages of the Friday night contest, but couldn't ever get his nose in front. The most exciting moment in the race came on a restart when Bryce Menzies made a big surge toward the front, but Marty Hart and Renezeder ended up going backward in the process. Officials didn't determine any wrongdoing on Menzies' part, and his move from eighth to third stood.
Saturday night's Pro 2 contest was an exercise in survival; caution after caution for stalled, crashed and rolled trucks continually interrupted the flow of the race – including a huge mess in Turn 2 on a restart lap that started when MacCachren suddenly slowed and left half the field at a temporary standstill. Some drivers even managed to bring out the caution flag twice in separate wrecks. Deegan, however, was unfazed, and motored the No. 38 Rockstar Energy/Makita Ford away to another victory.
The elation of Deegan's double wins in Pro 2 was tempered by a couple of disappointments in Pro Lite at a track that has bit him in the smaller truck numerous times before. On Friday night he surged from third into the lead at the start, while polesitter RJ Anderson pursued. Anderson dogged Deegan for a while until the General bicycled in Turn 2 and let Anderson through in the LoanMart/South Point Nissan.
"That was a tough one to swallow. I've had that happen a few times here and bicycled on the last lap and gave it away," he said of past races. "That always sticks in your head when you go race somewhere. Tonight I was trying to run a low line right there and I ended clipping the K-Rail and went up on two wheels. I was like, 'Are you going to try to race for the lead or save this crash?' I had to turn out of it and he capitalized on that mistake. That's racing, but I was like, 'You're going to work for this win, dude!' and we both went for it. That was fun. We rubbed, that's racing, an as long as we didn't crash each other, it's all good."
"It's great. It's been a long road to this, a lot of disappointing races where we just broke or threw it away. But it all came together tonight," Hart said.
On Saturday, Kevin McCullough jumped out in front and started to run away. Although George, who jumped from fifth to second at the start, and then Steven Greinke made less-than-convincing challenges, McCullough wasn't seriously threatened and motored to the win in the BFGoodrich Tires/Power Steering Solutions Foddrill, in the only race that went without a caution.
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series moves next to Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele, Utah, for Rounds 7 and 8. These will be the last daylight rounds of 2014, with the rest of the schedule being night races at Glen Helen, Wild West, Las Vegas and Lake Elsinore.
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Wild West Motorsports Park, Sparks, Nev.
May 30-31
Round 5 Results
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Brian Deegan
Pro Lite: RJ Anderson
Pro Buggy: Chad George
Mod Kart: Brock Heger
Round 6 Results
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Brian Deegan
Pro Lite: Kyle Hart
Pro Buggy: Kevin McCullough
Mod Kart: Travis PeCoy
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