Lucas Off Road: LeDuc rolls on at Glen Helen

The bounty was offered, but no one could claim it – except for the one with the price on his head.

LoanMart offered a bounty to any Pro 4 driver who could break the unbreakable: the driver who could take down Kyle LeDuc at Glen Helen Raceway in Rounds 9 and 10 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series would take home $2500. When no one claimed it on Friday night, the bounty was doubled. Only one man, Carl Renezeder, seemed to have anything for LeDuc all weekend and took the lead when LeDuc bicycled, but LeDuc reasserted himself out front to take his ninth win out of 10 races in 2014 – only Ricky Johnson has beaten LeDuc this season – and claimed the bonus prize money for himself, driving his No. 99 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford to two victories.

The second race where Renezeder and LeDuc battled – a running theme in 2014 – took place on a rain-slickened track thanks to a series of uncharacteristic-for-Southern-California August rain showers. It didn't diminish the racing, didn't scare off the spectators and perhaps enabled a couple of first-time winners in San Bernardino on Saturday night.

The first of those was Eric Fitch in Pro Buggy. Fitch has been fast, but has been left longing for the top step of the podium. He absolutely dominated the proceedings in his No. 97 Parts on a Shelf/BFGoodrich Tires Racer on Saturday night, pulling a big gap out front ahead of Chad George, the class leader who has been on the podium every race this season, and defending Pro Buggy champion Steve Greinke, still looking for his first victory of 2014. George had finished third on Friday night, behind Greinke and his cousin, Garrett George, who took his second win of the season in his No. 71 Performance Utility Supply/Anenberg Funco.

Brandon Arthur was quite impressive in Pro Lite at Reno, leading much of Round 8 at Wild West Motorsports Park before hitting trouble. When he started on the front row at Glen Helen with defending champ RJ Anderson alongside and immediately took the lead, he was apparently intent on not allowing a repeat of Reno as he sailed to victory in Round 10 driving the No. 6 Competitive Metals/Rigid Industries Ford.

Anderson finished second on Saturday night, but he knew how Arthur felt...he had pulled the same feat the previous evening, cruising to an uncharacteristically easy Pro Lite win in the No. 37 Loan Mart/Polaris RZR Nissan. Sheldon Creed finished fourth and third – both times ahead of closest title rival Brian Deegan – to pad his lead in the points with five rounds left.

Where Pro Lite was unusually calm, Pro 2 more than made up for it, and Deegan helped ease any disappointment with his Pro Lite results with strong Pro 2 performances. On Friday, Deegan jumped out into the lead in his No. 38 Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita Power Tools Ford. Behind him was where the action was. Four trucks were struggling for second and an opportunity to take the fight for victory to Deegan. Rob MacCachren, Bryce Menzies, Jeremy McGrath and Carl Renezeder were wrangling for podium positions. MacCachren seemed to have the best opportunity to get by Deegan, and it came down to a late-race restart. Unfortunately, when MacCachren attempted the move, contact by Menzies put MacCachren into a half spin. Renezeder was all of sudden through into second, but couldn't make anything happen, and Menzies eventually muscled his way back into second. However, he was black-flagged at the checker for his role in spinning MacCachren, meaning Renezeder was provisionally second, followed by Marty Hart.

Renezeder would have no opportunity to better his position on Saturday night, as he rolled out of Turn 1 at the start, ending up in a scary position on the face of the big jump after that turn. His day was finished not by any post-roll contact, but a broken suspension. That left McGrath out front on the restart, followed by Menzies, Hart, MacCachren and Deegan. Three laps in, Menzies made his move in the track's final turn to take the lead, and went on to win in his No. 7 Red Bull/Discount Tire Ford. McGrath held on to finish second, ahead of Deegan. Two more podium finished means Deegan extends his healthy lead in the points.

The next time anyone will have a chance to eat into the leaders' points totals will be at Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno/Sparks, Nev., on Aug. 22-23, for another pair of Friday/Saturday night races.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Glen Helen Raceway, San Bernardino, Calif.
Aug. 1-2
Round 9 Winners
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Brian Deegan
Pro Lite: RJ Anderson
Pro Buggy: Garrett George
Modified Kart: Broc Dickerson
Round 10 Winners
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Bryce Menzies
Pro Lite: Brandon Arthur
Pro Buggy: Eric Fitch
Modified Kart: Brock Heger
Junior 1 Kart: Kali Kinsman
Junior 2 Kart: Dylan Plemons