Lucas Oil Off-Road: MaCachren and Fortin break LeDuc’s streak

For a couple of months, all the talk about the Pro 4 class in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series has been about the streak. When would Kyle LeDuc's impressive run of victories, standing at eight (nine wins total) after Round 10 at Glen Helen last month, end? The speculation is over, as it ended at the dramatic Wild West Motorsports Park in Sparks, Nev. in Rounds 11 and 12. Adding interest to the fact was that both Pro 4 winners were "first-timers."

That's in quotes because one of those first-time winners was Rob MacCachren. MacCachren is no stranger to either Pro 4 or winning; however, it was his first Pro 4 win in LOORRS since adding the class to his Pro 2 program in 2013. In the beginning, it looked like it was going to be another Kyle LeDuc romp. LeDuc first battled with Ricky Johnson, who actually managed to take the lead in a straight-up fight, something few had been able to do with LeDuc this season. A few laps later, though, and he over-rotated in Turn 2 and nosed it into the barrier, allowing LeDuc and MacCachren by. LeDuc then suffered a rare mechanical failure, a transmission, slowing him down, allowing MacCahren through in the Rockstar/Makita/BFGoodrich Ford, followed by a very strong Doug Fortin and a resurgent Johnson.

"Kyle has been on a heck of a streak," said MacCachren (ABOVE). "It was pretty impressive to me, I think to all of us, that he kept it going with myself, Carl and Ricky all chasing him. I thought as hard as we're running, he'd have some problems with the truck and failures, and until that point, he hadn't. He's only had two mechanical failures, and those are his two losses. So kudos to him.

"We're driving these trucks as hard as you can drive them the whole race, and they're bound to fail. You need to do everything you can to keep them from doing that, which means really keeping an eye on all the drivetrain components and keeping them up to date and in the best condition. We basically won that race on having a truck that was prepared to be able to complete the race without failing."

The win, along with a second-place finish on Saturday night and two bad results for LeDuc, helped MacCachren's standing in the points immensely as he seeks to close the gap between himself and LeDuc.

Fortin's Toyota (leading, LEFT) looked strong on Friday night, but in Round 12 in front of a packed, standing-room-only house on Saturday night, he looked untouchable.

Starting out front thanks to the inversion, he jumped into the lead and pounded away, surviving only brief challenges from first Johnson and then LeDuc. But LeDuc slowed again, similar to the night before, and then MacCachren and Johnson got together. That left Fortin and his Fortin Racing/Toyota of Escondido Toyota way out front. His lead grew even bigger when his closest pursuer, Carl Renezeder, did a half-spin and stalled. At that point, Fortin had a huge lead and could take it easy.

"The last couple of laps I backed it way down, because I was in Turn 4 and second place was coming through Turn 3," Fortin said. "The truck ran awesome and it was so fast. I think it was going to be hard for anybody to get by us. Kyle tried for a little bit, but this truck's fast. We're getting it figured out. This is the first track that we've been able to come back to a second time with the new truck. We're going to a new track every weekend so it takes us two or three days to figure everything out."

The two strongest trucks and driver combinations in Pro 2 were Brian Deegan and Bryce Menzies. Deegan led from the start on Friday night, but was eventually caught and passed by Menzies. On a restart following a caution for a Greg Adler-Myan Spaccarelli mash-up, Deegan anticipated the flag that much better than Menzies, got beside him on the run up to Turn 1 and sealed the pass on the exit. MacCachren also got past Menzies and went about chasing Deegan, but the No. 38 Rockstar Energy/Makita Ford was too strong, and Deegan posted the win.

Menzies had another shot at on Saturday night and, starting on the front row, it was a pretty good one. Patrick Clark had other ideas, though, and jumped out to the lead. Clark ran out front for a lap until Menzies saw his opportunity in Turn 1. The two touched, however, and Clark ended up spinning. Menzies now had his Red Bull/GoPro Ford out front, and wasn't going to be denied as he was the night before. It was Menzies' fourth win of the season and, combined with a bad weekend for Carl Renezeder, allowed him to move into second in the standings behind Deegan.

Despite the victory, Menzies was not the fastest truck on the track. That appeared to be MacCachren, who had to start eighth despite qualifying fastest because he was late to the morning drivers meeting. He made quick work of the trucks in front of him before catching Deegan, passing him with just over a lap to go. As that pair battled, Menzies was able to pull away, leaving MacCachren no real shot at the win.

While Deegan missed the double win in Pro 2, he got it in Pro Lite (ABOVE), helping his cause in the championship greatly. Friday night it was a flag-to-flag affair, although he had to fend off a contender at each restart – and there were many, usually caused by rollovers in Turn 2. First it was Casey Currie, then RJ Anderson came at Deegan, then Currie again after Anderson became one of the Turn 2 rollover victims. But each time Deegan fought off the challenge and, with a couple laps of green running, was clear in the lead in his Rockstar Energy/Makita Ford at the finish.

In contrast, it was a gift of a victory for Deegan on Saturday. Myles Cheek led from the green and kept out front for most of the race until a restart in the latter stages gave Currie the opportunity he needed. Deegan got by Cheek when Cheek bicycled a bit later, then set out to run down Currie. There was no need, however; Currie shredded his right rear tire and was helpless as Deegan drove by. With Sheldon Creed finishing fourth, following a third on Friday, Deegan was able to take a small chunk out of Creed's points lead.

Like Deegan in Pro Lite, it was all Eric Fitch (LEFT) in Pro Buggy, except there were never really any challenges to his dominance. After taking his first victory at Glen Helen in Round 10, Fitch now has three wins in a row as he controlled the weekend in his Parts on a Shelf/BFGoodrich Tires Racer.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series heads south to Las Vegas for Rounds 13 and 14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, once again Friday and Saturday night races under the lights. Look for the Reno rounds on television on Sept. 28, Oct. 5, Oct 12 and Oct. 19 on CBS Sports Network and MAVTV.

Round 11 results:

Pro 4: Rob MacCachren
Pro 2: Brian Deegan
Pro Lite: Brian Deegan
Pro Buggy: Eric Fitch
Mod Kart: Cole Mamer
Round 12 Results
Pro 4: Doug Fortin
Pro 2: Bryce Menzies
Pro Lite: Brian Deegan
Pro Buggy: Eric Fitch
Mod Kart: Brock Heger