Lucas Oil Off Road: Titles settled at Lake Elsinore

ABOVE: Creed en route to Pro Lite crown

Mother Nature threw a wrench into the previous weekend of Lucas Oil Off Road Racing at Las Vegas, but in many ways it only heightened the suspense and excitement of the final event at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park. Heading into the final races, the original Round 15 on Friday night and the makeup for the lightning-and-rain-cancelled Round 14, not a single championship was decided in the pro classes.

However, while none were official, only one was in real doubt, and it got even closer as the weekend progressed. Sheldon Creed, who had a strong beginning of the season but hit some bumps later in the year, entered the weekend with a 14-point lead over three-time Pro Lite champ Brian Deegan. Thanks to qualifying and the inversion, he would start well behind Deegan on Friday night. Deegan, in second, put things further in doubt by jumping into the lead over RJ Anderson, with Creed running fifth. Deegan would eventually lose the lead to Jerrett Brooks, who has been running roughshod over Pro Lite since his return to the series at Las Vegas; but Creed would also slip back a position, falling prey to Casey Currie, meaning the title fight was a scant six points heading into Saturday.

With the grid set a month ago at Las Vegas, Deegan and Creed were next to each other deep in the field on row 6. Both headed immediately toward the front, where Anderson was leading. At the end of the first lap, Deegan was third and Creed in fifth. Deegan needed at least one more position and a fast lap to wrest the title away.

He never got it. Creed was up to fourth by the end of the second lap and pacing Deegan, knowing just what he needed to do to win the championship. While both contenders advanced a position when Anderson had suspension trouble (and Brooks once again was out front), that was it. Deegan closed the gap a bit more, but had to cede the title to Creed.

“It feels really good,” said Creed (LEFT). “We started the season really strong, with six, seven podiums in a row. We had some rough races in the middle. To end up on top, to beat Deegan…he’s been an icon in this class the last couple of years.”

Deegan’s disappointment at missing the Pro Lite title was tempered by the Pro 2 championship, secured as soon as he took the green flag on Friday night. Up front, Bryce Menzies was leading Carl Renezeder and Deegan until a mechanical issue handed Renezeder the win. For Renezeder it was a nice change from Pro 4, where contact with Johnny Greaves on the back straight step-up sent him tumbling hard. For Deegan, it was his 14th podium of the season in Pro 2.

Unfortunately, on Saturday he ended the race parked in the pits, missing the opportunity to podium in every single round, while Menzies took the win that was stolen from him the night before. However, Deegan did set another record –becoming the first person to be on the podium in three different classes in the same round, thank to a third-place finish in his Pro 4 debut. Still, even without the podium record, his six championships in two classes is impressive.

“Sometimes it’s like déja vu…I’m like, after all the things I’ve done in my career, is this where I want to be?” said Deegan. “I keep winning championships and its working, but it’s getting more expensive and it’s the same guys. I just wish I could figure out a way to get more people coming into the sport. But I enjoy it. I love off road. It’s kind of where I grew up, going to the desert riding dirt bikes, lifted trucks…that’s been my life.

“I’ve taken a different outlook on it. Where before, I was dead serious, just aggro the whole time…now my daughter won her first race yesterday in the Mod Kart. Those are the moments that make it worthwhile, and in the end I’m happy.”

Kyle LeDuc had not mathematically clinched the Pro 4 title, although it was, for all intents and purposes, his. Just to put the exclamation point on an amazing season, he went out and dominated both races at Lake Elsinore to bring his win total for the year to 11.

“I think if I won 50 championships, they would all be awesome,” Leduc (LEFT) said after claiming his second Pro 4 title. “Just because it was a year of winning and power, not of points racing and getting podiums. It was win, win, win, win. Whether we won the championship or not, it was a year that was respectable and I could be satisfied. We came [into Lake Elsinore] wanting to win the championship, but once we got in the truck, we knew it was one that could go to the front and we got there as fast as we could.”

Chad George was another champion waiting for his crown. After sitting out a year of short course off road, he and his cousin Garrett came back with family company Funco-built Pro Buggies in 2014 and practically dominated, with six victories and 13 podium finishes. George had to settle for second on Friday night while Dave Mason took his first victory, but capped off the season with a win on Saturday.

“I’ve said many times before that the best part of racing is that 15 seconds right after the checkered flag with a win, that 15 seconds of bliss,”he said. “A championship is like 15 days of it. The celebration has just begun. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’m without words. But my team, Funco Motorsports, and all the people that help me out –Redline, Mickey Thompson –everybody that put the tiniest effort into this program, I can’t thank them enough. Because I didn’t win the championship, WE won the championship. This team won the championship. This is huge for us.”

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, Lake Elsinore, Calif.

Round 15 winners
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Carl Renezeder
Pro Lite: Jerrett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Dave Mason
Modified Kart: Hailie Deegan

Round 14 winners (postponed from Las Vegas on Sept. 20)
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Bryce Menzies
Pro Lite: Jerrett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Chad George