Lucas Oil Off Road: Lake Elsinore finale preview & 2016 schedule

Final Battles and 2016 Schedule

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro 4 championship is settled, and Kyle LeDuc is the champ. But there are three Pro classes left to be decided in the final round at Lake Elsinore this Saturday, not to mention three Kart classes, before Sunday’s no-holds-barred Lucas Oil Challenge Cup, which culminates in the annual Pro 4 vs. Pro 2 grudge match.

Even before the final race of the season, though, the series has released its 2016 schedule. Among the highlights are a season that begins and ends at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz., scaling back to two races at Lake Elsinore and moving the Estero Beach race in Ensenada to the spring.

Fights to the Wire

Pro 4 is decided; Pro 2 is all but sealed in favor of Rob MacCachren and Garrett George will have to have a really bad day to lose the Pro Buggy title. But farther down the order in Pro 2, there are plenty of scraps to fight over, and Pro Lite remains wide open.

Kyle LeDuc carries a 58-point lead into Lake Elsinore, meaning not only is it a practical impossibility that he won’t claim his third overall and second-consecutive Pro 4 title, but a mathematical one as well. LeDuc doesn’t even have to show up, but the competitor in him will be there ready to seek his 13th victory of the season.

Rob MacCachren (ABOVE) has a 23-point lead over Bryce Menzies in Pro 2. That means for Menzies to claim the title, he’ll have to lead at halfway or get the bonus point for fastest lap and still finish 11 positions ahead of MacCachren just to tie the points. In other words, MacCachren basically needs to survive Saturday’s race to claim his second LOORRS Pro 2 championship.

It’s the race for third that gets really interesting. There is a 14-point difference covering the five drivers that currently occupy third through seventh in the standings. Patrick Clark currently occupies third in the points, but he’s closely followed by Jeremy McGrath (-7), Carl Renezeder (-8), Brian Deegan (-12) and Rodrigo Ampudia (-14). A good day by any of the chasers could knock Clark out of third in the points.

Brandon Arthur has a fairly secure lock on third, and no shot at second in Pro Lite. But the difference between 2012 champ RJ Anderson and Jerett Brooks is only 12 points. A bonus point and six positions for Brooks would give him his first LOORRS title.

After being neck-and-neck with Mike Valentine for much of the season – the two were tied going into Reno – Garrett George has a fairly firm hold on Pro Buggy. He has a 25-point lead over cousin and 2014 champion Chad George, who has supplanted Valentine in second. Being only six points behind Chad, Valentine still has a chance to reclaim the runner-up spot, but little hope to win the title.

Modified Kart is the closest of the kart classes, with Christopher Polvoorde trailing Travis PeCoy by only three points. Whoever finishes ahead in the final round will likely be the champ. In Junior 2, Cole Keatts has a solid lead over Connor Barry, and Kali Kinsman is in good shape in Junior 1 with a 16-point lead over Luke Knupp.

Challenge Cup on Tap

With the remaining championships decided on Saturday at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, Sunday’s races are all about the glory and the prizes. With a full off season to repair the trucks and nothing on the line but honor, the Challenge Cup races can turn into full-on brawls.

The highlight is always the Pro 2 vs. Pro 4 match. While all the other classes get their Challenge Cup races, it’s watching the Pro 4s try to work their way through the Pro 2s to take the win that usually proves most entertaining. The Pro 4s start well behind the Pro 2s due to their shorter lap times. In addition, the start order in each class is inverted based on points, so to win, a Pro 4 driver must work his way not only through a whole bunch of Pro trucks, but the Pro 2s as well.

It seems like an impossible task, but that’s usually how it works out. Pro 4 drivers win this thing more often than not, thanks in large part to their greater line choice compared to the Pro 2s. Last year's winner was Kyle LeDuc in his Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Pro 4, and the three trucks behind him were Pro 4s as well. The year prior, it was Brian Deegan in a Pro 2, but only after first finisher Eric Barron (Pro 4) was penalized for pushing Deegan out of the way.

2016 Schedule

Next year’s final battle and Lucas Oil Challenge Cup will move back to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, as the venue will both open and close the 2016 season. Fifteen points-paying rounds are on tap for the season, which begins March 19-20 in Arizona and concludes Oct. 22-23.

The 2016 schedule tilts heavily back toward day races, with only Glen Helen in July and the second of two rounds at Lake Elsinore being night races. The other change of note is the very successful event at Baja International Short Course at Estero Beach Resort in Ensenada, Mexico, moves from August to May 21-22.

Other than those changes, the schedule and venues remain familiar to competitors and fans.

“There were many inquiries about new venues for 2016 and beyond,”said Series Director Ritchie Lewis. “We are looking at some possibilities for 2017, however our focus in the upcoming off season is to begin a busy winter of work on our existing tracks.”

2016 LOORRS SCHEDULE

March 19-20, Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, Ariz., Sat-Sun – DAY

April 23-24, Lake Elsinore, Calif. Sat-Sun – DAY

May 21-22, Baja International Short Course, Ensenada, Mexico, Sat-Sun – DAY

June 18-19, Tooele Motorsports Sports Park,Tooele, Utah, Sat -Sun – DAY

July 23-24, Glen Helen Motor Sports Park, San Bernardino, Calif., Sat-Sun – NIGHT

Aug. 13-14, Wild West Motorsports Park, Sparks, Nev., Sat-Sun – DAY

Sept. 23-24, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Fri-Sat – NIGHT

Oct. 22-23, Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, Ariz., Sat-Sun – DAY