Lucas Oil Off Road: Luck plays its hand in Lake Elsinore

Whether created or experienced, luck is always a factor in racing, and especially so for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rounds 3 and 4.

Luck comes in all forms, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Some of the winners in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rounds 3 and 4 at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park made their own; some had it bestowed upon them. Likewise with the losers.

Bryce Menzies usually makes his own good luck. He showed that by setting the fast time in Saturday's Pro 4 qualifying in his Red Bull/Pennzoil Ford, then illustrated bad luck by drawing a six-truck inversion for the race. Good luck: charging through the field to assume second behind front-row starter Doug Mittag. Tough luck: not being able to find a way around Mittag. Good luck: Mittag finally getting worried enough by Menzies' continued attacks in Turn 3 to try a defensive line, which gave Menzies a better run out of the corner and into the lead. Round 2 winner Carl Renezeder saw some hardship early in the race, getting knocked to the back in the first turn, but charged through the field to finish second ahead of Mittag.

Not satisfied with second, Renezeder's crew tore through the truck on Saturday night, finding ignition and shock problems and bringing a truck that Renezeder described as "flawless" to the show on Sunday. Starting second alongside Greg Adler, Renezeder launched the No. 17 Lucas Oil/KMC Wheels Ford into the lead and ran away. Menzies, starting sixth, slowed at the start due to an issue with, of all things, his helmet faceshield tearoffs. Problem solved, he raced through the field to finish second, with Adler in third.

Of note is who was not a Pro 4 winner. Kyle LeDuc has for the past two seasons started early –Round 1 in 2014, Round 2 in 2015 – and gone on a tear, setting records for consecutive wins. Through four rounds in 2016, he's not seen the podium. On Saturday, he got collected when Rob MacCachren bicycled in Turn 3 and took a hard left to get the truck back on all four wheels. On Sunday, LeDuc barrel rolled off the backstretch step-up jump. He continued, but had a flat and wasn't a factor. LeDuc has to dig himself out of a pretty deep hole if he's going to have any shot at retaining his title.

Menzies may have had good luck in Pro 4 on Saturday, but Pro 2 was a different story. Many of the runners had bad luck bestowed on them, some of them repeatedly. MacCachren started his Rockstar Energy/Makita Tools Ford out front, and it was a good place to be – far away from the trouble. Menzies started last because of a qualifying problem, intent on making his way through the field. He made good progress, but not without some rubbing along the way, such as on the first lap in Turn 2 with Jeremy McGrath, whom Menzies pounded pretty hard as he dove inside. Brian Deegan had it tough as well, catching a flat early and having to visit the pits for a fresh tire. Fortunately for him, a lot of yellows provided ample opportunity to catch up and make passes. One of those, though, was especially hard on Menzies.

With the final restart coming with two laps left, a green-white-checkered finish was certainly going to bring some excitement. MacCachren led as he had all race, followed by RJ Anderson, Renezeder, Menzies, McGrath and Deegan. An Anderson-Renezeder-Menzies sandwich in Turn 2 left Renezeder sideways. Deegan made quick work of McGrath and started after Menzies, catching him in Turn 3 and diving inside. Contact sent Menzies spinning and off the podium, while Deegan followed Anderson and MacCachren home.

Unfortunately, the contact wasn't done when the checkered flag dropped. Menzies expressed his displeasure with Deegan by giving him a nudge on the cool-down lap, even as the officials were reviewing the last-lap controversy. In the end, they decided it was a racing incident. The post-race contact, though, left Menzies disqualified.

"Coming back from a flat tire, you get heated, you get excited," said Deegan. "It's the last lap and everyone's banzai-ing. We all roll the dice, we all dove in there. I've been on both sides of that stick. I'm sorry if he's upset, but, hey, that's racing. And he'll get me back."

If winning is the best revenge, Menzies certainly did get Deegan back on Sunday. Starting fourth with McGrath on pole and Deegan and Myan Spaccarelli in between, Menzies was up to second and challenging for the lead three corners into the race. Yet he could never seem to mount an effective attack on McGrath, and it looked like McGrath might be able to cruise to a win. However, a mechanical gremlin struck and Menzies was handed a lead he'd never relinquish. Deegan had nothing for him, and finished second ahead of Anderson, who like Deegan scored his second podium of the weekend.

Making his own luck was Jerett Brooks. Qualifying second on Saturday with a two-truck inversion and qualifying first on Sunday with another two inversion, he started his Rigid Industries/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Nissan on the front row both days, seized the lead at the start and let everything happen behind him. That was especially important on Saturday, as there was a significant amount of carnage in the back of the pack.

Ryan Beat finished second both days, with Brandon Arthur and Brock Heger taking third on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. It was the latter two who put on the best show Saturday, battling hard and swapping positions several times until Heger rolled on the entry to Turn 4.

Starting up front was critical in Pro Buggy as well as Pro Lite. On Saturday, It was defending champion Garrett George starting on pole, with Taylor Atchison beside. George launched his Redline Performance/King Off-Road Racing Shocks Funco into the lead and was never headed. Atchison had a good battle with Mike Valentine for second, but eventually laid claim to the position, while Valentine faded to fourth behind Elliot Watson. However, a problem discovered in post-race tech disqualified Watson, handing third back to Valentine.

On Sunday, a four-buggy inversion left Valentine on pole in his Full Throttle Powder Coating/Jamar Funco, and he seized the opportunity, running flag to flag. Atchison once again finished second, with Kevin McCullough in third.

Hailie Deegan won Saturday's Mod Kart race for her second victory of the season, but a problem on the first lap put her to the back and left her with little hope for a repeat on Sunday, despite being the fastest qualifier. Instead, Trey Gibbs took the win.

Track prep was a key factor all weekend, and it caught many of the racers off guard. Because it was warm and windy, the track crew had to work extra hard to keep moisture in the dirt for the duration of a race. That meant a lot of ripping up the dirt, watering and regrading, which often left the track a slippery mess at the beginning. Saturday Pro 2 winner MacCachren was slightly alarmed when they ripped the track prior to that race, but it dried out quickly enough that his hard-pack setup was working well by the closing laps.
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing season heads to Utah and the Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele – formerly known as Miller Motorsports Park – on May 21-22, and the event will be live on LucasOilRacing.tv.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, April 23-24

Round 3 winners
Pro 4: Bryce Menzies
Pro 2: Rob MacCachren
Pro Lite: Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Garrett George
Mod Kart: Hailie Deegan

Round 4 winners
Pro 4: Carl Renezeder
Pro 2: Bryce Menzies
Pro Lite: Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Mike Valentine
Mod Kart: Trey Gibbs