Lucas Oil Off Road: LeDuc breaks his losing streak

The weather might have played a supporting role in the E3 Spark Plugs Nationals Presented by Geico, but the stars emerged despite the clouds, including one who took his first victory since the last time the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series visited the track and one who ended a long slump.

Rain on Friday night left the track a slimy mess, scuttling qualifying. Saturday's grids were set based on championship points, which was not good news for those drivers who have struggled through the early part of 2016. The track preparation crew ripped up the dirt to allow the water to soak deeper into the ground so that the races could go on; the technique worked, but deep ruts formed during each race, catching several drivers out.

"They did a lot of dirt work, they got it put together; but it got really rutted up. It was a difficult course to get around," Rob MacCachren said after he finished second in Pro 4 on Saturday.

In that first race of the weekend, Pro 4 points leader Carl Renezeder was in good position to extend his points lead, but Bryce Menzies jumped into the lead immediately. Kyle LeDuc, who has had an amazing string of bad luck this season and was well back in the points, certainly did not start in a good position, but he managed to get into third almost immediately. He pursued Renezeder in second for a while before getting by when Renezeder got out of shape in Turn 2 after a restart, but then suffered his own problem, spinning and nosing into the K-Rail. That left MacCachren and Doug Fortin to try to chase down Menzies, who was cruising to his second victory of the season in his Red Bull/Pennzoil Ford.

On Sunday, qualifying went forward as planned as only occasional sprinkles fell over the Tooele Valley. That put LeDuc in a much better position, starting third behind Menzies and Renezeder. But still he found himself pursuing Menzies for much of the race, until Menzies spun in Turn 2. It got much worse for Menzies, as Doug Mittag ended up hitting him hard in the fast corner; it was hard enough that Menzies took a courtesy ride in the ambulance, but he would return to race Pro 2 later in the day. That left LeDuc in the lead in his No. 99 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires truck. He was pushed hard by Renezeder at the finish, but he held on to win his first race since Round 14 in 2015. That eight-race streak is long for someone accustomed to winning streaks that are significantly longer.

Just as in Pro 4, the other classes saw drivers with hot streaks in the best position to extend them in Saturday's races. Pro Lite points leaders Jerett Brooks (left) jumped out to the lead from his No. 1 starting position and was never challenged. The same was true for MacCachren and his Rockstar/Energy Makita Tools truck in Pro 2. It looked like it was going to be a similar story in Pro Buggy for Taylor Atchison, who was still looking for his first victory despite leading the points. He led the entire race until the final lap, when his buggy went into limp mode and Kevin McCullough flashed by to take the victory in his Stapleton Roofing/BFGoodrich Tires Foddrill.

Despite the Pro Lite field going through qualifying on Sunday, by Lap 2 the top four in points were at the front, with Brooks in the No. 77 Rigid Industries LED Lighting/General Tire Nissan leading Ryan Beat, Brandon Arthur and Brock Heger. Brooks held on to win his second race of the season, followed by Beat and Arthur.

Mike Valentine started on the pole for Pro Buggy, with Atchison next to him on the front row. Atchison faded while Valentine led flag to flag in the Del Taco Utah Funco. Darren Hardesty followed in second.

Pro 2 was also fairly processional once polesitter RJ Anderson suffered a mechanical problem on the first lap. That put Jeremy McGrath, who finished second on Saturday, into a comfortable lead in his No. 2 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Maxxis Tires Pro 2. He held on through every restart to take his fist victory since the last time the series visited Utah. Menzies, still hurting from the earlier Pro 4 accident, finished second.

"It's funny; I've had my fair share of bad races here, too," McGrath (left) said of why he thinks the track suits him. "But I think that it's a short track, and being able to link the lines together, it seems like a little bit more of a driver's track. You can pick your lines and get a little bit more tricky with it, kind of like a bike race.

"I would say this is like our Supercross truck track. If you can link the lines together right, it just seems to go fast."

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series next heads south of the border to the Baja International Short Course at Estero Beach outside of Ensenada, Mexico, on June 18-19. It will be the second year of the event, which proved extremely popular with the off-road-crazy fans of Baja California.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Rounds 5 and 6
Utah Motorsports Campus
Tooele, Utah

Round 5 Winners
Pro 4, Bryce Menzies
Pro 2, Rob MacCachren
Pro Lite, Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy,Kevin McCullough
Mod Kart, Christopher Polvoorde

Round 6 Winners
Pro 4, Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2, Jeremy McGrath
Pro Lite, Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy, Mike Valentine
Mod Kart, Christopher Polvoorde