Lucas Oil Off Road Racing’s return to Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, the series’s longest track with the most variety of features, had some familiar names at the top and some surprises in its second year at the track. This weekend one of those features was mud, as a long rain shower between qualifying and racing on Sunday brought an extra element into the contest. The challenging conditions played right into the hands of a few racers.

The Pro Lite field at Wheatland.

Because of the rain, the schedule was rearranged, with the karts moving to the end of the day and both classes of UTVs -- which are four-wheel-drive -- starting the proceedings. The conditions were sloppy enough that most of the competitors were completely unrecognizable a few laps in, and the vehicles were heavy with mud at the end. Pro 4 on Sunday was moved to be the first of the Pro classes, instead of last, so that that two-wheel-drive classes would hit the track under hopefully better conditions

One of those able to take advantage of the conditions was Scott Douglas (pictured, top). The California racer has been running the Midwest-based TORC series for the last several years and had seen similar conditions at tracks like Crandon International Raceway. After making occasional forays into LOORRS competition in the past – including winning at Las Vegas in his first attempt – he joined the series full time this year as TORC folded.

Douglas started fifth, but was up toward the front quickly as he made quick work of Adrian Cenni and RJ Anderson. He was helped in moving to second behind Kyle LeDuc when initial leader Doug Mittag spun in Turn 3. LeDuc -- who came out on top of a race-long battle with Anderson on Saturday for his first win of the season in the Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Pro 4 -- had the lead, but Douglas was on his tail.

LeDuc leads P4...temporarily.

Anderson ceased to be a factor when he broke his suspension after contacting the wall in the crossover tunnel. After the caution for Anderson’s disabled truck, LeDuc looked like he could pull steadily away from Douglas, but then LeDuc’s truck started smoking and then slowing, allowing Douglas to reel him in and pass. Douglas became the fifth different Pro 4 winner in as many races, bringing the Amsoil/Rusty’s Off Road/Mickey Thompson Tires truck home in first.

“I got some mud in my face, but once we got a few tear-offs off and got got a little bit used to this track, it was all about being smooth not making mistakes,” Douglas said. “I told myself if I don't make one mistake in the whole race I'm gonna win this thing -- I did make one but it was just a little bobble. But that's what these mud races are all about -- it’s all about driving. I’ve won a lot of races in the rain and in the mud and so I’ve got a good idea what it takes. I haven’t raced one in a long time so I played a lot of races in the back of my head, about different scenarios, about passing people, about getting mudded out, about staying tight, about people spinning in front of me. All these scenarios I ran in my head in staging, going over and over and over again just to have them there. I think it paid off. I guess I’ve still got it in the mud.”

Outside of Pro 4, the weekend was about sweeps in the Pro classes despite the very different conditions encountered on the two days. Darren Hardesty Jr. won both Pro Buggy races in the Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Steel-It Alumi Craft. Ryan Beat led very single lap in Pro Lite, despite some challenges from Brandon Arthur and Brock Heger on Saturday, for a pair of victories in his Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Competitive Metals Chevrolet. Brock Heger dominated Production 1000 UTV in his Maxxis Tires Yamaha.

Rob MacCachren

Pro 2 was a sweep as well, but in two very different scenarios. Saturday’s race was one that several racers wanted to win a little too badly, and ended up taking out themselves or others. That turned out to be good news for Rob MacCachren, who took the green flag from the back of the field thanks to what he admits is a pretty embarrassing error.

“When they take you out there for opening ceremonies, you sit in the truck so long and you get pretty hot, so I take a bottle of water to sip on,” explained MacCachren. “After they send us to do the parade laps, I usually find a place on the inside of a corner to throw it by a tire or something. This time I completely forgot I had it; it was sitting on my lap and it fell onto the floor and I thought it probably wasn’t a good idea to have it rolling around by my feet during a race.”

MacCachren ducked into the pits to have the crew take it out, at which point he was informed by race control that he would have to start at the back.

Up front, Jeremy McGrath jumped into the lead from pole position followed by RJ Anderson while Jerett Brooks and Bradley Morris battled for third. Morris had to abandon that fight due to a mechanical problem, promoting Brian Deegan to fourth. McGrath was being hounded by RJ Anderson until the two made contact, sending both out of the lead, and forcing Anderson to respond to a black flag call.

That left Deegan to lead to the restart, but his time at the front was cut short when he threw a belt and had to stop in Turn 1, leaving Brooks at the front with Rodrigo Ampudia and MacCachren in tow. When Brooks over-rotated in Turn 8, the second of the Esses, Ampudia squeaked by but was slowed in the process. That was the opening that MacCachren needed.

“First half of the race, we moved forward a little bit, but not much,” said MacCachren. “Then RJ and Jeremy had their tangle-up, and that let me gain a couple of spots, then Deegan had his problem and then a couple of yellows … it just enabled me to gain spots when other people made mistakes.

"I think about two or three laps from the finish, Brooks kind of got messed up a little bit, let Ampudia by and I said, ‘I’ve got to try right now,’ because they were right there within my reach. Luckily in Turn 9 I got underneath Ampudia and was still able to have traction at the exit to stay in front of him. From there, once we got the lead, it was just don’t make any mistakes and just hold the lead to the finish.”

The victory was MacCachren’s third in four races, with Sunday’s dominating win giving him four and a nice position in the championship. For the first time this season, he ran only Pro 2, electing to leave the Pro 4 at home to concentrate on regaining the Pro 2 title he lost to McGrath last year.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series goes to Reno/Sparks, Nev. for the K&N Filters Silver State Showdown Presented by Toyota. That one will be a single Saturday night event.

June 23 results:

Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc

Pro 2: Rob MacCachren

Pro Lite: Ryan Beat

Pro Buggy: Darren Hardesty Jr.

Production 1000 UTV: Brock Heger

Turbo Production UTV: Kyle Chaney

June 24 results:

Pro 4: Scott Douglas

Pro 2: Rob MacCachren

Pro Lite: Ryan Beat

Production 1000 UTV: Brock Heger

Turbo Production UTV: Tim Farr