The Lucas OiI Off Road Racing Series, (LOORRS) presented by Geico Powersports, returns to action this weekend, for rounds three and four, of their 2009 racing season at the always challenging Speedworld Motorsports Park in Surprise-Arizona. Will there be surprises coming out of Surprise-Arizona? Considering the level of tough competition in this new formed level of stadium off road racing it's quite likely.
One of those surprises could come from the LOORRS Unlimited Two division the racing class for full sized, two wheel drive, trucks with engines that produce 700 to 900 horsepower. Everyone driver in this class with be setting their sights on Carl Renezeder who sits on top of the division points standings after winning rounds one and two last month in Primm-Nevada. However the multi time stadium off road racing champion comes to Arizona with a slim seven point lead over Jerry Whelchel who finished second and third in the season opener. They. in turn, can expect some stiff competition from drivers such as Jeff Ward, Carey Hart and Rodrigo Ampudia among others.
The Unlimited Two class is also going to present a rather interesting addition this weekend when "Ballistic" B J Baldwin makes his stadium off road racing debut. Desert racing fans are well aware of Baldwin who is a two time champion in the SCORE Trophy Truck class. From a recent press release Baldwin compared the two forms of racing and said "desert racing with such an emphasis of fitness, concentration and driving skill, while battling the open desert and the elements, is a lot of fun for me. But in short course racing in a truck you're racing door to door, head to head and your driving skills along with your equipment are your weapons. For me this is going to be like a 20 lap cage fight. Anyone who takes the green flag can win a race at any time. I'm ready to go racing with these guys."
The Unlimited Four class, full sized high powered trucks with four wheel drive, is also currently led by the legendary Carl Renezeder based on his round one win and a fourth in round two at Primm. However this is a very tight points battle that could easily change by the end of this weekend. Kent Brascho is only three points behind the leader. Jerry Daugherty, who won the round two feature last month, and Alan "the flying Hawaiian" Pflueger are tied for third with 92 points while Travis Coyne holds down fourth just five markers out of first.
Another aspect to the Unlimited two and four classes ,that will make the racing even more competitive, is the presence of bonus purse money provided by K&N Performance Filters. The features for these two divisions pays $15,000 to the winner. Renezeder left Primm-Nevada last month $45,000 richer.
Leading the Unlimited Lite class, mid sized two wheel drive trucks, is the LOORRS iron man Rob Naughton. Naughton won both rounds at Primm while having drive with one foot. His other foot was severely injured and required surgery. Watching his performance under those conditions was magnificent. Naughton, with 101 points, leads a very tight championship battle that has only 11 points separating drivers Chris Brandt, Casey Currie and Brian Deegan.
The Bully Dog Super Lite class, a spec racing truck powered by a 200 horsepower Mazda engine, is currently being led by the Harrah family. Johnny Harrah, who won round two of the opening weekend, has a one point lead over John Harrah while Chad Liesing holds down third just four points away from the division leader.
The Unlimited Buggy class, dune buggies with engines ranging from 1650 to 1835cc, has Chuck Cheek on top of the standings with 99 points based on his second and first place performances last month at Primm. Mike Halliday is nine points behind him while Larry Foddrill is still in this picture in third just 11 points away from the leader.
The Limited Buggy class, powered by 1600cc Volkswagon engines, has Curt Geer on top of the standings due to an outstanding open weekend performance that saw him win both rounds one and two. Reno Navera, who had two podium finishes at Primm, is in second and only eight points behind Geer.
LOORRS recognizes the importance of developing their future driving stars and they accomplish this by presenting racing divisions for kids ages 8 to 18. Going into the next race the Modified Kart class, for ages 10 to 15, is being led by Trenton Briley who scored two podium finishes, including a round two win, at the season opener. Briley leads Dave Mason by eight points and has a ten point lead over Bradley Morris in the division standings.
The Junior One Karts, for ages 8 to 11, shows Jack Grabowski on top of the points standings in midst of a very tight race. Grabowski has accumulated 96 championship points, based on a round one win, and holds a slim two point lead over Sheldon Creed. Brock Heger and Myles Cheek, the round two winner, are tied for third in the standings with 92 points each.
In the Junior Two Kart class the name Grabowski is also on top of the standings. Dustin Grabowski, the round one winner, has a two point margin over Trent Williams who won round two.
The LOORRS season opener, held last month in Primm-Nevada, was a thrilling weekend that featured 138 teams in nine major racing divisions. With the strong showing, from the brand new series' debut, it's expected that even more teams will show up for the May 1-3 Arizona events.
That includes the recently announced formation of three UTV racing classes who will be making their official debut this weekend with rock solid sponsorship from Dragonfire Racing the UTV aftermarket industry leader based out of Mesa-Arizona. The Unlimited UTV class will be competing for a racing purse as well as championship points for the Dragonfire World Cup. This class features heavily modified UTVs with power plants as high as 800cc. Racing for Dragonfire prize packages and merchandise will be the Limited UTV class, featuring a stock UTV frame and bolt on after market parts. They will be joined by the Modified UTV class with engines sizing ranging up to 1000cc. All three of these classes will be on the track at the same time in what should be some very entertaining racing.
With all of these drivers and teams on hand in Arizona this weekend it's a safe bet that the compettitive levels of the racing will hit a fever pitch. Drivers will be looking for round three and four race opportunities to either pad a championship points lead or create improvements in their points standings. To accomplish this they're going to have to race hard and push their equipment to the edge. Are there going to be surprises in Surprise-Arizona this weekend? Count on it.
For more information about this brand new, and outstanding, racing series dial up their official website at www.lucasoiloffroad.com. For information about the racing facility dial up www.speedworldmx.com.
