Track conditions and limited visibility often led to rollovers, wrecks and many near misses as drivers were unable to avoid the ruts that developed during the race. Teams had to be at the top of their game because qualifying for Saturday’s and Sunday’s main events took place during the heat of the day on Friday.

The Glen Helen race was a wake up call for everyone, as it is the first night race of the season. The cooler, more humid air changed the consistency of the dirt on the challenging Glen Helen track. A set-up that worked perfectly during the day became almost useless after the sun went down.

Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California is one of the most exciting short-course off-road race tracks in the country. Rounds 9 and 10 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, (LOORRS) proved to be significant as the two-race weekend started off the second half of the short-course racing season with a bang.

As these two rounds clicked off, opportunities for some teams were gained, while for others they were diminished. That sense of urgency was felt on the track, in the pits, and by the throngs of rabid Southern California race fans who packed the grandstands to standing-room-only capacity.

Last Chance

New to qualifying in the Prolite class was the implementation of a Last Chance Qualifier event, (LCQ). The fields have become so large in Prolite that LOORRS has had to limit their size. Only the top two out of each LCQ make it to the main event. At Glen Helen, six Prolite teams were sent packing when they failed to make the main event.

The Prolite class is split into two groups during qualifying. The top eight finishers in each qualifying session will automatically make the main event. The top eight qualifiers in group one line up on the inside row, the top eight from group two line up beside them on the outside row.

Track conditions during the Glen Helen night races dictated some serious tire-tread cutting to gain additional traction.

Two additional spots remain for the highest-placed drivers in championship points who did not qualify during the two sessions or the LCQ. No driver may use points to qualify for more than three consecutive races.

The three fastest qualifiers for Saturday’s main event were Bradley Morris with a 50.567, followed by Sheldon Creed who ran a 50.680 and RJ Anderson with a time of 50.768. Trenton Briley, Todd Cunningham, Oscar Rodriguez, and Erik Apple from group one and Justin Smith, Mike Lawrence, Drew Britt, and Kyle Lucas from group two were headed for the LCQ.

Qualifying for Sunday’s main event, Sheldon Creed ran a blistering fast, first lap 50.286 to take the number one spot. Brian Deegan ran 50.336 for the second fastest time of the two groups, followed by Bradley Morris with a 50.436. Ray Griffith, Todd Cunningham, Aaron Daugherty, Oscar Rodriguez, Erik Apple, Drew Britt, Eric Hunter, Chris Lawrence, and Paul Hoffman were all headed to the LCQ. The remaining LOORRS classes have a single qualifying session and no LCQ.

Hot Horsepower

After opening ceremonies on Saturday, the racing commenced with the all-wheel-drive, 800-horsepower Pro-4 trucks. Nothing gets the fans fired up like a huge dose of high flying horsepower right off the bat. Kyle LeDuc got out to the early lead with Eric Barron on his tail. Carl Renezeder, who was running fourth, suffered engine problems and dropped out after three laps.

LeDuc and Barron got together hard in turn three, where LeDuc dropped out following the contact, and Barron would drop out shortly afterwards. Rob MacCachren inherited the lead but a broken CV joint resulting in three wheel drive slowed him in the corners allowing Greg Adler to get by. Adler opened up the gap and went on to capture the win.

Next up were the Pro Buggies. After a delayed start when Dillon Reimer’s car stalled on the starting line, John Fitzgerald took the lead followed by Dave Mason and Bradley Morris. Mason had been on the podium for every round raced in 2013. Running up front again, steam began to rise from the rear of his car, and his streak was over.

Cooley (#22) started charging hard during lap seven of Saturday night’s Pro Buggy race. A caution flag late in the race allowed him to finally close on the leader and take the win.

On lap seven, Geoffrey Cooley began charging to the front. He passed Greinke, Job and Mason then closed in on Fitzgerald. He then dispatched Fitzgerald and set his sights on Morris, the leader. A caution flag allowed Cooley to close up on Morris’ bumper. After the re-start, Cooley got past Morris for the win.

The Prolites provide non-stop action whenever they take to the track. It’s sometimes difficult to follow the leaders because there is so much going on in the pack. After two laps, two caution flags had already flown. RJ Anderson, the early leader, was passed by Bradley Morris before another caution flag resulted from Chris Lawrence rolling on lap 6.

Racing resumed on lap 9, but lap 12 saw another caution flag that bunched up the field once more. The final laps saw Morris doing his best to hold off RJ Anderson. On the last lap Morris was able to put some daylight between himself and Anderson to take the win.

After following Hart’s tail for many laps, Bryce Menzies made his move and passed for the Pro-2 win.

Saturday’s Last Dance

The final race of the evening would be the Pro-2s. Marty Hart started on the pole after the top six were inverted. He took full advantage, jumping out to the early lead as Carl Renezeder, Robby Woods, Bryce Menzies, Rob MacCachren and Brian Deegan diced for position behind him. On lap three, Greg Adler lost a wheel bringing out a full course caution.

On the re-start, Bryce Menzies passed Renezeder and Woods jumped from fourth to second. Another caution flag flew when Joey Provenza had a small fire. After the re-start there were a couple passes but things seemed to settle down for a while until the caution came out again on lap 16.

The pits buzzed with changes and repairs after practices and qualifying sessions prior to racing each night.

During the next re-start, Renezeder and Woods got tangled up, and that cost them both several positions. Mike Porter came to a stop in the landing zone of the big tabletop jump after turn one bringing out another full course caution. This would bunch up the field for a final shoot-out. It seemed like a NASCAR race in the end.

After stalking Hart for many laps, Bryce Menzies made his move diving under Hart for the win. Deegan made a move too trying to take third but was docked a full lap for rough driving after the race. His penalty moved Robby Woods up to the final podium position.

Sunday’s Action

Pro-4 would again kick off the racing for the evening. It might have been all the hard racing the day before, but several suffered from parts failures during the Pro-4 race. First to succumb was Carl Renezeder, who lost the right front wheel when his hub broke on the very first lap.

After they racked them up once more it was Kyle LeDuc who was out front, followed by Ryan Beat and Curt LeDuc. Todd LeDuc put on a charge passing Brandon Bailey and his Dad Curt to put himself in third. A few laps later he got around Beat for second.

On lap eight it was Eric Barron’s turn to lose the right front wheel. After the re-start it was Rob MacCachren making a move through the field. He passed Bailey and Beat to take over third place behind the LeDuc brothers. MacCachren then made the pass on Todd LeDuc for second.

After an intense battle in Sunday’s Pro-4 race, Kyle LeDuc took the lead and never looked back, racing full blast to the win.

A few laps later Todd was briefly on fire when his truck came to a stop. He got the fire out and the truck started but the caution flag had already flown setting the stage for a green, white, checkers finish.

MacCachren got a little sideways and was helped the rest of the way around by Baily who then crossed the line in second, MacCachren held on to third. Race officials did not care for the contact he put on MacCachren. Bailey was dropped back to seventh moving MacCachren to second and Ryan Beat to third.

Buggy Finale

After the obligatory first lap caution the Pro Buggies got down to racing. First to lead was the “Wild Man” Adrian Cenni but only until turn three where Bradley Morris bolted from third place into the lead.

Rolls and flips like this one experienced by Chris Lawrence during the Pro Lite race were frequent during Sunday’s hard-fought competitions.

Possibly due to the roll, several laps later Cooley’s rear trailing arm broke bringing out a full course caution. The one constant throughout the race was Bradley Morris out front. He held off the field for the win.

The Pro Buggy final must have been a great warm-up for Bradley Morris. He jumped out of his buggy and into his Prolite truck; picking up where he left off, out front, leading the race. On lap six, first Sheldon Creed and then Jimmy Fishback rolled in turn two.

Fishback got the worst of it; clipping the end of the K-rail and flipping end-over-end. The safety crew took no chances; cutting the roof off to get him out. Creed was able to continue but not for long. On lap 10 he rolled again ending his night.

On lap 16 Chris Lawrence went over, bringing out another full-course caution that would set up a green, white, checkers finish. At the re-start Morris motored away as Brian Deegan and Casey Currie duked it out for second. Currie would put a beautiful move on Deegan to take the second spot away.

Morris’ win gave him back-to-back wins in Prolite. His additional win in the Pro Buggy class was the first time anyone has won in a buggy and a Prolite in the same weekend. Bradley Morris has proven he is flat-out fast anytime he gets behind the wheel.

Wild Wrap-Up

The weekend would wrap up with the Pro-2’s. Racing on Sunday could go two ways. Either the drivers take a nothing-to-lose mentality or they try to take what they learned on Saturday and use it to gain good results. In Pro-2, it seemed to be the latter. With clear air in front and a lack of cautions, Marty Hart was pulling away with Brian Deegan close behind. There was some dicing in the field but the drivers stayed clean for the most part.

Now in lapped traffic Hart and Deegan had built up a gap on the rest of the field. Soon Hart had put a gap on Deegan as well and was charging hard but smoothly through lapped traffic. On lap 14, Carl Renezeder spun collecting Rob MacCachren. They lost ground getting untangled but the caution did not fly.

What did fly was Marty Hart; all the way to the finish. He was followed by Deegan, who also had a flawless race, and Robby Woods who took back-to-back third place podiums for the weekend.

With another two rounds in the books, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series heads to Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno, Nevada August 23-25 where the furious off-road battle continues.

Be sure to check out the Off Road Xtreme gallery of photos below: