When Earth, Wind and Fire comes to Las Vegas, it’s usually the 70’s R&B band playing on the Strip. Rounds 13 and 14 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series were called The Loctite Fight Under the Lights presented by LoanMart. Fight under the lights rhymes nicely but in hindsight maybe the “brawl to end all” would have been more accurate.

If you had to describe the race in three words, however, they would have to be earth, wind and fire. The earth was super slick on the track. It challenged the drivers to hold their lines as they battled each other and robbed everyone of the bite they needed to make a pass stick. Wind was the gale-force breezes that hammered the track on Saturday night forcing the race to be postponed. Fire was a constant, as many trucks went up in flames after rolling, or just blew up due to the stress of racing.

The Las Vegas event was the last big race weekend before the final round at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in Lake Elsinore, California, and the second of the Lucas Off-Road Racing Series featured in Off Road Xtreme.

Once again, drivers desperate to earn precious points had their skills, patience, and for some, their roll cages tested to the breaking point. Luckily, the roll cages held, but for some, the patience ran out instantly.  

Four-Wheeler Action

In the Pro-4 class, Carl Renezeder made a strong statement at the beginning of the season when he took seven straight wins and a stranglehold on the points lead. Kyle Leduc, second in the points, has been on his own streak, winning the last three rounds. The only way Kyle would have a shot was to keep winning; something that Carl was well aware of.

Kyle and Carl battled door-to-door on Friday night, and after an intense race that saw them trade the lead back-and-forth, it was Carl who edged Kyle out for the win at the stripe. Kyle tossed his truck across the line but it just wasn’t enough.

Todd Leduc took the third spot, beating Eric Barron to the line. Carl’s win meant he only had to get eight points over Kyle to wrap up the championship in the next round.

On Saturday night, Rob MacCachren took his first victory since returning to the Pro-4 class. MacCachren is a past Pro-4 champion, but had not won a race with his brand-new truck until then. Kyle Leduc was in the mix, but a late race black flag for punting Eric Barron in turn four dashed his chances for the win.

Kyle’s patience wore thin on the Vegas track that had a distinct, preferred line. When it’s slippery, there are not too many ways to get around the truck in front of you without contact. Carl finished second behind MacCachren, gaining the points he needed to wrap up the season title; his ninth career championship.

House On Fire

The Pro-2 championship was just as tight going into this race as it was in Pro-4. Rob MacCachren held the lead, with Brian Deegan 14 points behind, and Carl Renezeder just two points behind that. Friday’s was a thrill, but had few real points implications. It went to a spoiler Marty Hart.

Marty proved once again he is tough to beat once he gets out front. He battled with MacCachren and Robby Woods, but neither could take the top spot that night from “The Cowboy”.

“Well, it was pretty exciting,” said Hart, “When Robby drove it in on me and slammed my door in turn four, it set the tone for the race. I knew it was going to be really aggressive. You just had to keep charging and hope the truck would keep coming in.”

“I got into Marty a little bit,” said Robby Woods, “The track is narrow and there is not a lot of room for passing, but he (Hart) kept going. I was in second and he left the door wide open so I tried to pass him.

“We didn’t qualify all that well, but we changed the groove on our General Grabbers and were really solid.” Woods continued, “We were charging through the field, passed for the lead, but got passed back. We set fast lap, but we lost the underdrive unit and that took out the transmission. But we’ll be back tomorrow night.”

Brian Deegan lost an engine in a fiery explosion; he escaped physically unharmed but the DNF (did not finish) took a toll on his points standings. At the finish line it was Hart for the win, MacCachren in second, and Renezeder in third.

“It was so slippery out there,” said Renezeder, “Just had a difficult time trying to move forward. You could not be aggressive, you just had to hold on and wait for people to make mistakes. Lots of carnage out there; just people driving over people; it was something else. It was very slick, only one line and it never really came in.” 

On Saturday night, Robby Woods lived up to his promise, returning to the front, and led most of the race. He and Renezeder were fighting hard for the lead and most thought Woods would finally beat his nemesis Renezeder. Robby has been on the podium several times this season, but so far, his first win in the Lucas Oil Series has eluded him.

After a clean run wire-to-wire Friday and a second-place finish Saturday in Vegas, Brian Deegan led Pro Lite with the widest points margin of any class during the season.

Woods suffered a heartbreaking mechanical failure once more and coasted to a stop. Woods has proven he is fast, but just can’t seem to catch a break, especially when Renezeder is around. Renezeder drove past Woods uncontested to take the victory, MacCachren finished in second, and Bryce Menzies was third.

The results dropped Deegan further down in the standings to third place in the championship, and moved Renezeder to second place. After that bout, Renezeder trailed MacCachren by 18 points going into the final round of the season.  

Insane Asylum

The Pro Lite class was pure insanity. Friday night’s race had a couple of red flags when trucks caught fire after rolling; there were six caution flags in all. Due to all the caution laps, the race was shortened so the trucks would not run out of fuel. There was fender-banging action, collisions and rollovers everywhere you looked.

RJ Anderson (airborne far right) has been battling Brian Deegan for the Pro Lite points lead all season, and took the victory Saturday night after a quickly extinguished fire and a broken front suspension caused by contact with the wall put his truck out of action during the Friday race.

A perfect example was one of the laps Oscar Rodriguez put in Friday night. After avoiding a huge wreck just a few corners before, he flew off a jump. “I went off the jump and in mid-air, saw Daugherty in front of me just flipping through the air. Jimmy, (his crew chief) is just yelling in my headset to stop, stop, stop! Go right! Go Right! By some grace of God, I avoided the wreck. I tapped the wall going by, but I made it through.”

The two Pro Lite points leaders, RJ Anderson and Brian Deegan have been fighting back and forth all season. RJ was determined to retain his Number One plate, and Deegan was hungry to add another Pro Lite crown to his collection.

RJ crashed in the early going. His truck burst into flames, but was extinguished quickly with the aid of the on-board fire-suppression system. Unfortunately, contact with the wall broke his front suspension, and he was out. “To be honest, I made a stupid rookie mistake; I hate doing that,” said RJ, “I’m fine, the truck will be back at 100 percent. I will be back for redemption!”

Deegan stayed clean at the front and took a wire-to-wire victory. Sheldon Creed finished second, and Casey Currie third.

On Saturday the carnage continued with six more caution flags during the race, and a black flag or two thrown in for good measure. RJ Anderson rebounded to take the victory, but Deegan took second; increasing his points lead to 49, the biggest gap in any class for the season.

RJ got his redemption, but it might not be enough. Deegan appears to be the next champion, but anything can happen. Sheldon Creed got his second podium of the weekend with the third-place finish.

Bugged Out

The Pro Buggy class saw the young guns Dave Mason, Bradley Morris and Geoffrey Cooley all starting up front. They have all had their moment in the sun, but the defending champ Steven Greinke has held the points lead for most of the season. Even Dave Mason’s streak of eight podiums in a row has fallen short of toppling Greinke; he led Morris by 47 points going into Vegas.

After a couple laps, it was the two points leaders Greinke and Morris out front. First, Greinke suffered brake issues dropping him to second behind Morris. He knew he would get another chunk of points for second. It made no sense to risking a crash going for the win.

Morris had a throttle issue when rocks got lodged in the linkage, but held on despite the throttle problem to take the win. Greinke was second and Cooley took third.

As long as Greinke can keep Morris in his sights, a second Pro Buggy championship can be in his grasp. Saturday night Greinke finished first with Dave Mason second, and Bradley Morris third. The outcome of the Pro Buggy championship is still in question, but Greinke looks to be in control at the moment.

The Next Bout

The Fight Under the Lights, held September 20 – 22, 2013, was truly a knockout battle. There were more broken machines, bruised egos and frazzled nerves than we’ve seen at any other race in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series this season. The final round will take place October 25 to 27, 2013, at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, Lake Elsinore, California, and we have no doubt it will be another wild weekend of mechanical mayhem. 

With only one championship truly settled, it will be another intense battle in an already incredible season of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series. Stay tuned. Off Road Xtreme will be there to bring you full color coverage of the fight for the right to wear the championship crowns!