Bryce Menzies is not the only one on fire with a sweep of the Unlimited 2 class, tempers flare as AZ LOORRS action ignites!
Arizona short course racing was virtually nonexistent until the Lucas Oil Offroad Racing series invaded Surprise Arizona’s Speedworld Motorsports Park in May.
The Race sold out and left fans and racers alike craving more. On Friday October 16th LOORRS once again invaded surprise and put on one of the greatest races that Arizona has seen in a long time. This round Loorrs would bring more trucks back to Arizona, Robbie Peirce who is no stranger to desert racing would make Speedworld his inaugural short course race in the MasterCraft Safety Unlimited 2 Truck.
Wildman Adrian Cenni and the Terrible Herbst Team would bring their Unlimited 4 trucks to do battle with Carl Renezeder, Alan Pflueger, Bryce Menzies, Jeff Ward and Jerry Welchel of the U2/4 classes.
Friday was a intense day of practice, with lots of high flying action, as drivers pushed their racecars to the limit with many pushing beyond; Jesse Jones in U2, Josh Merrel U4, Parker Grabowski UL, and Jerry Daugherty U4 all had rollovers in turn 4, the 180 degree turn after the moguls, Daugherty’s truck was extremely damaged from his crash. He raced his backup truck for the rest of the weekend.
Practice was exciting, but the race was just as intense with some close action, and dramatic moments, even in the UTV and limited classes.
First to race was the UTV class; these small yet fast race vehicles reach speeds up to 56 mph. In the UTV class Robert Vanbeekum took first place, Austin Kimbrell took a close second only 1 second behind Robert, and Chad George took third on Saturday. On Sunday Robert coming of a big win on Saturday broke on the second lap, taking him out of the race. Kimbrell would clinch the win just half a second in front of RJ Anderson, less the half a second behind Anderson was once again Chad George taking the third place spot.
Next to battle it out on the track was the Limited Buggy class; this single seater, 1600cc buggies got up to 57 mph on the course this weekend. With the combined speed and big turnout in the class with 17 cars would prove to be some great door to door action. John Fitzgerald would sweep the the podium, taking first both days; However not after battling with Bryan Freeman who took second on Saturday and third on Sunday, and Bruce Fraley who took third on Saturday and second on Sunday.
After the limited buggy class, came the Super Lite class, A cool fact about the super lite class is that anyone can rent one of these trucks to race for the weekend. Super Lite is fairly new to the sport, but veteran drivers such as Chuck Dempsey, John Harrah, and Chad Leising race in this class. These spec class 200 horse power mini trucks got up to 58 mph on the track. On Saturday Ricky James would smoke the super lite class; beating the field by eleven seconds, with Dawson Kirchner in second and Chuck Dempsey close behind for third. On Sunday however Chad Leising would give Ricky a run for his money as they battle for most of the race, but Chad would come out on top and Ricky in second with Dawson shooting for a close third place.
Then started the big show, main event of Unlimited 4 (4wd) Trucks, Big name drivers such as Carl Renezeder, Alan Pflueger, Travis Coyne, Bryce Menzies, and The Herbst Brothers, would fight to the finish to get the checkered flag. These trucks have 850 horse power and got up 66 mph on the track.
Saturday was an intense race, as Travis Coyne was leading most of the race almost rolled his truck in turn 2; which gave up the lead to Carl Renezeder, who would go on to win with teammate Alan Pflueger coming in second with young gun Bryce Menzies taking the third spot. Sunday would prove to be more intense as Saturday as wild man Adrian Cenni would go from wild to mild and hold off Alan Pflueger, Carl Renezeder, and the rest of the U4 field, for the win on Sunday which left many people in shock.Carl Renezeder would fight Cenni all the way to the checker but came up with second and teammate Alan Pflueger in third.
After the high flying excitement of the U4 class, was the Unlimited Buggy Class; These Buggies also known as Super Buggies have 1800cc motors and got up to speeds of 62 mph on the track. The super buggy class had the largest turnout of 19 cars, which created exciting bumper to bumper action.Saturday, when the dust settled Chuck Cheek took first with Mike Halliday less than two seconds behind him, and Larry Job sweeping the third spot. On Sunday, Bobby Pecoy took first followed by Mike Halliday again with a strong second place finish and Chuck Cheek taking the third spot.
Soon after the super buggies cleared the track, came the 300 horse power Unlimited Lite class. The Unlimited Lites are mini trucks, and the drivers are highly competitive and will do almost anything to win. Driver Brian Deegan, Rob Naughton, Chuck Dempsey, and Matt Loiodice drive the wheels of their racecars for the win. Saturday Brian Deegan would win, with Todd Cuffaro closely behind in second, and Jimmy Stephensen taking third. Sunday was another great day of bumper to bumper fender crushing action as Chris Brandt rebounded from a displeasing twelfth place to first on Sunday. Brian Deegan clinched second and Todd Cuffaro took third.
Finally the last race of the day, The Unlimited 2 (2wd) would prove to be the most action packed races of the weekend. With a class of 16 trucks there is action around every turn. On Saturday, Dale Dondel had a huge crash on the front straight away right after taking the green flag, flipping and rolling violently, he managed to walk away. As far as racing goes Bryce Menzies the young gun would prove to be a lethal threat as he swept first place both days, with Carl Renezeder a second and a half behind him for second, and Jeff Ward battling for third place. Sunday would prove to be another action packed day as Jerry Whelchel spun out, rolled over and parked on top of Greg Adler’s truck.
You would have to see it to believe it. As soon as the track worked removed the twisted mess of trucks they had to keep Whelchel and Adler apart; because they were swearing at each and trying to fight each other. Both drivers were escorted off the track. The cause of the incident was determined to be Adler spinning out Whelchel on lap one right after turn three. After the mess was cleaned up racing continued, where Bryce Menzies stormed first and Kevin Probst took second with Jeff Ward taking third place. That would conclude another great LOORRS race and another great weekend of racing in Arizona. LOORRS plans to add another Arizona race at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, for next year’s racing schedule.
