Lucas Oil Off Road: Championships can turn at Glen Helen

By Richard S. James | July 22, 2016 6:06 PM ET

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series has three races in its center of Southern California this weekend.

Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino – which hosts this weekend’s rounds of the series – is a short distance from Lucas Oil headquarters in Corona, as is Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, which is also home to two weekends of competition. With the number of racers and teams making their home in SoCal, this one is always a biggie not only for the racers, but for the legions of fans that pack the facility for a pair of night races.

Despite its apparent simplicity, Glen Helen has nuances that, if missed, can bite. The whoops between Turns 2 and 3 are notorious for tripping up the best of drivers. A minor mistake in hitting them might mean being passed in T3; a bigger mistake means a tumbling truck.

That’s one of the things drivers must begin to weigh with eight of 15 races complete for the 2016 season. It’s time to think about the championship, and balance the risks a driver takes to win vs. getting a good finish and a solid number of points. Some, of course, are in a better position to take some risks than others.

Rob MacCachren in Pro 2 is one of those. With a 41-point lead over Jeremy McGrath and another four points to RJ Anderson, he could weather a bad finish. But MacCachren is never one to take unreasonable risks.

“I would be pretty disappointed if we didn’t win this championship,” he said after the last round in Baja. “It would be us shooting ourselves in the foot, or me making a bad choice out there on the track. I’m internally battling with myself – I want to win the race, I want to win the championship, I want to win the race, I want to win the championship.”

MacCachren will especially need to weigh risks in Pro 4, where he has some ground to make up. Carl Renezeder (below) is leading the class for the first time in several years, and Bryce Menzies and MacCachren aren’t far from him. Menzies has the most victories in Pro 4 this season, but a few bad finishes have left him 21 points behind, with MacCachren another two points back.

MacCachren won last year’s single round in Pro 2 – the first was postponed from Saturday night due to bad weather, and Sunday night’s was canceled. Kyle LeDuc, in the middle of setting a record for consecutive wins, won Pro 4 last year, and both rounds in 2014. He seems to have his early season issues worked out, so he could be a force at Glen Helen and get back in the championship fight.

Jerett Brooks (pictured, top) and Brandon Arthur are separated by 18 points in Pro Lite, with Brooks having four wins in 2016 to Arthur’s two. Arthur has won at Glen Helen before, splitting rounds with 2015 winner RJ Anderson in 2014. Brock Heger, third in the standings, has been knocking on the door of a win, but Glen Helen is a tough place to snag a first victory.

Pro Buggy is the usual close fight, with four drivers blanketed by 28 points. 2015 champion Garrett George leads the way, 10 points ahead of Mike Valentine. Kevin McCullough and Darren Hardesty are neck and neck for third, with McCullough holding the edge by a single point. The bad news for Pro Buggy racers is that George has won in San Bernardino the past two years.

Whether those who have been victorious at Glen Helen can pull it off again will be seen, but those who have mastered the track tend will certainly have an edge; it’s not a place that rewards luck, and the nighttime setting doesn’t make things any easier. It’s a weekend that can turn a championship on its head.

The good news for fans who can’t be there in person is that Rounds 9 and 10 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series at Glen Helen Raceway will be broadcast live on LucasOilRacing.tv.

Standings after 8 of 15 rounds

Driver, points, (number of victories)

Pro 4

1. Carl Renezeder, 377 (2)

2. Bryce Menzies, 356 (3)

3. Rob MacCachren, 354 (1)

Pro 2

1. Rob MacCachren, 379 (2)

2. Jeremy McGrath, 338 (2)

3. RJ Anderson, 334 (0)

Pro Lite

1. Jerett Brooks, 394 (4)