With one points-paying round left to go, Rob MacCachren has sealed up his second consecutive Pro 2 championship with a win and a fourth-place finish in his Rockstar Energy/Makita Tools truck at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park. His 85-point lead going into the finale at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, next month, with only 52 points available, makes his lead unassailable.

All MacCachren had to do was start the Friday and Saturday night races, but MacCachren isn’t out for just points. Running third in the early going behind Brian Deegan and Jeremy McGrath, he made fairly quick work of McGrath and set out after Deegan. Deegan wasn’t going to be easy, though. It took several attempts for him to get by the multi-time former champion, but once he did there were no threats for MacCachren to take his fifth straight win.

Deegan wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of Friday night’s race, but with him on the front row and MaCachren starting right with him, he’d have to fight to avoid a repeat of the previous night. However, MacCachren spun about halfway, eliminating the strongest threat to Deegan getting the win in his NOS Energy Drink/Traxxas Ford.

While the Pro 2 title is decided, some of the title battles grew even tighter. Kyle LeDuc went into Lake Elsinore six points behind Carl Renezeder in Pro 4, riding a big win streak after a tough start to the season. Renezeder led in the early going, followed by MacCachren and LeDuc. LeDuc got by MacCachren and set off after Renezeder. Renezeder made it easy on LeDuc, bicycling his truck in the right-hander, and LeDuc squeezed under him in the No. 99 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Pro 4, as did MacCachren. Renezeder got back past MacCachren to keep LeDuc from gaining more than two points.

The two started side by side on the front row for the Saturday night fight, with Renezeder claiming the lead for a lap. But LeDuc sailed past on the step-up on the second lap, leaving Renezeder to battle off MacCachren. LeDuc also got a point for being fast qualifier and another for leading at halfway, so he erased the six-point deficit he had to Renezeder. The two will head to Wild Horse Pass dead even in points.

Pro Buggy was an extremely close four-way fight going into the weekend, and it emerged even closer. Garrett George came in with a relatively significant nine-point lead, but a rather bizarre incident on Friday night took out both George and then-race leader Darren Hardesty Jr. Just as a yellow was coming out for a stalled buggy at the top of the step-up leading into Turn 2, Hardesty clipped the stalled car, which sent him into George’s path. Both cars were too damaged to continue. That handed the lead to Kevin McCullough, but he held it only briefly, as he had to make a call to the pits during the caution. Bud Ward was now out front, and fought off big pressure from Mike Valentine to take his first win in the No. No. 17 Ramona Tire/Fortin Racing, Inc. Funco.

Valentine’s strong finish, along with George’s DNF, put him into the points lead heading into Saturday night. Hardesty Jr. once again got out front, and avoided Friday night’s bad luck to take the victory in the No. 99 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Mickey Thompson Alumi Craft. Even George couldn’t mount a serious challenge, but came home in second while Valentine was fifth. That leaves George ahead by a single point. Hardesty Jr. is six points back, and if Friday night demonstrated anything, it’s how easily that deficit can be erased. McCullough is 12 points behind, which will be a tough gap to overcome.

Brandon Arthur needed some help if he was to go into the finale with a realistic shot at the Pro Lite title; unfortunately, points leader Jerett Brooks gave him none, taking both wins in the No. 77 Rigid Industries LED Lighting/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Nissan. Brock Heger at least made it interesting on Friday night, leading most of the race from his front-row start and staving off several of Brooks’s attempts to pass, but in the end Brooks found his way to the front and Heger had to settle for second.

Hailie Deegan extended her Mod Kart championship lead with a pair of second-place finishes in Lake Elsinore. Nathan Barry took his first series victory on Friday night in his No. 528 CBR Performance Products/DASA kart. Christopher Polvoorde won on Saturday night in his No. 594 The Palms River Resort/Horizon Solar Power Racing kart to help his championship chances, but he has only an outside shot.

The single points race to finish out the championship takes place Oct. 22 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. It will be followed the next day by the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup, which includes non-points races with special prizes and the always entertaining Pro 4 vs. Pro 2 battle to close out the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing season.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park
Lake Elsinore, Calif., Sept. 23-24, 2016

Friday winners:
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Rob MacCachren
Pro Lite: Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Bud Ward
Mod Kart: Nathan Barry

Saturday winners
Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc
Pro 2: Brian Deegan
Pro Lite: Jerett Brooks
Pro Buggy: Darren Hardesty, Jr.
Mod Kart: Christopher Polvoorde