McGrath, Menzies take Pro 2 victories in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series rounds in Mexico

After a rough start to the 2017 season, Kyle LeDuc had a stellar weekend in Baja California as the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series headed to Mexico for Rounds 3 and 4 at Estero Beach Resort.

LeDuc started off the season with a new truck, after selling his old one to Doug Mittag. He spent much of Saturday’s Pro 4 race looking at the back of his old truck until he got tired of that view. LeDuc started third behind Greg Adler and Mittag. At the start, Mittag jumped into the lead and LeDuc began to stalk Adler (also driving an ex-LeDuc truck). He got by him on the second lap and set off in pursuit of Mittag.

Mittag, though, seemed to have the measure of LeDuc until LeDuc flew faster off the big jump, passing Mittag on the landing. At the same time, Mittag lost a tire, ending any chance of coming back at LeDuc. LeDuc rolled on to his first win of the season after struggling with the new Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Ford in the first rounds at Wild Horse Pass, followed by Adler and Eric Barron.

“It was a crazy race,” said LeDuc on the podium. “We started decently, behind my two old trucks. This truck was fast and decent in Rounds 1 and 2, but not fast enough. So we went home, cut the new truck apart and went to town.”

LeDuc started third on Sunday, next to Mittag, and by Turn 2 the pair of them were racing for the lead. LeDuc had it by the end of the first lap, and was never headed. Mittag had a mechanical problem, so he wasn’t a factor at the end. Adler’s bid for another podium ended when he had contact while battling for second with Bryce Menzies, and Rob MacCachren came through for third in the process.

“We’re usually dialed at Estero, I’ll give it that, but we made so many changes,” said LeDuc. “The term, ‘everything but the driver’ has been thrown around a lot this weekend. We made big changes to come here. We didn’t have the best traction and steering yesterday, so we made a big curveball decision right up to the last minute. I did the warm-up laps and I could feel the thing was going to be a different animal entirely.”

If Saturday’s races were any indication, it’s safe to say that Jeremy McGrath’s JM2 team has figured some things out about the Baja International Short Course. McGrath repeated his Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro 2 victory from 2016, and not only did he dominate the proceedings, but his teammate, Brock Heger, rolled on in Pro Lite, taking his third win in as many races in similar all-conquering fashion.

McGrath qualified second quickest on Saturday morning, then polesitter RJ Anderson drew a two-position inversion, putting McGrath’s No. 2 Maxxis Tires/Traxxas truck on the pole alongside Anderson. When the green flag flew a second time after an aborted start for Eric Fitch rolling in Turn 1, McGrath pulled out a lead and mostly ran away. His only challenge came from Brian Deegan, who surprised McGrath in Turn 5 to pass briefly before losing a tire.

“Our whole goal was to qualify well because I know how bad the roost is here,” said McGrath. “We won this race last year, but had a lot of trouble on Sunday because I couldn’t see anything. I was lucky to get a good starting position, and the whole truck was working flawlessly.

“Deegan really surprised me. I really didn’t know he was that close. I just kind of went to work again and then caught a little break with the flat tire,” he added. MacCachren and Menzies completed the podium.

McGrath wasn’t as fortunate on Sunday and started farther back in the pack and wasn’t a factor. Rob MacCachren started on pole, but when the green flew it was Jerett Brooks taking command, with Deegan and Menzies in tow. Brooks looked to have the race in hand until a tire went down at the same time that Menzies began to attack. Menzies, a favorite in Baja thanks to his desert racing, sailed on to win in his Red Bull/Discount Tire Ford, with Deegan in second. Bradley Morris was third, his first podium finish since coming back from a broken neck suffered in a mountain biking accident a few years ago.

McGrath’s teammate Heger, who had not won a race in Pro Lite until Round 1 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, has done what no other Pro Lite driver has done before – win three straight races to start the season. There have been longer streaks, but no driver has remained undefeated three races into the season until now.

Heger started the No. 12 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Maxxis Tires Toyota out front. Behind him, Jerett Brooks made a big move from sixth to third, but then got it all wrong in the whoops section on the straight between Turns 2 and 3. The top three settled into a groove, with Ryan Beat and Hailie Deegan pursuing Heger. They ran that way until Beat got Turn 2 wrong on a restart, handing the position to Deegan, her second podium. Brooks, who had recovered from last after his first-lap bobble, finished third.

Heger’s streak ended on Sunday, however. Starting fourth, he moved up to third at the start behind Brooks and polesitter Beat, but that was the only position change near the front of the race. Beat cruised to victory in his Rockstar Energy/LunarPages Pro Lite. Brooks was able to mount a challenge toward the end, using a better run out of Turn 5 that gave him more speed down the back straight and over the big jump, but he could never complete the pass.

Kevin McCullough has won three of the four previous Pro Buggy races on the Baja International Short Course, and he showed why by dominating again on Saturday. He started his DA8/Stapleton Roofing Foddrill up front and was never headed. leaving the battles to happen behind him. One of those was for second between Elliott Watson and Darren Hardesty Jr., but that one settled down and the pair followed McCullough home to complete the podium in that order.

Hardesty started second on Sunday alongside Bud Ward, but quickly took command with Ward taking up chase, and they spent the race in that order, Hardesty’s Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Off Road Warehouse Alumi Craft taking the checkers first. The real excitement was the race for third; Watson, who had to pit to replace a tire, and McCullough, who spun early, both charged through the field to cross the line side by side, with Watson taking the final podium position.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series next heads to the Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah, for Rounds 5 and 6 on June 24-25.

RESULTS

Round 3 Winners:


Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc

Pro 2: Jeremy McGrath

Pro Lite: Brock Heger

Pro Buggy: Kevin McCullough

Round 4 Winners:

Pro 4: Kyle LeDuc

Pro 2: Bryce Menzies

Pro Lite: Ryan Beat

Pro Buggy: Darren Hardesty Jr.