Category: Events/Competitions

LOORRS Heads West to Lake Elsinore, California

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing heads west to Lake Elsinore, California for Rounds 3 and 4 on April 23-24, after a successful season opener at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.

With the popularity of short course racing growing each season, we are seeing new sponsors and manufacturers getting involved wanting to be included in the wraps on race vehicles. From the thousands of fans on site to the live Internet stream on Lucas Oil TV to the produced tv shows shown a few weeks later, there is a lot of exposure to be had. This influx of sponsors has allowed more racers to get involved and even created multi-vehicle teams.

Most racers are happy to have moved past the first rounds and ready to move on to the next event, any gremlins or new truck blues will usually present themselves early in the season, so as the season moves forward, so will the confidence in the equipment.

PRO 4

Nobody would have guessed that Kyle Leduc would have started off the season with two DNFs after his dominating 2015 season. Carl Renezeder and Rob MacCachren split the top spot for Rounds 1 and 2 with MacCachren taking the opener on Saturday. Eric Baron was able to grab a third place on Saturday with Greg Adler taking third on Sunday. The top qualifier was Leduc, so for him to redeem himself in Lake Elsinore.

PRO 2

Bryce Menzies picked up where he left off last year with a win in the opening round but missed the podium in Round 2. MacCachren got a pair of second places in Arizona, and although those are great results for the start of the season, the veteran racer will be looking for the top step in the next rounds. Brian Deegan closed out the podium with a pair of thirds on the weekend even leading a bunch of laps, a great result for Deegan. As a side note, Menzies spent two weeks of March and April in Abu Dhabi racing a Rally Raid race for Red Bull Mini, maybe in preparation for a possible future Dakar Rally.

PROLITE

Brandon Arthur landed in the top spot on the podium for both Rounds 1 and 2, showing he has not lost any speed in the off-season and that he’s the one to beat moving forward in 2016. Ryan Beat and Jerret Brooks split second places on the weekend and Brad Deberti showed consistency taking third place in both rounds.

PRO BUGGY

Pro Buggy is going to be the class to watch this year. The class had two different winners, Kevin McCullough and Elliot Watson in the first two rounds with five different drivers on the podium. The only driver to be up on the box both rounds was Sterling Cling with a pair of third place finishes. Garret George and Darren Hardesty each grab second place finishes on the weekend. This class has fresh young drivers hungry for wins this season and to prove themselves worthy of moving up to the truck classes in the coming years.

Watch the 2016 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series live ! Download the app today!

You can purchase tickets direct from the Lucas Oil Of- Road website using the link below.

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April 15, 2016

BFGoodrich Tires 2016 Mint 400 Highlights

The 2016 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires took place March 12th just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The Race featured one of the most stacked fields in off-road racing history. 350 of the world’s best off-road teams showed up to battle each other and the brutal Mojave desert, for the chance to call themselves a Mint 400 Champion.

Rob MacCachren, Bryce Menzies, Justin Lofton, Cameron Steele, Jason Voss, Josh Daniel, Justin Matney, and Apdaly Lopez all came to battle and pit strategy became a chess game of who could stay out front. Teams fought for every second as they sent their driver back out into the off-road war. The course quickly deteriorated into a nightmare of rocks and dust.

This Mint 400 was one of the biggest unlimited fields in history, with the deepest field of world class drivers. A win here means you have beaten the best.

After over 12 hours of intense off-road racing BFGoodrich won the Mint 400 overall with trick truck driver Justin Lofton by a mere 42 seconds. BFGoodrich took 7 of the top ten positions and 16 separate class wins once again proving their dominance in off-road racing.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL PHOTO SET AND WATCH THE VIDEO

About The Mint 400
Known as “The Great American Off-Road Race™,” The Mint 400 is the oldest, most prestigious, and most challenging off-road race on the planet. This annual four-hundred mile marathon between the top off-road racers in the world includes over three hundred and fifty race teams in twenty-four different classes of off-road vehicles. Established in 1967, The Mint 400 is steeped in American lore. Thousands of racers and celebrities from around the world have attempted to tame the brutal Nevada desert, but less than half of them have ever finished the Mint. An entire week of events lead up to the famed off-road contest in and around Las Vegas, including a vehicle parade down the Las Vegas Strip, a drivers meet and greet, a pit crew challenge contest, the Miss Mint 400 beauty pageant, massive parties, a qualifying race, and a huge ten-block “contingency” gathering on Fremont Street East. Over forty-thousand spectators gather to watch the worlds best off-road race teams do battle at The Mint 400!

About Mad Media
Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, with in-house film and television production. We craft authentic, culturally engaging brand messages, and deliver them across print, web, photography, and film platforms. Mad Media has been leading the online content revolution since 1995 producing major commercial, television, online content and viral film projects such as The Gymkhana Series and XP1K Series.

April 9, 2016

FOX Athletes Dominate 2016 Mint 400

2016 POLARIS RZR MINT 400 PRESENTED BY BFGOODRICH TIRES FOX HIGHLIGHTS

For the 4th consecutive year, a FOX athlete has taken the Overall win in one of the most infamously brutal off-road races, The Mint 400. In 2016, Justin Lofton made history in the #41 FOX Trick Truck affectionately known as BadCo, becoming the first driver ever to collect back-to-back Mint 400 overall wins. 13 FOX athletes would stand atop the podium in their respective classes, dominating “The Great American Off-Road Race.”

THE MINT 400 TAKES OVER LAS VEGAS STRIP, LED BY LEGEND ROD HALL
The 2016 Mint 400 kicked off with the roar of over 100 of the fastest off-road vehicles in the country echoing off the walls of the casinos and hotels on Las Vegas Boulevard. Leading the way was off-road legend Rod Hall, in his FOX-equipped 1969 Stroppe Ford Bronco, grabbing the attention of everyone on the strip.

FOX ATHLETES TAKE TOP 4 SPOTS AT TIME TRIALS
To set the starting order for the race, Time Trials were held in Primm, NV and Justin Lofton wasted no time proving that his win last year was no fluke, outrunning a field of 69 Trick Truck and Class 1500 competitors. FOX took the top 4 spots with Andy McMillin, Bryce Menzies and Jesse Jones all within 1.5 seconds of Lofton’s qualifying time.

MENZIES MOTORSPORTS UP TO THE CHALLENGE
Following Time Trials, the Method Race Wheels Pit Crew Challenge took over Fremont Street. 8 Trick Trucks and 8 Unlimited Buggy teams of three pit crew members would face-off in a race to change two tires the fastest. The local favorites of Menzies Motorsports would emerge victorious in the Trick Truck category, each member earning a set of FOX Performance Series 2.0 IFP shocks along with the coveted Method Race Wheels Golden Jack.

THE MINT 400 CONTINGENCY EXPERIENCE ON FREMONT
Over 350 vehicles descended upon Fremont Street for contingency and technical inspection. Race fans were able to get up close and personal with the race cars as they rolled down the street, get autographs from their favorite drivers and pick up the latest FOX swag.

ROGER STARKEY CLAIMS BACK-TO-BACK CLASS 1000 WINS
Race day commenced with the limited class race and Roger Starkey took the win in Class 1000, repeating his 2015 win. Starkey’s total time was just minutes short of a top 10 overall time in the unlimited race with only one limited and one unlimited buggy clocking faster overall times.

SIMS & LAMBERT ON TOP IN UTV, FOX DRIVERS SWEEP PODIUM
In the highly competitive and rapidly growing UTV classes, Branden Sims took the honors as 1st Overall UTV, finishing 1st in the Pro UTV Turbo class. FOX athletes rounded out the UTV podiums with Wayne Matlock finishing 2nd and Ryan Laidlaw finishing 3rd in the Pro Turbo class and Kristin Matlock coming in 2nd in the Pro Production class.

Following up on his UTV World Championship win, Justin Lambert crossed the line in 2nd overall for the UTV’s, winning the Pro UTV Production class. Lambert’s win also marks his third consecutive Best in the Desert win this season.

JUSTIN LOFTON NAMED MINT 400 OVERALL CHAMPION…AGAIN!
2015 saw Justin Lofton take the Overall win at the Mint 400 in his rookie Trick Truck season and 2016 was no different. Lofton was first off the line and held his lead amongst lapped traffic, until Bryce Menzies was able to pass him in during a routine pit. Lofton was able to reclaim the lead after Menzies retired with mechanical issues and would battle with Andy McMillin all the way to the finish line.

After five and a half hours of racing through the Nevada desert, only 42 seconds on corrected time would separate McMillin and Lofton, giving Justin Lofton his second consecutive Mint 400 Overall win and making him the first driver ever to earn back-to-back wins.

TAKE A RIDE WITH THE CHAMP
Not only did Justin and his navigator, Derek Balcunas, walk away with two brand-new Polaris RZR XP Turbo’s, but Lofton also claimed the big $10,000 FOX check for finishing 1st Overall on FOX shocks.

CODY PARKHOUSE TOPS CLASS 1500
Cody Parkhouse was the first unlimited buggy to finish, earning the Class 1500 victory and a 7th place finish overall.

CHRISTIAN SOURAPAS VICTORIOUS IN 6100
Continuing the trend of FOX-equipped trucks dominating the 6100/TT Spec class, Christian Sourapas took 1st place, rounding out a successful day for FOX competitors.

FOX MINT 400 WINNERS

Overall & Trick Truck – Justin Lofton
1500 – Cody Parkhouse*
6100 – Christian Sourapas
1000 – Roger Starkey*
UTV Turbo – Branden Sims*
UTV Production – Justin Lambert*
6000 – Todd Jackson*
2000 – Kevin Smith*
3000 – Reid Rutherford*
Unlimited Pro – David Martinez*
Vintage – Todd Richards
Stock VW – Alex Rivas Alvarez*
1200 – Greg Foutz*

*Fast lap in class

#RIDEFOX

About Race-Dezert.com
Race-Dezert.com was created by off-road enthusiasts, giving off-roaders a place online to share information about the sport and culture of off-road racing. Based in Southern California, Race-Dezert.com highlights the off-road disciplines of desert racing, short course off-road, stadium truck racing, rally raid, rally racing and rock crawling.

Our goal is to connect the world of off-road racing globally, bringing people together through the common denominator of off-road culture. Whether you are a racer, a promoter, a chase team member, a casual fan, or just interested in learning about off-road, Race-Dezert.com is a place where you can learn about the sport and culture of off-road racing.

April 4, 2016
W.E. Rock Heads to Mason, TX to Kickoff Eastern Series

Professional Rock Crawling Saturday and Sunday April 2^nd and 3rd starting at 10am

MASON, TX MARCH 30, 2016: With the largest Unlimited Rock Crawling Car field in the East expected this weekend, the crowds of spectators at Katemcy Rocks will have a lot to look forward to. The rock formations in Mason, TX are second to none. Big climbs, great crack lines and big boulders make technical crawling easy to find. Teams from as far as Maryland and Georgia will be competing in Texas this weekend with many of the teams never seeing the terrain, which always makes it more fun. (more…)

March 31, 2016
E3 Spark Plugs Ignite Six Team Lucas Racing Series

Corona, Ca. (March 30, 2016) – E3 Spark Plugs, designers of the E3 DiamondFire Flame and other top-of-the-line spark plugs is a great fit to be sponsoring Team Lucas events again for the 2016 season. E3 Spark Plugs was one of the first companies to support Lucas Oil’s motorsports competitions and the company is again working with Team Lucas in to back more than 150 family-friendly events across the United States.
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March 31, 2016
SPEED ENERGY STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS PRESENTED BY TRAXXAS JOIN GRAND PRIX OF BOSTON ON-TRACK LINEUP

BOSTON (March 29, 2016) – The Grand Prix of Boston powered by LogMeIn organizers are excited to announce that Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS will join the on-track lineup at the inaugural Grand Prix to be held in the South Boston Waterfront areaSeptember 2-4, 2016.

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March 31, 2016