For Rob MacCachren, there's no place like home. It's the perfect place to secure a championship.
With lots of family and friends on hand, hometown favorite Rob MacCachren didn't have a great day on Saturday racing his No. 21 Rockstar Energy Ford Pro 2 in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But the Vegas resident more than made up for it with a dominating win on Sunday, claiming the 2010 Pro 2 title in the process with one race to go.
“Yesterday we didn't have a good run,” said MacCachren on the podium. “Today we started on the front row and we just wanted to get the heck outta there. We were just trying to get away from everybody.”
His was the second championship of the day. Earlier, Rick Huseman cruised to the Pro 4 title in his No. 36 Monster Energy Toyota with a third place finish. He had been cruising at the front when he lost the rear driveshaft and fell back. Only attrition got him on the podium. When he dropped out, Carl Renezeder took the lead, but lost an engine on the final lap, allowing Adrian Cenni to take the Pro 4 win on Sunday, followed by Travis Coyne and Huseman.
That was in sharp contrast to Saturday, when Huseman, starting near the back after a rough qualifying session on Friday, worked his way to the front, led every lap from that point and took the win followed by Renezeder and Coyne. If that win didn't seal the deal, the salvaged podium on Sunday certainly did.
“It's great, man… I can't believe we pulled off a third today and wrapped up the championship,” said Huseman. “It's been a great year, and hopefully we'll go to Firebird and get another couple wins. We'll go there relaxed and not have to worry about a championship…it's a done deal!”
While MacCachren was struggling in Saturday's race after getting spun out, Robby Woods was impressing everyone running out front. Woods had started alongside Rodrigo Ampudia, and took the lead at the green flag, with Renezeder slotting behind. Woods controlled the race for most of its duration, but Renezeder finally got a good run on him and the two raced side by side for a while before Renezeder took the lead in his No. 17 Lucas Oil Ford. If Woods was disappointed to finish second, he didn't show it on the podium with Renezeder and Ampudia.
While no other championships were decided, some classes have new points leaders after two rounds at LVMS. With a fourth-place finish on Saturday and a win on Sunday, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg took over the points lead in Super Lite. On Saturday, Stenberg might have had a good view of what could have very well been the best race of the weekend, between Dawson Kirchner and Kyle LeDuc, making a guest appearance in the class. The two battled back and forth before Kirchner took the well-deserved victory. On Sunday, though, he was in the thick of it with LeDuc before LeDuc rolled and Stenberg tok the win. He was probably glad to be up front in a race that had more than its share of battered trucks.
The other championship lead swap occurred in Pro Lite. Marty Hart had a weekend to forget in Surprise and lost the points advantage. This time it was Chris Brandt's turn; after leading early, he watched most of Sunday's race sitting in the pits with a broken truck. Hart finished second on both days to retake the points lead.
But the rest of Pro Lite this weekend was about Brian Deegan. Deegan had the 1.1-mile track at LVMS absolutely nailed, and took the double win in almost dominating fashion. The massive infusion of points helped him jump Matt Loiodice to third in the standings.
Not content to just dominate Pro Lite, the Metal Mulisha general took on Pro 2 in a new truck as well in preparation for next season. He acquitted himself quite nicely, finishing fourth both days, and earning praise from MacCachren on the podium.
Justin “Bean” Smith and John Fitzgerald swapped victories in Limited Buggy, with only a one-position difference in the race the two didn't win allowing Smith to slightly extend his points lead. Both men dominated in their victories, jumping quickly into the lead nad never looking back. Bruce Fraley had an excellent weekend with a pair of seconds, and jumped from fifth to third in the points.
Starting on the outside of the front row on Saturday, Mike Porter jumped into the Pro Buggy Unlimited lead and checked out. He was practically untouchable, and cruised to his first win since breaking his back in Surprise last year. On Sunday, it as all about the championship chase with Cameron Steele on the outside of the front row and points leader Larry Job starting in third. Steele grabbed the early lead and left the field behind. The two finished the weekend with about the same points gap they started with, but Steele broke the tie for second with Dough Fortin.
Corry Weller and Robert Vanbeekum were double winners in UTV, with Weller taking both victories in the SR1 class and VanBeekum taking Unlimited. Despite the double, Weller still trails Tyler Herzog in the SR1 points.
In the karts, Jack Yesier was a double winner in Junior 1. Paige Porter, daughter of Saturday Pro Buggy winner Mike Porter, took the Saturday Junior 2 win, while Chad Graham scored the Sunday victory. Brandon Vermillion and Jerett Brooks split the Modified wins.
The final round of the 2010 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series will be Dec. 11 at a new track at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. It will be followed on Sunday by the big-money Challenge Cup races, which will pit Pro 4s against Pro 2s and Pro Buggies against Pro Lite trucks.
This weekend's races from LVMS will be broadcast on CBS at a date and time to be determined, and on SPEED Channel on Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, beginning at noon Eastern time.