Pit Stop Adds an Element to the Racing

One of the surprises that greeted the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series competitors at the Friday morning drivers meeting when the 2012 season convened at Firebird International Raceway on March 30 was that the series was introducing a mandatory pit stop for the pro truck classes – Pro 4 Unlimited, Pro 2 and Pro Lite. What was a mandatory competition caution period was now going to be two minutes spent in the pits.

LOORRS Competition Director Tony Vanillo explained that a pace truck would gather the field and lead them into the pits where they would have assigned spots. Once the last truck was in position, a horn would sound signaling the teams they could begin working on their trucks. A second horn marked 30 seconds left and a third meant it was time to go back out. Two more laps behind the pace truck and racing would resume.

Vanillo also explained that the teams would be limited to what they could do. They could rip off broken bodywork, they could make repairs and they could change flat tires – but only flat tires. That was meant to keep the playing field somewhat level and keep the big-budget teams and those with tire sponsors from gaining an advantage with fresh tires at the halfway point.

The reasoning behind the addition of the pit stops was that the TV networks had requested it. Each class now gets a full hour of television to itself, so they idea was to have some time to talk about developing storylines within the race and perhaps add some visual punch to audiences not used to racing with no pit stops.

The concept was, unsurprisingly, met with mixed reactions from the drivers and teams. 

“They're kind of limiting us to what we can do in the pit stop right now, so I don't' think its an advantage to anybody,” says Kyle LeDuc, driver of the No. 99 Monster Energy Ford who won both Pro 4 races at Firebird (RIGHT). “Someday I'll need it, if I need to change a tire or pull some bodywork off. But when you don't need it it's a little weird and frustrating to think you're adding to the racing by sitting in the pits.

“If they're filming our track with people active and climbing around it, that's good for us, more TV time. But you should have a car that can last the whole race, not have to sit there and work on it about halfway. It's not like we're doing a 100-lap race and we're pitting halfway; you're doing eight laps then you stop. It's hard to turn race mode off and on like that,” adds the Cherry Valley, Calif., driver.

Marty Hart, the 2010 Pro Lite champion from Louisiana returning to the series after a year away, this time in Pro 2 with ReadyLift backing, was a little harsher in his criticism but was willing to accommodate the reasoning behind it.

“Right now I think it's a little silly,” says Hart, who won the Pro 2 race on Saturday. “I don't understand it, but if it makes better TV and makes the sport better, I'm all for it. They've just got to refine it a little bit. But I think it can add a ton of cost to the sport. It makes teams have more guys, more tools, the tire issue…there's no doubt its going to add more cost, People have to perfect it, so they're going to spend more money to get faster jacks or whatever.”

LeDuc doesn't see where it would change things strategy-wise. There would be no reason, for example, to delay a necessary tire change waiting for the pit stop to come around.

“You probably try to come in and change it and be half a track behind, and get your time back up on the field at that caution,” he says. “If you're close enough, you could maybe run it for a lap, but these cars just don't want to turn on flat tires, so you're probably wasting more time, doing damage to the vehicle. When those tires come apart they beat stuff to crap. Hopefully [the pit stop is just] a place to get the mud off the car and cool the engine a little bit.”

Weller Adjusts to Pro 4

One of many people in new places is Corry Weller, the 2011 SR1 UTV champion. She is taking over Carl Renezeder's second Pro 4 and finding it not as big a leap as she had thought it might be.

“I kind of worked it up in my head that the truck was going to be a lot harder to drive than it actually is because I'd never driven one before,” she says. “Once we had the program all set up, you wonder what it's going to be like. It's a great truck; it handles really well, it's really cushiony. The suspension is so much nicer than what I was used to. It's really wide and sturdy. It behaves itself. It's really less work to drive it, because I was driving a six-speed two-wheel drive, electric steering assist car. To go to this…the hydraulic steering is fantastic, it has the turbo 400 transmission so it's just second-third-second-third, so physically driving it doesn't take as much work.”

Weller was able to get some pre-season testing time in the truck, about two weekends' worth, so it wasn't all new. She says she'll need some more time to get up to speed, but she's enjoying the experience so far.

“It's so much fun to drive that it decreases the nerves a lot,” says the Tilted Kilt-sponsored driver from Chandler, Ariz. “It's a lot heavier than what I'm used to, and the competition is a lot stiffer than I'm used to – I was with some great drivers, but these guys are pro pros. This is the big money stuff. Right now I'm just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still learning to drive it and I don't' want to do anything stupid or take anybody out. I'm just learning to drive my truck, take my time and go as fast as I can.”

2012 LOORRS Points after Round 2

Pro 4 Unlimited

1. Kyle LeDuc, 103

2. Adrian Cenni, 96

3. Todd LeDuc, 92

Pro 2 Unlimited

1. Marty Hart, 94

2. Jeff Geiser, 88

3. Rodrigo Ampudia, 86

Pro Lite Unlimited

1. Chris Brandt, 96

2. RJ Anderson, 94

(tie) Austin Kimbrell, 94

Pro Buggy Unlimited

1. Steven Greinke, 99

2. Jerry Whelchel, 95

3. Geoffrey Cooley, 89

SuperLite

1. Sheldon Creed, 103

2. Drew Britt, 96

3. Trenton Briley, 86

(tie) Brent Fouch, 86

Limited Buggy

1. John Fitzgerald, 97

2. Dillon Ayers, 92

3. Lindsay Geiser, 84

Modified Karts

1. Myles Cheek, 99

2. Brock Heger, 86

3. Sheldon Creed, 82

Junior 2 Karts

1. Travis Pecoy, 99

2. Shelby Anderson, 90

(tie) Darren Hardesty, 90

Junior 1 Karts

1. Darren Hardesty, 99

2. Conner McMullen, 98

3. Broc Dickerson, 95