White picket fences. Rolling hills leading up to blue-green mountains. Not far from a cool, calm lake. Sounds idyllic. Bucolic even. Right up to the point the silence is pierced by a 900hp short course off road truck engine. Or a dozen of them. That's what happens this weekend at the new Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park as the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series arrives in town.
Yes, the series has been here before, in this location. But the property is under new ownership, and the Nanci family is putting a huge amount of effort into this project, making it one of the finest dirt motorsports facilities in the country. And it's not all about the racing.
“There's a lot of beautification, making the place more resort-like,” says LOORRS Competition Director Tony Vanillo. “The Nanci family has developed something we've never seen before in a dirt motocross track, and that's the same look and feel we want to have for the big off-road track.”
Vanillo has been in charge of building that track, and he promises something more high speed than the other tracks on the circuit, thanks in part to having a little more room to work with. Look for some big features, too, like a huge jump and a big step-up.
One unique feature is the pits are inside the circuit so the fans can see all the action. With the new mandatory pit stops at the halfway point for the pro trucks, that will be an even bigger deal.
The Pro Lite field is rumored to grow even bigger than the 26 trucks at Firebird. With this race being at the hub of the off road world, all the classes may get bigger. Rob Naughton will return to Pro 2 – he had a spectacular run on Sunday at Firebird, stepping into Robby Woods' truck at the last minute – with Hart & Huntington and sponsorship from Lunarpages.
Gates open at 9 a.m. each day, with opening ceremonies at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 2:30 on Sunday (although there will be plenty of racing before that).