What started out as a storm-filled weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri last weekend, turned into a great day of racing on Sunday for Carl Renezeder. Saturday was a complete washout for the Pro classes in the first round of the Lucas Oil World Series of Off Road Racing, so the classes had to double up on Sunday to get all the racing in. For the first time in his career, Renezeder swept all four rounds of racing in his Lucas Oil Skyjacker Pro2WD and Pro4x4.
"I had a lot of fun racing today," commented Renezeder at the end of the day. "Not only did we have great battles on track, but we were able to find and fix a problem that's been nagging us for the past few races in the four-wheel-drive truck. And, I still can't believe the amazing job the track crew was able to do to make the track so racy after all the rain we had. It's a testament to their expertise and the commitment they have to putting on a first class show."
The team pulled out of the track Sunday night and headed straight for the West coast, driving through the night to get back in time to prep the trucks for rounds five and six of the CORR series at the LA Fairplex in Pomona, California this weekend.
"We raced here in April and finished on the podium all four races," explained Renezeder. "Between the good luck we had here to start the season and the great luck we had last weekend, we're hoping to parlay that into two more successful rounds of racing this weekend."
LAKE FOREST, CA (June 10, 2008) – "I just remember thinking 'how many times can a guy hit you in one corner,'" commented Carl Renezeder after his 72nd career win in a race that had greater resemblance to American Gladiators than off-road racing. If any driver left the L.A. Fairplex in Pomona after rounds five and six of the CORR season this weekend with all their fiberglass and no broken parts, it was from sheer luck.
"We won one and got nailed hard enough from behind in the three other races to get flats in all of them," explained Renezeder. Twice, while jumping out of "the hole" (turn four), he was hit in the air. The force of the landing popped the left rear tire both times. The third flat was caused by a fellow competitor using Renezeder as a brake going into turn five.
An alternator problem in his Lucas Oil Pro-2 on Saturday morning resulted in having to use a past champion's provisional to tag the back of the main event, which was an 18th-place starting position. He ran as high as seventh before being served a flat tire by Jeremy McGrath while jumping out of turn four in the closing laps. In the Pro-4 race, Renezeder was top qualifier, was leading by the mandatory caution, and then fought hard with Johnny Greaves for the last six laps, securing the win in the final turn on the final lap. Renezeder earned all the points possible in that race, which turned out to be the only bright spot of the weekend.
On Sunday, Renezeder again qualified the Pro-4 on the pole, and earned a respectable seventh place starting position in Pro-2. The invert put him on the pole in the Pro-2 race, but Jerry Welchel ran over the back of him after the mandatory caution, giving him a flat that had to be changed with only a lap and a half remaining. The invert put his Lucas Oil Skyjacker Pro-4 on the outside of the fourth row for the start of the final race of the weekend, and he raced his way to the front.
Another mid-air hit, this time by Rick Huseman, while jumping out of the hole had the makings of a horrendous wreck. Somehow, the truck landed on its feet, but the left rear tire didn't survive. Yet another flat relegated him to the pits and a finishing position outside the top ten.
"They say 'you can't win 'em all' and this weekend they were right," concluded Renezeder. "We'll regroup during this six-week break, put the trucks back together and start looking at our strategy for the second half of the season. This team is hungrier than ever for more wins and championship titles."
Tanner Foust took second place at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR)--the fifth round of the 2008 Rally America Series. STPR takes place in the woods of northern Pennsylvania. It's a fast and technical course, known to be brutal on cars and drivers-the heat of this weekend only making things worse. But Tanner Foust with co-driver Chrissie Beavis drove his Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team Subaru WRX STI to a second place finish and after one hundred and twenty miles there were just twelve seconds separating him from the first place finisher, Antoine L'Estage. Turbo and intercooler issues on Stage Eight unfortunately exacerbated by the extreme heat caused enough lost time to relegate Foust to second. Foust and Beavis won seven of the rally's twelve stages.
Despite not topping the podium, the Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team dominated STPR winning ten of the twelve stages. Foust's teammate, Andrew Pinker with co-driver Robbie Durant won three stages and finished the rally in fourth overall place. Pinker was at the top of the leaderboard for most of the rally along with Foust, but he was unable to make up enough time lost on Stage Four to similar though more serious turbo issues. Pinker's fourth place puts him back in contention for a place at the Summer X Games Rally in August. STPR was a return to form for the Rockstar Energy Team after a frustrating first few rounds of the series.
With only one Rally America round to go, the Rockstar Team are now focusing all of their efforts on the Summer X Games where Foust won last year.
The next Rally America Event is the New England Forest Rally in Bethel, Maine, July 11th.
This weekend, June 7th, NASA will host the 6-Hours of Buttonwillow Presented by AEM. The inaugural six-hour endurance race will take place on Saturday at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in preparation of NASA's 25 Hours of Thunderhill event, which will be held on December 5th and 6th. The event will kick off at noon, complete with a live band, award presentation, and BBQ. Please join the festivities for a great day of racing and fun.
Josh Richards, a rising 20-year-old star from Shinnston, W.Va., followed veteran Chub Frank for most of the race, waiting for "Chubzilla" to make a mistake. The opportunity came on lap 44 of the 50-lap feature when Frank went to the bottom of the track to try and block Richards' advance. Richards drove around the outside exiting turn 4 to grab the lead and the win.
"That was one of the most fun I've had racing in awhile. My hat is off to the crew...they worked hard in the shop this week. They put a new rearend, new transmission and new engine in this car and it paid off," said Richards beside his Mark Richards Racing Enterprises/Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket No. 1.
"This was an awesome race track...it suits the way I like to drive," added Richards of the World of Outlaws first ever appearance at "Ohio's Finest Racing" speedplant.
Richards earned $10,150 for his eighth career triumph on the WoO LMS. He became the second repeat winner in 10 tour events this season, joining four-time victor Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. The driver also completed a clean sweep of the night's action. Earlier in the program he set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 14.587 seconds and won his heat race.
"It was just a great night," said Richards, whose previous WoO LMS win this season came in the tour's opener on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. "We worked hard all week - until midnight a couple nights - trying to get this car dialed in and ready to go. We've been experimenting the last couple weeks, and we decided to get back to just bone-stock, old stuff, and it worked out for us all night."
LAKE FOREST, CA (June 10, 2008) – "I just remember thinking 'how many times can a guy hit you in one corner,'" commented Carl Renezeder after his 72nd career win in a race that had greater resemblance to American Gladiators than off-road racing. If any driver left the L.A. Fairplex in Pomona after rounds five and six of the CORR season this weekend with all their fiberglass and no broken parts, it was from sheer luck. 
Tanner Foust took second place at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR)--the fifth round of the 2008 Rally America Series. STPR takes place in the woods of northern Pennsylvania. It's a fast and technical course, known to be brutal on cars and drivers-the heat of this weekend only making things worse. But Tanner Foust with co-driver Chrissie Beavis drove his Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team Subaru WRX STI to a second place finish and after one hundred and twenty miles there were just twelve seconds separating him from the first place finisher, Antoine L'Estage. Turbo and intercooler issues on Stage Eight unfortunately exacerbated by the extreme heat caused enough lost time to relegate Foust to second. Foust and Beavis won seven of the rally's twelve stages.
With only one Rally America round to go, the Rockstar Team are now focusing all of their efforts on the Summer X Games where Foust won last year.
"This was an awesome race track...it suits the way I like to drive," added Richards of the World of Outlaws first ever appearance at "Ohio's Finest Racing" speedplant.
