Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series
March 2011
First up on the full-size track were the UTVs, and after
a run of bad luck throughout the weekend, Code Rahders must've been very
happy to start from pole position in his #816 Superchips/Frostyburger
Yamaha. Alongside Rahders for the start was yesterday's winner Corry
Weller, driving the #810 Tilted Kilt/Magnaflow Yamaha, and it was
Rahders who led Weller, Dough Mittag in the #848 Custom Off Road Design/GHARentals.com
Yamaha, John Dempsey in the #855 Simpson/FineLineTShirts.com Kawasaki,
and Josh Stechnij in the #800 Weller Racing/Racer X Motorsports Yamaha
at the end of lap one. Mittag's hood had come loose at the front after
some early contact, and it soon flipped straight up, completely blocking
his forward view. This forced him into the hot pits to have it removed,
which moved Dempsey to third, Stechnij to fourth, and Chad George to
fifth in his #1 Monster Energy/C&G Performance Kawasaki. Up front,
Rahders was quickly pulling out a big lead, while further back, the
Unlimited UTVs were making their way into the top five. George moved up
a spot to fourth, while slotting in fifth was RJ Anderson in the #637
Walker Evans Racing/Holz Racing Products Polaris. By the competition
yellow, Rahders was in full command out front, with Weller second,
Dempsey third, George fourth, and Anderson fifth. George ducked into the
hot pits under yellow, and emerged later, but at a much reduced pace.
After the restart, Anderson and Stechnij collided in mid-air off the big
jump out of turn two, send both into a scary crash which put both
drivers through multiple rollovers. Fortunately, both drivers quickly
emerged from their machines, apparently unharmed. The race resumed after
being red flagged, with Rahders leading Weller, Dempsey, Greg Frantz in
the #877 Lonestar Racing/Unisteer Performance Products Yamaha, and Bryan
Osborn in the #854 Black Rhino/HRT Motorsports Yamaha in the top five.
From there on in, the top five held their positions, and it was Rahders
who's luck had really turned around as he picked up the win over Weller,
Dempsey, Frantz, and Osborn. Robert Vanbeekum nursed an injured #664
Monster Energy/Rhino Parts and Performance Kawasaki around good enough
to pick up the Unlimited UTV win after his competition fell by the
wayside. Anderson and George did not finish, but still rounded out the
Unlimited UTV podium in second and third.
Unlimited UTV
SR1
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