|
Driver Profiles | Photos | Racing Links | |
Discussion Board | Live Chat | News Archives | Advertising |
Weather | Driver T-Shirts |
Hord, Greaves and Taylor Grab WSORR Championships at Lucas Oil
Speedway
WHEATLAND, Mo. (Sept. 22) - It came down to the final two rounds of
fender-to-fender action and as the dust settled over the Lucas Oil Speedway in
Wheatland, Mo., class champions were crowned in nine Lucas Oil World Series of
Off-Road Racing (WSORR) classes. Some familiar names were at the top of the list
in the PRO category as Chad Hord of Felch, Mich., took the PRO Light title in
his Boss Snowplow Kumho Nissan Frontier; Johnny Greaves of Abrams, Wisc., drove
his Monster Forest County Potawatomi BFG Toyota to the PRO 4x4 championship; and
Scott Taylor of Belvidere, Ill., grabbed the PRO 2WD crown in the Skyjacker BFG
Ford.
The race weekend, sponsored by Nissan and billed as the “Nissan Showdown in the
Show-Me State”, brought WSORR Tour 2007 to the new state-of-the-art Lucas Oil
Speedway for a first ever off-road race event and local fans were awed by the
non-stop action under sunny late summer Missouri skies.
Points championships were determined in both thrilling and heartbreaking fashion
throughout the weekend, particularly in the PRO Light Pickup battle where Jeff
Kincaid of Argonne, Wisc., had made a late season surge to take the points lead
away from his rival Hord. Kincaid drove his Potawatomi BFG Toyota to the Round
12 win on Saturday followed by Hord and Art Schmitt in a Goodyear Nissan.
Kincaid needed to finish only sixth or better to clinch the title in Sunday’s
final round. Hord grabbed the hole shot on the tight and technical Wheatland
track and Kincaid settled into the third position until he spun his truck and
then received terminal damage to his Toyota Tacoma when he was struck hard by
another racetruck following in the pack of pursuers. The disappointed perennial
PRO Light champ had to settle for 13th and then watch as Hord drove to the win
and his second class title in a row. Randy Eller (Taylorville, Ill.) finished
second in Round 13 in his Maxxis Ford and Schmitt (Pittsburgh, Penn.) survived
an end-over-end crash and recovered in time to grab the third podium spot in the
final round battle of attrition.
Johnny Greaves had an easier time of it in the PRO 4x4 contest by winning the
Round 12 race and padding his big points lead. Carl Renezeder (Newport Beach,
Calif.) in the Lucas Oil BFG Sobe Nissan Titan was second on Saturday followed
by Scott Douglas (El Cajon, Calif.) in the Amsoil Kumho Ford. Greaves let those
two duke it out on the track in Sunday’s finale to the thrill of the crowd with
Renezeder getting the win, Douglas second and Kent Brascho in his Goodyear
Chevrolet finishing third. Greaves played it safe and finished fourth but joined
the post-race celebration in winner’s circle to claim his season long points
title. Brascho (Pell City, Ala.) concluded his successful privateer effort in
WSORR Tour 2007 by finishing second in the points.
Multiple PRO 2WD champion Scott Taylor added a first WSORR championship to his
impressive resume and took nothing for granted by driving his way to the title
with a win in Sunday’s final round. Dan Vanden Heuvel, Appleton, Wisc., who was
driving the Herculiner Toyo Ford of an injured Ross Hoek, finished second on
Sunday and “Hot Rod” Rhonda Konitzer, (Oconto Falls, Wisc.), in her MYM Goodyear
Chevrolet made her second podium finish of the season by claiming third. Vanden
Heuvel put Hoek’s truck in the winner’s circle the day before in Round 12
followed by Brian Hinman (Billings, Mont.) in the Redline Goodyear Chevrolet and
Keith Steele, who was campaigning his Monster Goodyear Chevrolet SRT Division
truck in the PRO contest, finished third.
Earlier in the day, Steele (Madison, Wisc.) had a door-to-door battle with Super
Stock Truck defending champion Dan Baudoux (Hemlock, Mich.) in the Mole Lake
Casino BFG Ford that had the Lucas Oil Speedway crowd on its feet until the
final couple of turns when Baudoux’s truck expired. Steele got the Round 12 win
but the biggest celebration was by Ben Wandahsega of Bark River, Mich., who
clinched the Super Truck championship in his Potawatomi Toyo Chevrolet by
finishing second and holding off the man chasing him in the points -- third
place finisher Dave Waldvogel (Fond du Lac, Wisc.) in the Bendix Toyo Chevrolet.
In Saturday’s race, Baudoux cruised to the win followed by Steele and Wandahsega.
The Super Buggy crown is headed north to Alderman, British Columbia, as Gary
Nierop on Goodyear Tires put himself in position to clinch the title with a
strong second place finish in Saturday’s race and then he carefully negotiated
his way around the track in Sunday’s finale to avoid the fate of Jeff Kincaid.
The strategy worked as Nierop clinched the points with a ninth place finish in
the finale. Fellow Canadian Corry Heynen on BFG Tires was stealing some of the
thunder in victory circle with back-to back wins in the final two rounds. John
Mason (Laona, Wisc.) in his Mendeola Goodyear Honda followed Heynen and Nierop
to the podium on Saturday and then followed it up with a second place finish on
Sunday. Scott Schwalbe (Rhinelander, Wisc.) on BFGs grabbed the final podium
spot in the season finale.
Scott Beauchamp of Bark River, Mich., took any possible drama out of the Stock
Truck class points race by finishing strong in his Goodyear Chevrolet and
sweeping the weekend action. Beauchamp won six of the twelve rounds of racing in
2007 on his way to the title. Jason Bort in a Goodyear Chevrolet finished second
and Eric Ruppel in the BFG Ford finished second and third on Saturday which is
where they also finished in the points. Al Konitzer in the Goodyear Dodge was
second on Sunday followed by Craig Metz in a Toyo Ford.
The 1600 Buggy class title goes to John Fitzgerald of Omaha, Neb., who was
battling defending class champ Mark Steinhardt in a close points chase. A DNF
took Steinhardt’s BFG buggy out of contention on Saturday even though he bounced
back with a third place finish on Sunday. Fitzgerald didn’t make the podium in
Wheatland but his five wins for Goodyear on the season powered him to the
championship. The final WSORR rounds in Wheatland were swept by Michael Seefeldt
in his BFG machine. John Huven was second in Round 11 and Terry Fitzgerald was
third, both on Goodyears. On Sunday, Bob Blaney on BFGs followed Seefeldt with
Steinhardt in third.
In 1600 Light Buggy action, Jamie Kleikamp of Wilson, Mich., took the Round 11
win and the Series title for Goodyear. He was followed by Mike Vanden Heuvel on
Toyo Tires on Saturday with Wes Frehse on BFGs third. Vanden Heuvel picked up
his fourth win of the season in Round 12 followed by Bryan Holtger on Goodyears
and Todd Lemke on BFGs.
Tim Moeller swept the Formula 4x4 racing in Wheatland in his Goodyear Ford but
it was the consistency of Dave DeMaegd of Mishawaka, Ind., in a Goodyear Jeep
that crowned him as the titleholder by just one point over Bob Sayers in a
Goodyear Ford. DeMaegd finished second on Sunday with Johnny Cornish in a
Goodyear Ford third. On Saturday, Jerry Conrad followed Moeller to the finish
line in his Pit Bull Ford followed by Larry Maciosek in a Goodyear Ford.
More information about the World Series championship results is available at
www.wsorr.com. The Lucas Oil Speedway web site is
www.lucasoilspeedway.com .