Despite high winds and warm temperatures, fans turned out in record numbers to watch the latest rounds of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend.  Located just outside of Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah, Miller Motorsports Park is a state of the art facility with paved pits, a kart track, an auto museum, and several other amenities not seen at any other facility that LOORRS visits.  Just beyond the edge of the 1 mile short course track, the first pit belonged to Rob MacCachren and his ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS team.  A constant stream of fans surrounded the pits to enjoy a cool ROCKSTAR Energy Drink, get an autograph from Rob Mac, or just get a look at his fire breathing Pro2 Unlimited truck.  Want to see more of this state of the art truck by Jim Blackmore and Dave Farruggia?  Pick up the latest issue of Dirt Sports magazine, where the ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / M akita Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS Pro2 is featured as their Masterpiece in Metal.

Rob Mac qualified third for Saturday’s Round 7 of racing, which put him on the outside of the first row after the inversion of the top four qualifiers.  The ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS team made changes to the gearing in the Rancho Drivetrain Engineering transmission and Motive Gears in the rear end.  They also grooved the BFGoodrich tires specifically for the track conditions, which varied from slick after the track was watered down to bone dry as the wind sapped away any moisture.  When the driver next to Rob lost control on the first corner Rob spun to avoid him instead of causing a collision and as a result watched all fourteen competitors pass him by.  While the track at Miller Motorsports Park is notoriously tough for passing, Rob Mac was not deterred.  He harnessed all 800 horsepower from the Patton Racing Engine as air rushed through the K&N filter and started after the pack.

With twenty laps to work his way back through the field, MacCachren displayed the patience of a surgeon.  Turn 3 was his scalpel, where he passed a competitor nearly every lap!  “The Fox Shox allowed me to carry so much speed off the table top jump at the back of the track, when others were braking for Turn 3 I could just whip the Howe steering around and get in under them,” he explained after the race.  By Lap 17 MacCachren was up to fourth place and looking for a spot on the podium.  Coming into Turn 1 he dove inside of Marty Hart and Jeff Geiser but the track didn’t accommodate three-wide racing and Geiser drove over Rob’s hood and spun out.  LOORRS officials issued a controversial black flagged to Rob Mac for his involvement in the incident despite jeers from the crowd.

Despite the questionable black flag, Rob continued on to finish the race in third place, although he was not allowed upon the podium.  LOORRS officials have stated that they will review the case in the coming week and make a final ruling. Sitting in second place in season points coming in to the weekend, the decision could have a huge impact on MacCachren’s championship bid at the midpoint of the season.  Look for the race on CBS Sports in the near future and decide for yourself if the black flag was justified.

Professional athletes, whether they are baseball players, swimmers, or race car drivers, are defined by how they respond under pressure.  It is easy to win when everything is going your way but much harder to bounce back when success has been snatched away from you.  Rob Mac is a humble racer; a man of few words.  He prefers to let his driving do the talking, as was evident in Sunday’s domination of the Pro2 Unlimited field.  MacCachren qualified fifth for Sunday’s Round 8 of racing, and after the top six inversion he was once again starting on the outside of the first row with 14 anxious drivers staring at the back of the No. 21 truck.  That was the only side of the truck the competition ever saw.  Rob strapped in to his MasterCraft 3G suspension seat and led from flag to flag, winning the N-Fab Fast Lap award in the process.  This marked MacCachren’s third victory of the season after eight rounds of LOORRS racing.  The No. 21 ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS truck was outpacing the field by several truck lengths until the yellow flag would come out and bunch up the pack due to the carnage that was unfolding behind Rob Mac.

After five weeks in a row of racing all across the continent Rob MacCachren now gets a well-deserved break after leaving the windy Miller Motorsports Park.   His next race, appropriately, is in the Windy City, when he races his TRAXXAS Mopar RAM Pro 2WD at Chicagoland Speedway on July 19-20 in the TRAXXAS TORC short course series.  Rob will get back behind the wheel of his ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS truck for the next round of LOORRS racing on August 4-5 at the historic Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California.  Check your local listings on CBS Sports, NBC Sports, SPEED Channel, and MavTV to get your fill of action packed short course racing.

In the desert, Rob is currently the points leader in SCORE International’s Trophy Truck class with his No. 20 ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / MasterCraft Racing truck and tied for first in points in the Best in the Desert series as well, where he shares driving duties with Steve Sourapas.  Follow all of Rob Mac’s adventures on and off the track at http://www.facebook.com/21RobMac.