Reno residents got their first taste of world class short course racing when the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) came to the all-new Wild West Motorsports Park this past weekend, and the facility lived up to its “wild” name.   The virgin track surface, massive elevation changes, and widely spaced jumps required a different truck setup than the tighter courses found at most LOORRS venues, but Rob MacCachren and his team performed fine tuning that resulted in a second place qualifying time for Saturday’s Round 11 event.  The top four qualifying positions were inverted to keep the Pro2 Unlimited race interesting, which put MacCachren’s ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Power Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS truck on the inside of the second row in front of a packed house of cheering motorsports fanatics.

Everything was going according to plan the first half of the race, with Rob Mac comfortably sitting in third place and avoiding much of the mayhem that was unfolding behind him.  Unfortunately that all changed when the field was bunched up during the mandatory caution.  Coming into the final turn, Rob slid wide making contact with a misplaced K-rail and sent the truck on a dynamic and violent rollover down the steep hillside.  While his MasterCraft Safety 3G seat and 5-point restraints allowed MacCachren to walk away unscathed, his brand new Pro2 Unlimited truck was badly damaged.

Marty Hart took the win on Saturday, causing the hunt for season points to heat up with only a few races remaining.  Skipping Sunday’s race was not an option, so the team called in some favors.  Alex Zachary, Rocky Thornton, and Matt Cox took turns driving 500 miles non-stop from Hemet, California to Reno, Nevada to deliver MacCachren’s old Pro2 truck.  Meanwhile the Makita 18V LXT Lithium Ion batteries were running power tools non-stop as Jim Blackmore, Dave Farrugia, and the rest of the MacCachren Motorsports crew were stripping the drivetrain out of the injured truck to swap into Pro2 Unlimited that MacCachren piloted to four previous championships.

Once the second truck arrived, the drivetrain, body panels, and BFGoodrich Tires were transferred over and MacCachren got just one practice lap prior to suiting up for Sunday’s race to represent ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Power Tools / BFGoodrich Tires / TRAXXAS against a deep field in Pro2 Unlimited.  Starting on the second row, it was clear from the start that MacCachren was running for more than just season points.  Despite driving a vehicle that was assembled in just three hours, Rob Mac was running towards the front of the 15 truck field and not only holding off competitors behind him but threating those ahead of him as well!  During the second half of the race Rob was able to capitalize on the mistakes of those in front of him and move up from the fifth position to third place.

While he never settles for anything less than victory, the crowd was overwhelmed by the turn of events over the weekend and went wild when Rob MacCachren was able to bounce back from his vicious accident on Saturday to take a third place finish on Sunday.  Meanwhile, Marty Hart finished at the back of the pack on Sunday and the ROCKSTAR Energy Drink / Makita Tools team was rewarded with the points lead once again after all of their hard work.  In addition to his first place standing in LOORRS premier Pro2 Unlimited class with three races remaining, MacCachren is also first in SCORE International’s Trophy Truck standings, first in TORC’s PRO 2WD class, and second in Best in the Desert’s Trick Truck class (with teammate Steve Sourapas as driver of record).

From Reno Rob MacCachren heads east to the legendary Crandon International Raceway for his fifth straight week of racing.  The off-road marathon started with the LOORRS night race at Glen Helen at the beginning of August, followed by TRAXXAS TORC racing at Red Bud, Best In The Desert’s Vegas to Reno race, where Rob qualified first amongst dozens of Trophy Trucks and Class 1 cars, and then the LOORRS race at Wild West Motorsports Park. Keep up with the latest race action on Rob Mac’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/21RobMac.