Temperaturess soared into the high ‘90s at Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2011 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series in Surprise, Arizona. The heat clearly wasn’t too much for some racers, as Rob MacCachren, Rick Huseman and Jacob Person each swept their respective classes over the weekend with back-to-back wins.

Saturday’s Pro 2 was an epic battle between Marty Hart and Rob MacCachren, with Hart leading most of the race. But with one lap to go, MacCachren drove hard under Hart in turn five to edge him out for the lead. MacCachren did make some minor contact with Hart, however, causing him to lose a tie rod and drop to 13th.

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Round 2

Round 1

On Sunday, it was MacCachren from wire to wire, earning him the sweep for the weekend in Pro 2. “We got out front early and I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes,” he said. “At the mandatory yellow, we were where we wanted to be and the only thing we worried about was getting spun in the first couple of corners of the restart; but we got away clean. We want to keep this championship and we’re determined to do it. The guys on the team worked so hard in the truck and they want to win as much as I do. I just want to say thank you to them and all my sponsors.”

Pro Buggy had a strong showing by Steven Greinke over the weekend in Surprise, as he nearly took the sweep over both days as well after earning second on Saturday and first on Sunday.

“Real excited about taking the win in Pro Buggy,” said Greinke. “I took the opportunity from Mike Porter with the blown-out tire for the win, but we’ll take it any way we can get it. I’m really happy and just want to thank my family, crew and SC Fuels!”

Some of the best door-to-door racing of the weekend was in the Super Lite class. Yet as tight as the racing was, Jacob Person still managed to win the race on both Saturday and Sunday. “We had a great truck and I was lucky enough to get through and out to the front without any trouble,” Pearson said after Sunday’s win. “I’m really happy to be here. It was great doing it yesterday and even better doing it again today!”

Brian Deegan and Chris Brandt each took a win in ProLite with Brian narrowly taking Sunday’s race. “That last lap was so intense. I mean that’s why we race,” Deegan said. “Chris got me on that last turn here last year and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I had to make the truck as wide as I could. But we always battle like that and I’m just happy we came out on top this time.”

Brandt was disappointed to finish second on Sunday, but he tried to focus on the positive for the crowd.  “I’m happy for the fans because I know it was a good show, but man, it sucks to get second,” he said. “I guess we’re the first loser though; but we’re just glad to be here. Without the help of Toyota and BFG, we wouldn’t be here and I’m glad we were able to put it on the podium.”

As is often the case in this class, the Pro 4 race was one of attrition. Rick Huseman won both Saturday and Sunday with nearly all of his competition falling off due to fire or equipment failure. Noticeably fast over the weekend was Kyle Leduc, who started 11th and worked his way to second place in Saturday’s race.

“It went well on Saturday and we picked off a bunch of guys, passed Todd clean this time, passed my Dad, passed everyone,” he said. “We have a really good truck right now. Once we iron out the few problems we have, we’ll get rid of all the riff raff and battle it out with Rick and Johnny.”

Huseman clearly is the guy to beat in the Pro 4 class, as he has now won all four races to start off the 2011 Lucas Oil season.

“The best junk won today,” said Rick Huseman from his top spot on the podium. “We were just lucky enough to hold on today and make it to the end with the win.”

Next stop for the Lucas Oil off-road racing series is rounds 5 & 6 on May 21st & 22nd in San Bernardino, California, at Glen Helen Raceway. For more information, check out LucasOilOffRoad.com.