Photos by Art Eugenio

The competition in Pro 4x4, like every race at Round 10, was intense from start to finish.

Short-course off-road racing fans nearly filled the stands to capacity at the final race in 2009 at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, California. Round 10 of the Traxxas TORC Series presented by Amsoil was full of surprises. Each pro class offered great racing that kept the crowd cheering, but there were also a number of sub plots occurring on the sidelines in just about every race. It was a great night of racing that was filled with a lot bumping, a ton of emotion, a few crashes, and plenty of frustration.

Last night at Round 9, Scott Douglas led the headlines in the Pro 4x4 class for more than one reason. He earned the victory in the class with a great performance, but he also garnered some attention when he and Kyle LeDuc tangled heading into turn three. LeDuc was pushed into the wall and broke his right front A-arm, suspension and then some. It appeared that LeDuc was trying to take the outside line to get around Douglas, and though it wasn’t clear if Douglas was trying to close the door on the line or if his backend just came loose on the final jump in the whoops, but the end result was a long night for LeDuc and crew as they tried to piece the front of his car back together. Though LeDuc said there were no hard feelings, it was clear heading into this race that these two would be the ones to watch.

Douglas may have started third off the line, but he was able to move into the lead by the end of the first long sweeping turn. Steve Barlow sat in second in the first lap, and class point leader Rick Huseman was not far behind in a battle with Curt LeDuc for third place. Douglas held the lead until the third lap when Huseman, who passed Barlow for second, made his move, took the lead and continued to pull away from the pack. At the halfway point for the restart, Huseman was in front, Douglas in second, Johnny Greaves in third, and Kyle LeDuc had worked up to fourth.

Rick Huseman was in control of this race from early on, and he earned another Pro 4x4 victory in Perris.

After the restart, Huseman retained his lead and Douglas still had a stronghold on second. LeDuc was still trying to get by Greaves, and he tried to take a similar line as the one he tried on Douglas last night on the outside in the same turn, and it looked like he would have a similar result as last night, as his front end started to dig in and it looked as though he would hit the K-rail. But he backed off, regained his composure and waited for another opportunity.

Behind the leaders, last night’s second-place finisher Adrian Cenni had been battling hard with Curt LeDuc in the middle of the pack. It looked like good hard racing for the most part, but after a few laps of battling the action came to an end when it  looked as though the two tangled a bit coming out of jump section and Cenni ended up with a broken front left A-arm. He pulled off into a small pit area by the final turn and looked to be done for the night. What happened next was bizarre, as Cenni waited for the pack of Barlow and LeDuc to round the final turn and, with his truck facing the turn, he suddenly hit the gas and looked to charge at LeDuc but didn’t really make contact. A track truck came out and pulled off Cenni aggressively, and they left his truck off the track parked in the corner. From what we are told, USAC will be reviewing the situation, and it’s possible that Cenni could be done for the season if it is determined he was charging at LeDuc. The night after his first podium of the year, this event was pretty strange to say the least.  

Adrian Cenni and Curt LeDuc had a good battle going, but it appeared as though Cenni, who had pulled off the course with a busted from wheel, decided to gas his truck at LeDuc. The event is under review.

Back up front, Huseman was pulling away from the field. Douglas still sat in second place, and up until lap 17, it looked as though the LeDuc/Douglas storyline wouldn't matter as the two would never be close enough to even challenge each other. That all changed when Kyle decided to pin it through the whoops to pass Greaves with a spectacular manuever that moved him into third. He then set his sights on Douglas, caught up to him, waited patiently for an opening and cleanly passed him for second. Despite the buildup of the pre-race interviews shown on the jumbotron, LeDuc just made a great racing move and the two never did more than kiss fenders - just good, clean racing. Huseman held onto his lead, LeDuc took the silver, and Douglas followed up his win last night with a third.

Race winner Rick Huseman, who’s still leading the points for the class, was happy to be back at the top of the podium – a place he was at often during the first half of the season.

“That was awesome,” he said. “The truck was totally flawless tonight. I couldn’t believe how perfect the truck was. We’re back where we’re supposed to be.”

LeDuc spent much of his night piecing his truck together, and somewhere along the way it seems like the team found a little more speed as well, as he powered his way through the whoops to move into both third and eventually second during the race.

“I was sitting in fourth, and I was pissed off about being there,” LeDuc said after the race. “You know, Johnny was running hard and we were running the same line. He couldn’t give me an inch, and I didn’t have any room to get him, and I was just all over the place in the whoopty-doos. So I was trying to blitz it, I tried tripling it and quading it, whatever I could get an advantage.”  

Douglas followed up his win last night with another podium finish, and he credited his crew for putting together a great track to compete aboard.

Rob MacCachren swept the Pro 2WD class in Perris, and he took over the points lead in the process.

Last night one of the main story lines in Pro 2WD was that of local racer Jeremy McGrath, who led the first half of the race but later broke a rear rotor and was without brakes for a good chunk of the race. His first win alluded him still, and he had to settle for third place. Saturday he was feeling a little under the weather with a cold, and unfortunately he looked just a hair sluggish on and off the course.

Veteran Dan Vanden Huevel did have some juice, however, and he jumped out to grab the holeshot ahead of McGrath. Vanden Huevel maintained the lead while the other racers shuffled behind him, with Ricky Johnson settling into second after passing McGrath. McGrath had a tough time tonight, as he came into one of the turns a little too hot, got his truck sideways and was tagged in the side by Greg Adler. McGrath was able to keep going, but he was never able to challenge to the top three the rest of the race.

Out front, Vanden Huevel was able to fight off the charges of Johnson to maintain the lead going into the halfway point. Johnson was in second, Rob MacCachren in third, Todd LeDuc in fourth and McGrath in fifth.

After the restart, Adler has a bad crash coming out of the of the rhythm sections before the final turn, getting his truck sideways and then getting side-punched by Mark Oberg who had nowhere to go.  

Evan Evans and Mike Oberg battled hard in the middle of the pack, but Evans was later given a black flag for his actions and the great mid-pack battle was over for the night.

Adler was able to climb out of the truck but needed attention from the medics. After a few minutes catching his breath, Adler was able to walk off the track but looked pretty shaken up. After the restart, Johnson made a solid push to take over first but was unable to make it stick. MacCachren and LeDuc made a move to pass Johnson and take over second and third, respectively.

For the most part, the front of the field remained unchanged until lap 14, where MacCachren was able to pass Vanden Huevel for the lead and never look back. Vanden Huevel moved back into second but never lost it to third-place Todd LeDuc. The top three finished in that order, giving MacCachren a sweep of the Pro 2WD class on the weekend.

“The tires were the key to the win today,” MacCachren of his BFGoodrich tires after the race. “We just took over the points lead tonight, and we’ve been working for that all year long.”

Though it was unclear exactly what prompted the outburst, MacCachren got an earful from Johnson at the finish line, as he seemed to be upset at a move MacCachren made on the course as being a little too aggressive. Johnson lost the points lead to MacCachren tonight, but he did earn the Oakley Bomb Award for having the fastest Pro 2WD lap.

Dan Vanden Huevel had a solid race, but he was unable to hold off MacCachren tonight and had to settle for second place.

Vanden Huevel also credited his tires after his second-place finish, or at least the announcer did by pointing out his unique tire setup.

“What can I say, stock DOT off-the-shelf tires kicked ass today,” Vanden Huevel said of his ungrooved Maxxis tires.

LeDuc was happy to make his first podium of the weekend, but third place is hardly a consolation prize for a family of racers always looking to win.

“I want to win, you know, I don’t know anything else,” he said, crediting his car for staying strong until the end of the race. “I had a strong truck for the end. I got all tangled up in RJ’s [Ricky Johnson] spin and crash, and he hit me and that gave MacCachren and Vanden Huevel a lot of breathing room. I just started eating them up and the next thing I knew I was on Vanden Huevel. ”

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Marty Hart and Jeff Kincaid pulled away from the pack and battled all night long in Pro Light.

There were 14 vehicles on the line last night in Pro Light and tonight there were only 12, with Casey Currie being one of the racers not able to make it to the line. He had a number of issues with his truck after last night’s race, and though it appeared before the race that he would be on the starting line, the team was unable to get the truck ready to go in time.

With a stunning nine Oakley Bomb Awards already under his belt coming into Round 10 of the TORC Series, it should come as no surprise that Jeff Kincaid was again the fastest truck on the track tonight. His only real competition came from Marty Hart this evening, but even Hart couldn’t muster up enough to take down Kincaid and had to play second fiddle to him again.

Hart jumped out to the early lead on the first lap, but in the final turn of the first lap Kincaid was able to cut to the inside line and take over the lead. A few laps later, Kincaid got a little out of shape coming out of a turn and lost a few spots, with Hart jumping back into the first-place position with Chad Hord close behind in second. Kincaid was able to retain third, however, and he set his sights on Hord.

Todd Cunningham took the final podium spot with his third-place finish in Pro Light.

It took him a few laps, but eventually he got by Hord and even caught up to Hart and briefly took the lead. But Hart retook the top spot and held it until the halfway point, with Kincaid in second and Hord in third. Last night’s winner Chris Brandt didn’t have a good first half of the race, as he was toward the back of the pack with a front left flat that he decided to forego changing.

On the restart, Hart led the entire first lap until the last turn, where Kincaid again made his move and nabbed first. Unfortunately the field would have to slow up after about a lap, as Luke Johnson cut the final turn a little too tight, ran into the tire marker and ended up on his side. After the second restart, Mike Oberg also had a wreck when he ran up onto the K-rail on the turn three, rolling onto his side as well but getting back on all fours and running again. 

Jeff Kincaid earned the victory and an impressive 10th Oakley Bomb Award for fastest lap.

After all the restarts and commotion, it was Kincaid who fought off Hart to take another win in the class, as well as his 10th Oakley Bomb Award for the fastest lap of the evening.

“It was a goal to get a championship, not 10 of these,” Kincaid joked after his win. “It’s an honor to come out first take the Oakley bomb award also.”