Hailie Deegan was coming into the Junior 2 Kart championship race with a 30-point lead only needing to secure a 17th place finish or better for the championship. Hailie held second into the first corner of the final race while quickly moving into the lead position getting by Porter. Dickerson tried to put some pressure on the Dirt Princess for the lead as the two came up to the Competition Yellow flag at the end of the lap. On the restart Dickerson got by Deegan and into the lead coming out of turn four but Hailie forced her way back in front with a clean pass for the win! Hailie Deegan winning her first career championship! Way to lay it down for all the Mulisha and Mini Troops, congrats Hailie!
Myles Cheek was ready to reclaim the throne as a back-to-back Mod champion once again. With the green flag waving, Myles dashed into the front of the pack shaking off the rest of the drivers throughout the race.
Cheek made his way to the checkered flag and finished up the 2013 season again as the Modified Kart Champion! Congrats Myles for your full season of kicking ass!
Deegan was up next ready to fire up his Pro 2 Unlimited for a 16 lap main event battle! Drives plowed into turn one with Deegan leading Bryce Menzies and Rob MacCachren. Behind them, nothing but carnage followed which directed the race into a full restart. Deegan continued to hold it down in his Pro 2 with Menzies trying to put on the pressure for the lead during laps 12 – 14. Deegan held him back and controlled the front of the pack. MacCachren dropped to sixth by lap 16, and to ninth on the next lap. Deegan and Menzies were still running close up front, and just as Deegan had opened just a sliver of breathing room, he balked at lapped traffic, and Menzies was right back on him. As these two put MacCachren a lap down while simultaneously taking the white flag, MacCachren pulled off track, having done all he could to salvage the best possible result for his title hopes.
Deegan would end up on the top of the podium finishing the race in 1st place followed by Menzies and Marty Hart. Congrats on the strong finish Brian!
Walking from the Pro 2 podium, Deegan made his way back into the pits ready to fire up his Pro Lite! Brian was ready for this race as he was already titled the points leader.
Ready to get the hometown fans pumped, he instantly got the early lead and separated himself from the other drivers. A few laps in smoke became evident from the back of Deegan’s truck, and with nothing more to gain, Deegan elected to pull into the hot pits and save any further damage to his truck. After a long red flag/yellow flag period, racing finally resumed, with Anderson, Brooks, Jimmy Fishback, Jacob Person, and Metal Mulisha’s Justin Smith running in the top five. Smith got by Person at turn one on the restart lap to take over fourth, and Casey Currie then got around both Smith and Person on the inside at turn three to move into fourth. Smith picked off Currie for fourth on the next lap, and got Fishback coming out of turn three on lap 17 to move up to a provisional podium finish. Smith finished a season-best second during the championship race. Deegan still stored his third title in five years in the Pro Lite class as the Champion. Bad ass… we’d say so! Congratulations to Smith for the finish and a HUGE congrats to Deegan for becoming the 2013 Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Lite Unlimited champion!
The final race of the weekend was the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup that kicked off on Sunday. Pro 2 and Pro 4 Unlimited’s are merged for one race and strategically placed in reverse championship points order. Pro Lite Unlimited’s are also placed in reverse championship points order but they also run a 100% field capacity, meaning no LCQ.
Myles Cheek would pick his way though the field and by lap 3 he would be in contention for a podium. After a couple yellow flags and a few swallowed up drivers, it was an all out sprint to the finish. Myles Cheek would end up leading the race to the checkered flag followed by Pecoy and Heger. This marks Myles Cheek’s third Challenge Cup victory and his second in the Modified Kart class.
The Pro Lite Unlimited’s took the track in their mission for $10,000. Fresh off the green flag start, Lawrence and Justin “Bean” Smith found clean air at the front of the field. Creed and Anderson would find themselves battling for the lead with Justin “Bean” Smith just after lap number 4; the heat was on. Smith, Creed and Anderson would change positions multiple times throughout the second half of the main event, but the true dogfight would come from RJ Anderson and Justin “Bean” Smith. Smith was holding down some of the fastest lap times we have seen all year long and able to avoid an attack by Anderson. Sheldon Creed and RJ Anderson would follow Justin “Bean” Smith to the podium, as he would go on to win the 2013 Lucas Oil Challenge Cup and earn himself a nice big check for $10,000. “My season was decent with ups and downs making a few podium visits. I really wanted to finish strong and come on top for my fans, friends and family in our own backyard. Second on Saturday, which was really exciting but it, all came down to Sunday for me and I pulled it off! Huge victory in my book for racing against the big dogs and winning the Cup Challenge!” – Justin Bean Smith
Deegan was ready for the Pro 2 and Pro 4 Challenge Cup battle for the shot at $30,000. With the race in full effect Brian went to war with Woods in battled off the entire Pro 4 division. Brian fought his way hard into the final laps gunning down turn-by-turn putting his truck to the most extreme test of the season.
As the race came to an end, Deegan wrapped up the day as the 2013 Challenge Cup winner!
Huge congrats to the entire Metal Mulisha team for the successful weekend of racing and championship titles! View the rest of the photos from the 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Championship
