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Lucas Oil Off-Road Regional Series

Dustin Nelson Wins Lucas Off Road Regional Series Round 4
Yamaha Pro ATV Racer Dustin Nelson Wins SR1 SxS Class

Lake Elsinore, CA (6/30/2014) - Round 4 of the Lucas Oil Regional Off Road Series was held at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park. Warm and breezy conditions all weekend made for powder dust in the pits but as usual, the track crew kept a good amount of water on the race surface.  The SR1 class had 13 entrants and was joined on track by the UTV Open class that had 12.

Qualifying Heat:  Racers are given a 6 lap qualifying heat where the only thing that matters is your fastest lap for grid placement in the main event.  The track is always wet for the first few laps, with the fastest times usually coming in the final laps of the session.  I was able set the fastest time of the session on my final lap with a 55.475, edging out Brandon Kilgore 56.838 and Blake Malgren 56.992.  The spotter of the fast qualifier picks a number out of a hat for inversion and Elizabeth picked #2 which put me outside row one for the start of the main.

Main Event:  The start of our 12 lap main event is always very wet, as the track crew waters heavily just before.  Today was no different and luckily I had the preferred (when wet) line into turn one as Kilgore and I took the green flag.  From my outside starting spot, I aimed straight for the cushion on the outside of turn one and grabbed the lead as we came onto the back straight.  Kilgore only made it to lap 4 before blowing an engine and coasting to the infield.  Last year’s champ Gary Thompson was running 2nd about 4 seconds back when rookie Shawn Illingworth cartwheeled his SR1 off the back straight table top and into turn 2, causing a full course caution. This caution would count as our mandatory as it was midway through the race. 

Once taking the green again I drove smooth fast laps and once again pulled a gap over Thompson and Bryan McCormick until someone lost a wheel in turn one bringing out another yellow and leaving us to a green, white, checkered finish.  For our last restart I concentrated on getting a good jump and not making any mistakes in our 2 lap sprint to the finish.  There were quite a few ruts in the corners that could put you on two wheels or worse quickly, so I made sure to avoid those and brought home the win.

Round 4 was a perfect race day for us. We qualified 1st and led every lap of the main to take another win.  With this win my #94 SR1 moves into first in series points as well.  Unfortunately 2nd place on the track was DQ’ed for failing post-race inspection, but hopefully everyone will come back strong for our night race, round 5 at Glen Helen on July 19th.

Lucas Oil Regional Series Round 4 Results (Top Three)

1st - Dustin Nelson
2nd - Bryan McCormick
3rd - Kenny Frost                                                                                

Lucas Oil Regional Series Round 4 Results (Top Three Points)

1st - Dustin Nelson / 204 (3 wins)
2nd - Blake Malgren / 163
3rd - Brandon Kilgor / 157 (1 win)

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