Bink Designs Photography

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is cooking its way through a mild summer and the fierce competition at Glen Helen Rounds 9 & 10 was hotter than ever. Drivers piloting Alumi Craft short course buggies raced their way to the podium 5 times during each of the 4 buggy races held. The capacity crowds were treated to cooling temperatures throughout the evening and burning action out on the track.

The Limited Buggy division was truly exciting with lots of battles throughout the weekend. New talent brought forth hard racing to the usual class dominators. Zac Hunt & Geoffrey Cooley both ran in top 5 and most of the time racing for position in the top 3 but faded in the final laps on Saturday, while Dave Mason put his Alumi Craft up front each day and finished 3rd in Round 9. Most impressive was on Sunday’s Round 10, both Cooley and Zac had to work from deep starting positions charging through the field. Geoffrey started back in 15th place and Zac in 11th. The young developing drivers proved resilient; Hunt finishing 3rd, Cooley taking 4th and out-lasting Mason who eventually slowed during Round 10.

Saturday
Limited Buggy 3rd Place – Dave Mason
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Sunday
Limited Buggy 3rd Place – Zac Hunt
Limited Buggy 4th Place – Geoffrey Cooley
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Something of particular interest is that three of the top four finishers came from the kart ranks. It appears that a graduating generation of drivers has found the buggy division to be well suited to accelerate driving careers into winning pro drivers.

On Friday, Cooley used a new Fat Performance engine to qualify his #322 Alumi Craft/Competitive Metals/MasterCraft Safety machine 2nd fastest only .105 behind Bradley Morris, Sundays race winner and one of the former Trophy Karts drivers. The Fat power plant and smart driving established Cooley as a class contender. He has one podium from Round 5 so far.

Dave Mason, who was ranked 3rd in points coming into the weekend, and another Trophy Kart driver, overcame a few obstacles on his trip to the podium. During Friday’s practice the transmission had issues staying in gear. With only two hours till qualifying, Mason recruits Matt Major from Alumi Craft to help remove and replace the gearbox. Job completed and out in qualifying, Dave races up to 5th fastest before realizing he has a flat and pulled off the track. Class rookie Zachary Hunt, qualified 6th; However Mason and Hunt were granted a six-car inversion and prime starting positions for Saturday.

The Pro Buggy division is stacked with professional driver talent as is most of the LOORRS Series. Saturdays racing demonstrates how sometimes anything goes, rough racing is normal and wheel-to-wheel racing is a dirty sport. Smart strategic driving can put you ahead or help you fight through the mess. Cool heads like Mike Porter and Justin Bean Smith prove that there are no guarantees. Mike who started in 10th on Saturday, raced his way up to a 2nd place finish and duplicated his effort for Sunday finishing 3rd. “Bean” would start his Competitive Metals Alumi Craft Pro Buggy in 6th but was pushed around and banged into for much of Round 9. He would fight to gain positions but in the end maintained for a well-deserved 5th place finish. A true testament to Smith’s heart as a driver and never give up attitude, the weekend’s race results moves him only 11 points out of the Pro Buggy Championship lead. Justin’s wire-to-wire race win on Sunday was a satisfying redemption moment for the natural talent.

Saturday
Pro Buggy 2nd Place – Mike Porter
Pro Buggy 5th Place – Justin “Bean” Smith
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Sunday
Pro Buggy 1st Place – Justin “Bean” Smith
Pro Buggy 3rd Place – Mike Porter

Photography by Brian Binkert
Bink Designs / Bink Photography – www.binkdesigns.com

Do not forget; “Alumi Craft is the Limited Buggy class sponsor in the Lucas Oil Regional Off Road Series. The next race events will be held at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA on August 20th.

About Alumi Craft: Alumi Craft is the premier racecar chassis manufacturer in the off road industry. Crafting cars from lengths of 4130 Chromoly tubing is our specialty. We offer a variety of vehicles to accommodate the professional off road racer to the recreational driver. For the past three years, ALUMI CRAFT has claimed Three Pro Buggy championships and a Super Buggy Championship in Short Course. The drivers who aided ALUMI CRAFT in achieving the repeat are Rob MacCachren, Chuck Cheek, and Cameron Steele and CJ Greaves.

For more information on Alumi Craft Race Cars check out www.alumicraft.info