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December 19, 2009
Rob MacCachren
Lake Elsinore, California (December 18, 2009) It was all business at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex today as TORC Pro 2 Champion, Rob MacCachren, drove the #21 Ford F150 Pro 2 to a solid second place qualifying position. Rob MacCachren is the favored Pro 2 racer leading into Saturday’s main event at the ROCKSTAR Energy Lucas Oil Challenge Cup. MacCachren is the reigning TORC Pro 2 champion having earned back-to-back Pro 2 championships in both 2008 and 2009. The reigning LOORS Pro 2 Champion, Carl Renezeder, will race his Pro 4 in the race on Saturday.
MacCachren’s Ford F-150 race truck was rolled from the back of the ROCKSTAR Energy Racing race hauler as the sun rose over Southern California. Led by championship winning crew chief, Jim Blackmore, the 8-man crew began preparation for Friday’s qualifying efforts. Every detailed was attended to for the morning practice and after 5-laps of practice Rob Mac and crew made some slight adjustments and readied for the qualifying session. In the meantime, Rob hosted a televison crew from Ford Motor Company in his ROCKSTAR Energy Racing pits.
Rob commented, “It feels real good to get back into the Ford-150 Rockstar Pro 2. The truck ran good in practice, but we have a couple things to improve on before qualifying. We haven’t raced or practiced at this track, so we might be behind the curve a little bit on set-up, but in the end we’ll be there. Our BFGoodrich Tires really worked well in the heavy dirt here at Lake Elsinore. You have to remember that only five days ago, this track and pit areas were underwater as a result of three-day winter storm that hit Southern California. The Lucas Oil Off Road Series officials have done a great job at the track and by Saturday afternoon, I expect great track conditions.”
Shortly after 1:30 p.m. qualifying action kicked off. Rob immediately set the mark for the field with a lap of 1.02.69, which stood as the fast lap until the final moments of the qualifying session. Supercross legend, Jeff Ward, railed his Pro 2 around the Lake Elsinore track besting MacCachren’s mark with a 1.02.44. However, only a few turns later and Ward crashed and rolled his Pro 2 truck.
MacCachren recounted his qualifying effort, “We had a couple good laps, but we’ve got much more inside this ROCKSTAR Ford F-150 race truck. With the inversion set in place by the Lucas Oil Off Road Series officials, we’ll start the race in the second row and we’ll be fine from there. I’m looking forward to this race, of course it’s a major ROCKSTAR Energy event and we’re very excited to be part of this end of year race.”
Gates open at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 19 2009 at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex.The ROCKSTAR Energy Lucas Oil Challenge Cup will be broadcast on NBC on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Don’t miss short course off road racing from Surprise Arizona featuring Unlimited 2, 4 and Lite truck action on Versus (VS.) this Saturday and Sunday December 19th and 20th at 6pm ET.
2009 Rockstar Energy Racing Sponsors: Rockstar Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires, FOX RACING SHOX, Mastercraft Race Seats, Pro AM, Rancho Drivetrain Engineering, Patton Racing Engines, MAKITA Industrial Power Tools, KC HiLites and DIRTnewz.
Rob MacCachren Racing: Rob MacCachren’s short course career accomplishments include winning three consecutive Borg-Warner Championships, as well as three Governor’s Cup Championships, all at Crandon International Raceway in Wisconsin. Over the course of his desert racing career he has accumulated 5 SCORE Baja 1000 victories and another 5 SCORE Baja 500 wins. MacCachren was heralded as the premier driver after winning the longest distance (1296 miles point-to-point) SCORE Baja 1000 ever held in 2007. Rob MacCachren earned consecutive short course Pro 2 Championships in 2008 and 2009. The multi-disciplined championship racer has accumulated over 164 victories and 19 championships between closed short course and open desert racing.
Tags: Lucas Oil, Rob MacCachren
Category: Offroad
