WHEATLAND, Mo. — The third annual Lucas Oil Off Road Shootout Presented by General Tire opened a three-day marathon weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway on Friday and an old pro stole the show in the featured Pro 2 division.
R.J. Anderson, a five-time champion in various classes during an illustrious career, took command just past the midpoint and went on to prevail as off road racing return to south-central Missouri for the first time since 2018.
Anderson beat Doug Mittag to the finish line by 2.06 seconds to score his first win of the 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing season. Ryan Beat finished was and defending series champ Jerett Brooks, winner of the season’s first two events, wound up fourth.
Brooks started up front and led five laps, but saw Anderson and Mittag slip past him on lap six, after the mandatory mid-race caution. Brooks later pitted under caution for a flat tire with two laps remaining and rallied to salvage a decent finish.
“Those guys have a fast truck, obviously and won those first two rounds,” Anderson said of Brooks. “I knew with the yellow I could tuck in. He made a mistake going into turn six and I was able to just keep my cool and slide right inside.
“This one feels good. At the beginning of the day if you’d have told me I was gonna walk away (first) I’d have told you it was like winning the lottery. I have to give it to my RJ 37 team. They never give up on me. They gave me an awesome truck.”
Myles Cheek outdueled fellow front-row starter Brock Heger, leading all nine laps for the Production 1000 UTV win.
Defending division champion Eliott Watson took the lead with two laps remaining, going from third to first in the Talladega turn, to earn a hard-fought Pro Buggy victory.
Kyle Chaney led all the way to prevail in the Turbo UTV division, finishing four seconds in front of runner-up Ronnie Anderson. Trevor Leighton finished in third.
Brock Heger started on the pole and went on to score a dominating victory, leading all nine laps for the Pro Lites win.
The Mod Kart race was a wild one, with six caution flags and a last-lap pass for the win. Trey Eggleston took advantage of a restart and went from third to first to earn the victory.
out safely.
Brodie Martin passed Rhyan Denney with two laps remaining and held off his cousin, Talan Martin, for the JR 2 Kart victory.
In the beginner class of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, for ages 6-12, T.J. Siewers led all the way to capture the RZR 170 victory.