Duel in the Desert | Round 1

Duel in the Desert lived up to its name on Saturday night for the Season Opener of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

With perfect weather and a packed grand stands full of fans the drivers didn’t disappoint.

Lets just say it was a wild night for the Mod Kart kids! They have been waiting patiently to get the season going with the first race canceled back in March due to weather. They were all eager and very anxious to get this season going resulting in lots of action, black flags and plenty more to talk about.

Young Luke Knupp had a solid run in qualifying which put him in 3rd position, with an inversion of 4, he would start on the outside front row. Luke was running hard but unfortunately made a few little mistakes, which would put him back to 9th position. This wasn’t going to stop him from giving it his all. Luke would make his way back up to the front and would finish out the race in a 3rd Place Finish. Great start to the season. Luke Knupp. Congratulations on your podium!

Mia Chapman has been working hard during the off season. She would be fast qualifier up until the final lap. With a slight mistake, she would be put back to 6th position for the start of the race. This was not going to hold Mia back, as she shot up to 3rd position within a few laps of the race. Unfortunately for some rough driving on another car, she would be hit, spun out and tipped over. Thus resulting in her having trouble getting her car running to be able to continue the race. Fortunately Matt Rhodes was able to get her going again and she returned to the track to finish off the race. With one lap down she would finish up with a 14th Place.

Robert Vanbeekum is no stranger to short course racing as he would bring out his Polaris UTV Turbo to battle under the lights.  With a 10^th place qualifying, he was going to have some work cut out for him.  Some adjustments to the car and he was ready for the green flag shortly making headway to 2^nd position for a few laps, but some tough competition and a fast drying track he would finish out the race in 4^th Position.