Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Arizona | Rds 1&2

What an amazing way to start off the season opener of the the Lucas Oil Arizona Series!

With great weather, plenty of smiles and podium sweeps, the drivers showed they have been working hard and are going to be tough to beat.

Lots of up and coming talent and some new faces! With little boys and girls 5 years young, this class puts a smile on everyone’s face. It was a bit rough to get the race started, as they were all eager to race, some for the first time.

We are so proud of little Jennifer Owens. She has been working so hard this past year to earn a spot on the podium. Not only did she get on the podium, she stood up there proudly with a 1st Place finish for Round 1! Wooo Hooo! Congratulations to you and Purplishus.

Racers had to watch out for up and coming Carson Greco. At only 6 years old, and his first Arizona regional short course race, he put it on the box with a 2nd Place finish! To round up the XMF team sweep, talented Ryder Vanbeekum would take 3rd Position.

Parker Christian would run a smooth and consistent race, which would put him in a solid 5th Place finish, with his wild sister Bailee Christian finishing up behind him in 6th Place due to a flip early in the race. Tatum Foerster in Lightning Xtreme is gaining momentum and getting more confident in himself finishing in a Top 10 Position. Young Zoe Easton with her first ever short coarse race did great and would finish with in 11th Place.

What an exciting race to watch with a new class added to the series, these prior RZR 170 racers proved they can handle the speed. Ryder Chapman would take the lead early with Jessie Owens close behind doing everything she could to get by, but he wasn’t going to give it up. Ryder would finish with a 1st Place! Congratulations, great job! Jessie Owens would finish in 2nd Place and Ryder Vanbeekum in 3rd to make another Team XMF sweep.

Allie Christian, with her brand new RZR 570 and taking nearly an entire season off from racing, gave it her all but turn four would prove to get the best of her with a flip in qualifying and she would finish out the field in 5th Position. Earning her the new title “ground, sky, ground, sky” with her sister Bailee.

Mod Karts never disappoint for an exciting race, with the kids eager to get back on the track after being off for a break the season opener was filled with passes, flips, and restarts. Mia Chapman would show the boys that she’s in charge with a fast qualifying time. She would start in 4th position due to an inversion. She managed to work her way thru the field making passes one by one ending the race in 1st Place. Congratulations!

Young Luke Knupp came out flying and would lead the pack for the first half of the race. With just a slight mistake, he would still end up in 2nd Position.  A new driver to the XMF Team is Ethan Ebert. As he is in the run for a JR2 championship, he has decided to step into the Mod Karts. With just a few practices under his belt, he is quickly getting used to everything and would finish a solid 10th Position. Great job boys and girls, awesome way to start out the season!

Robert Vanbeekum started strong, but unfortunately would end up losing a belt which would leave him in 13th Position overall.

Jennifer Owens had her work cut out for her, as she would qualify and start in 5th position, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She drove hard showing off her driving skills and would finish in 2nd Position. Bailee Christian would pass the nick name “ground, sky, ground, sky” to her sister Allie. Bailee drove great and would get her first podium finish in the Lucas Oil series with a 3rd Place. Congratulations!

Close behind in 4th Position would go to Ryder Vanbeekum and then Parker Christian with another smooth finish in 6th Place. Carson Greco showed us he could fly with a flip like no other. He wouldn’t give up and kept going to finish in 7th Place. Tatum Foerster, getting the hang of this, keeps increasing his speed lap after lap with a solid 8th Place finish. Zoe Easton would round out the team in top 10 Position.

Jessie Owens had her work cut out for her. She would start in 2nd row outside, and would run hard with Ryder Vanbeekum for many laps trying to get past him. In the end, she would get by ending the race on top of the box with 1st Place. Congratulations! This left Ryder Chapman and Ryder Vanbeekum to battle it out for the finish. With another Team XMF podium sweep, Ryder Chapman would be in 2nd and Vanbeekum 3rd Place.

Allie Christian was determined to come out and give it her best with leading for a few laps, but turn 4 would get her once again. As she came in a bit to hard she would end up flipping which resulted in a 6th Place finish.

This race was a battle to the end. Young Luke Knupp gave it everything, running back and forth in between 2nd and 3rd place with just 2 laps to go, he would take advantage a slight mishap between the leaders and take the win in 1st Place. Congratulations!

With a hard run to the end and nearly a tie across the finish line with a photo finish, Mia Chapman was within inches of Bronsen Chiaramonte placing her in 3rd Position. Ethan Ebert had some car damage from Saturdays race and decided to sit this one out.

Robert Vanbeekum would qualify fast with a 2nd place start. He would start strong making moves for the front, but unfortunately this was not his weekend. Robert would come flying over turn four’s jump he would end up breaking a Heim joint, which would end his race with a 14th Place.