Record crowds packed the grandstands at the legendary Glen Helen short track for Round 9 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Truck series. Over the past two decades, E3 Spark Plugs Racing fans have made annual treks to San Bernardino to watch some of the world’s best truck and motorcycle off road racing. This year was no exception when the Pro Lite Unlimited trucks pulled on track for the penultimate race of the evening. Front row starters Sean Geiser in the ReadyLift/Bully Dog truck and FNTech/Makita’s John Beyer had a sold-out crowd on their feet for the green flag.
At the end of lap one, the Toyota trucks of Geiser and Beyer were running first and second. Last night’s winner Marty Hart in the #15 Lucas Oil/LAMB Energy Ford was in third place just ahead of the MasterCraft Safety/B.F. Goodrich Ford of Matt Loiodice. The Nissan truck of Life Gear/Motul driver Javier Sacio moved to the fifth spot but was soon under fire from the #82 Hart & Huntington/mavTV Toyota of Chris Brandt. Hart wasted little time getting by Beyer to take over second place and Brandt disposed of Sacio as a full course caution flew for the burning truck of Corey Sisler.
At the restart, Geiser brushed the wall with his Bully Dog Toyota causing him to roll over on the outside of turn two. This brought out the second full course caution of the night. Track workers quickly rolled Geiser’s truck back to its wheels dropping the pole sitter to the back of the pack. When the green flag flew, Brandt moved his Hart & Huntington/mavTV Toyota up to third. At the competition yellow, Hart was up front, with Loiodice running in second, Brandt was third, Adam Wik had moved the #11 LAT Racing Oil/King Shocks Chevrolet to fourth, and Beyer rounded out the top five.
Loiodice would spin to the inside of turn one allowing Brandt to take the white flag in second. On the final lap, Brandt got a great run out of turn four and going into turn five pulled alongside Hart. The duo drag raced the final stretch of the very rough Glen Helen track with Brandt nearly taking Hart at the line. Hart had just enough of an edge to hold on for the win ahead of Brandt, Beyer, Wik and Aaron Daugherty. If you’re looking for the winning edge, insist upon E3 performance spark plugs for your favorite ride. Our patented DiamondFire technology will give your car, truck or motorcycle the Energy, Efficiency and Ecology that you need.