This past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Casey Currie and the Monster Energy/General Tire team built on the solid foundation it established at the opening rounds of the 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) season last month. Currie was the most consistent driver on the track all weekend long in Las Vegas, posting back-to-back runner-up finishes in the third and fourth rounds of the championship to take over the Pro Lite points lead.
On Friday afternoon, Currie spent the day dialing his Monster Energy/General Tire truck over the course of two sessions. Currie positioned himself with the seventh and sixth-fastest times within each session. The following morning in qualifying, Currie put his truck in 6th place on the grid for Round 3 on Saturday afternoon.
As the green flag waved on the first Pro Lite Main of the weekend, Currie quickly made moves towards the front, picking up two positions on the opening lap. He continued his forward progress throughout the remainder of the first half of the 12-lap race and sat in sixth at the time of the full-course caution at the halfway mark. When racing resumed, Currie was on the charge yet again, grabbing two more spots and beginning a hotly contested battle for fourth. On the final lap, Currie refused to let up and grabbed two more spots before taking the checkered flag in second.
“We struggled all day Friday and it was because of a decision I made at the shop,” Currie commented. “My team worked really hard Saturday morning and fixed the issue. Starting in the back made it tough to get to the front, but with the truck working awesome we took our time and made it all the way to second.”
As Round 4 got underway with qualifying on Sunday morning, Currie’s momentum from his runner-up effort led to his quickest lap of the weekend, which lined him up in seventh on the grid.
At the drop of the green flag, Currie asserted himself just outside the top five and patiently waited for his opportunity to strike. On Lap 2 he made his move and jumped into fourth, where he would stay through the break at the halfway point. Currie battled hard over the final half of competition, jumping into second with one lap remaining to claim another runner-up performance.
“The track was hammered for our race on Sunday,” said Currie. “To finish this round shows how durable the truck is. On another note, I’m excited to see all three trucks that were built in my shop finish 1-2-3. Also, with two solid days of racing we took over the points lead.”
Currie was rewarded for being the driver to score the most points on the weekend by taking over the championship lead heading into the third weekend of competition next month. He currently holds a 3-point lead in the standings after posting 3-4-2-2 results through the first four rounds of action. To cap off a successful weekend for Currie and his Monster Energy/General Tire team, the top three finishers on Sunday – RJ Anderson, Currie, and Kyle Hart – all piloted trucks that were built at Currie’s Corona, Calif., race shop.
Currie and his team will set their sights on defending the Pro Lite points lead at Rounds 5-6 of the 2013 LOORS season from Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on May 17-19. With three weeks to prepare, Currie will look to continue improving his Monster Energy/General Tire truck in search of success under the SoCal sun.
To keep up with all of Casey’s racing visit www.caseycurrie.com
