Sunday, August 16, 2009 8:47 PM CDT
Off-road series brings drivers from miles away
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
CASEY — The dearth of off road racing options in Florida drove the Lupfer family north, where a one-day trip is just another weekend excursion.
If all-terrain vehicles cater to a broader geographical fan base, Saturday’s enduro at the Lincoln Trail Motosport Park was evidence of it. Tennessee and Ohio license plates rolled onto the grounds for the one-day event.
Mark Lupfer grew up outside of the Orlando area, where it once wasn’t unusual to see 65 or 70 cars competing every week. These days, he has to scramble to find options.
“It used to be huge in the 70s and 80s,” he said. “Now the whole Southeast is dead. There’s absolutely no off-road racing — not what we’re doing. They have motocross and that kind of stuff but none of this.
“We ran out in the desert once but it’s a thousand miles here and it’s 2,500 to the desert.”
Seven years ago, he discovered the LTM park online and decided to come one fall to try it out. It has kept its appeal ever since — especially the long races, which are often more than three times the distance of the mile-long short courses.
“We like the enduro courses a whole lot more than short course,” said Lupfer, who finished among the top 10 in the Mid America Off Road Association’s Class 10 short course series each of the past two years. “The last time they tried the night enduro it started flooding. It got cut down from three hours to an hour and it was a mess. Three or four of us started. Two finished.
“You’re racing yourself more than you are anybody else because of the attrition level. You’ve got to pace yourself to a point where, ‘I need to stay ahead of him but I need to not destroy a gear, you know.’ It’s a mind game, but it’s fun.”
The weather was perfect on Saturday, and despite a few mechanical issues, he plugged on. Brightening his mood was an unexpected $75 raffle prize through MAORA’s contingency program.
The family once competed on the Baja circuit more than 35 years ago.
“It’s affordable,” said Bruce Lupfer, Mark’s uncle and a crew member. “It fits a race budget, let’s put it that way.”
Want to find a major sponsor for your racing series? It doesn’t hurt to have a member of the sponsoring family behind the wheel.
Lucas Oil is a primary sponsor for the MAORA, and Mike Lucas, the son of CEO Forrest Lucas, was present at LTM Saturday. Testing a new Chevrolet Ecotech engine, his day was cut short when he broke a trailing arm on his car.
A five-year veteran, he has made numerous stops at Charleston.
“A bunch of us guys all had woods buggies and played, then Happys (Auto) in New Albany (Ind.) sponsored a race and they had a wood buggy race,” Lucas said. “It just went from there.
“This is kind of like motocross, only you’re in a cage. That’s what I like. You get the same feelings if you’ve ever rode dirt bikes, the jumps and all that.”
Lucas’s son Kyle has been a strong competitor in the 1600 series.
“He raced in the World Series last year, off road racing, and he’s raced in one California race this year,” Mike said. “Other than that he’s not done a lot this year.”
IIt was the first mud bog of the year at Casey, with hopes of adding a couple more by the fall. A series of changes have taken place here lately, from the addition of an accessory shop for drivers needing parts to the offering of one-day passes in an effort to inflate track numbers.
Track owner Tim Jackson is banking on good numbers even in tough economic times.
“It’s just getting the word out for people to come down and a lot of it’s local people,” said owner Tim Jackson. “These people aren’t from a long ways away. We’ve been doing quite a bit of radio advertising. It gives local people the idea that they can come out here and ride anytime, which makes it kind of nice.
“It’s cheap entertainment. If you’ve already got a four-wheeler or motorcycle you can come out here for the day and (it’s) $100 a year for a family to be a member. They can come and camp and ride and get away from stuff.”
A four-race Labor Day event has been scheduled, with motocross and the Illini Super Series featured. As one of only two tracks in the district, the turnout is expected to be one of the biggest of the year.
“There’ll be some fast guys,” he said. “We’ve actually had the arenacross champion out here and a few national guys riding. They grew up around here and rode here and they come back home once in a while.”
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
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